Investigative Techniques and Reporting
This domain rewards practical judgment. Candidates should understand case intake and scoping (define the objective, confirm lawful purpose, document authority), planning, evidence handling, and report writing.
Surveillance: establish a lawful vantage point (public space), maintain a contemporaneous activity log with date, time, location, and observations, and avoid detection that would compromise safety. Note that continuous surveillance is not required; what matters is accurate documentation of what was and was not observed. Interviews: identify yourself truthfully as an investigator (subject to lawful pretext limitations), avoid coercion, and record statements accurately. Evidence: preserve chain of custody for physical items; for digital evidence, capture metadata and avoid altering originals.
Reporting: a professional report is objective, chronological, and attributable. It states who, what, when, where, and how; distinguishes direct observation from hearsay and from inference; includes relevant negatives; and is signed and dated. Photographs and video should be logged with time, location, and context. Reports may become evidence, so clarity and accuracy matter more than persuasion.
Databases and records: use lawful sources, respect DPPA/FCRA limits, and verify identities before drawing conclusions - a common failure is matching a name without confirming date of birth or other identifiers.
Traps: questions that reward a persuasive, conclusion-heavy report over a factual one; assuming surveillance must be unbroken; and treating a database hit as proof of identity.
Rule of thumb: Write the report so a stranger could reconstruct exactly what you did, when, and what you actually saw - including what you did not see.