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April 15, 2014

Criminal Investigation

Interlinked Thematic Vocabulary Unit Nº 20 v.18.
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           Main Definitions

  1. investigation 1 |n| an act or process of investigating or the condition of being investigated.
  2. investigation 2 |n| a searching inquiry for ascertaining facts; detailed or careful examination.
  3. investigation 3 |n| is a systematic, minute, and thorough attempt to learn the facts about something complex or hidden; it is often formal and official.
  4. "An investigation of a bank failure."
  5. "The war crimes tribunal and the families of victims are anxiously awaiting the results of the investigation."
  6. "None of this matters, however: the results of the federal prosecutionors investigation matters."
  7. "The distortion that lobbyists have on the government is certainly fairgame for public scrutiny and even official investigation."
  8. examination |n| is an orderly attempt to obtain information about or to make a test of something, often something presented for observation
  9. "A physical examination."
  10. inquiry 1 |n| official investigation.
  11. inquiry 2 |n| is an investigation made by asking questions rather than by inspection, or by study of available evidence.
  12. "The police are making inquiries."
  13. "A man is helping police with their inquiries."
  14. research 1 |n| a careful and sustained investigation.
  15. research 2 |n| express the idea of an active effort to find out something.
  16. scrutiny 1 |n| |pl: scrutinies| a searching examination or investigation; minute inquiry.
  17. scrutiny 2 |n| surveillance; close and continuous watching or guarding.
  18. scrutiny 3 |n| a close and searching look.
  19. "Many cases, when subjected to close  scrutiny, prove not to have been remissions at all.".
  20. "To follow in somebody footsteps."
          

          Investigation Elements

  1. alibi |n| a defense by an accused person purporting to show that he or she could not have committed the crime in question.
  2. arrest |n| take into legal custody.
  3. "A man has been arrested in connection with the robbery."
  4. background check / background investigation |n| a process of looking up and compiling criminal records, commercial records and financial records of an individual or an organization.
  5. "Do I have a right to see my criminal background check?"
  6. "Police obtain personal information about the suspect, notes the alleged crime, and does a criminal background check."
  7. clue |n| a piece of evidence or information used in the detection of a crime.
  8. "Police officers are still searching for clues."
  9. crime scene |n| a place that is being investigated by the police because a crime has taken place there.
  10. evidence |n| information drawn from personal testimony, a document, or material object, used to establish facts in a legal investigation or admissible as testimony in a law court.
  11. "He was acquitted owing to a lack of evidence."
  12. lie detector |n| an instrument for determining whether a person is telling the truth by testing for physiological changes considered to be associated with lying. The results of lie-detector tests are generally not accepted for judicial purposes.
  13. proof |n| any factual evidence that helps to establish the truth of something.
  14. reward |n| a sum of money offered to anyone who can give information about lost or stolen property or about someone who is wanted by the police.
  15. "The firm offered a £10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the robbers."
  16. "The police offered a reward for any information about the robbery."
  17. sting operation |n| a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather evidence of the suspect's wrongdoing.
  18. track |n| a line or route along which something travels or moves.

           Terms Related to Crime

  1. arrest |v| take into legal custody.
  2. "Wayne was arrested for dangerous driving."
  3. "The police arrested him and charged him with murder."
  4. crime |n| an act or the commission of an act that is forbidden or the omission of a duty that is commanded by a public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law esp a gross violation of law.
  5. “Commit” a crime." 
  6. “Crime is on increase.”
  7. criminal |n| person guilty of a crime, breaking the law.
  8. "He is one of the most wanted criminals in the United States."
  9. "She was treated like a common criminal."
  10. forensic |adj| relating to or denoting the application of scientific methods and techniques to the investigation of crime.
  11. "A medical-forensic expert concluded that the death of Ms. Khairulina occurred as a consequence of "mechanical asphyxia".
  12. police |n| force responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the maintenance of public order.
  13. "Since the police force was set up in 1997, there have been four missions mandated to train and professionalise it."
  14. "Bermuda has a police force of approximately 450 full-time officers and several hundred part-time police reserves."
  15. prison |n| a building (or vessel) in which people are legally held as a punishment for crimes they have committed or while awaiting trial.
  16. "He died in prison."
  17. weapon / arm / armament |n| a device used with intent to inflict damage or harm to living beings, structures, or systems.
  18. "These companies fuel demand for legal firearms, as they must purchase weapons for their agents."
  19. "The primary destination of these weapons is bands specialised in robbing banks, armoured cars and land cargo transport (highway robbery)."


           People

  1. police officer / officer |n| a member of the police.
  2. detective |n| a person, especially a police officer, whose occupation is to investigate crimes.
  3. investigator / research worker / researcher |n| a scientist who devotes himself to doing research.
  4. forensic scientist / forensic |n| a professional who conducts forensic examinations in any of the forensic science fields.
  5. pathologist  / coroner  |n| a doctor who studies dead bodies to find out the cause of death.
  6. offender |n| a person who commits a crime.
  7. "The report on sexual discrimination at work shows that some of the worst offenders are women."
  8. victim |n| a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime.
  9. "To be the victim."
  10. witness / eyewitness 1 |n| a person who sees something happen and is able to describe it to other people.
  11. "Police have appealed for witnesses to the accident."
  12. "A witness to the killing."
  13. witness / eyewitness 2 |n| (in court) a person who gives evidence in court.
  14. "A defence/prosecution witness."
  15. "To appear as (a) witness for the defence/prosecution."
  16. "Several witnesses testified that there had been two gunmen."
  17. "To be witness to something."