Private investigators and the police in Oklahoma City really don’t have a lot in common. A legal agent in OKC has the same privileges and rights as any ordinary citizen. For instance, this means that they can only officially make a legal arrest just like any other citizen under extremely limited circumstances.
Cops, on the contrary, can obtain warrants, make arrests and enforce laws. Along with this, police officers are public employees. The training requirements, job outlook and salaries also differ in both professions.
Here is a breakdown of how a private investigator investigates a crime scene, as opposed to the police in OKC .
Cold vs. Live Crime Scenes:
A “live” crime scene refers to the one that is recent and is guarded by the law enforcement. A “cold” crime scene means the law enforcement agencies had finished their investigation and the crime scene was released to the public.
Never Assume That A Cold Crime Scene Lacks Evidence:
The likelihood of a cold crime scene containing overlooked evidence is high. Several cases solved by legal agents in Oklahoma City are based on the evidence gathered from cold scenes.
There are possibilities of physical evidence that could have been missed earlier when that scene was live. Evidence like this is often all a private investigator needs for their case.
Physical Evidence Is King:
In circumstances when crimes lack witnesses and self-incriminating statements from a suspect, the only means for obtaining a conviction is through physical evidence. It can be evidence with usable things such as the following:
- DNA samples,
- Blood samples,
- Fingerprints
In most crimes, revealing any physical evidence to a suspect is likely to loosen his or her tongue and stimulate a confession. DNA, serologic evidence or fingerprints are impossible to ignore and this brings many suspects to a place where their lips easily open up in a confession. Simply put, physical evidence is king.
PIs vs. Police: Deceit in Investigation
Interestingly enough, PIs work under restraints created by the ethical boundaries that police are not constrained under. For instance, courts consistently hold that police officers may lie to a suspect for stimulating a confession without blemishing that confession, as shown in an episode of the show The Closer.
Private investigators in OKC, however, cannot credibly present confessions or statements obtained by any deceptive means. Exceptions to this rule exist in cases when the PI is investigating an extremely unsavory suspect or someone who has committed an exceptionally heinous crime. In these cases, the jury members are likely to trust statements of the PI even if they were obtained by deceptive means.
Searching Crime Affects and Evidence
In any crime scene, the area under search and the type of evidence sought depend upon the nature of crime under inspection.
A violent crime scene tells the investigator what happened, but the investigator must also be able to read the signs and clues left by the evidence.
Here are a few signatures of crime:
- Fingerprints
- Blood stains
- Bullet slugs and holes
- Tool marks
- Fibers, hair, fingernail scrapings
- Glass fragments
- DNA samples
- Items added, removed, overturned or displaced.
Suspects
Bear in mind that the suspects are also parts of crime scenes. What was left at the scene and what was taken away from it? Evidence like this helps in proving that the suspect was there.
If the cops take the suspect back to the crime scene after the arrest, it will affect the evidence of suspect’s presence there. That is because when the testimony is presented in the court, it may serve solely to prove that the suspect was taken there by the cops.
PIs vs. Police: Different Perspectives of Crime Scene
There is a clear distinction as to what a crime scene means for a police officer/detective or a criminal private investigator in Oklahoma. For a private investigator in Oklahoma City, like everyone else, a crime scene is a place where any criminal act had transpired and is now open for everyday use. On the contrary, police officers and detectives consider an area where careful protocols are followed for evidence recording and extraction as a crime scene, a place that is cordoned off by yellow tape.