Criminal Investigation Ethics

Issues of Ethics in Offense and Investigation

Amanda Ovadal

Kaplan University

CJ 210-04 Criminal Investigation

Professor William Post

September 30, 2013

Ethics considered today by police investigators and court officials are by definition or simply referring them as being factual, judicious, and accurate; and in contrast unethical behavior is one being erroneous, fraudulent, or negligent. Planting evidence, falsifying records, testimony, and witness identification; these are all actions that are not common but do happen. These happen at the expense of the innocent whom are targeted because of bigotry, retribution or because of a personal experience. It is not common practice by someone in criminal justice to just have happen, but there are reasons to practice ethics; if for not any better reason that is to make sure that when investigating and prosecuting someone for a crime that it is done legally, and professionally.

In the case of suspected arson there are several steps taken to ensure an investigation is ethical. Arson is defined as, “At Common Law, the malicious burning or exploding of the dwelling house of another, or the burning of a building within the curtilage, the immediate surrounding space, of the dwelling of another. Modern legislation has extended the definition of arson to include the burning or exploding of commercial and public buildings—such as restaurants and schools—and structures—such as bridges. In many states, the act of burning any insured dwelling, regardless of whether it belongs to another, constitutes arson if it is done with an intent to defraud the insurer. Finally, the common-law rule that the property burned must belong to another person has been completely eliminated by statute in some states.” (“The free dictionary”, 2013) Proper investigations, or ethical investigations are followed including bagging and tagging all fire debris evidence. (National institute of justice, 2009) Since this type...