Investigative Techniques, Evidence Handling, and Reporting
This domain tests whether you can conduct an investigation lawfully and produce evidence that survives scrutiny. Hawaii expects the licensee to plan the work, use only lawful methods, preserve what was found, and report facts rather than conclusions. Questions often combine technique with documentation: a good result is weakened by a broken chain of custody or an overstated report.
Core methods
- Plan the scope, legal authority, budget, and deliverables before acting. Identify what the client actually needs and what the law permits.
- Interviews should be documented contemporaneously: date, time, place, participants, questions, answers, and demeanor. Distinguish direct observation from hearsay and opinion.
- Surveillance should use public vantage points and lawful access. Log times, locations, weather, and camera settings. Avoid trespass, harassment, and recording where Hawaii wiretap or privacy law forbids it.
- Public-records and open-source research must use lawful sources. Do not access password-protected accounts, impersonate the subject, or rely on unverified database matches.
- Evidence handling requires a chain-of-custody record: who collected, received, stored, or transferred each item; when; and why. Preserve originals, work from copies, label exhibits, and store securely. For digital evidence, record hash values and avoid altering metadata.
- Reports should be chronological, objective, and source-attributed. Separate fact from inference, note gaps, identify exhibits, and avoid conclusions the evidence cannot support.
Worked example
A client provides a USB drive containing lobby camera video. You plug it into your computer and email a trimmed clip to the client. At trial, the opposing party challenges authenticity. The better practice is to preserve the original drive, document its receipt, create a forensic copy with a hash value, review the copy, and log every transfer. Editing the only copy and emailing a clip creates avoidable doubts about alteration and custody.
Traps
- Editing or overwriting the original.
- Relying on memory instead of contemporaneous notes.
- Recording without checking Hawaii consent and privacy rules.
- Mixing rumor or database hits into findings as established fact.
- Writing conclusions without linking them to specific evidence.