STEPS OF THE INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS
1 - Determine if a crime has been committed
2 - Verify jurisdiction
3 - Discover all facts and collect physical evidence
4 - Recover stolen property
5- Identify the perpetrator or perpetrators
6 - Locate and apprehend perpetrators
7 - Aid the prosecution by providing evidence of guilt admissible in court
8 - Testify effectively as a witness in court

DUTIES OF PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
P roceed to scene promptly and safely R ender assistance to injured
E ffect arrest of the criminal
L ocate and identify witnesses
I nterview complainant and witnesses
M aintain integrity of crime scene and protect evidence
I nterrogate suspects as necessary
N ote conditions, events, and remarks
A rrange for evidence collection or collect it yourself
R eport the entire incident fully and accurately
Y ield responsibility to follow-up investigator or superior officer

Follow-up investigations
1 -reading over all the original reports and paperwork, and looking for leads.
2- the evidence is gone over and subjected to every kind of analysis necessary.
3- victims, witnesses, and suspects are contacted to see if their story changes.
4-a stakeout or surveillance technique may be used on a suspect.
5-a meeting is scheduled with the prosecuting attorney to make sure everybody's on the same page with this case.

There are at least six major pieces of police paperwork involved in a follow-up investigation:

POLICE PAPERWORK IN A FOLLOW-UP INVESTIGATION

1. incident reports (also called complaint or field reports) that are made available to citizens in copy form for insurance purposes
2. warrants (for search and arrest) which contain the probable cause information
3. follow-up reports (like the example above) which recreate the history of the investigation
4. property reports (cross linked to incident and follow-up reported) which describe where and how found
5. lab reports (requests for & results of) for anything analyzed by a criminalist or forensic expert 6. review reports (or supervisory review reports) signed by other department personnel

The Police Narrative

N WHEN? when did the incident occur - when did the police arrive - when did all the players (emt - detectives - supervisors - medical examiner - crime scene unit , etc, arrive at the scene and when did each critical piece of the investigation occur (ie body removed to morgue, prints taken, evidence vouchered, witnesses intervied)

E WHERE? where did this take place (exact locations)

O WHO? who is involved (victims, suspects, perpetrators, police, emt, detectives, witnesses)

T WHAT? what exactly happened? This is the place in the narrative for ALL the particulars/details/facts as you know them

W HOW? how do you think this all went down? how did it occur?Y Why? why do you think this happened? Motives? Circumstances surrounding the incident as you know them based on the facts that you know.