Criminal Investigation is a legal inquiry based on logic and objectivity. It is designed to bring the criminal offender to justice through the analysis of information, consisting of persons and things. The criminal investigator serves an important role in the police department by performing critical task. He must have the ability to carefully analyze not only the crime, but also the potential suspects and witnesses and their contribution to the case.
Good investigation is one of the most important keys to solution of crimes considering that very few criminals would surrender and smaller still is the chance that they would be caught in the act. The solution to most crimes depends on no-nonsense investigations that include interrogations, interviews and determination of the locations of the suspects and witnesses to the crime.
The performance of police investigators in the investigation of the crime incidents is a very important factor to be considered in resolving crimes. The enhancement in the performance of police investigators depends on the level of their capabilities to respond in the crime scene and to investigate crime incidents.
The study focused on the assessment of the level of performance of the police investigators in the investigation of index of crimes in selected municipalities in Nueva Vizcaya relative to personnel capability, logistical support and investigative procedure.
The study aimed to assess the investigation of index crimes in selected municipalities in Nueva Vizcaya. Specifically, it sought to answer the respondents’ assessment on the performance of police investigators in the investigation of index crimes in selected municipalities in Nueva Vizcaya, problems encountered, proposed measures, significant difference in respondents’ assessment and action plan development.
The hypothesis tested stated that there is no significant difference on the assessment of the three (3) groups of respondents on the performance of police investigators in the investigation of index crimes in selected municipalities of Nueva Vizcaya, problems encountered and the proposed measures relative to personnel capability, logistical support and investigative procedure.
The researcher utilized the descriptive method of research. This method involved the collections of data in order to answer the questions regarding the performance of police investigators in the investigation of index crimes in the selected municipalities of Nueva Vizcaya in terms of personnel capability, logistical support and investigative procedure.
The research instruments used in gathering the primary data for this study were the Survey Questionnaire and the Interview Guide. Likewise, documentary analysis of records related to the study was considered by the researcher.
The grand mean on the level of performance of police investigators in the investigation of index crimes was computed to be 3.84m corresponding to a verbal interpretation of “very satisfactory”. This grand mean was derived by obtaining the grand average on the assessments of the three groups of respondents. For this grand mean, the means of the personnel capability, logistical support and investigative procedure aspects were observed to be 3.87, 3.81 and 3.84 respectively. These results implied that the level of performance of police investigators are reasonable, suggesting the need for further enhancements in the different aspects of the said police investigation function.
The grand mean on the problems encountered by police investigators in the investigation of index crimes computed to be 3.49, corresponding to a verbal interpretation of “serious”. This grand mean was derived by obtaining the grand average on the assessments of the three groups of respondents on the personnel capability, logistical support and investigative procedure aspects which were observed to be 3.79, 3.31 and 3.36 respectively. In totality, the findings on the problems encountered by police investigators had truly magnified the pressing challenge for improvements in the different aspects of police investigation.
The grand mean on the measures to address the problems encountered by police investigators was computed to be 4.03, corresponding to a verbal interpretation of “recommended”. This grand mean was derived by obtaining the grand average on the assessments of the three groups of respondents. For this grand mean, the means of the personnel capability, logistical support and investigative procedure aspects of the investigation of index crimes were observed to be 4.34, 3.62 and 4.15 respectively. In summation, the findings on the measures to address the problems encountered by police investigators in the investigation of index crimes magnified the pressing approval for implementation in the different aspects of police investigation of index crimes in selected municipalities of Nueva Vizcaya.
In light of the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn: The performance level of police investigators in the investigation of index crimes is regarded very satisfactory and the logistical support is the weakest aspect among the variables particularly on the investigative tools necessary for investigations and computers solely for investigation and these are the main concerns of police units nationwide; the dilemma in the police investigation of index crimes focuses on personnel capability especially on the limited knowledge and skills of police investigators on crime scene operation; the enhancement on the performance of police investigators in the conduct of police investigation involves personnel capability, logistical support and investigative procedures, and the personnel capability aspect is the priority on the proposed measures in addressing the problems encountered by police investigators in the investigation of index crimes; and there is no significant difference in the assessments of the three groups of respondents on the performance of police investigators in the investigation of index crimes in the selected municipalities in Nueva Vizcaya, problems encountered and the proposed measures relative to personnel capability, logistical procedure and investigative procedure.
Lastly, a performance-driven plan for investigation should be formulated to enhance the performance of police investigators consisting of the following program components: Investigative Capability/Development Program; Specialization-Based Personnel Assignment; and Fund Programming for Investigative Tools Enhancement.
Based from the conclusions, the recommendations are as follows: The need to make requests to LGUs for funds for the purchase of computers and tools intended for the conduct of investigations, and to solicit support from NGOs and business sectors and inclusion in the annual budget the fund for procurement of equipment and other logistical support for use in investigation.
There’s also a need to conduct periodic capability enhancement training to police investigators on crime scene operations, and assign adequate police investigators to handle other cases and train other personnel in investigation to become future police investigators to ensure equitable distribution of case assignments.
The proposed measures with highly recommended ratings may be adopted and implemented as effective measures to improve or enhance the performance of police investigators and the adoption as well of a Public Safety Development Plan (Performance-Driven Plan for Police Investigators) as basis for policy formulation or implementation.
Moreover, further research work must be conducted on the police investigation dilemma and their possible solutions in order to fully validate the findings of this study in the other research areas.