Drug Education and Vice Control Module

OBJECTIVES:

1. To know what are the different ways of investigation

2. To know what are the different techniques in

investigation

3. To be knowledgeable in properly acquiring of

evidences

WHAT IS THE GOAL OF DRUG INVESTIGATION?

The drug investigation unit at a local police department

typically has as its chief goal the conducting of investigations with
the intent of accomplishing two aims:
1. arresting drug dealers
2. taking or seizing assets gained through criminal and illegal
measures by those same drug dealers

In many localities, law enforcement primarily seeks to direct their efforts toward
wholesale or mid-level drug dealers, in particular. However, a drug investigation
could encompass the arrest of street-level drug dealers, closing "crack houses,"
and/or arresting large-scale, kilogram-level drug dealers, as well. These drug
investigation units investigate all types of criminal narcotics dealings. As a result,
all narcotics such as marijuana, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy,
and illegal drugs obtained by prescription are all subject to drug investigations.

❖ WHO CONDUCTS A DRUG INVESTIGATION?

Drug investigations are often conducted by the drugs and vice divisions of local
county or state-level police departments. Often, the drug investigations
departments are the largest ones in such divisions by the sheer number of police
officers, funding, and resources. In some localities, there are no less than 20
officers or detectives dedicated to these very drug investigations. The operations

Page 1
 Drug Education and Vice Control Module

of these divisions are supported by funds that pay investigation expenses, such
as drug purchase money or informant payments.

❖ HOW ARE DRUG INVESTIGATIONS CONDUCTED?

Drug investigation units commence investigations based on the information they

receive from their sources, which include officers on the street, members of the
community, confidential informants, and other multiple agencies involved in law
enforcement. Many drug enforcement agencies and police department units or
divisions work to gather intelligence and interpret that intelligence as part of their
ongoing law enforcement efforts. These professionals create and update
intelligence databases on drug offenders and the trends in drugs and drug-
related crimes in their particular jurisdictions.

❖ PROCESS OF INVESTIGATION

An effective strategy for learning any new skill is to define it and break it down
into logical steps, establishing a progression that can be followed and repeated to
reach the desired results. The process of investigation is no exception and can be
effectively explained and learned in this manner. In this chapter, you will learn how
each of the following issues relates to the process of investigation.

1.The distinction between investigative tasks and investigative thinking

2.The progression of the investigative process

3.The distinction between tactical investigative and strategic investigative

responses

4.The concepts of event classification and offence recognition

5.The threat vs. action response dilemma

6.The distinction between active events and inactive events

7.The connection of active events and Level 1 priority results to the powers
afforded under exigent circumstance

8.The Response Transition Matrix (RTM) and the critical need to transition from
tactical response to strategic response

Page 2
 Drug Education and Vice Control Module

THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN INVESTIGATIVE TASKS AND INVESTIGATIVE

THINKING

To understand the process of investigation, it is necessary to comprehend the

distinction between investigative tasks and investigative thinking. Investigative tasks
relate to the information gathering processes that feed into investigative thinking and the
results. Investigative thinking, on the other hand, is the process of analyzing information
and theorizing to develop investigative plans. Let us consider this distinction in a little
more depth.

➢ Investigative Tasks

Investigative tasks relate to identifying physical evidence, gathering

information, evidence collection, evidence protection, witness interviewing, and
suspect interviewing and interrogation. These are essential tasks that must be
learned and practiced with a high degree of skill to feed the maximum amount of
accurate information into the investigative thinking process. Criminal investigation is
aimed at collecting, validating, and preserving information in support of the
investigative thinking process. Accordingly, it is important to learn to do these
evidence collection tasks well.

➢ Investigative Thinking

Investigative thinking is aimed at analyzing the information collected,

developing theories of what happened, the way an event occurred, and establishing
reasonable grounds to believe. Those reasonable grounds to believe will identify
suspects and lead to arrest and charges. Investigative thinking is the process of
analyzing evidence and information, considering alternate possibilities to establish
the way an event occurred and to determine if they are reasonable.

PROGRESSION OF THE INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS

The investigative process is a progression of activities or steps moving from

evidence gathering tasks, to information analysis, to theory development and validation,
to forming reasonable ground to believe, and finally to the arrest and charge of a
suspect. Knowing these steps can be helpful because criminal incidents are dynamic
and unpredictable. The order in which events take place, and the way evidence and
information become available for collection, can be unpredictable. Thus, only flexible
general rules to structured responses can be applied. However, no matter how events
unfold or when the evidence and information are received, certain steps need to be
followed. These include collection, analysis, theory development and validation, suspect

Page 3
 Drug Education and Vice Control Module

identification and forming reasonable grounds, and taking action to arrest, search, and
lay charges.

DISTINCTION BETWEEN A TACTICAL INVESTIGATIVE RESPONSE AND A

STRATEGIC INVESTIGATIVE RESPONSE

These two different types of investigative responses are defined by the nature
and status of the event that the investigator is facing. If it is an active event, it will
require a Tactical Investigative Response and if it is an inactive event it will require a
Strategic Investigative Response. It is important for an investigator to understand these
two different levels of response because they include different response protocols,
different legal authorities, and limitations to authority.

➢ Tactical Investigative Response

Tactical Investigative Response is faced by operational officers who are

engaged in the frontline response to criminal events. As mentioned earlier, police
are often challenged to respond to events, sometimes life and death situations,
where information is limited and critical decisions need to be made to take action.

➢ Strategic Investigative Response

Once an investigator has arrived at the scene of an event and has brought
the event under control by either making an arrest or by determining that the suspect
has fled the scene and no longer poses a threat to the life or safety of persons, the
investigation becomes a strategic investigative response.

EVENT CLASSIFICATION AND OFFENCE RECOGNITION

In order to enter any investigation in either the tactical or the strategic response
mode, an investigator must engage their thinking processes and make decisions about
the event they are confronting. Is it an active event in progress that requires immediate
and decisive tactical actions; or is it an inactive event where a less urgent, slower, and
more strategic approach can be taken? This slower and more considered approach is
the strategic investigative response, and the situational elements of this approach will
be discussed in detail later in this chapter. Thinking about these situational elements of
active event or inactive event is call event classification.

Page 4
 Drug Education and Vice Control Module

ACTIVE EVENT

1. The criminal act is or may still be in progress at the scene.

2. The suspect is or may still be at the scene of the event.
3. The situation is, or may be, a danger to the life or safety of a person, including
the life or safety of attending police officers.

AN INACTIVE EVENT

1. The criminal act has concluded at the scene.

2. The suspect or suspects have left the scene or have been arrested or detained.
3. The situation at the scene no longer represents a danger to the life or safety of a
person, including police officers.

RULES IN COLLECTING DRUG EVIDENCE

❖ EVIDENCE

In legal terms, evidence covers the burden of proof,

admissibility, relevance, weight and sufficiency of what
should be admitted into the record of a legal proceeding.

If evidence is procured illegally, such as during

an unlawful police search, then that evidence (and any other
evidence it leads to) may not be used at trial. Evidence that
is deemed irrelevant or prejudicial to a case also may be
deemed inadmissible. Additionally, evidence may be thrown
out if the integrity of its handling ("chain of custody") is in
doubt.

❖ DIFFERENT TYPES OF EVIDENCES

1. Real evidence (tangible things, such as a weapon)

2. Demonstrative (a model of what likely happened at a given time and place)
3. Documentary (a letter, blog post, or other document)
4. Testimonial (witness testimony)

Page 5
 Drug Education and Vice Control Module

5. Circumstantial Evidence: Evidence that tends to prove a factual matter by

proving other events or circumstances from which the occurrence of the matter
can be reasonably inferred.
6. Corroborating Evidence: Evidence that is independent of and different from but
that supplements and strengthens evidence already presented as proof of a
factual matter.
7. Hearsay: A statement made out of court and not under oath which is offered as
proof that what is stated is true (usually deemed inadmissible).

FRUIT OF POISONOUS TREE DOCTRINE

Fruit of the poisonous tree is a legal metaphor used

to describe evidence that is obtained illegally. The logic of
the terminology is that if the source (the "tree") of the
evidence or evidence itself is tainted, then anything gained
(the "fruit") from it is tainted as well.

PLAIN VIEW DOCTRINE

The plain view doctrine permits the warrantless seizure of items if the items are
discovered inadvertently and are immediately apparent as evidence of crime.

References:

https://www.attorneys.com/drug-crimes/what-does-a-
drug-investigation-entail

https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/criminalinvestigation
/chapter/chapter-4-the-process-of-investigation/

https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx
?ID=63104

Videolinks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lyh7MQB6VPk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LekxpjakYfM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP8_8NWa5do

Page 6