Professional investigation requires objectivity, ethical discipline, careful examination of facts and respect for due process. An investigator’s mindset and conduct can significantly influence the quality, credibility and usefulness of an investigation report.
Certain challenges are capable of causing problems, difficulties and damages to the entire investigation processes and the expected results. They can hinder an investigator’s mindset from not producing deliberate, fulfilling professional and satisfactory investigation report for submission. The investigation outcome can be achieved if the investigator is fully aware of the possible challenges that can hinder it from producing good results and make frantic efforts to avoid the occasions of such challenges. In order to understand the implications and the need to be well-guided in the course of the professional investigative function, these ten (10) factors MUST BE AVOIDED. This first part examines five of such practices.
1. Special bias. The responsibility of carrying out a professional investigation is demanding. It must be approached devoid of disposition of defection of one side-mindedness. This means that a professional investigator should by any means or forms guard against partiality, unfairness, favoritism and pre-disposition to the investigation demands. It imposes on the investigative practitioners as a matter of professional decorum to decisively and deliberately avoid the tendency of the mind to spur these psychological defections as it will definitely affect the demands of investigation enterprise.
Personal bias should not be allowed. Even though investigation starts with one; it must not end with one. It is not investigation for self but an investigation that is intended for necessary consumption of the respective responsive end users. The investigator is a handmaid of the investigation demands and responsibility. The investigation does not end with the investigator and care must be taken to avoid unguided bias. The standard deployed must be in the light of professional expectations of professionalism.
2. Pre-judgment. It is called investigation because the investigator must invest time and use the skills to explore and exploit in order to unravel the entire facts about the situation. It is necessary that the professional investigator should put aside the initial information mentally and psychologically in order to embark on a fresh voyage of investigation demand. It is the consciousness of the investigation journey that will give the investigator the requisite knowledge about the reality of the investigation needs.
Pre-judgment is highly discouraged because professional ethics of investigation does not allow the investigator to give judgment on issues. The investigator can only expose the constituting elements in the incidence while the judgment is left for the judiciary to be pronounced. Pre-judgment will cause unprofessional disagreement that will pervert the course of administrative justice.
3. Bribery insinuation. The investigator should highly be alive to the reality of being bought over in the process of investigation assignment. The bought over could take any form, depending on the intention of the giver or briber. The bribery can be money or gifts. This can be obtained in two ways.
(i) It is either the investigator makes it necessary for the culprit to pervert the course of investigation credibility or the culprit manipulates the investigator.
(ii) It could be that the culprit is deliberately offering the investigator the items in order to thwart the entire investigation justice, fairness and equity needs.
The investigator must necessarily know this untoward act and avoid it with all necessary ethical and professional zeal. The facts must be established and the demands of professional investigation must be carried out in spite of what may be termed as calculated distraction.
4. Accessory to the case. An investigator by its professional training and practices is not expected to be involved in the problem of criminal incidence or insecurity situations. The professional investigator is necessarily expected to live above board. On no ground or occasion should an intelligence investigator be found wanting in anyway. The practitioner must not be connected to the slightest moment or period of crime. The investigator must not create any form of avenue or opportunity for people to link the practitioner to the occasion of investigative issues. The investigative practitioner must decisively distinguish oneself in virtue and should exercise the professional mandate of asserting professionalism in words and actions.
5. Prejudice. The investigator should consciously guard against the rights of people or their claims in the course of investigation processes. The people’s rights should be reasonably respected in view of the incidence and what they claim must be professionally handled. The professional investigator should bear in mind that the opinions of people in the process of investigation must be guided and facts founded. An opinion made without adequate basis is highly detrimental to the professional demand of the investigation. The investigator gets its information and the information is well-examined and coordinated before leaping. It is highly necessary and compelling for professional relevance. It is important to bear in mind that whatever has the capacity to damage opinion, judgment or action should be avoided. As long as it can be avoided, the investigator should endeavour to stay clear. The investigator is not all-knowing and whatever is put forward, heard in the course of the investigation must be professionally managed. The decision must be tactically initiated to impact relevance and reasonability.
Bias, pre-judgment, bribery, compromised conduct and prejudice can weaken an investigation and damage confidence in its outcome. A professional investigator must therefore remain committed to facts, fairness and professional standards throughout the investigative process.
Professionalism begins with the discipline to control the investigator’s own mindset before attempting to uncover the facts surrounding a case.
Effective investigation requires more than investigative techniques. It requires objectivity, ethical discipline, critical thinking and professional integrity.
At ISP, professional development is centred on preparing practitioners to approach their responsibilities with competence, discipline and professionalism.
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