criminal investigations
Solving serious crimes
Criminal investigations are official inquiries into suspected crimes, conducted by law enforcement or other authorities.
The process typically involves gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, and identifying suspects: The criminal investigation lasted eighteen months before charges were filed.
The term often appears in formal or legal contexts, distinguishing police work from civil matters or internal reviews.
- cold caseUnsolved crime, investigation suspended
- evidence collectionSecuring items for prosecution
- interrogationFormal, probing examination
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
- probable causeLegal threshold for searches
digital forensics · smoking gun · witness interviews · chain of custody · body of evidence · fraud detection · undercover operations · inside job · search warrants · Miranda rights · forensic pathology · trace evidence · DNA analysis · ballistics · fingerprinting · toxicology · grand jury · person of interest
- crime recordsarrest records, police records, case files, police reports, court cases
- policeofficer, cop, officers, patrol, cops
criminal investigationscivil disputes
Non-criminal legal conflicts
civil litigation · civil proceedings · civil lawsuits · civil cases · contract disputes
criminal investigationscrime prevention
Stopping offenses before occurrence
community policing · innocence projects · rehabilitation programs · due diligence · restorative justice
criminal investigationscover-ups
Acts of concealing wrongdoing
obstruction of justice · evidence suppression · willful blindness · stonewalling · turning a blind eye