ASIS CPP - Investigations Flashcards
What is an Investigation?
A systematic & thorough examination or inquiry into something or someone (the collection of facts & information) and the recording of that examination in a report)
What is a fact-finding process, ideally separated from the decision-making process?
Workplace Investigation
Facts of an effective workplace investigation
- Must be fair & impartial
- Must be factual & objective
- Must be thorough
- Must be well documented
- Must protect the rights of suspected violators & witnesses
- Must not violate the law, company policy, labor agreements, or anyone’s right to privacy
- Must be confidential - evidence findings, notes, reports & conclusions should only be shared with those who need to know
- Should always involve upper-management & HR
Primary Purposes of any Investigation
- Documenting incidents
- Identifying the cause of undesirable situations
- Documenting & correlating facts
- Identifying suspects
- Compiling information to prove/disprove allegations or implicate/exonerate suspects
- To make a decision about suitability
What is a lack of solid, ethical standards that can seriously damage the effectiveness of an investigative unit & can leave the organization open to civil or criminal liability?
Ethics
Two Key Decisions for Outsourcing and Investigation
- Size of the preferred vendor
- Whether services will be bundled
5 Attributes of an effective & reliable investigation
- Objectivity
- Thoroughness
- Relevance
- Accuracy
- Timeliness
5 Principle resources of an investigation unit
- People
- Information
- Credibility
- Physical assets
- Financial assets
4 Phases of the investigative life cycle
- Initiation of the investigation & its source
- The investigation itself
- Reporting
- use of the information (includes adjudication)
3 Tools of an investigator (“the 3 I’s”)
- Information
- Instrumentation
- Interrogation (principal tool)
3 Definition or foundation documents for the unit
- Functional charter (usually produced in the suite)
- Policy statement
- Objectives
When should an employer determine whether the employee conduct is a legitimate subject of discipline & inquiry under state & federal laws?
Prior to conducting an investigation
Principle characteristics of internal theft
- diversion
- conversion
- disguise
- divergence
Incident investigations may also be referred to as…
Complaint Investigations (which is the most common type of investigation in many organizations
An Incident Reporting System does 2 things that could not otherwise be done
- Provides a history of events occurring to the organization
- Provides a basis for professional efforts at asset recapture, recovery or incident reduction or termination
4 Categories of Security Data Analysis
- Claims avoided
- Proofs of loss
- Recovery of physical assets
- Uninsured claims or causes of action
The purpose of an Incident Report is to…
Provide data on which to base security decisions
Benefits of an Incident Reporting System
- Identifies the item targeted for theft
- Determines which counter-measures were effective
- Classifies events that are high-probability / low-criticality to low-probability / high-criticality
- Provide an overview of where security personnel are spending their time
- Plot event trends
- Facilitate protection or recovery of assets and apprehension of thieves
3 Steps to recommended reporting progression
- All employees must notify their immediate supervisor of any incidents or known or suspected asset losses
- First-line supervisors should be responsible for completing reports of losses within their areas of responsibility
- The Security Manager is responsible for reviewing the report
3 Types of Incident Database Reports
- General management distribution reports
- Corrective action reports
- Loss status report
Predictive Modeling
By tracking & analyzing incidents, the security manager can determine countermeasures that may prevent future losses
What is a common mistake of inexperienced investigators
Failing to corroborate evidence
3 Forms of evidence
- Oral
- Documentary
- Physical
Spoken statement regarding person’s knowledge which may be direct or indirect & gained in any manner
Oral Evidence