INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY – CRS1

Criminology
– The entire body of knowledge regarding crimes, criminals and efforts of society to repress and prevent them
– The study and investigation of crime and criminals
– This scientific study is extended only on three basic lines.
a. investigation of the nature of criminal law and its administration;
b. analysis of the causation of crimes and the behavior of criminals; and,
c. study of the control of crimes and the rehabilitation of offenders

Various Studies and Sciences Related to Criminology

1. Study of law
2. Science of medicine, chemistry, and psychology
3. Religion
4. Education
5. Social work involving sociology and psychology
6. Public administration

Fundamentals of Criminology

Criminology includes the activities of the following offices and agencies of the government:

1. Legislative bodies and lawmakers

2. Law enforcement agencies
3. Courts and prosecution arms of the government
4. Educational institutions like schools and college
5. Correctional institutions
6. Public charitable and social agencies
7. Public welfare agencies

The private sectors whose work is related to criminology are the following:

1. The family and the home

2. Church and religion
3. Private charitable and welfare institutions
4. Civic clubs and organizations
5. Print media, newspaper, radio and television
6. Private schools and colleges

Nature of Criminology

1. It is an applied science – study of the causes of crime, sociology, psychology and natural sciences
2. It is a social science – crime as a social phenomenon
3. It is dynamic – criminology changes as social condition changes
4. It is nationalistic – crime must be relative with existing criminal law
Scope of the Study of Criminology

1. Study of the origin and development of criminal law or penal law

2. Study of the causes of crimes and development of criminals
3. Study of different factors that enhances the development of criminal behavior such as:
a. Criminal Demography – study of criminality and population
b. Criminal Epidiomology – study of criminality and environment
c. Criminal Physical Anthropology – constitution of men, cultures
d. Criminal Psychology – study of human behavior
e. Criminal Psychiatry – study of human mind
f. Victimology – role of the victim in the commission of crime
4. Study of the various processes and measures accepted by society in cases of violation of criminal law
such as:
a. The detection and investigation of crimes
b. The arrest and apprehension of criminals
c. The prosecution and conviction of the criminal in judicial proceedings
d. The imprisonment, correction and rehabilitation of the criminal
e. The enforcement of laws, decrees, rules and regulations
f. The administration of the police and other law enforcement agencies
g. Maintenance of recreational facilities and other auxiliary services to prevent the development of
crimes and criminal behavior

Major Areas of Studies in Criminology

1. Dactyloscopy – the science of fingerprinting

2. Police Photography – study of photographing crime scene & evidences
3. Polygraphy – science of lie detection examination
4. Ballistics – study of firearms and bullets examination
5. Questioned Document Examination – study of disputed documents
6. Penology – jail management and prison administration
7. Police Supervision and Administration – management of police force
8. Investigation and Detection of Crimes – CIDG and Crime Lab
9. Industrial Security Management – CSG
10. Traffic Accident Investigation – TMG

Different Branches of Criminalistics

A. Dactyloscopy or Fingerprinting
– Had its origin in China
– The Chinese employed the fingerprint system for the signing of contracts on the part of the illiterate

 Sir Francis Galton

– First scientist of friction skin identification
– Discovered the three families of fingerprint patterns (Arch, Loop and Whorl)
– Father of Fingerprint

 Generoso Bernales
– First Filipino fingerprint technician employed by the P.C.
  Isabela Bernales
– First Filipina fingerprint technician

 Capt. Thomas Bugan, New York Police and Flaviano Guerrero, FBI Washington
– Gave the first conviction based on fingerprint in 1927 and Agustin Patricio of the Philippines top the
examination

 People of the Philippines vs. Medina

– First conviction based on fingerprint and leading judicial decision in the Philippine Jurisprudence (10 points
of identity)

 Plaridel Education Institution

– Known as the Philippine College of Criminology, first government recognized school to teach the Science of
Fingerprint and other Police Sciences

Fingerprints
– Impression or reproduction of ridges of the first joint of fingers or thumb which is made visible through the
medium of sweat, ink or ingredients capable of producing visibility

Principle of Fingerprints

 Individuality
 Permanency
 Infallibility

3 Major Types of Fingerprint Pattern

 Loop – 60% - 65%

 Whorl – 30% - 35%
 Arch – 5%

B. Forensic Ballistics
– Science of analyzing firearms usage in crimes
– Involves analysis of bullets and bullets impact to determine information of use to a court or other part of legal
system
– Involves analyzing firearm, ammunition and tool mark evidence in order to established whether a certain
firearm or tool was used in the commission of crime

 Colonel Calvin Hooker Goddard 

– Father of forensic ballistic

Ballistics
– ballein – "to throw"
– Science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior and effects of projectiles especially bullet, gravity
bombs, rockets or the like
Categories of Gun Ballistics

1. Internal ballistics – What happens in the weapon

2. External ballistics – What happens after the bullet leaves the barrel
3. Terminal ballistics (wound ballistics) – What happens when the bullet hits the target

Class Characteristics
– The marks, lands and grooves leave on bullets
– Identification: Rifling, Caliber
– Characteristics: Identification number, Manufacturer marks, Weight, Diameter, Base design, Length of
bearing surface, Color, Shape

Individual Characteristics
– Striations – Fine lines left by broach cutter as grooves cut through the barrel
– Basis of identification
– Identification: Breech marks, Firing pin impressions, Extractor marks, Ejector marks

Breech Face Marks

– Impression marks when the projectile recoils rearwards under impact of high pressure of gases produced by
ignition of charge and strikes with the breech face of the firearm

C. Questioned Document Examination

Document
– Original piece of written or printed matter conveying authoritative information or evidence
– Any material which contains marks, signs, or symbols which are visible, partially visible or invisible that may
presently or ultimately convey a meaning or message to someone

Questioned Document
– Document that has been questioned in whole or in part with respect to its authenticity, identity, origin or its
relation among its parts and to other things
– Becomes a questioned document when it is being questioned as to its originality, authenticity, authorship,
source and when placed under scrutiny

Signature
– Defined as ones name written by himself on a document as a sign of acknowledgement

Classes of Questioned Document

1. Documents with Questioned Signatures

– Includes any papers containing signature that is under suspicion, the document whose signature is disputed in
its authenticity
– Ex: Check, note, receipt, draft, contract, will and any commercial, legal, military or personal papers

2. Documents Containing Alleged Fraudulent Alteration

– All papers which are alleged to contain some changes made fraudulently by erasure, addition, interlineations
or substitution
– Fraudulent alterations maybe revealed by analyzing the order or the sequence of the writing as shown by
crossed lines, the identity of the ink, the continuity of writing and the ruling

3. Holograph Document Questioned or Disputed

– The writing of an entire written document is questioned
– Ex: Manuscripts, certificate, letters of introduction, letter of credit, diplomas, marriage contracts

4. Documents Attacked on the Questioned of their Date and Age

– Includes those in which the age of an instrument or the age of some of its parts are investigated
– Documents in which the comparative age of parts may have some bearing on the question of its genuineness
– Interesting papers may have been introduced to have been written sometime in the past but were proven only
a few days or a few hours old

5. Documents Attacked on the Questioned of Materials Used in Their Production

– May show that pieces of paper used were manufactured many years after the date written on it
– The materials used in the production of the paper used are subjected to analysis to prove

6. Documents That Identify the Handwriting

– Includes all documents, paper writings or instruments which by their handwriting and contents tend to identify
the writer.
– The most common documents of this class are all kinds of anonymous and disputed letters
– May be ordinary letters offered as evidence but are usually abusive, warning, obscene, scurrilous
communication. These also include a variety of blackmails, black-hand and threatening letters which has
frequently become the object of legal inquiry

7. Genuine Documents Erroneously or Fraudulently Attacked

– Questioned regarding handwriting or penmanship, whether certain writing is genuine or forged

8. Documents to Identify Typewriting

– Papers containing typewriting may be examined to ascertain the typewriter used in writing the document
– Involves determining the number of typewriter used and the possible fraudulent changes

Principle of Handwriting

 Like fingerprint, no two individuals have the same hand writing.

 Handwritten notes, even written by one and the same person are different.
 Like Ballistics, identification is based on the characteristics of hand writing.
 Handwriting also has class and individual characteristics.
 Examples of class characteristics are: Slant, Speed, baseline, and form.

D. Polygraphy

Polygraph Machine
– Instrument or device capable of recording changes in:
(1) blood pressure,
(2) pulse,
(3) respiration and,
(4) skin resistance
– Greek words "poly" which means “many or having several” and "graph" which means “writings”
– Polygraph means "many writings"
– Often called as “Polygraph or Polygraph Machine, Lie Detector, or Deceptograph”
– Defined as an instrument or device capable of producing recordings of physiological phenomena that may be
used as the basis for the application of a reliable technique for diagnosing truth or deception

 Examiner – Detects deception through the use of a lie detector or polygraph

Why Do People Seek Truth?

1. In decision making process, success primarily depends on true information (simply known as the truth).
Decision makers must possess the ability to evaluate the veracity of information that they are using in
their decision.
2. The knowledge of truth is the fundamental requirement in administering justice.
3. In crime detection, the task of determining the truth initially lies on the hands of field investigators.

Early Methods of Detecting Deception

Trial by Ordeal
– Faith in mysticism surprisingly let innocent people go unharmed while guilty ones die or get seriously injured
during their ordeal

Ordeal
– Latin “dei indicum” meaning “miraculous decisions”
– Ancient method of trial in which the accused is exposed to physical danger which was supposed to be
harmless if innocent

1. Red Hot Iron Ordeal

– Ordeal in the hill tribe of Rajmal in North Bengal
– The accused places his tongue to a hot iron nine times (9) unless burned sooner

2. Trial by Combat
– Orders a fight between the accuser and the accused

3. Ordeal of the Tiger

– Makes use of a tiger to be set loose towards the accused and the accuser placed together

4. Ordeal of the Cross

– Lets the accuser and accused to stand with arms crossed on their breasts in front of with at least 3 designated
adjudicator
– Practiced in European Countries

5. Ordeal by Waxen Shirt

– The accused is dressed with cloth covered with wax and required to walk in barefoot over burning coals

Various Methods of Detecting Lies and Deceits

1. Cross-checking the information with testimonies; physical evidence; or any other existing information.
2. Psychological method – Evaluation of the emotional, behavioral and cognitive reactions of a person.
3. Interrogation and testing the credibility of a suspect’s statements using the polygraph machine
New sophisticated techniques of detecting deception not mentioned by Solis to include the following:

 Computerized Voice Stress Analysis

 Brain Scanning
 Iris Analysis

The Foundation of Polygraph Technique - Theory and Concept

 The polygraph technique uses the principle that the bodily functions of a person are influenced by his
mental state.
 Telling a lie is usually an emotional experienced. A conscious act of lying causes conflict in the mind of
the examinee, which produces an emotion of fear of anxiety, manifested by fluctuations in pulse rate,
blood pressure, breathing and perspiration.

Tripod Foundation of Polygraph Technique

1. Mechanical Leg Basis Premise

– The Polygraph machine is mechanically capable of making a graphic records containing reliable information
regarding physiological changes

2. Physiological Leg Basis Premise

– Those that automatically occur only following the stimulation of specific nervous system component and from
which stimulation of those specific nervous system component can be reliably diagnosed

3. Psychological Leg Basis Premise

– The specific nervous system component whose stimulation can thus be diagnosed are so stimulated by the
involuntary mental and emotional processes of the individual

 Accuracy of the Polygraph Results ranges from 85% to 100% depending upon the factors that affect it

Factors that Affect the Accuracy of the Polygraph Results

 The instrument
 The condition of the subject
 The condition of the examination room
 The qualification and skills of the examiner

The Ultimate Objective of Polygraph Examination is to obtain the subject’s “admission or confession” of
the offense committed.

Four Major Parts or Components of Polygraph Machine

1. Pneumograph
– Two top/upper pens of the instrument which records the thoracic and abdominal breathing patterns of
respiration
– Two hollow corrugated tubes about seven inches in length, each attached to a unit by a rubber hose no longer
than six feet and no larger than one quarter inch in diameter
– Breathing pneumo unit is a low pressure unit
 2. Galvanograph
– Longest and the third pen of the instrument
– The electrodes used for obtaining the recording of the GSR or electrodermal responses, are fastened to the
hand or fingers by means of the passage of an imperceptible amount of electrical current through the hand or
fingers
– Galvanometer unit provides recording of the variation in the flow of the electrical current

3. Cardiosphymograph
– Fourth and the bottom pen of the instrument
– Records changes in mean blood pressure, rate and strength of pulse beat by means of a medical blood pressure
cuff containing a rubber bladder that is wrapped around the upper arm
– This cardio unit is a mechanically operated unit, a high pressure system

4. Kymograph
– The chart recording unit of the instrument
– Provides the polygraphist with a means of determining pulse rate and question spacing
– Has a synchronized motor that drives the chart at the rate of six inches per minute and its speed constant is
vital because the vertical lines, which are spaced either at one-half or one inch interval, represents five or ten
seconds interval on the chart

E. Police Photography

Photography
– Study concerning the production of permanent records of images by the combined action of light on sensitive
surfaces (films and photographic papers), a mechanical device (camera) and chemical processing (film
development and printing)
– Production of visible images by using the action of light on a sensitized material
– Greek "photo" (Light) and "graphy" (Writing), meaning “to draw with light”
– Method of using light to produce identical image of an object that can be preserved permanently by
employing:
 Camera to RAF (Regulate, Absorb and Filter) light; and Film (any sensitized material) to record light

Police Photography
– Science which deals with the study of the principles of photography and the preparation of photographic
evidence and its application to police work

Forensic Photography
– Field covering the legal application of photography in criminal jurisprudence and criminal investigation
– Referred as forensic imaging or crime scene photography
– Art of producing an accurate reproduction of a crime scene or an accident scene using the benefit of a court or
to aid in an investigation, part of the process of evidence collecting and provides investigators with photo of
victims, places and items involved in the crime
– Branch of forensic science dealing with the:
 Study of the fundamental but pragmatic principles/concepts of photography;
 Application of photography in law enforcement; and
 Preparation of photographic evidences needed by prosecutors and courts of law
Admissibility of Photographs as Evidence

 Photographs are admissible in court if the investigator can testify that they accurately depict the area he
observed
 The accuracy of the photograph-always relates to the degree it represents the appearance of the subject
matter as to form, tone, color (if applicable) and scale

Classification of Crime Scene

1. Indoor Crime Scene

2. Outdoor Crime Scene

Order of Photographing a Crime Scene

1. Photographing the exterior of the crime scene:

 Geographical location of the scene that surrounds the crime scene;
 Tracing and linking evidences like footprints, tire marks and other traces or impression that can be
useful to identify and associate a suspect with the crime or to the scene;
 External and internal conditions of the crime scene;
 Points of ingress and egress

2. Photographing the interior of the crime scene (4 sides)

 Possible point of ingress and egress as seen inside the room.
 Adjacent rooms where the crime was committed
 General appearance of the room where the crime took place
 Tracing evidences like fingerprints, footprints, blood stains and;
 Other things that can be used to identify and link suspects to the crime or crime scene.
 Physical evidences present at the crime scene.
 The body of victims of the crime.

F. Legal Medicine
– Branch of medicine which deals with the application of medical knowledge to the purposes of law and in the
administration of justice
– Application of basic and clinical, medical and paramedical sciences to elucidate legal matters

Medico-Legal Cases

 Injuries or deaths involving persons who have no means of being identified.

 Persons pronounced as “dead on arrival”
 Death under the following circumstances:
o Death occurring within twenty-four (24 hrs) of admission when the clinical cause of death is
unknown or indeterminate:
o Unexpected sudden death especially when the deceased was in apparent good health;
o Death due to natural diseases but associated with physical evidence suspicious of foul play;
o Death as a result of violence, accident, suicide or poisoning; and
 o Death due to improper or negligent act of another person
 Physical injuries caused by:
o Gunshot wound, stab wound etc.,
o Vehicular accident;
o Asphyxia
o Electrocution, Chemical or thermal insult;
o Accident, Attempted homicide or suicide; and
o Poisoning
 Cases of child abuse, domestic violence, rape alcoholism and drug addiction.
 Cases involving the mental in competency of the patient.