International police cooperation in combating cross-border crime

The growth in cross-border crime is going on in many countries today. The development of increasingly sophisticated facilities for rapid travel has made it easier for criminals to move around the world. At the same time, the complex structures of modern societies and the constant growth of international exchanges provide more and more opportunities for international criminal activity, which has expanded enormously now and reached alarming proportions. Individuals and companies are being subjected to increasing pressure from criminals, leading to widespread feelings of insecurity.

The term «international crime», although in common use, does not necessarily refer to specific types of offence defined in law. When criminal acts, deals and schemes violate the laws of more than one country, they are said to be cross-border, transnational or international crimes.

The UN has classified all transnational crimes into 17 groups: money laundering terrorism; theft of art works and cultural objects; theft of intellectual property; illicit arms trade; hijacking of planes; piracy; hijacking on highways; fraud in insurance; computer-related crime; ecological crime; trade in humans; trade in human organs; drug trafficking; sham bankruptcy; penetrating legal business; corruption and bribing public figures, party leaders and elected officials.

Some offences are covered by international conventions, for instance, currency counterfeiting (1929 Convention), traffic in human beings and the exploitation of prostitution (1949 Convention), and drug trafficking (1988 Convention).

Other offences, however, can be classified as «international» because of the behaviour of the offenders. For instance, preparations for committing an offence may be made in one country while the actual offence is committed in one or more countries. To make another example, similar offences may be committed one after the other in several different countries. Finally, an offender may escape across a border after committing his offence, he may transfer his illicit gains abroad or he may conceal objects or documents used to commit the offence in another country.

Tracing and arresting such offenders may prove extremely difficult; problems can arise in connection with exchanging information, identification, international investigations and subsequent extradition. Because of these problems, police services in different countries must work together if they are to combat international crime successfully.

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OBSERVATION OF A CRIME SCENE

What is a crime scene? The crime scene means the place or the area where the crime such as burglary, larceny, homicide, traffic crime or motor vehicle theft, etс. takes place. The scene is the central location toward which all evidence points before, during and after the crime.

Crime scene search is an action of the investigator consisting of his direct survey of the happening, finding, collecting and protecting evidence to estab­lish circumstances which are significant for the investigation. To observe and examine a crime scene properly is essential for quick and accurate crime solution. It is one of the most important sources of information concerning commission of the crime which enables the officer to answer with specific details the questions: What? Where? When? How? Why? Who? and What for?

Not infrequently an experienced investigator manages to narrow the investigation and search down to a single individual after a careful study of the crime scene.

The process of a crime scene search usually includes a preliminary, general observation, a detailed search and the final stages.

At the preliminary stage the investigator keeps in mind the problems of ensuring crime scene protection, preparation of proper crime techniques, choosing and instructing witnesses, getting information of the happening. And of course he gives first aid to a victim if it's necessary or calls for an ambulance.

At the stage of general observation the investigator is to observe the general appearance of the situation noting everything at the scene. To conduct a crime scene search properly the investigator must reconstruct the happening, analyze the operational conditions, make an estimate of the situation and develop and follow a definite way of doing his job. He makes a plan for the search and informs the participants of the search what and where to search minding not to destroy and overlook any valuable evidence. He also ensures taking pictures of the scene and its objects, making plaster casts of footprints and developing and taking fingerprints.

At the stage of detailed examination the investigator tries to answer a lot of different questions: Is it possible to identify the salient features of criminal's modus operandi? What are these features? Where was the entrance to the scene? What approaches are there to the scene? What was the criminal's way of entering it? Are there any traces of criminal act, e. g. fingerprints, footmarks, blood stains on the objects? Whose prints are they? Was the criminal moving any objects from their positions? Was the criminal alone or in a company with another? Do they always work together? What were they going to do? What instruments do they usually use? What instruments was the criminal using in this case? Are there cigarette stubs or ashes? Does the criminal smoke cigars or cigarettes? Was he smoking at the crime scene? Who can it be? What are his distinctive marks? What is the most unusual feature of his appearance? How does he dress? What was strange in his actions? Why does he behave so strangely? The successful investigator does not forget to note negative facts: Why is the weapon absent? Why are there no fingerprints or blood stains when it is natural to find them? etc. The answers to all those and many other questions help the investigator to build a hypothesis of the crime commission.

At the final part of observation the investigator makes conclusions taking into consideration all available information, packs the traces of the crime for a crime laboratory, makes a record of the crime scene observation and if necessary brings a criminal action.

Some new words for the text:

Questions to the text:

1. What is a crime scene?

2. What crimes do you know?

3. What is a crime scene search?

4. What actions of the investigator does it consist of?

5. What questions should an investigator answer during the crime scene search?

6. What stages does the process of crime search usually include?

7. What problems does the investigator solve during the preliminary observation? (at the stage of general observation? at the stage of detailed examination?)

8. What does the investigator do at the final part of observation?

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INVESTIGATION OF CRIME

Criminal investigation is the keystone of the police service and in the structure of the detective function. Investigation means a search. It means a search for the truth, for the offender, for witnesses who help to reconstruct the happening and will present evidence of it in court. Criminal investigation is indispensable to learn whether an accident involves a crime and if so who is responsible. As for the police work (he investigation is an inquiry into the facts surrounding the commission of the criminal offence, i.e. what it is, where it was, who the offender was, when, why and how he was committing the crime.

No successful investigation is available without participating a highly professional policeman who possesses such attributes of the policeman's profession as dedication, courage, intelligence, competency, self-command, specialized investigative aptitudes and professional instinct, i.e. some sleuthing powers. To ferret out of serious crimes and detect those who commit them а police officer should do his best in performing his job. He should be knowledgeable not only in theoretical fundamentals of law enforcement but he should also be skilled in such policeman's functions as marksmanship, driving a patrol car, communicating with the public. All that helps him in maintaining proper police-public relations and in his decision-making judgement.

Thus frustrating the efforts of professional criminals and quick and accurate solution of crime depends very much on proper special training, education and selection of police officers. It also depends on their skills in undercover work-laying an ambush and conducting surveillance, penetrating the underworld, work with the informants, their choosing, cultivating and usage. The informant is a person who gives the police officer confidential information about a crime as his civic responsibility and duty. A police officer operating in plain clothes often comes to know personally the offenders of the specific criminal specially their friends, their relatives and close associates, and becomes familiar with salient features of their modus operandi.

In case the investigating officer works at the crime scene he defines the crime quickly and examines the scene very carefully before he touches and disturbs anything. He takes active measures to detect the offender, that is to identify, locate and apprehend the suspect or criminal. He usually takes pictures of the scene and its objects and makes a plan on which he records the position of any trace. He collects and protects evidence, interviews witnesses and details a number of other factors, e.g. search of the premises and persons for discovery of stolen property and instruments of the crime. Then he examines all the evidence to establish evidence of guilt against a person responsible for a crime.

No doubt quick and accurate crime investigation and solution, catching, neutralizing and bringing the criminal to justice is essential. At the same time a very much more important and difficult thing is crime prevention. In order to function effectively in crime prevention the professional poliсеman estab­lishes contacts with the public and maintains positive attitudes about the citizens he serves. If understanding is lacking, then decision-making judgement and general performance of the policeman in the field will be less effective. The better he understands the people, the better he manages to perform his duty.

Some new words for the text:

Special Vocabulary for Oral Speech:

Question to the text.

1. What is the keystone of the police and militia service?

2. What does crime detection mean for the police officer?

3. What are the aspects of a detective function?

4. Who is an informant?

5. What are the main principles of the under cover work?

6. What are the functions of the police officer at the crime scene?

7. What is essential for quick and accurate crime investigation?

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ROUTINE POLICE WORK

As you know criminal investigation is the keystone of American police services, its law enforcement. But according to available estimates for some past period of time only one-third of police manpower resources dealt with crime and criminals, the other two-thirds of them - with non-law enforcement or so called "peace-keeping" activities. You did not read much about police peace­keeping activities as their everyday mundane duties or routine police work, did you?

The data collected show that the great majority of incidents the police handled arose when the police responded to citizen calls for service - a citizen telephoned the police and the dispatcher directed a radio-equipped patrol car to deal with the situation. The police officer became implicated in a wide range of human troubles many of which had little or nothing to do with criminal law enforcement. He transported people to the hospital, wrote reports of auto accidents, and arbitrated and mediated between disputants - neighbours, husbands and wives, landlords and tenants, and businessmen and customers. He took missing person reports, directed traffic, controlled crowds at fires, wrote dogbite reports, and identified abandoned autos. He removed safety hazards from the streets, quieted noisy, parties, radios and television, evicted a drunken person from a bar and occasionally scooped up a dead animal. Policemen also spent much of their time with "juvenile troubles". So in the line of his everyday duties a policeman directed, vaided; informed, pacified, warned, disciplined, etc. - in short, contributed to the maintenance of the peace and order.

The officers usually began their shift after roll call. Once the squad car manned by two officers was on the street patrolling the beat - cruising, looking for traffic violations, stolen cars or unsecured business - the officers took their instructions from a radio dispatcher from time to time. You see that the telephone and dispatch room became the centre of contemporary precincts.

Both the dispatchers in their radio calls and the police officers in their records preferred to give the tersest description of the incidents. They used such abbreviations as "B" and "E" (breaking or/and entering), "family trouble" or "domestic", "silent alarm", "somebody screaming", "a theft report", "a man down" (person lying in a public place, cause unknown), "outside ringer" (burglar-alarm ringing), "the boys" (trouble with juveniles) or "kids disturbing", P.I.(personal-injury automobile accident), DK (drunk), PD (property damage automobile accident), H-and-R (Hit-and-Run) and suchlike. We see they used some kind of police slang.

That is a very incomplete list of routine police work that the officer performed over the period covered.) Frankly speaking, policemen disdained this kind of work but they did it every day.

Some new words for the text:

Special Vocabulary for Oral Speech (Part II):

Questions to the text.

1. What percentage of police manpower resources dealt with non-low enforcement activities according to available estimates?

2. And what percentage dealt with law enforcement activities?

3. Did you read much about police keeping activities as their everyday mundane duties, i.e. about routine police work?

4. When did the majority of incidents the police handled arise?

5. Did the police officer become implicated in a wide range of human troubles?

6. What did the police officer have to do?

7. When did the officers usually begin their shift?

8. What did the officer do during motopatrolling?

9. What language did the police officers prefer to use in their operational work?

10. Did the policemen disdain their mundane duties?

11. Is this work necessary for maintaining law and order?

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION,

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE