Crime is a fact of life, despite the best efforts of law enforcement officials to prevent it. Once a crime is committed, police work to investigate, identify, and apprehend the culprit, and provide the appropriate evidence needed for a conviction. Crime-fighting experts are constantly developing new techniques and technologies to make it harder for criminals to commit crimes or to escape unpunished when they do. Though these crime-fighting practices are often dramatized in popular movies and television shows, the true-life examples are even more fascinating. Designed to be informative and entertaining, each title in the high-interest "Criminal Investigations" series looks at a key area of crime, how and why it occurs, what investigative techniques police use to prevent or solve it, and how it is processed by the legal system. Following an overview of the type of crime, successive chapters detail key cases, examining the evidence in each one and explaining its significance. Special emphasis is placed on landmark advances and precedents. Sidebars focus on vital aspects of investigation, such as ballistics testing, document authentication, fingerprinting, and police procedure.
Each fact-based book presents case studies in a 'you-are-there' style and strives to inspire readers' imaginations.