NY Police Department Standardizing Detective Work
Crime-solving tactics have mostly existed as an oral tradition, passed down informally in the confines of precinct station houses from one generation of investigators to the next. Precinct detective squads belonged to a culture independent from the rest of the department and boasted an autonomy that their uniformed colleagues did not have. Over the last three years however, the New York Police Department has been moving to standardize detective work and codify tactics for solving crimes. The level of instruction in the numerous memos varies from general guidelines and basic investigative methods, to spelling out the very words detectives must say in certain situations. Critics of Chief Pulaski’s mandates describe them as “encumbering the detectives’ mission…treating professional investigators like kids.” However, chief spokesman Paul J. Browne said the memos bolster accountability within the department and ensure that police procedures are “applied as consistently as possible” with the changing laws and focus on forensics.
Source: forensicmag.com
[Abstract by ForensIQ Intern – Mark Lombard]
Citation:
Goldstein, J. (2013, 18). The New York Times . Police Department Standardizing Detective Work . Retrieved February 20, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/nyregion/police-department-standardizing-detective-work.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0
