Stage 6

This stage is the investigating leads. This is the stage where they look at any evidence gathered from the crime scene, this is the forensic strategy and this could be anything from looking at fingerprints found to a weapon left at the scene. House to house enquires are used at this stage to speak to people who live nearby to find out if anyone seen anything suspicious on the day the crime was committed. Intelligence strategies are used which is finding out information about the deceased or the victim, the police do this by talking to family, friends and neighbours. Surveillance through CCTV is also looked at, this can help any case from a murder case to a robbery, it is very helpful to any case if anything is caught on camera as the police can release these images to the public and ask the public to come forward if they recognise anyone on the CCTV images. Pathology results are important to find out how the deceased died, or was killed (in a murder case). A financial investigation should also take place which is where the police will look at any debts the victim had, therefore giving someone owed the money a motive, if the victim does have debts with multiple people, the police can then interview those people as suspects with a motive. Trace / interview / eliminate (TIE) is a strategy used in this stage this is tracing a suspect, interviewing that suspect and eliminating them from the suspect list if after the interview they are no longer considered a suspect. Also the police will look at what the victim and witness have said.

In the James Bulger case, the police had a phone call from a shopkeeper in The Strand shopping centre who thought the boys may had been in their store the day James went missing with them. This led to the police taking fingerprints in the store and matching the fingerprints found with Jon Venables. CCTV was very helpful in this case as James Bulger was located on the CCTV with two young boys, if it wasn't for the CCTV the police would not have known to search for the two young boys and it may have took them a lot longer to find out who took James. The pathology results found in the James Bulger case showed that James died before the train hit him, this told the police that James had not been killed by the train but had been murdered. The police traced Jon Venables and Robert Thompson and interviewed them both. The police could not ask the victim any questions in this case, but it is important to gather information off the victim in other cases when it is possible.

This stage can help piece together all evidence and information, therefore giving the police a much clearer view on what has happened and what lead to follow. This process helps the police figure out who the suspects are. If procedures are not followed correctly in this stage and the evidence is not looked at properly, it could lead to an innocent suspect being convicted of the crime. If procedures are followed correctly in this stage and all evidence is took into account and looked at properly, it could lead to the right criminal being caught and the case being solved.