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In the next part of the paper we will point on the meaning and characteristics of the proactive
criminalistic investigation, by analyzing basic elements of these modern concepts of criminalistic
organization activities.
2.
MEANING AND FEATURES OF PROACTIVE CRIMINALISTIC INVESTIGATION
Basis for taking proactive criminalistic investigation is the suspicion that a particular person
(individually or in a group), engaged in illegal activities. In this regard, proactive criminalistic investigation
may be manifested in two ways. The first focuses on a specific crime problem (for example, increased
number of addictive substances in certain area, which indicates to the increased presence of the sale of
narcotics). It is the so-called problem-oriented (proactive) criminalistic investigation. The second form is
focused on certain persons or person as a possible carrier of criminal activities. It is the proactive
criminalistic investigation aimed at targets. In both forms, the core of proactive criminalistic investigation is
made by police intelligence work which is aimed at gathering information about specific criminal risks and
threats. The essence of proactive criminalistic investigation includes the pre-treatment according to the
criminal offense, whose execution is expected, i.e. proactive steps are aimed at preventing criminal
manifestations. Proactive criminalistic investigations were focused on any criminal event or a process that
can lead to the commission of the crime, as well as to persons who are potential offenders. The goal of
proactive investigation is to identify potential criminal risks and threats and new forms of crime, in order to
prevent the onset and reduce the potential damage, as opposed to reactive, whose goal is reflected in the
discovery of the perpetrator and the preservation of evidence in order to initiate criminal proceedings for
offenses that had already been made.
With respect to this goal, the methodology of the proactive criminalistic investigation is significantly
different from the methodology and structure of the reactive criminalistic investigation. Proactive
criminalistic investigation usually starts based on the collected intelligence to suggest that a particular
individual or group planned to commit the crime, or to a particular area or object may occur commission of a
crime. Proactive criminalistic investigation is particularly applicable at the already registered criminal
organized groups, as well as opposition to political crime, or protects national security from known internal
and external political extremist groups.
The proactive criminal activity in the fight against organized crime or protection of national security
is, so to say, the "real" (timely) criminalistic protection from the modern forms of crime. Conditionally, the
"real" (timely) crime protection realized its function in vestibule of occurrence of adverse effects, i.e. before
the start of materialization of the criminal activity. In this regard, proactive criminalistic activity should
result in giving answers to certain questions, which will then initiate further operational actions in the sense
of prevention from crime occurrence. Taking into account that this is an
ante delict, and not
post delict
activity, nine gold criminalistic issues that are entering in the operational phase of
post delict criminalistic
activity, here are useless because the criminal event has not occurred, yet. So, for preventive criminalistic to
activity maintain its function, it must be set on the so-called operational criminalistics questions whose
answers need to be given in the stage of criminalistic control. It is about the following issues:
Which criminal activity has been prepared?
Which circumstance, relationship, process or activity produced the idea of the realization of a
criminal activity that is being prepared?
In what form and with what intensity will it manifest?
What is the possible modus operandi of the offenders?
Which values are threatened and what consequences can be caused?
Who are the
holders of the occurrence, or subjects of threat?
In which area the criminal activity will manifest?
By answering to
the above operational issues, a timely detection of phenomena that constitute criminal
risks and threat to the security in the time of preparing a criminal offense is carried out, which creates
favorable conditions for the prevention of pre materialization, and thus prevent the endangerment and
violation of the security situation. Thus, the function of crime proactive action and action through the
implementation of the criminalistics control to protect against modern forms of crime is reflected in the
monitoring of the criminal environment and recognizing and detecting criminal risks and threats and
preventing them before they come to the realization of criminal intent.
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In relation to the above mentioned operational issues, criminalistics activity at this stage of the
criminalistic-operative activities is focused on, and determined. To perform its functions, the crime control
must be based on the foundations of modern concepts of criminalistic activities, such as problem-oriented
policing, led-intelligence police work, criminalistic strategic approach and community policing. Specifically,
the successful realization of proactive criminalistic activity is of a great importance in the timely
identification of the causes of criminal activity and the state of crime with the aim of eliminating them.
Taking into account the fact that the preventive activity of the entire community focused on the elimination
of conditions and causes of crime, sufficient to show the importance and the role of the law enforcement
activities related to identifying the criminogenous factors. In addition to identifying the causes, it is
important to perform the analysis of the formation mechanism and the forms of certain criminal offenses, as
well as to determine the real situation and the direction of movement of certain types of crime. This is
particularly important, given the rapid technical and technological development of the society, which has
resulted in an increase in the urban areas, high mobility of criminals, the emergence of new forms of crime,
such as the computer crime, and that traditional forms of crime receive the manifestation of new forms of
crime (e.g.
internet hoaxes, etc.).
A key part of the operational methodology of proactive police work is monitoring criminal milieu and
application of methods of recognizing phenomena in the environment, or the criminal milieu. The control of
criminal and security risks and threats, and overseeing the criminal milieu through criminalistic measures,
methods, and tools requires a well-developed operational dimension of law enforcement agencies in which
criminalistic activity operating positioned so that its organization, implementation and interpretation of the
operative material carried on manner that greatly increases the epistemological value of the material and thus
increases the probability of success in the timely recognition, detection and control of the criminal-security
risks and threats in the stage of their formation on the one side, and gathering evidence of their existence on
the other side.
The method of recognizing the emergence of the criminal environment is not focused on a specific
crime, but the monitoring of events in the criminal milieu, criminal organizations, as well as on the forms of
criminal activity, gathering data and information, with the aim to anticipate possible directions of the
criminal-security risks and threats. The ultimate goal of proactive criminalistic activity involves reaching a
critical advantage over the perpetrators of criminal activities that threaten the value of protecting by the
national security system of a country. This is achieved by using predictive measures of criminalistic
operational research on the criminal subjects.
So, proactive criminalistic research must be scientifically based, i.e. based on an analysis of data on
the status and trends of criminal manifestations that threaten the security. Based on these data and using the
scientific method, it is necessary to define the possible manifestations of criminal and security issues, as well
as their development tendencies. Defining the possible criminal and security issues determines the focus of
proactive criminalistic activity. After the determination of possible criminal and security issues, proactive
criminalistic activity in the form of problem-oriented policing is directed toward neutralizing the conditions
and causes which favor the occurrence of these problems. Taking into account that the criminalistic activity
in problem-oriented models of police work only focuses on criminal and security problems which is not
enough, there is a need for a parallel application of other forms of organization of criminalistic activity. In
addition to the problem-oriented proactive criminalistic activities it is necessary that the application of the
concept led-intelligence police work is also conducted. Specifically, a proactive criminalistic intelligence
work is focused on the subjects or potential holders of criminal activity. Therefore, it is very important to
simultaneously focus on criminalistic activity to the criminal and security problems, as well as potential
subjects of threats. In addition to these ways of organizing criminalistic activity, for the effective realization
of the criminalistic proactive protection, a proactive strategic approach is also necessary. Criminalistic
strategic approach in order to protect society from modern forms of criminal manifestation is primarily
reflected in the effective implementation of the objectives of criminal policy. Thus, for example, if one of the
goals of the criminal policy is protection of the economic system of counterfeit money, specifically
counterfeit euros that criminal organizations inserted in financial flows, then using a strategic approach to
shaping a proactive criminalistic strategy which aims to identify and recognize the indicators that point to the
possibility for the occurrence of this type of criminal manifestation of the territory of a country is necessary.
From this definition of criminalistic intelligence strategies derive the following requirements regarding the
possible forgery of the euro in a given country: is there an intention of falsifying the euro in that country,
whether domestic counterfeiters have the necessary knowledge to produce counterfeits, whether they have
the necessary technical facilities and whether they have the necessary contact with other criminals for the
establishment of a distribution network on the continent? Indicators by which they could respond to the set