Criminology

Compare and summarize the difference between segregating investigators within the same police department in teams for specific crimes (e.g., vice or homicide) and having a large investigation section to investigate the entire spectrum of crimes

In US the Police department is segregated into several smaller specialized units. These investigating team when divided between special teams performs better as they are designed to do specialized jobs. these teams or squads specializes in investigation into a particular type of crime which may includes homicide murder , sexual assault robbery, auto theft organized crimes missing persons fraud drugs vice computer crime and domestic violence etc

For example Scotland Yard police of London is a single investigation type police but has mostly been credited with successfully investigating the conspiracy crimes such as murder. So the point is that although a large single investigation team can be built but then these teams tend to become good in only one aspect because of the type of personnel present.

Another example of a specialized unit is of Serious Crimes Unit which is a special unit of International Police. These investigators have played an important role in East Taimoor of investigating homicide these specialized teams are capable of performing investigation because of the specialized skills and special equipment. If there is only one single investigation team instead of different for crime this type of investigation couldnt be done.

Different type of investigation teams depends different kinds of specializations, a team investigation robbery or murder would heavily depend on forensic evidence where as others depend on other type of specialize knowledge a team investigating financial frauds of large corporations and banks will have certified accountants on their team.

An investigation team that is capable of computer crime investigation would include hackers and computer professional and people who know the computer laws. Same cannot be achieved with one unified investigation team

Organized crime investigation team may comprise of several small specialized investigating teams responsible for looking for evidence including extortion, money laundering, fraud, smuggling, drug deals and illegal exports as well as weapon purchase.

Overall it can be easily seen that a police department having one large investigation section will be less effective to deal with the entire spectrum of crimes if compared with the teams for specific crimes.