Criminal Investigation Handbook: Strategy, Law, and Science.

Criminal Investigation Handbook: Strategy, Law, and Science by Thomas P. Mauriello, Matthew Bender and Company, Inc., New York, New York, 1998.

The Criminal Investigation Handbook is a comprehensive tool that can assist any law enforcement officer, from rookie patrol officers to seasoned federal agents assigned to complex investigations. Directed toward anyone required to understand the investigative praocess, the Criminal Investigation Handbook enhances the law enforcement officer's basic training, provides exposure to new ideas and methods, and serves as a valuable reference for all criminal investigations.

Investigative textbooks are often timely and informative when written, but the Criminal Investigation Handbook remains current. In a unique approach, the author eliminates dated material through annual updates. Produced in a five-ring binder, the Criminal Investigation Handbook allows users to easily update information by inserting new materials and deleting the old. Formerly entitled the Police Investigation Handbook, the Criminal Investigation Handbook had its ninth revision in 1999.

The handbook not only serves as a practical guide for each element of an investigation, but it also provides the reasoning behind the need for each element. Part I, "General Legal Principles," details the process involved in the management of an investigation, elements of proof; basic rules of evidence, and constitutional principles. The reader can easily understand and apply the presented information.

The book addresses every aspect and element of a criminal investigation in Part II, "Criminal Investigation Methods" (e.g., crime scene preservation, collection and documentation, interview and interrogation, informant use, and undercover tactics and surveillance techniques). Chapter 12 provides Websites, e-mail addresses, and databases for access to investigative information and resources. The proliferation of the Internet allows anyone with limited computer literacy immediate access to hundreds of worldwide databases to further an investigation. Additionally, Chapter 17 discusses computer forensics as an area of law enforcement struggling to keep pace with daily innovations in computer technology. In today's society, computers have become an instrumentality to many different crimes. The Criminal Investigation Handbook provides necessary guidance in the investigation of an area new to a large number of law enforcement officers. The author presents the comprehensive information in a manner clear enough for t hose with limited computer knowledge to understand.

Part III, "Testifying and Use of Evidence in Court" provides insight to the end result of the law enforcement officer's investigative efforts by offering methods and techniques for successful presentation of evidence and testimony in the courtroom. The final section, "Investigation of Specific Crimes," details the elements and investigative techniques of particular offenses (e.g., property, sex, white-collar, foreign counterintelligence, and drug-related crimes).

The Criminal Investigation Handbook provides answers to the basic interrogatives of criminal investigation, as well as the intricacies involved in the successful prosecution of these investigations. With its annual updates, this book remains a valuable reference for any law enforcement officer, and will appeal to anyone responsible for criminal investigations.