Put Together A Case File: Part 1
- Apr 16
- 7 min read
Are you interested in some detective work? Many are and most don’t get far.
This is going to cover some basics, but before we begin it is important to state: work on one case at a time until you are capable of more. Starting out, just focus on one. It’s going to eat up some time.
This is PART 1 and will cover basic case file set up and what evidence is. PART 2 will cover evidence collection and case conclusion. PART 3 will cover interviews and statements.
Case file goals:
Gather data on a crime and/or criminal(s)
Data collected should be viable in court
Tests and specialized data should come from third-party sources
Collected evidence should be handled properly or it will be thrown out
You should end up with something you can pass along to police
Starting Out
You start by picking up some tidbit of information. Perhaps you hear about drugs being brought in and sold by some local gang. Perhaps you’re looking into a local cold case. Whatever it is that you’re starting with, begin by writing down what you know, who leaked the information (and possibly their contact info), and doing a deep dive on the information provided.
The deep dive that you do should include: social media searches, newspaper searches, court system searches, public safety searches, and informational searches. Collect photos, social media screenshots, news articles, legal information, and any additional information. Absolutely include citations (use Cite This For Me) and keep track of where information came from (who, contact info).
This starting bundle of information should be a solid base that you can create a case for. If it helps, keep a list of questions that you have on the case. Remember that you want to know: who, what, why, when, where, and how. Your next goal will be to find a lead or leads.
Leads
You’ll have to learn to get information from people, which gives us a lead on the case or perhaps multiple leads. Once you get a lead, run it down - look into it. Do a deep dive, try to collect evidence, etc. The goal is to figure out who is doing what. Did that lead pan out? No? Maybe they have a solid alibi. Make note of it and keep your evidence proving it.
Look for a new lead.
This is the round and round efforts that detectives go through to put a case file together. Start watching shows like ‘Forensic Files’ or some true crime documentaries. Pay attention to what the police are doing to put their cases together. They talk to people, they follow up on leads, they collect evidence and statements from people, and more.
Report Writing
As you add to your case file, you will want to document everything. Document Everything. That means writing a report as you add to your case file. It could even be set up as an entry log like this:
Date, Time | Entry about what you found out about, who you talked to, where you patrolled, etc. Include as much data as you can. You can refer to evidence collected by evidence labeling (info further below). You can refer to online sources with proper citations (APA is pretty standard formatting). |
The majority of people do not like all the writing. The catch here is that by including these details can really make for a solid case file.
I also want to really emphasize obtaining contact information from any informants. This way the police could reach out to them if they need to. This could be as brief as “Destiny, hooker, frequents 2nd & Pine most nights. Friends with Viv and Candy. Jimbo is their pimp. No phone.” This is based on casual observation and light discussion. Maybe you are able to get a phone number or an email address. Those are important too. Maybe your contact is more socially secure such as “Dr. Mae Palmer, pediatric doctor at St. Mary’s Hospital, phone xxx-xxx-xxxx, email drmae@hospital.com, works M-F”. One of those two examples will be easier to reach than the other, most likely. A running list of contacts and being able to refer to them in your report writing is going to go over big.
Evidence
Evidence is something that supplies proof. Until the evidence is analyzed, it may or may not be the proof you are hoping for. Regardless, you will still be supplied with some sort of evidence of some piece of information. Evidence can be from a body, collected nature (leaves, dirt, water, etc), visual (photos or video), audio, man made items (cloth/fiber, plastic, metal, etc), digital footprint (cell phone tower pings, online posting, etc), and more.
Your overall goal should be to collect a variety of types of evidence to make a well-rounded case. This means hard evidence and soft evidence; direct evidence and circumstantial evidence; and, when/if you write a paper, you want primary, secondary, and tertiary sources.
Types of Evidence
There is hard evidence, soft evidence, and forensics. In regards to research, there are primary sources, secondary sources, and tertiary sources. In legal terms, there is direct evidence, circumstantial evidence, physical evidence, biological evidence. It’s important to have a firm grasp of various types of evidence so you, as an investigator, can attempt to find and present the best available evidence. Let's define these types so we have a better understanding of them.
Hard Evidence is objective quantitative data that can be measured and verified as factual. This includes: forensic evidence, photographs, video, cell phone hard data, credit card use, medical records, primary source material (research), etc. Law enforcement and lawyers like hard evidence for making a case.
Soft Evidence is qualitative data and often subjective. This includes: opinions/interpretations, feelings, interviews, audio recording, secondary source material (research), etc.
Primary Sources provide direct information of a topic or event. These sources can be pulled from autobiographies, diaries, news articles from reputable sources, an artifact, official documents, recordings, photographs, letters, oral histories, memoirs, journal articles, scholarly works, and interviews.
Secondary Sources offer interpretation, analysis, or commentary. Secondary sources could be historical perspectives, criticisms, histories, documentaries, and articles written after the fact (offering perspective on topic or event).
Tertiary Sources are a further take on secondary sources. It includes encyclopedias, general textbooks, and histories of a wide scope (like a history of the ancient world).
Direct Evidence directly establishes a fact. This may be an eyewitness, confessions, security video, ATM photo, or some other manner of directly establishing a fact. Be aware that an eyewitness or a confession may not always be true. Law enforcement and lawyers like direct evidence for making a case.
Circumstantial Evidence is more objective and is subject to probability, and is anything that is not direct evidence. All forensic evidence is circumstantial and can provide an extremely strong case.
Forensic evidence may be physical or biological. Physical evidence is something physically left behind such as: tracks, toolmarks, glass, fingerprints, fibers, bullets, drugs, documents, explosives, and trash. Biological evidence is biological matter left behind, such as: a body, blood, semen, saliva, urine, feces, hair, botanical matter (plants, pollen, wood), feathers, and scales. Law enforcement and lawyers like forensic evidence for making a case.
I have noted types of evidence that law enforcement and lawyers like to help make their cases. They like the other type of evidence as well, but hard evidence, direct evidence, and forensic evidence are so factual that its hard to rule against it. According to my attorney bff: "video is king in court". We were discussing evidence in regards to case files. Video footage would be both hard and direct evidence; the only downside is poor quality and/or poor positioning.
Evidence Analysis
When you do collect evidence, you will want to have it analyzed by a third-party. This may be a casted animal track or DNA or video or something else. Always have a reputable third-party analyze what you have. They should be able to provide you with a written report, letter, or other documentation to officiate their findings. It also might cost some money, so be aware.
If you are an expert in a specific subject, only then should you be analyzing evidence in relation to that specific subject matter. A biologist specializing in wolves and other canidae should not be analyzing fish scales or soil samples, but they could be asked to look at tracks, listen to audio, look at photos that may be canidae related.
You may want to form a list of potential third-party experts, laboratories, and analysts in your area who may be of use for different types of evidence collected.
Evidence Labeling
Evidence labeling will help you keep track of your potential evidence, who handles it (aka “Chain of Custody”), and provide general information about it. In the field, you probably won’t want to take the time to create an informational label, but you can give it an alpha-numeric ID code. You can also make notes referencing this ID code in a notebook which can be used for a proper write up later. A good system for an alpha-numeric ID code is: [date] - [evidence #] - [type]. This provides some information at a glance. Example: 03252025-001-shoe
What should be included with every piece of evidence is a general description of the item, the ID code, date and location of the collection, who collected it, and any additional important information.
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I have a *.zip file of blank case file documents, if you are considering getting into this sort of thing. There are seven *.docx files. I'm sure you could figure this out, but files like 'Victim 001' should be duplicated for 'Victim 002', 'Victim 003', etc so you don't have one super long file. You can even rename them 'Victim 001 - Last, First Name'. Think of these files as a starting base.
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Next time, in PART 2, we will discuss evidence collection and case conclusion (which is probably not what you think it is).
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