When it comes to solving a crime, you need to take your cues from the experts. In other words, you need to ask yourself what a professional would do in the situation. Plus, what type of crime are you dealing with? Is a murder? Theft? Is it a bank robbery? There’s a reason why the police department is divided into different units, and it is because different crimes need to be approached in certain ways.
However, there are some basic elements you need to look for and investigate if you want to get to the bottom of the crime. And in this article, you are going to get some tips for solving a crime.
1. A Motive
The first thing the police usually try to do is establish a motive for the crime. Why did it take place? For example, if the crime is murder, are there obvious reasons behind it? Did the killer possibly steal anything from the body? Does the killing look intentional?
There will always be a motive behind a crime, no matter how small or insignificant it might. And sometimes, the motive can be stranger than fiction. Nevertheless, you want to establish whether the crime was intentional, and what the criminal was possibly trying to gain through it.
2. Speak To Eyewitnesses
It always helps if you can talk to people who saw the crime take place. They might be able to give you some valuable information that can lead to solving the crime.
3. Get Suspects
Yes, in a crime everyone is a suspect. But once again, depending on the type of crime, you need to start looking for suspects. Using murder as another example, statistics show that people typically know the person who killed them. Naturally, this is not always the case, but it gives you an idea of where to start.
So, assuming you want to solve a murder, you want to speak to those who are close to the victim. In fact, you want to speak to everyone who got in contact with the victim during the last few days. And once you have a list of suspects and some motive theories, you can start getting to the bottom of the crime and find the person behind it.
4. Gathering Evidence
Just like you need to establish a motive and follow up on suspects, you need to gather valuable evidence as well. Everything that can get tied to the crime can be regarded as evidence. Plus, without evidence, you won’t be able to build a case against the criminal.
5. Putting It All Together
The final step is to put the pieces of the puzzle together. In other words, the motive for the crime needs to connect with the suspect, and the evidence that you gathered along with the eyewitness accounts (if applicable) have to fit in as well.
Obviously, solving a crime isn’t as easy as following these five tips, but they are good fundamentals when starting on your crime-solving journey.