FOR

• Forensic investigator


  Person responsible for conducting forensic investigations
• Types of forensic investigators


  • Criminal investigators or police detectives
  • Peace officers (e.g. Metropolitan police services)
  • Private investigators
  • Corporate investigators
  • Statutory investigators
• Mandate to investigate


  The authority or permission granted to an investigator to conduct an investigation
• Mandate to investigate


  • Risks and considerations
  • Format of an investigation mandate
• Private persons


  Individuals who are not professional investigators but may assist in an investigation
• The first step in the investigation process is to understand the different types of forensic investigators and the mandate they have to conduct investigations

  
• Investigator


  A private, corporate or law enforcement official/person who investigates and gathers information and evidence about possible crimes, irregularities, transgressions or other wrongdoing
• Mandate


  The authority that empowers and guides an investigator to engage in information and evidence-gathering activities
• Types of investigators


  • Criminal investigators/police detectives
  • Peace officers (metropolitan police)
  • Private investigators
  • Corporate investigators
  • Statutory investigators
• Criminal investigators/police detectives


  • Employed by the South African Police Service (SAPS)
  • Vested with extensive powers such as entering premises, questioning people, searching premises, seizing evidence, arresting and detaining
  • Responsible for preventing, combating and investigating crime, maintaining public order, protecting and securing inhabitants and their property, and upholding and enforcing the law
• Police officials must obey the laws of the land and act in accordance with the Constitution
• Peace officers (metropolitan police)

  • Appointed as "peace officers" under the Criminal Procedure Act
  • Have powers including the right of arrest without a warrant, searching arrested persons and seizing certain articles
  • Primarily responsible for investigating and enforcing local government by-laws
• Private investigators


  • Do not have the same legal status as police officials
  • Act in a private capacity and cannot force anyone to cooperate or be questioned
  • Witnesses cooperate voluntarily and may refuse to answer questions
  • Can investigate both criminal and civil matters
  • Employed by industry to conduct investigations such as claims, credit checks, background checks, locating missing people, surveillance, undercover operations
• If private investigators' actions are illegal, the case may be lost
• Corporate investigators


  • Conduct investigations into employee misconduct or to safeguard the company's security, strategic, operational or business interests
• Statutory investigators


  • Empowered by specific legislation to conduct investigations within their mandates
• Cooperation among different types of investigators is vital to achieve the goal of fighting crime successfully
• Private investigators


  • They sometimes come across criminal matters and can then enlist the assistance of the police, once a criminal charge has been laid
  • Their actions must be legal, as illegal actions can lead to the case being lost
• If a private investigator's actions are illegal, such as tapping another person's telephone illegally, the case may be lost
• Private investigative companies are as successful or unsuccessful in performing their roles as the people they employ
• Once the private investigator has sufficient evidence to support a criminal charge, the matter may be handed over to the police for arrest and prosecution
• Integrity of an investigator


  • It should be beyond reproach or no court of law will accept the evidence of this person
  • There will always be a suspicion that the evidence was obtained illegally or unconstitutionally
• Principles for private investigators to follow


  • Perform investigations professionally, morally and ethically
  • Work within the framework of the law
  • Conduct investigations lawfully
  • Protect confidential information
  • Tell the whole truth when presenting evidence
• Corporate investigators


  Private investigators that are in the full-time employ of an organisation/company or a bank
• Threats against an organisation


  • The personnel are threatened
  • The organisation's information is threatened
  • The organisation's property is threatened
• A corporate investigator usually has full access to the company's information about staff records, financial dealings and a great deal of other valuable information that the police detective may require
• It is very important, when conducting an investigation in an organisation that employs a corporate investigator, to meet with that person and enlist their assistance
• A police detective may be faced with a complaint of corruption in an organisation, and the security official or manager may want to discuss the issue before laying a complaint
• The corporate investigator has quite a variety of roles and responsibilities, including conducting information-related investigations, dealing with employee grievances, and investigating financially related issues
• Responsibilities of the corporate investigator


  • Investigating crime, disciplinary issues, offences and irregularities
  • Tracing and recovering stolen property
  • Gathering information and evidence
  • Determining company risks
  • Protecting company assets, personnel and finance
  • Building well-developed relationships and networking
  • Compiling investigative reports for management, including recommendations
  • Giving evidence in a court of law or in disciplinary/internal hearings
• Statutory investigators


  Investigators who are not police, private or corporate investigators, but who enforce the particular laws that govern their responsibilities
• Examples of statutory investigators


  • Special Investigating Unit investigators
  • South African Revenue Service (SARS) investigators
  • South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) investigators
  • Department of Sea Fisheries investigators
  • South African Reserve Bank investigators
  • Customs and Excise investigators
  • South African Post Office investigators
  • Investigators for Commissions of Inquiries
  • Chapter 9 institutions (e.g. Public Protector, Human Rights Commissioner)
• Each category of statutory investigators has different powers and responsibilities, with some having wide-ranging statutory powers and others having limited powers
• Every investigator needs a mandate which gives them authorisation to proceed with a specific investigation, and this mandate has to fall within the parameters of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa
• Working outside the scope of a specific mandate can expose investigators to a range of problems as a result of illegal or unethical conduct
• Examples of illegal or unethical private investigation practices


  • Searching private premises without the owner's consent
  • Obtaining restricted, confidential information such as bank statements
  • Effecting an illegal arrest
  • Intercepting third-party communication
• Private investigations are usually conducted in confidence and their results submitted in a report to the person who initially provided the mandate for the investigations to be conducted
• A mandate is usually a written document in which a person who has the necessary authority approves an investigation
• Verbal authorisation is never a good idea, as responsibility for decisions may be denied if the investigation reveals sensitive information or threatens the position of key people
• Private persons are not formally mandated to investigate crime, civil or disciplinary irregularities, but the Criminal Procedure Act does allow for certain limited powers, such as the search of premises and the arrest of suspects