Topic The profession of a lawyer. The work of an investigator

Quite a lot of the graduates from our Law Academy work as investigators in the organs of the Militia or of the Prosecutor’s Office.

The duty of an investigator is to search for the truth, for the offender, for witnesses who help to reconstruct the happening and will present evidence of it in court. The investigator must be able to make a searching inquiry into the facts surrounding the commission of the crime or economic offence, i.e. what it is, where is was, who the offender was, when, why and how he was committing the crime.

As soon as the information of the crime committed is got an operative group go out to the crime scene. The investigator is usually the search commander who directs primary crime scene investigation. The duties of the investigator together with the field-criminalist are to find, to collect and to protect evidence, such as fingerprints, footprints, and other traces of the criminal act.

For that purpose they should use special means of investigative technique. They are to take pictures of the objects of the crime scene, to make diagrams and sketches. Basing on all the data gathered the investigator analyses the situation and tries to reconstruct the happening. The crime scene investigation ends with making a record.

Then the duty of the investigator is to examine all the evidence to establish proof of guilt. He must be able to interrogate criminal suspects and to interview witnesses. The object of interrogation is to discover the truth and to prepare a criminal case for the prosecution in court, that is, to develop evidence of guilt and to prove this guilt.

Every experienced investigator possesses his own technique of interrogation, which best suits, his temperament and his talents. Although here is a special list of “do’s” and “don’ts” in the practice of interrogation, some good investigators do not recognize certain general rules and use special their own methods.

Every investigator knows that the success of investigation depends primarily on his efforts, his specialized abilities and on his good decision-making judgement. Every good investigator should be intelligent, competent, patient, tactful, composed, persistent and sympathetic, but he should be firm if it is necessary. He must also possess special investigative aptitudes and professional instinct.

The investigators serving in the organs of the Militia have different ranks. It depends on the place of duty they are assigned to. They can be lieutenants (junior or senior), captains, majors, lieutenant colonels and even colonels.

Topic The profession of a lawyer. The job of an operative

In English an operative may be called a “detective”, a “plain-clothes man”, a “sleuth”, a “CID man”.

The main task of an operative is to prevent crimes and to solve them by using special means, methods and forms of fighting crimes.

The detective activity includes overt and covert functions.

An operative works in plain clothes in his undercover work. Sometimes his lays an ambush. He conducts surveillance of persons, places and objects, penetrates the underworld and comes to know their distinctive marks, their friends, relatives and close associates. He knows that the informants are of great importance in his job, that’s why he chooses and cultivates them. They give him confidential information. He understands that an operative must possess – common sense to be a good judge of human nature.

As for his overt job an operative often takes part in crime scene search. He usually defines the crime quickly and accurately. He tries not to touch and disturb anything. He performs a lot of professional duties there. He deals with evidence of guilt against a person responsible for a crime. His duties are to find, to interview and to interrogate witnesses, eyewitnesses, a victim and a suspect. It’s necessary to do that to analyse the happening and to take immediate measures to detect the criminal, that is to identify, locate and apprehend him.