What It Takes To Become A Successful Investigator
Mid-Term Essay Exam
Criminal investigation is a very tedious job, becoming an investigator shouldn’t be just based on experience, there is so much more to the practice. Investigators should have a certain type of personality, also their mental state will come into play, so will the ability to inquire about information and then knowing how to use the information that has been provided. Investigators greatest weapon is optimal mindset due to the fact that it is the fixed mental attitude and disposition which in turn helps predetermine the responses and interpretations of a situation. Attitude and interpretation are key qualities and investigator must possess, but there is much more that is needed to be a successful investigator. Qualities that they should have in addition to the two referenced above would be intelligence, reasoning abilities, curiosity, imagination, observation and memory. Another great quality that investigators should have would be to possess the ability to recognize and control any thoughts or actions that may be prejudice or biases, while at a crime scene or in court (Osterburg, 2007). When investigators enter into a crime scene it is important that they do so with an open mind-set, this will help them to collect information from any witnesses and/or victims, physical evidence and to seek more information or evidence to solve the crime. Investigators should question the details of the case and/or evidence, because it will help them to reflect back on all information that has been collected throughout the investigation. Many people assume that an investigators job is primarily searching for evidence, but what they fail to realize is there’s a lot more to it than that. For starters the most important and critical tasks is being able to inquire about information from all different types of sources, that were either at the scene or knew about the crime.