1. Criminal investigation as a thinking process
2. The need to think through the process
3. Towards modern-day investigation
4. The path to becoming an investigator
5. Understanding the investigative mind

Topic 1: Criminal Investigation as a Thinking Process

Topic 2: The Need to Think Through the Process

• What must be done to protect the life and safety of persons?
• Should force, up to and including deadly force, be used to resolve a situation?
• Who will become the focus or subject of a criminal investigation?
• What is the best plan to apprehend the person or persons responsible for a criminal act?
• Will someone be subjected to a search of their person or of their home?
• Will someone be subjected to detention or arrest and questioning for a criminal act?
• Will someone have a criminal charge sworn against them?
• Will someone be subjected to a criminal trial?
• Will someone’s liberty as a free person be at risk?
• Will justice be served?
• Will the community be protected?

• Respond appropriately to situations where they must protect the life and safety of persons
• Gather the maximum available evidence and information from people and locations
• Recognize the possible offence or offences being depicted by the fact pattern
• Preserve and document all evidence and information
• Critically analyze all available information and evidence
• Develop an effective investigative plan
• Strategically act by developing reasonable grounds to either identify and arrest those responsible for criminal acts, or to eliminate those who are wrongfully suspected

• Is it possible that the wrong person was arrested or convicted?
• Is it possible that other persons were involved?
• Were all the possible suspects properly eliminated?
• Was information properly shared among police agencies?
• Did the investigators miss something?
• Was all the evidence found?
• Was the evidence properly interpreted?
• Were the investigative theories properly developed and followed to the correct conclusion?
• Was tunnel vision happening and misdirecting the investigation?

Topic 3: Towards Modern-Day Investigation

• Critical Incident Response
• Interpretation of criminal law and offence recognition
• Crime scene management
• Evidence identification and preservation
• Engaging forensic tools for evidence analysis
• Witness assessment and interviewing
• Suspect questioning and interrogation
• Case preparation and documentation
• Evidence presentation in court

Topic 4: The Path to Becoming an Investigator

• Being passionate about following the facts to discover the truth, with a goal of contributing to the process of justice
• Being detail-oriented and observant of the facts and the timelines of events
• Being a flexible thinker, avoiding tunnel vision, and being capable of concurrently examining alternate theories while objectively using evidence as the measure to confirm or disconfirm validity of theories
• Being patient and capable of maintaining a long-term commitment to reaching a conclusion
• Being tenacious and not allowing setbacks and false leads to deter continued efforts
• Being knowledgeable and skilled at the tasks, process, and procedure while respecting legal authorities and the limitations to take action
• Being self-aware of bias and intuitive responses, and seeking evidence to support gut-feelings
• Being trained in the processes of critical thinking that provide reliable analysis of evidence that can later be described and articulated in reports and court testimony

Topic 5: Understanding the Investigative Mindset

• Investigative thinking is disciplined thinking, and investigators must be consciously aware of and consciously in control of their own thinking
• This is a process of being intentionally engaged at a high level of analytical thinking
• This thinking process is strategically focused, prioritizing investigative plans and actions to achieve outcomes
• Developing a mental map, the investigator deliberately selects a path of the investigation will follow. He or she travels that path with the knowledge that the outcomes of the investigation will only be accepted by the court if the rationale for the path taken can be recalled accurately and articulated in detail

Summary

1. Provide two reasons why it is very important for a police investigator to routinely critically assess all of the information they encounter.
   • Because every investigation is an accountable process, and because every investigation involves making decisions that could significantly affect people’s lives.
2. Provide two reasons why evidence gathered as part of an investigation must be collected in a structured way?
   • Because there are legal rules and processes that must be followed in order for evidence to be accepted by the court, and because the investigator must always be ready to articulate their thinking and justify their actions taken in court.
3. What do we mean when we say that an investigator must be “switched on”?
   • “Switched on” means approaching and working through an investigation with an intentionally high level of vigilance in terms of the collection, assessment, and validation of information and evidence.”
4. In a single sentence, summarize “Locard’s Exchange Theory”?
   • Locard’s Exchange Theory states that a person always leaves some trace of themselves at a crime scene, and always takes some trace of the crime scene when they leave.
5. List seven characteristics commonly found in good investigators.
   • Being passionate about following the truth, being detailed oriented, patient, tenacious, objective, conscious of own thinking and biases, and being knowledgeable about the skills needed to conduct evidence and present that evidence in court.
6. What are the skills a modern-day officer must achieve to respond to events and investigate crimes?
   1. Critical Incident Response
   2. Interpretation of criminal law and offence recognition
   3. Crime scene management
   4. Evidence identification and preservation
   5. Engaging forensic tools for evidence analysis
   6. Witness assessment and interviewing
   7. Suspect questioning and interrogation
   8. Case preparation and documentation
   9. Evidence presentation in court
7. What is the first step in developing an investigative mind-set?
   • Becoming intentionally aware of, and intentionally engaged in, your own investigative thinking processes.
8. What is the level of forensic knowledge that a modern day investigator must achieve to become an effective investigator?
   • The modern day investigator must strive to be a forensic resource generalist with an understanding of the tools available and must be specialist in the deployment of those tools to build the forensic case.
9. Why must police investigators be mindful of the heuristic shortcuts discussed by Shaw and Oppenheimer (2008)?
   •  Because mental shortcuts can lead to the assessment of evidence using thinking that is not evidence based.
10. In addition to heuristic shortcuts, what are the other three negative investigative tendencies that can become obstacles to successful investigative outcomes?
    1. Tunnel vision
    2. Excessive secrecy
    3. Exclusive case ownership
11.  Why must investigators be mindful of excessive secrecy?
    • Because excessive secrecy can lead to missed opportunities to share information with persons who could make connections and reveal additional evidence.

Chapter 2

1. What exactly do we mean when we refer to “fundamental justice” for people who are charged with a criminal offence in Canada?
   • We mean that whoever alleges an offence to have taken place must prove it, the person accused of an offence has the right to see the evidence against them, the accused person of an offence has the right to answer to the charge and provide a defence, the trier of fact must not be biased, the trier of fact must base their decision upon evidence, and they must articulate the evidence considered when handing down a decision.
2. What protection regarding life, liberty and security is provided by Sec 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
   • Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security and the right not to be deprived therefore except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.
3. What protection regarding search and seizure is provided by Sec 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
   • Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure.
4. What protection regarding detention or imprisonment is provided by Sec 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
   • Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.
5. What protection on arrest or detention is provided by Sec 10 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
   • Everyone has the right on arrest or detention to be informed promptly of the reasons for the arrest or detention, to retain and instruct counsel without delay and be informed of that right, and to have the validity of the detention determined by way of habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is not lawful.
6. What protection to witnesses is provided by Section 13 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
   • A witness who testifies in any proceedings has the right to not have any incriminating evidence given used to incriminate them in any other proceedings, except in a prosecution for perjury or the giving of contradictory evidence.
7. What language protections are provided by Section 14 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
   • A party or witness in any proceedings who does not understand or speak the language in which the proceedings are conducted or who is deaf have the right to the assistance of an interpreter.
8. What is the difference between “proof within a balance of probabilities” and “proof beyond a reasonable doubt”?
   • “Proof within a balance of probabilities” relates to civil cases and administrative law, and only requires a determination that one side is most likely/very probably correct. “Proof beyond a reasonable doubt” requires a determination that there is virtually no doubt that the accused is guilty. It does not involve proof to an absolute certainty, but more proof than the accused is probably guilty.
9. What is the general test for “reasonable grounds to believe”?
   • A reasonable person in the position of the arresting officer must be able to conclude that there were reasonable and probable grounds for the arrest.
10. When must an investigator remain diligent in collecting and preserving evidence, even though they believe they will not be proceeding with a criminal charge?
    • When they have reason to believe that the investigation may lead to a civil action.
11. What is the role of the investigator in court when presenting evidence?
    • The investigator presenting evidence in court is essentially a witness, being careful to present their evidence in an objective, respectful, and balanced manner. Importantly, they are officers of the court and not adversaries to the defence.
12. Why does the police investigator have to be attentive to common law?
    • Common law helps to define limits within statutory authorities and dictate the way the law is administered by, and by extension, helps define the way police investigations should be conducted, suspects should be treated, and the processes for collecting evidence and preserving it for court.
13. Can a police investigator decide whether or not an accused should be afforded the defence of necessity?
    • Not in cases where harm to persons or significant property damage has occurred. In such cases, the investigator may collect evidence respecting the defence of necessity, but the final interpretation of that evidence is to be decided by the court.
14. What common law doctrine can be applied when an accused is found in recent possession of stolen property?
    • The doctrine of recent possession, which allows the inference that unless an accused has a reasonable explanation for being in possession of certain property, it can be presumed that he/she had a role in the theft or related offence involving that property.
15. What evidence must a police investigator gather to demonstrate that an accused was willfully blind?
    • Evidence that demonstrates that the accused knew or should have known the nature of the offence taking place, and deliberately failed to respect the reality of the situation.
16. What does the term “mens rea” mean and why is it important?
    • It means the accused person had the mindful intent to commit the offence, and this is important to establish and state because nearly all crimes are only crimes where the accused can be showed to have had intent.
17. What is a prima facie case?
    • It is the presentation of evidence that, if believed, would establish each of the elements necessary for a prosecution to succeed. This evidence is sworn into a criminal information.
18. What is a criminal information?
    • It is a sworn statement of a police officer, presented in the form of a signed document that contains basic information about the criminal charge to be considered by the court. This is the first document considered by the court for consideration of a judge and includes information about the identity of the accused, the date or time frame in which the offence occurred, the place where the offence occurred, the identification of the offence and associated criminal code of other statute section, and the actions taken by the accused that will show they committed to the offence.
19. Is a police investigator protected from criminal or civil liability if they make an error or cause injury to a person?
    • Yes, except where they are found to have acted with criminal intent, or where they were reckless or criminally negligent in the execution of their duties.
20. In applying his/her discretion to not lay a charge where there is reason to believe a person has committed an indictable offence, what must a police investigator remember?
    • They must remember that they do not have absolute discretion. Rather, the discretion:
      1. Must be justified with concrete reasons,
      2. It has to be proportional to the offence
      3. It must be in the public interest, and
      4. It must not be based on any favouritism or bias.
21. When can a police investigator arrest without a warrant?
    • A police investigator can arrest without warrant, when he/she believes on reasonable grounds that a person has committed or is about to commit an indictable offence, when he/she finds someone committing a criminal offence...
22. When can a police investigator detain a person?
    • When the police investigator has a reasonable suspicion that a suspect is somehow implicated in the offence under investigation.

Chapter 3

1. What do we mean when we say that evidence will be considered by the court on its “probative value”?
   • “Probative value” refers to the weight or persuasiveness that the court assigns to a particular piece of evidence when considering its value towards proving a point in fact of the charge.
2. What is direct evidence, and
   •  Direct evidence is any evidence that proves the point in fact without the   interpretation of circumstances.
3. Provide three examples of direct evidence?
   • Examples being, an eye witness account, video tape evidence of the crime in progress, or the confession of a suspect.
4. Can an accused be convicted of circumstantial evidence alone?
   • Yes, so long as it leads to only one logical conclusion that satisfies the court as proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
5. What is inculpatory evidence?
   • Inculpatory evidence is any evidence that will directly or indirectly link an accused person to the offence being investigated.
6. What is exculpatory evidence?
   • Exculpatory evidence is the opposite of inculpatory evidence, in that it shows that the accused did not commit the crime.
7. What is corroborative evidence?
   • Corroborative evidence refers to any type of evidence that supports the meaning, validity, or truthfulness of another piece of evidence that has already been presented to the court.
8. What are the exceptions to the requirement of full disclosure?
   • Where the information involved is clearly irrelevant, considered privileged, risks exposing an ongoing police investigation, or would compromise the safety of a witness.
9. Is hearsay evidence ever admissible in court?
   • Hearsay evidence is admissible if it relates to a dying declaration, a witness is the recipient of a spontaneous utterance, or a witness is testifying to hearsay from a child witness who is not competent.
10. When can evidence be excluded by a court?
    • When the evidence was obtained following the violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including when police conducted an improper or unauthorized search of a person or a person’s property, when police fail to properly provide the appropriate warning and caution under Section 10 of the Charter, when police fail to provide a proper opportunity for an arrested or detained person to speak with counsel after arrest or detainment, and when failing to properly disclose all of the evidence prior to trial to allow the accused to make a full defence to the charge being considered.
11. If evidence was illegally obtained, is it automatically excluded by the court?
    • No, illegally obtained evidence can be admissible so long as after a careful consideration of the circumstances and consequences involved by the court, it doesn’t bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

Chapter 4

1. What is the difference between investigative tasks and investigative thinking?
   • Investigative tasks relate to the information gathering processes that feed into investigative thinking and the results. Investigative thinking, on the other hand, is the process of analyzing information and theorizing to identify suspects and develop investigative plans.
2. What is the difference between Level One Priorities and Level Two Priorities?
   • Level One Priorities refer to the protection of the lives and safety of people, including all attending officers. Level Two Priorities include protecting property, gathering and preserving evidence, accurately documenting the event, and establishing reasonable grounds to identify and arrest offenders.
3. What is the difference between a Tactical Investigative Response and a Strategic Investigative Response?
   • A Tactical Investigative Response is the response taken by the investigator to an Active Event, while a Strategic Investigative Response is the response taken to an Inactive Event.
4. What is the difference between an Active Event and an Inactive Event?
   • An Active Event is a situation where the criminal act is or may still in progress, the suspect is or may be at the scene, and/or there is or may be a danger to lives and safety of people (including attending officers). An Inactive Event is a situation where the criminal act has concluded at the scene, the suspect or suspects have left the scene or have been arrested or detained, and the scene no longer represents a danger to the life and safety of people, including attending officers.
5. When would an investigator consider the Threat vs. Action Analysis Dilemma?
   • When faced with a decision to enter a dangerous situation alone and take action or to wait for back-up to arrive before taking action.
6. When does an investigator have the authority to enter a dwelling house without a warrant?
   • Under the authority of Sec 529 of the Criminal Code an investigator may enter a dwelling house for the purpose of arresting or apprehending a person if he/she has reasonable grounds to believe that the person is present in the house, or if entry is necessary to prevent imminent bodily harm or death to any person, or if entry is necessary to prevent the imminent loss or imminent destruction of evidence, and if by reasons of exigent circumstances, obtaining a warrant would be impractical.
7. Why is it important for an investigator to thinking about “offence recognition” at the same time they are thinking about whether a situation should be classified as an Active Event or an Inactive Event?
   • It is important because the type of offence will guide the investigator’s mental inventory of the evidence and information they need to collect in support of a justification for an arrest or decision to not arrest.
8. What is the Response Transition Matrix (RMT)?
   • The Response Transition Matrix is a tool to illustrate the considerations for police response when considering the authorities and issues to de-escalate from a Tactical Investigative Response to a Strategic Investigative Response and to consider the need to obtain search warrants once the authorities of exigent circumstances are no longer available.

Chapter 5

1. What are the three most common errors investigators make in applying the Strategic Investigative Response?
   • The three most common errors include failing to identify and collect all of the available evidence and information, failing to effectively analyze the evidence and information collected to identify suspects and form reasonable grounds to take action, and becoming too quickly focused on one suspect or one theory of events and ignoring evidence of other viable suspects or theories that should be considered.
2. What five groups of tasks must an investigator follow through on to complete a thorough investigation?
   • The five groups include identifying and collecting all available evidence, identifying all the significant people involved (witnesses, victims, and possible suspects), accurately documenting the criminal event, accurately documenting the investigative actions, and formulating a reasonable investigative plan to identify a suspect and make an arrest.
3. What categories of tasks are involved in the Situation component of the STAIR tool?
   • The categories include breaking out the known facts of the event, classifying the offence as an Active event or an Inactive event, identifying all of people involved (witnesses, victims, and suspects), and completing an offence recognition.
4. What categories of tasks are involved in the Tasks component of the STAIR tool?
   • The categories include engaging either a Tactical Investigative Response or a Strategic Investigative Response, crime scene management, canvassing and interviewing witnesses, profiling the people involved, and documenting the event.
5. What categories of tasks are involved in the Analysis component of the STAIR tool?
   • The categories include: - Making observations and connections between people places, and circumstances - Enhancing the meaning of physical evidence by forensic analysis - Determining evidence of the motive, opportunity, and means to commit the offence - Creating timelines of activities - Developing assumptions and theories that will guide the investigative process - Developing investigative plans based on theories, and - Using existing evidence to validate or disconfirm the theories
6. What categories of tasks are involved in the Investigation component of the STAIR tool?
   • The categories include prioritizing the best investigative plans based on the most likely theory, testing theories against information and evidence discovered through investigation to identify suspects and form reasonable grounds, and possibly returning to ANALYSIS to form new theories or modify theories as new facts are found.
7. What categories of tasks are involved in the Results component of the STAIR tool?
   • The categories include protecting the lives and safety of the people involved, protecting property, gathering and preserving evidence, accurately documenting the event, and establishing reasonable grounds to identify and arrest suspects.

Chapter 6

1. Why must the investigator have the Results in mind at the outset of an investigation?
   • Because if the investigator knows where he/she is going and what the results need to be, he/she can know how to prioritize their actions to reach those results. Setting and monitoring those priorities is a critical piece of the mental mapping process.
2. What are five reasons some people reporting a criminal event lie, fabricate, embellish, or misrepresent the facts?
   • Some of the reasons are that the person is doing it for a personal gain such as a financial reward (e.g. insurance fraud), attempting to take revenge on someone, covering up personal involvement in the crime, attempting to shift responsibility for a crime to someone else, and covering up the involvement of an associate to divert prosecution.
3. What are four key questions an investigator should consider in authenticating a crime report?
   • The investigator should ask – Does the evidence support the report that an offence occurred, and if an offence did occur, did it happen at the time reported, did it happen at the place reported, and did it happen the way the fact pattern being reported suggests?
4. What is meant by evidence transfer?
   • Evidence transfer means that the evidence will transfer from a suspect to a crime scene, a suspect to a victim, from the crime scene to the victims, and/or from the crime scene to a suspect.
5. What is spatial relationship evidence?
   • It is evidence from circumstantial links that demonstrates a connection or relationship between objects, times, events, and people.
6. What is timeline evidence?
   • It is evidence that demonstrates a time alignment of the suspect to the criminal event or to the victim.

Chapter 7

1. What is a collaborative witness?
   • A collaborative witness is a person who can only provide circumstantial or indirect evidence of the events surrounding the crime. 
2. What is an independent witness?
   • An independent witness is someone not related to or associated in any way to the victim, the accused person(s), or the criminal event.
3. Can an accused person be compelled to testify regarding a crime they have been involved in?
   • Yes, if there is a co-accused they can be compelled to testify against that person. However, the testimony they give can’t be used against them in their own trial.
4. Are all persons considered competent to testify?
   • Yes, with the considered exception of children, persons with low mental capacity, and spouses – where it can be established in court that the person in question from one of these three groups of people is an incompetent witness.
5. What is witness credibility assessment?
   • This is a required task of the investigator whereby he/she seeks to determine the level of confidence that can be attributed to each witness.
6. What concerns should an investigator have about dominant witnesses?
   • Dominant witnesses pose a risk of potentially influencing or otherwise contaminating the statements of other witnesses.
7. What should an investigator do in the case of an active event where immediate in-depth interviews are not possible?
   • The investigator should conduct immediate field interviews of each person at the scene, do an immediate classification of each of these people as victims, witnesses, or suspects, and take appropriate measures to separate them for the purpose of physical security and protection of future testimony from cross-contamination of witness accounts and conformity.
8. Is it possible to have a witness statement in something other than written form?
   • Yes, witnesses can provide audio or video statements so long as they are ultimately transcribed and the witness signs the hard-copy transcription.
9. What are two negative aspects of having a witness attempting to identify a suspect by paging through volumes of criminal file photos?
   • The negative aspects are that the process can take a great deal of time, and a witness can sometimes become confused by being overloaded with too many faces.

Chapter 8

1. Can an investigator make changes (e.g. insert recalled facts) to the notes in his/her notebook when recalling information at a later date?
   • The investigator can’t ever change their notes, but they can record later recalled facts by writing them on a new note page, using the current time and date, and making a reference to the previous case notes, previous time, date, and page number.
2. What actions must an investigator take under the Tasks category of the STAIR tool to protect the integrity of the crime scene?
   • To protect the integrity of the crime scene, the investigator must lock down the scene, set up crime scene perimeters, establish a path of continuity, and establish crime scene security.
3. How is a crime scene perimeter defined?
   •  It is defined by the size of the crime scene as determined by the investigator, who will also ensure the perimeter is clearly marked by tape around its outside edges.
4. What is a path of contamination?
   • The path of contamination is a designated pathway established by the first investigator where authorized personnel can enter and re-enter a crime scene to conduct their investigative duties after the scene has been locked down.
5. What is a Crime Scene Security Log?
   • The Crime Scene Security Log is a document, created and maintained by the assigned crime scene security officer, to provide a running log of who attended the scene, when they attended, why they were there, and when they left the scene.
6. What are the two greatest challenges to evidence management at a crime scene?
   • The two greatest challenges to evidence management at a crime scene are the contamination of evidence and loss of continuity of the evidence.
7. Identify six ways in which the contamination of evidence can take place at a crime scene.
   • Contamination can take place through police or other first responders interfering with evidence during a tactical investigative response, suspects interfering with the crime scene to cover up or remove evidence, victims or witnesses handling evidence, animals causing unwanted transfer or removal of evidence through consumption, weather washing away evidence, or when crime scene investigators fail to follow proper crime scene management procedures.
8. What is the purpose of an Exhibit Log?
   • The Exhibit Log is a document running record, for purposes of maintaining the chain of continuity, of where evidence was found at a crime scene, who found it, and the initials of anyone else who handled that evidence from the crime scene continuously to the main exhibit locker.
9. What are the three possible stages of time where evidence can originate?
   • They are the pre-crime stage, the criminal event stage, and the post-crime stage?
10. What kinds of items could be relevant and need to be considered by the investigator in gathering evidence at a crime scene?
    • Items that either the suspect or victim may have touched, items that the suspect may have brought to the scene, items that may have passed between the suspect and the victim, items that the suspect may have taken from the scene, and items that the suspect may have discarded while leaving the crime scene.
11. Beyond having a path of contamination, how can cross-contamination be avoided or prevented at a crime scene?
    • Cross-contamination can be avoided or prevented by the practice of handling only one exhibit at a time, marking the exhibit, placing it in a secure container, and decontaminating the investigator by changing gloves and discarding any item that could have come in contact with a previous exhibit.
12. What four sets of tasks need to be considered and addressed in every crime scene, regardless of how large or small it is?
    • The crime scene must be secured, preserved, and recorded until evidence is collected, existing contamination must be considered and recorded, cross-contamination must be prevented, and exhibits must be identified, preserved, collected, and secured in a manner that preserves the chain of continuity.

Chapter 9

1. At what point would an investigator move from interviewing a person to questioning them?
   • When evidence is discovered to give the investigator reasonable grounds to suspect that that the person is involved in the event.
2. At what point would an investigator move from questioning a suspect to interrogating them?
   • When evidence is discovered to give the investigator reasonable grounds to believe, and after the suspect has been placed under arrest.
3. What are three common scenarios where an investigator is likely to come across a false confession?
   • When a person has been enlisted by organized crime to take the blame, when a person is protecting a friend or loved one, and where a person is mentally ill.
4. What are two ways in which young offenders must be treated differently than adults by an investigator in the process of questioning them about involvement in a crime?
   • Dealing with young offenders requires that the investigator ensure that their parents or guardians are notified, and that he/she explains Charter Rights to youth in language appropriate to their age and level of understanding.
5. What are six examples of ancillary offences that investigators need to be aware of?
   • These include conspiracy to commit an offence, attempting to commit an offence, being an accessory after the fact to an offence, aiding and abetting an offence, counselling a person to commit an offence, and compounding an indictable offence.
6. What evidence must be provided to show that a person can be charged with being an “accessory after the fact”?
   • There must be evidence to show that the person knew that another person committed the primary offence and that they received, comforted, or assisted that person to enable them to escape justice.
7. How is “aiding and abetting” different from other ancillary offences?
   • It is different from other ancillary offences in that it doesn’t become a separate charge from the primary offence.

Chapter 10

1. In terms of a physical matching, what is the difference between a Level One and a Level Two examination?
   • Level One is an examination of an item for class characteristics, while Level Two is an examination of accidental characteristics (e.g. very unique markings associated to wear and tear).
2. How are latent fingerprints made visible?
   • Latent fingerprints are made visible on most surfaces through the application of coloured fingerprinting powder that adheres to the oils left by our fingers.
3. What is the difference between a Level One and Level Two ballistics examination?
   • A Level One examination is focused on the general characteristics of a firearm (e.g. calibre, firing mechanism), while a Level Two examination would focus on very distinct marking as determine through striations matching, chamber markings, firing pin comparisons, and ejector markings.
4. What is blood spatter analysis?
   • It is detailed examination of how and where blood is distributed inside a crime scene providing indications of how the attack took place as indicated by the distribution patterns.
5. What are four common post-mortem indicators considered in an autopsy?
   • The four most common post-mortem indicators are body temperature loss after death (algor mortis), the degree of stiffening of the body after death (rigor mortis), post-mortem settling of blood and staining of skin (liver mortis), and progress of decomposition.
6. How else can a pathologist be helpful to police besides being able to speak to cause of death?
   • A pathologist can also be helpful in providing an expert opinion on such matters as features of weapons used, the direction of a laceration, distance from which a wound was inflicted, and the angle of the entry and exit point of a wound.
7. What is forensic archeology?
   • Forensic archeology is the use of archeological methods by experts to exhume crime scenes, including bodies.
8. What is forensic entomology?
   • Forensic entomology is the study of the life cycle of bugs coming and going from a dead body with attention to estimating relative time of death.
9. What is criminal profiling?
   • Criminal profiling, also referred to as psychological profiling, is the study of criminal behaviour to develop the most likely social and psychological profile of the person who may have committed a particular crime. It is based on the profile and actions of known criminals who have committed the same type of crime in the past.
10. What is ViCLASS?
    • ViCLASS is a database system that documents the criminal conduct of convicted violent offenders and sex offenders, as well as unsolved cases, with a goal of documenting crime types and criminal conduct into a searchable database where unsolved crimes can be linked to offenders with matching profiles. Developed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, there are more than 300,000 cases on the system and since 2007, over 3,200 linkages have been made.

1. Fundamental justice and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
2. Roles of the judges, the prosecutors, the defence, and the police in the justice system
3. The burden of proof
4. Belief beyond a reasonable doubt
5. Reasonable grounds for belief
6. Proof within a balance of probabilities
7. The adversarial system
8. Statutory law
9. Common law (Case law)
10. Actus Reus and Mens Rea
11. Prima facie case, elements of the offence, and the information
12. Duty to investigate and use of discretion
13. Arrest and detention of a suspect

Topic 1: Fundamental Justice and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

7. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

8. Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.

9. Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.

10. Everyone has the right on arrest or detention

(a) to be informed promptly of the reasons therefor;

(b) to retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right; and

(c) to have the validity of the detention determined by way of habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is not lawful.

11. Any person charged with an offence has the right

(a) to be informed without unreasonable delay of the specific offence;

(b) to be tried within a reasonable time;

(c) not to be compelled to be a witness in proceedings against that person in respect of the offence;

(d) to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal;

(e) not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause;

(f) except in the case of an offence under military law tried before a military tribunal, to the benefit of trial by jury where the maximum punishment for the offence is imprisonment for five years or a more severe punishment;

(g) not to be found guilty on account of any act or omission unless, at the time of the act or omission, it constituted an offence under Canadian or international law or was criminal according to the general principles of law recognized by the community of nations;

(h) if finally acquitted of the offence, not to be tried for it again and, if finally found guilty and punished for the offence, not to be tried or punished for it again; and

(i) if found guilty of the offence and if the punishment for the offence has been varied between the time of commission and the time of sentencing, to the benefit of the lesser punishment.

12. Everyone has the right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or  punishment.

13. A witness who testifies in any proceedings has the right not to have any incriminating evidence so given used to incriminate that witness in any other proceedings, except in a prosecution for perjury or for the giving of contradictory evidence.

14. A party or witness in any proceeding who does not understand or speak the language in which the proceedings are conducted or who is deaf has the right to the assistance of an interpreter (Government of Canada, 2015).

Topic 2: The Role of the Judge, the Prosecutor, the Defence, and the Police

Topic 3: The Burden of Proof

Topic 4: Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

The standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt is inextricably intertwined with that principle fundamental to all criminal trials, the presumption of innocence (R v Lifchus, 1997).

• The burden of proof rests on the prosecution throughout the trial and never shifts to the accused.
• A reasonable doubt is not a doubt based upon sympathy or prejudice, and instead, is based on reason and common sense.
• Reasonable doubt is logically connected to the evidence or absence of evidence.
• Proof beyond a reasonable doubt does not involve proof to an absolute certainty. It is not proof beyond any doubt, nor is it an imaginary or frivolous doubt.
• More is required than proof that the accused is probably guilty. A jury which concludes only that the accused is probably guilty must acquit.

The Supreme Court of Canada emphasized in R v Starr, that an effective way to explain the concept is to tell the jury that proof beyond a reasonable doubt "falls much closer to absolute certainty than to proof on a balance of probabilities." It is not enough to believe that the accused is probably guilty, or likely guilty. Proof of probable guilt, or likely guilt, is not proof beyond a reasonable doubt (R v Starr, 2000).

Topic 5: Reasonable Grounds to Believe

The Criminal Code requires that an arresting officer must subjectively have reasonable and probable grounds on which to base the arrest. Those grounds must, in addition, be justifiable from an objective point of view. That is to say, a reasonable person placed in the position of the officer must be able to conclude that there were indeed reasonable and probable grounds for the arrest. On the other hand, the police need not demonstrate anything more than reasonable and probable grounds. Specifically they are not required to establish a prima facie case for conviction before making the arrest. (R v Storrey, 1990)

Topic 6: Proof Within a Balance of Probabilities

Topic 7: The Adversarial System

"Your job ends on the court house steps. Do your investigation and take your evidence to court. Give your testimony and your job is done. Let the court make their decision and the case is done. If you allow yourself to take ownership of every decision the court makes, you will not last as an investigator. Let your job end on the court house steps” (Fookes, 1973).

Topic 8: Statutory Law

1. The Criminal Code of Canada
2. The Controlled Drug and Substances Act for drugs offences
3. The Fire Arms Act for the control of firearms and restricted weapons
4. The Canadian Environmental Protection Act for environmental offences
5. The Canada Revenue Agency Act for Income tax offences
6. The Canadian Customs and Border Services Act for border security

Topic 9: Common Law (Case Law)

• Using physical force, up to and including deadly force
• Forming reasonable grounds to detain or arrest suspect
• Entering private property with or without a warrant
• Using the rules of exigent circumstances to protect life and safety of person or evidence
• Using discretion to take actions, other than charges, when an offence has been committed

The Common Law Doctrine of Necessity

A liberal and humane criminal law cannot hold people to the strict obedience of laws in emergency situations where normal human instincts, whether of self-preservation or of altruism, overwhelmingly impel disobedience. However, it must be "strictly controlled and scrupulously limited." and [sic] can only be applied in the strictest of situations where true "involuntariness" is found. Three elements are required for a successful defence:

1. the accused must be in imminent peril or danger
2. the accused must have had no reasonable legal alternative to the course of action he or she undertook
3. the harm inflicted by the accused must be proportional to the harm avoided by the accused

The peril or danger must be more than just foreseeable or likely. It must be near and unavoidable. At a minimum the situation must be so emergent and the peril must be so pressing that normal human instincts cry out for action and make a counsel of patience unreasonable. With regard to the second element, if there was a reasonable legal alternative to breaking the law, then there can be no finding of necessity. Regarding the third element requiring proportionality, the harm avoided must be at least comparable to the harm inflicted (R v Perka, 1984).

1. The nature of the danger being imminent or not
2. Evidence of other legal alternatives or actions that were available to the accused
3. Evidence that might indicate the danger was either avoidable or unavoidable
4. Evidence to demonstrate the anticipated harm from the threat, compared to the harm resulting from the accused’s action

Doctrine of Recent Possession

Doctrine of Wilful Blindness

“Wilful blindness does not define the mens rea required for particular offences. Rather, it can substitute for actual knowledge whenever knowledge is a component of the mens rea. The doctrine of wilful blindness imputes knowledge to an accused whose suspicion is aroused to the point where he or she sees the need for further inquiries, but deliberately chooses not to make those inquiries” (R v Briscoe, 2010).

“[a] finding of wilful blindness involves an affirmative answer to the question: Did the accused shut his eyes because he knew or strongly suspected that looking would fix him with knowledge? Courts and commentators have consistently emphasized that wilful blindness is distinct from recklessness. The emphasis bears repeating.”

"...while recklessness involves knowledge of a danger or risk and persistence in a course of conduct which creates a risk that the prohibited result will occur, wilful blindness arises where a person who has become aware of the need for some inquiry declines to make the inquiry because he does not wish to know the truth. He would prefer to remain ignorant. The culpability in recklessness is justified by consciousness of the risk and by proceeding in the face of it, while in wilful blindness it is justified by the accused’s fault in deliberately failing to inquire when he knows there is reason for inquiry“ (Sansregret v The Queen, 1985).

Topic 10: Actus Reus and Mens Rea

Theft 322. (1) Every one commits theft who fraudulently and without colour of right takes, or fraudulently and without colour of right converts to his use or to the use of another person, anything, whether animate or inanimate, with intent

(a) to deprive, temporarily or absolutely, the owner of it, or a person who has a special property or interest in it, of the thing or of his property or interest in it;

(b) to pledge it or deposit it as security;

(c) to part with it under a condition with respect to its return that the person who parts with it may be unable to perform; or

(d) to deal with it in such a manner that it cannot be restored in the condition in which it was at the time it was taken or converted.

(2) A person commits theft when, with intent to steal anything, he moves it or causes it to move or to be moved, or begins to cause it to become movable.

Criminal Negligence

219. (1) Everyone is criminally negligent who

(a) in doing anything, or

(b) in omitting to do anything that it is his duty to do,

shows wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons. Definition of “duty”

(2) For the purposes of this section, “duty” means a duty imposed by law (Criminal Code, 1985, s 219).

Topic 11: Prima Facie Case, Elements of the Offence, and the Criminal Information (Charge)

1. The identity of the accused person named on the information
2. The date or time frame in which the offence occurred
3. The place where the offence occurred (establishing this place is within the jurisdiction of the presiding court)
4. The action or actions taken by the accused person that will show they committed the offence contrary to the law

Topic 12: The Duty to Investigate and the Use of Discretion

• What are those duties?
• Who decides when or if they have been properly done?

"Directly on this point, Justice La Forest J. stated; Discretion is an essential feature of the criminal justice system. A system that attempted to eliminate discretion would be unworkably complex and rigid” (R v Beare, 1988).

“… (Police Officers) must perform the duties and functions respecting the preservation of peace, the prevention of crime and offences against the law and the administration of justice assigned to it or generally to peace officers by the chief constable, under the director's standards or under this Act or any other enactment” (Government of British Columbia, 2015).

Section 504 CCC. Anyone who, on reasonable grounds, believes that a person has committed an indictable offence may lay an information in writing and under oath before a justice, and the justice shall receive the information, where it is alleged (a) that the person has committed, anywhere, an indictable offence that may be tried in the province in which the justice resides (Criminal Code, 1985, s 504(1)(a)).

“discretion is not absolute. Far from having a carte blanche, police officers must justify their decisions rationally.”

1. It must be an informed decision, based on evidence that constitutes reasonable ground
2. There must be concrete reasons for the decisions to use discretion that are not based on favouritism or bias
3. The officer must have both a subjectively and objectively honest belief in the reason for using the discretion, and the judge must determine that the officer’s belief reflected reality (R v Beaudry, 2007).

“Justification for discretion has to be proportional to the offence and has to be in the interest of public safety" (R v Beaudry, 2007).

1. Discretion is vital to the operation of the criminal justice system. Not all offenders must be charged.
2. The police still have discretion, but it is not absolute, it is limited.
3. Limited discretion means discretion must be proportional to the seriousness of the offence.
4. Use of discretion must be justified with concrete reasons.
5. Improper use of discretion does not automatically constitute “Obstruct Justice.”
6. A simple error of judgement is not “Obstruct Justice.”
7. "Obstruct Justice” is committed when discretion is disproportionate, unjustified, and intended to obstruct, pervert, or defeat the course of justice (R v Beaudry, 2007).

The decision not to charge an offender cannot be based on the selfish desire to avoid potential civil liability (Hill v Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police Services Board, 2007).

Topic 13: Arrest and Detention

• Bringing suspected persons under control in secure custody;
• Stopping an offence in progress or preventing an offence about to be committed;
• Enabling the search for items that may cause danger to the police investigator or others;
• Enabling the search for evidence of the offence;
• Establishing the identity of suspected persons; and
• Compelling accused persons to attend court to face charges.

Arrest without warrant by peace officer Section 495

(1) A peace officer may arrest without warrant

(a) a person who has committed an indictable offence or who, on reasonable grounds, he believes has committed or is about to commit an indictable offence;

(b) a person whom he finds committing a criminal offence; or

(c) a person in respect of whom he has reasonable grounds to believe that a warrant of arrest or committal, in any form set out in Part XXVIII in relation thereto, is in force within the territorial jurisdiction in which the person is found.

Limitation (2) A peace officer shall not arrest a person without warrant for

(a) an indictable offence mentioned in section 553,

(b) an offence for which the person may be prosecuted by indictment or for which he is punishable on summary conviction, or

(c) an offence punishable on summary conviction,

in any case where

(d) he believes on reasonable grounds that the public interest, having regard to all the circumstances including the need to

(i) establish the identity of the person,

(ii) secure or preserve evidence of or relating to the offence, or

(iii) prevent the continuation or repetition of the offence or the commission of another offence, may be satisfied without so arresting the person, and

(e) he has no reasonable grounds to believe that, if he does not so arrest the person, the person will fail to attend court in order to be dealt with according to law (Criminal Code, 1985, s 495(1, 2)).

• To arrest a suspect, a police investigator needs to have reasonable grounds to believe that a person has committed the offence and in contrast,
• To detain a suspect, a police investigator only requires a reasonable suspicion that a suspect is somehow implicated in the offence under investigation.

In 2004 in the case of R v Mann, the Supreme Court of Canada stated that, in spite of the fact that there is no general power for investigative detention, police may detain a person if there are reasonable grounds to suspect, in all the circumstances, that the individual is connected to a crime and the detention of that person is reasonably necessary on an objective view of the circumstances. The circumstances to be considered should include the extent to which a suspect’s liberty is interfered with in order for the police officer to conduct the required duties, and the individual being detained for investigation, must be told in simple language about the reason for that detention. The detention must be as short as possible in duration, and detention does not impose any obligation to answer questions. In addition, if a police officer has reasonable grounds to believe his safety or the safety of others is at risk, the officer may conduct and pat-down search on the detained subject and this kind of search is not the same as a search subsequent to an actual arrest (R v Mann, 2004).

Summary

1. v. Beare, 387 (S.C.RL December 17, 1988).
2. v. Briscoe, SCC 13 (Supreme Court of Canada 2010 ).
3. v. Graham, SCR 206 (1974).
4. v. Khan, 2 SCR 531 (Supreme Court of Canada 1990).
5. v. Kowlyk, 2 S.C.R. 59 (Supreme Court of Canada 1988).
6. v. Smith, 2 S.C.R. 915 (Supreme Court of Canada 1992).
7. v. Terrence, 1 S.C.R. 357 (Supreme Court of Canada 1983).
8. v. Woodcock, 168 E.R. 352 (K.B.) (Court of Kings Bench 1789).

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1. The probative value of evidence
2. Relevant evidence
3. Direct evidence
4. Circumstantial evidence
5. Inculpatory evidence
6. Exculpatory evidence
7. Corroborative evidence
8. Disclosure of evidence
9. Witness evidence
10. Hearsay evidence
11. Search and seizure of evidence
12. Exclusion of evidence

Topic 1: The Probative Value of Evidence

Eye Witness Evidence

• The witness type as either eye witness or corroborative witness
• The witness competency to testify
• The witness compellability to testify
• The level of witness independence from the event
• The witness credibility based on assessment of physical limitations

Physical Evidence

Topic 2: Relevant Evidence

Topic 3: Direct Evidence

Topic 4: Circumstantial Evidence

"When one or more things are proved, from which our experience enables us to ascertain that another, not proved, must have happened, we presume that it did happen, as well in criminal as in civil cases" (MacDonell, 1820).

Topic 5: Inculpatory Evidence

Topic 6: Exculpatory Evidence

• A tow truck dispatcher testifies at the trial and produces records showing the accused is a tow truck driver;
• On the date of the car theft, the accused was dispatched to the site of the car theft to assist a motorist locked out of his car;
• The accused testifies that he only assisted another male to gain entry to the stolen car because he could see the car keys on the front seat;
• The accused explains that, after opening the car, he agreed to meet this male at the parking lot where the car was left parked;
• He accepted the keys of the stolen car from the other male to tow the vehicle later to a service station from that location;
• When approached by police, he stated that he became nervous and suspicious about the car he had just towed; and
• He tried to throw the keys away because he has a previous criminal record and knew the police would not believe him.

Topic 7: Corroborative Evidence

Topic 8: Disclosure of Evidence

• Charging document
• Particulars of the offence
• Witness statements
• Audio/video evidence statements by witnesses
• Statements by the accused
• Accused's criminal record
• Expert witness reports
• Notebooks and Police reports
• Exhibits
• Search warrants
• Authorizations to intercept private communications
• Similar fact evidence
• Identification evidence
• Witnesses' criminal records
• Reports to Crown Counsel recommending charges
• Witness impeachment material

• Information that is clearly irrelevant
• Information that is considered privileged
• Information that would expose an ongoing police investigation
• Information that would compromise the safety of a witness

Topic 9: Witness Evidence

Topic 10: Hearsay Evidence

"Written or oral statements or communicative conduct made by persons otherwise than in testimony at the proceedings in which it is offered, are inadmissible if such statements or conduct are tendered either as proof of their truth or as proof of assertions implicit therein" (Sopinka, 1999, p. 173).

• The court generally applies the best-evidence rule to evidence being presented and the best evidence would come from the person who gives the firsthand account of events;
• The original person who makes the communication that becomes hearsay, is not available to be put under oath and cross-examined by the defence;
• In hearing the evidence, the court does not have the opportunity to hear the communicator firsthand and assess their demeanour to gauge their credibility; and
• The court recognizes that communication that has been heard and is being repeated is subject to interpretation. Restatement of what was heard can deteriorate the content of the message.

• There is a dying declaration
• A witness is the recipient of a spontaneous utterance
• The witness is testifying to hearsay from a child witness who is not competent

Dying Declarations

"The general principle on which this species of evidence is admitted is, that they are declarations made in extremity, when the party is at the point of death, and when every hope of this world is gone: when every motive to falsehood is silenced, and the mind is induced by the most powerful considerations to speak the truth; the situation so solemn and so awful, is considered by the law as creating an obligation equal to that which is imposed by a positive oath administered in a court of justice" (R v Woodcock, 1789).

• Must be a victim of 1st or 2nd degree murder, manslaughter, or criminal negligence causing death;
• Must be making a statement in regards to the cause of death;
• Must know at the time they make the statement that their death is imminent;
• Must be someone who would have been a competent witness had they lived; and
• Must die of their injuries within a reasonable time after the statement was made.

Recipient of a Spontaneous Utterance

"… the statement providing it is made in such conditions of involvement or pressure as to exclude the possibility of concoction or distortion to the advantage of the maker or the disadvantage of the accused" (Ratten v R, 1971).

Hearsay of Statement from a Child Witness Who is Not Competent

• A child was not competent to testify by reason of young age;
• A child is unable to testify;
• A child is unavailable to testify; or
• In the opinion of an expert psychologist providing testimony would be too traumatic and harmful to the child.

• When the hearsay statement was made about the offence;
• The nature of the child’s demeanour;
• The level of the child’s intelligence and understanding; and
• The lack of a reason for the child to have fabricated the story.

"The criterion of 'reliability' or the circumstantial guarantee of trustworthiness — is a function of the circumstances under which the statement in question was made. If a statement sought to be adduced by way of hearsay evidence is made under circumstances which substantially negate the possibility that the declarant was untruthful or mistaken, the hearsay evidence may be said to be 'reliable,' i.e., a circumstantial guarantee of trustworthiness is established” (R v Smith, 1992).

Topic 11: Search and Seizure of Evidence

• By consent of the person being searched
• On authority of a search warrant under Section 487(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada
• As part of a search incidental to the lawful arrest of a suspect
• As part of a safety search incidental to the lawful detention of a suspect
• Under the doctrine of evidence in plain view at a lawfully entered crime scene

Topic 12: Exclusion of Evidence by the Court

• If the evidence was lawfully seized
• How the evidence was collected, marked, and preserved
• If the evidence was somehow contaminated
• If the chain of continuity for the evidence has been properly maintained

• Improper or unauthorized search of a person or a person’s property
• Improper taking of a statement from a suspect by failing to provide the appropriate warning and caution under section 10 of the Charter
• Failing to provide proper opportunity for the arrested or detained person to speak with counsel after arrest or detainment
• Failing to properly disclose all the evidence prior to trial to allow the accused to make full defence to the charge

24. (1) Anyone whose rights or freedoms, as guaranteed by this Charter, have been infringed or denied may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain such remedy as the court considers appropriate and just in the circumstances. (2) Where, in proceedings under subsection (1), a court concludes that evidence was obtained in a manner that infringed or denied any rights or freedoms guaranteed by this Charter, the evidence shall be excluded if it is established that, having regard to all the circumstances, the admission of it in the proceedings would bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Practices regarding what evidence may be brought against an individual in trials are addressed by section 24(2). When evidence is obtained through the violation of a Charter right, the claimant is able to apply to have the evidence excluded from the trial under this section (Government of Canada, 2015).

In the case R v Grant (2009), the Supreme Court of Canada created a new test to determine when the administration of justice has been brought into disrepute (replacing the 1987 test in R v Collins). The Grant test lists three factors the courts must consider:

(1) the seriousness of the Charter infringing conduct (focusing on a review of how society would view the actions of the state),

(2) the impact of the breach on the Charter protected interests of the accused (focusing on a review of how the state's actions affected the accused), and

(3) society's interests in the adjudication of the case on its merits (focusing on a review of the importance and reliability of the evidence) (R v Grant, 2009).

Summary

Long Descriptions

1. The distinction between investigative tasks and investigative thinking
2. The progression of the investigative process
3. The distinction between tactical investigative and strategic investigative responses
4. The concepts of event classification and offence recognition
5. The threat vs. action response dilemma
6. The distinction between active events and inactive events
7. The connection of active events and Level 1 priority results to the powers afforded under exigent circumstance
8. The Response Transition Matrix (RTM) and the critical need to transition from tactical response to strategic response

Topic 1: The Distinction Between Investigative Tasks and Investigative Thinking

Investigative Tasks

Investigative Thinking

Topic 2: Progression of the Investigative Process

Topic 3: Distinction Between a Tactical Investigative Response and a Strategic Investigative Response

Tactical Investigative Response

Strategic Investigative Response

Topic 4: Event Classification and Offence Recognition

Topic 5: Classifying the Event as Either an Active Event or an Inactive Event

An Active Event

1. The criminal act is or may still be in progress at the scene.
2. The suspect is or may still be at the scene of the event.
3. The situation is, or may be, a danger to the life or safety of a person, including the life or safety of attending police officers.

An Inactive Event

1. The criminal act has concluded at the scene.
2. The suspect or suspects have left the scene or have been arrested or detained.
3. The situation at the scene no longer represents a danger to the life or safety of a person, including police officers.

Topic 6: Threat vs. Action Analysis Dilemma

Topic 7: Rules of Engagement for an Active Event or an Inactive Event

1. Is this an Active Event requiring a Tactical Investigative Response?
2. Is this an Inactive Event requiring a Strategic Investigative Response?

Authority to enter dwelling without warrant under the Criminal Code of Canada 529.3 (1) Without limiting or restricting any power a peace officer may have to enter a dwelling-house under this or any other Act or law, the peace officer may enter the dwelling-house for the purpose of arresting or apprehending a person, without a warrant referred to in section 529 or 529.1 authorizing the entry, if the peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person is present in the dwelling-house, and the conditions for obtaining a warrant under section 529.1 exist but by reason of exigent circumstances it would be impracticable to obtain a warrant. (Criminal Code, 1985, s 529(1)) Exigent circumstances (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), exigent circumstances include circumstances in which the peace officer (a) has reasonable grounds to suspect that entry into the dwelling-house is necessary to prevent imminent bodily harm or death to any person; or (b) has reasonable grounds to believe that evidence relating to the commission of an indictable offence is present in the dwelling-house and that entry into the dwelling-house is necessary to prevent the imminent loss or imminent destruction of the evidence. (Criminal Code, 1985, s 529(2)(a,b)) Where warrant is not necessary pursuant to the Criminal Code of Canada 487.11 A peace officer, or a public officer who has been appointed or designated to administer or enforce any federal or provincial law and whose duties include the enforcement of this or any other Act of Parliament, may, in the course of his or her duties, exercise any of the powers described in subsection 487(1)(Criminal Code, 1985, s 487(1)) or 492.1(1) without a warrant if the conditions for obtaining a warrant exist but by reason of exigent circumstances it would be impracticable to obtain a warrant. (Criminal Code, 1985, s 492(1))

More on Offence Recognition

• Is this a summary conviction offence where the suspect must be found committing to justify an arrest?
• Or, is it an indictable or dual procedure offence where there is direct evidence or strong circumstantial evidence to support an arrest?

• Consent of the property owner
• Section 487 CCC warrant to search
• Exigent circumstances to suspect a need to protect the life or safety of a person
• Exigent circumstance with reasonable grounds to believe there will be a destruction of evidence of an indictable offence
• Fresh pursuit of a suspect found committing an offence

Required Warnings

I am arresting you (or detaining you) for [name of offence(s)]. POLICE WARNING I wish to give you the following warning: You need not say anything. You have nothing to hope from any promise or favour, and nothing to fear from any threat whether or not you do say anything. Anything you do or say may be used as evidence. Do you understand? (Transit Police, 2015) CHARTER WARNING You have the right to retain and instruct counsel without delay. You also have the right to free and immediate legal advice from duty counsel by making free telephone calls to [toll-free phone number(s)] during business hours and [toll-free phone number(s)] during non-business hours. Do you understand? Do you wish to call a lawyer? You also have the right to apply for legal assistance through the provincial legal aid program. Do you understand? (Transit Police, 2015)

• they were dispatched to attend a complaint of assault with a weapon in progress,
• the suspect was still on scene and it was an active event,
• considering the potential danger to life or safety of a person, they entered the property under the provisions of exigent circumstances,
• an independent witness at the scene stated the home owner had stabbed a guest in the home,
• a man bleeding from an apparent wound ran from the home, and
• another man standing in the doorway was holding a bloody knife and was identified by the witness as the home owner.

Topic 8: Response Transition Matrix (RTM)

1. Is the event active or inactive?
2. What offence(s) is possibly occurring?
3. Do I suspect an implicit or explicit danger to the life or safety of a person?
4. Do I have reasonable grounds to believe evidence of an indictable offence will be lost or destroyed?
5. What immediate actions can be taken to protect the life or safety of persons?
6. What immediate action can be taken to protect evidence, without compromising life or safety?
7. Have life and safety issues been resolved, and should the change be made from Tactical Investigative Response to Strategic Investigative Response?

Summary

Long Descriptions

1. Identifying, gathering, and preserving evidence
2. Establishing reasonable grounds to identify and arrest suspects
3. Accurately recording and documenting the event in notes and reports
4. Protecting property

1. Avoiding the three big investigative errors
2. Recognizing the transition and implementing the strategic investigative response
3. Describing investigation as a process within the justice system
4. Utilizing the STAIR tool to work through the investigative process

Topic 1: Avoiding the Three Big Investigative Errors

1. Failing to identify and collect all the available evidence and information,
2. Failing to effectively analyze the evidence and information collected to identify suspects and form reasonable grounds to take action, and
3. Becoming too quickly focused on one suspect or one theory of events and ignoring evidence of other viable suspect or theories that should be considered.

• CPIC (Canadian Police Information Center) for criminal records info, outstanding warrants and pointers to criminal association
• Police RMS (Record Management Systems) PRIME AND PROS databases to provide information on past records of complaints, investigations of criminal activities, and historical criminal associations
• ViCLAS (Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System) provides a database of searchable criminal conduct acquired from the past crimes of known offenders
• MVB (Motor Vehicle Branch) records for current vehicles registered, driving record, physical descriptors, and resident address

Topic 2: Recognizing the Transition and Implementing the Strategic Investigative Response

Topic 3: Describing the Investigation Process Within the System

• Identify and collect all available evidence,
• Identify all the witnesses, victims, and possible suspects,
• Accurately document the criminal event,
• Accurately document the investigative actions,
• Develop theories of how the crime was committed and who may be a suspect, and
• Formulate an investigative plan to form reasonable grounds and make an arrest.

Topic 4: Utilizing the STAIR Tool to Work Through the Investigative Process

SITUATION: achieving a big picture view of the event to classify and prioritize a response

• Break out the known facts of the event
• Offence classification – active event or inactive event
• Identify all the players – victims, witnesses, and suspects
• Offence recognition – identify the possible offence or offences being encountered

TASKS: focus on the results and the priorities of those results based on event status

• Tactical investigative response on active event – Level 1: resolve life and safety issues
• Strategic investigative response on inactive event – Level 2: priorities engaged
• Crime scene management – evidence identification, evidence preservation, and evidence collection
• Canvassing for witnesses – witness interviewing

• Profiling the players – use all police data base information – CPIC, PRIME, PROS
• Document the event – notes, reports, photographs, diagrams, videos

ANALYSIS: examining the reported facts, the observed facts, and the physical evidence

• Make observations and connections between people and circumstances
• Enhance the meaning of physical evidence by forensic analysis
• Determine evidence of motive, opportunity, and means to commit the offence
• Create timelines of activities
• Develop assumptions and theories that will guide the investigative process
• Develop investigative plans based on theories
• Authentication of the event - did it occur at the time, at the place, and in the manner being reported, or is the report a fabrication?

INVESTIGATION: validating the facts through corroboration of witness accounts and evidence

• Prioritize the best investigative plans based on most likely theory
• Test theories against information and evidence discovered through investigation to identify suspects and form reasonable grounds
• Return to analysis to form new theories or modify theories as new facts are found

RESULTS: prioritizing and focusing on the results to guide the investigative process

• Protection of the lives and safety of people
• Protection of property
• Gathering and preserving evidence
• Accurately documenting the event
• Establish reasonable grounds to identify and arrest suspects

Summary

Long Descriptions

• Situation: Achieving a big picture view of the event to classify and prioritize a response. Focus on the results and priorities. This entails:
  • Breaking out the known facts of the event
  • Offence classification — Active event or Inactive event
  • Identifying all the players — Victims, witnesses, suspects
  • Offence recognition — Identifying the possible offence or offences being encountered
• Tasks: Gathering, protecting and preserving evidence and information. This entails:
  • Tactical investigative response on active event — Level 1 Resolve life and safety issues
  • Strategic investigative response on inactive event — Level 2 priorities engaged
  • Crime scene management — Evidence identification, evidence preservation, evidence collection
  • Profiling the players — Use all police database information — CPIC, PRIME, PROS
  • Document the event — Notes, reports, photographs, diagrams, videos
• Analysis: Examining the reported facts, the observed facts, and the physical evidence to develop theories. This entails:
  • Making observations and connections between people and circumstances
  • Enhancing the meaning of physical evidence by forensic analysis
  • Determining evidence of motive, opportunity and means to commit the offence
  • Creating timelines of activities
  • Developing assumptions and theories that will guide the investigative process
  • Developing investigative plans based on theories
  • Authentication of the event — Did it occur at the time, at the place, and in the manner being reported or is the report a fabrication
• Investigation: Validating the facts through corroboration of witness accounts and forensic analysis. This entails:
  • Prioritizing the best investigative plans based on the most likely theory
  • Testing theories against information and evidence discovered through investigation to identify suspects and form reasonable grounds
  • Returning to analysis to form new theories, or modify theories as new facts are found
• Results: Prioritizing and focusing on the results to guide the investigative process. In order of priority, these results are:
  • Protection of the lives and safety of people
  • Protection of property
  • Gathering and preserving evidence
  • Accurately documenting the event
  • Establishing reasonable grounds to identify and arrest suspects

Topic 1: Beginning With Your End in Mind and Focusing on Results

Situation

• A witness, Bill Murphy, has identified his neighbour as having assaulted a woman, identified as the suspect’s wife, Jane
• Suspect identified is Randy Smith
• Victim identified as Jane Smith
• Randy Smith may be a heavy drinker, and alcohol may be a factor
• This is an active event and it may still be in progress as noise from the house continues
• The offence recognition would define this as an assault and possibly forcible confinement
• Persons who may have their safety in danger are Jane Smith and her two young sons
• The incident is reported as being currently confined to inside the house; however, the incident was, at one point, on the front lawn of their home

Tasks

Task 1: Responding in the Correct Mode

Task 2: Identifying the Players in the Event

• Randy Smith
• Jane Smith
• Two sons – ages 8 years and 4 years old
• Witness Bill Murphy

Task 3: Breaking out the Facts of the Event

Task 4: Gathering All Additional Information That Might be Available

• Criminal record information on both Randy and Jane Smith
• History of previous calls to this residence

Analysis

Investigation

Results

1. Gather and preserve evidence:
   1. Interview witness Bill Murphy
   2. Interview the victim Jane Smith
   3. Take photographs of any injuries to the victim
   4. Determine if there are other witnesses available
   5. Determine if other physical evidence, weapons, and/or liquor bottles are present
2. Accurately document the event
   1. Take the statement of witness Bill Murphy
   2. Take statement of the victim, Jane Smith
   3. Make personal notes
   4. Complete an occurrence report
3. Establish reasonable grounds to identify and arrest an offender
   1. Verify that an offence has occurred
   2. Verify the type of offences (e.g. assault, or assault causing bodily harm, and/or forcible confinement, and possibly impaired driving)
   3. Verify the identity of Randy Smith as the person responsible for identified offences
   4. If an offence and an identity of the suspect are verified, broadcast a “Be On Lookout For (BOLF)” to arrest Randy Smith for assault

Situation

• Protecting the life and safety of persons at this crime scene is no longer an issue because the armed suspects have now left the scene
• Protecting property will be an issue because $120,000 worth of merchandise and $350 in cash have been taken and need to be recovered
• Gathering and preserving evidence will be an issue because there are witnesses to interview at the scene and possibly physical evidence left behind by the suspects
• Accurately documenting the event will be necessary
• Establishing reasonable grounds to identify and arrest offenders will certainly be the desired outcome

Tasks

• Secure the crime scene
• Examine the crime scene and call upon forensics for evidence collection
• Broadcast a description of the suspects and incident details as a BOLF
• Identify all witnesses and victims present
• Run each witness and victim through police databases to determine any criminal records, history of criminal conduct, or association to known criminals
• Take individual statements from each witness and victim

Analysis

• Date of offence: Saturday August 15, 2012
• Time: 4 PM
• Location: jewellery store in down town strip mall
• Owner/manager and one employee present (witnesses)
• Two elderly women shopping together present (witnesses)
• One 25-year-old female shopper present (witness)
• Three apparently male suspects entered the store through front door
• All suspects were wearing ski masks, gloves, blue jeans, and dark jackets
• Each suspect had a handgun
• One suspect stood guard
• Two suspects entered the store
• Suspects told everyone to lay on the floor
• Suspects smashed display cases and loaded jewellery and watches into bags
• Each suspect carried away the stolen goods in white bags
• One suspect had the manager open the cash register and took $350 cash
• Approx. $120,000 worth of jewellery was taken
• Some of the watches and diamonds stolen are identifiable by serial numbers
• Suspect fled out the front door and south around the corner of the building
• No vehicle was seen
• Entire robbery took under five minutes

1. What theories might you have about the time and location of this offence?
2. Can you develop any theories about the level of planning that went into the robbery?
3. Consider theories about how well these three suspects know each other.
4. Is it possible that the suspects had been at the store sometime prior to this robbery?
5. What relevant theories might be considered from the way the suspects were dressed?
6. What relevant theories might be considered from the fact that the robbers carried handguns?
7. What theories might be considered from the way the robbery was carried out?
8. What theories might be considered regarding the items taken?
9. Theorize and consider if these three suspects were working alone.
10. Theorize who else might be involved.

Investigation

Topic 2: Getting Answers in the Robbery Scenario

1. What theories might you consider about the time and location of this offence?
   • The fact that the jewellery store is in a strip mall may have been a factor in the robbers selecting this location as a target. This type of business premises allows for drive by viewing of the inside of the premises, as well as quick access and exit to the outside parking area. This location also allows for the suspects to maintain an ongoing look-out for approaching police response.
   • The time of the offence could have been intentionally chosen closer to the end of the day on a Saturday in the hope that more cash would be in the store. Depending on the typical customer traffic volume in the mall area on a Saturday, the suspects may have hoped for more traffic volume to assist with their escape.
2. Can you develop any theories about the level of planning that went into the robbery?
   • Since the suspects arrived in disguise, armed with handguns, and carrying bags to take away the proceeds of the robbery, it might be theorized that they took some time to put together this special equipment to carry out the crime.
   • The precision with which the robbery was carried out (e.g. completed in five minutes, one suspect guarding the door, all persons ordered onto the floor) would indicate a high level of planning to orchestrate this robbery.
3. How well did these three suspects know each other?
   • It is very likely that the three suspects knew each other well enough to establish the level of trust required to carry out the robbery.
   • The type of goods taken in this robbery, except for the cash, would need to be converted to cash to be divided up later. This could indicate that a longer term relationship exists between these robbers.
   • The planning that is apparent would indicate that the suspects spent some time together to plan, collect the necessary equipment, and divide up the proceeds of the robbery.
4. Is it possible the suspects had been at the store sometime prior to this robbery?
   • To plan this robbery and execute it with this level of precision, it is very likely that the suspects spent at least some time looking over the premises and the surrounding area to plan their approach, execute the robbery, and plan their escape.
5. What relevant theories might be considered from the way the suspects were dressed?
   • It appears that all three suspects were wearing similar outfits with dark jackets, blue jeans, and ski masks. This may indicate that the suspects deliberately purchased specific gear for committing a crime.
   • This clothing might be considered somewhat non-descript, and not easily distinguishable or unique for a witness to accurately or specifically describe the fleeing suspects. The use of masks and non-descript outfits might indicate that the criminals were experienced.
   • The fact that they are all wearing jackets on a summer day in August might indicate that they were covering up tattoos, scars, or other distinguishing features that might otherwise assist in identifying the suspects.
   • The fact that all suspects were wearing gloves would indicate that they are aware that any fingerprints left behind could identify them.
6. What relevant theories might be made from handguns being carried by the robbers?
   • Handguns are more easily concealed and may be the weapon of choice for more professional criminals.
   • Handguns are more difficult to obtain, and legal handguns are generally registered, so it is likely that these were unregistered or stolen handguns.
7. What might be theorized from the way they carried out the robbery?
   • From the overall planning and precision in the execution of the robbery, it might be theorized that this is not the first robbery that these three have done together. This method may have been used elsewhere.
8. What might be theorized considering the items taken?
   • Considering that the items taken were specialty items and that some were marked with identifying serial numbers, it might be theorized that the robbers have a prearranged or preplanned means of disposing of the items or otherwise converting them to cash.
   • Alternately, the fact that they have taken items that are identifiable by serial numbers may indicate a level of haste or even inexperience because these items, if discovered after being sold, may be traced back to the robbery suspects.
9. Were these three suspects working alone?
   • Considering the speed of execution and the apparent level of planning that went into this robbery, it is possible that there was a fourth accomplice waiting outside in a get-away vehicle.
   • There is a possibility that the suspects had some inside knowledge of the jewellery store and the inventory through association with a person connected to the store.
10. Who else might be involved?
    • A fourth criminal associate as a get-away driver and lookout.
    • A customer inside the store, at the time of the robbery, acting as a scout.
    • A current or former employee of the store may have provided inside information.
    • The owner/manager of the store could be involved as part of an insurance fraud scheme.

Topic 3: Answers to Possible Theories in the Robbery Scenario

Theory #1

Theory #2

Theory #3

Topic 4: Answers — Investigative Plans From Theory Development

Theory #1

• Since it is likely not their first robbery of this kind, we should search police records for other robberies using this similar modus operandi (MO) in the recent past and in our area and its surrounding areas. We would be looking for similarities in:
  1. Target selection
  2. Number of suspects
  3. Disguises used
  4. Weapons of choice
  5. Methodology (i.e. guard at door, making patrons lie down on the floor, bags to carry away goods)
• Considering the likelihood that these suspects conducted surveillance of this store to select it as a target, we should look at security cameras in the strip mall area and from the victim’s store for images of possible suspects watching the store on the previous Saturday at this same time.
• Since a few of the items stolen had serial numbers, these numbers can be entered into CPIC as identifiers to stolen property.
• Since the handguns used were likely stolen, we should look for incidents of stolen handguns recently reported.

 Theory #2

• Considering the possibility that an inside person, employee, or former employee is involved and provided the robbers with information, we should look closely into the criminal record and police record of the employees present at the time of the crime, as well as any other employees or former employees who can be identified. We are looking for:
  1. Evidence of criminal conduct by any employee or former employee
  2. Information of any associations between the employees or former employees to criminals, particularly those with records for robbery
  3. Information from the owner/manager about suspicious conduct on the part of an employee, a past employee, or a disgruntled past employee
  4. Since customers inside the store at the time of the robbery may have also been in collusion with the robbers, all three customers should be examined for criminal histories or associations to known criminals.

Theory #3

• If the owner/manager is involved in the robbery for the proposes of insurance fraud and/or inventory resale, we should examine several areas for evidence and information:
  1. Any past record of criminal conduct by the owner/manager, particularly insurance fraud
  2. A record of association to known criminals
  3. A record of insurance policy status on inventory, particularly recent increases
  4. Cross-check and verification of product inventories against items alleged to be stolen
  5. Verification of accuracy of serial numbers on items stolen against supplier inventory records.

Topic 5: Validation of the Report

• Personal gain or financial reward, such as insurance fraud
• Attempting to take revenge on someone by accusing them of a crime
• Covering up personal involvement in the criminal act to avoid prosecution
• Attempting to shift responsibility for a crime to someone else
• Covering up the involvement of an associate to divert prosecution

1. Does the evidence support the report that an offence occurred?
2. If an offence did occur, did it happen at the time being reported?
3. If an offence did occur, did it happen at the place being reported?
4. If an offence did occur, did it happen the way the fact pattern being reported suggests (Arcaro, 2009)?

Topic 6: Evidence Transfer Theory

Topic 7: Spatial Relationships and Timelines

Topic 8: Timeline Evidence

• 12 Noon: time the body was found by the janitor
• 10 AM: time the victim’s flight arrived
• 10 AM: time the suspect’s flight arrived
• 10:45 AM: time the suspect was recorded on security camera near the crime scene

Topic 9: Spatial Relationship Evidence

• Victim and suspect’s boarding passes show that they were both on Fight AC201 and were seated next to each other
• Security video puts the suspect in the area of the crime scene during the timeframe when the crime occurred
• The suspect is an airport employee and was in possession of a key that would open the door of the crime scene

Summary

1. Identifying witnesses
2. Defining witness types
3. Defining competence and compellability
4. Identifying the witness/suspect dilemma
5. Witness credibility assessment
6. The truthfully-incorrect witness
7. Recognizing dominant witness influences and conformity
8. Dealing with uncooperative witnesses
9. Conducting witness interviews
10. The field interview

Topic 1: Identifying Witnesses

Topic 2: Witness Types

Eye Witnesses and Corroborative Witnesses

Independent Witness

• They are not associated with the victim
• They are not associated with the suspect
• They are not in any way associated to the criminal event

Topic 3: Competence and Compellability

A Compellable Witness

1. An accused person cannot be compelled. Under Sec 11 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982), an accused person cannot be compelled to testify at his or her own trial. However, if the accused person is charged jointly with another person, they may be compelled to testify against their co-accused. Under those circumstances, the witness can be afforded protection under the Canada Evidence Act (1985) and their testimony cannot subsequently be used against them at their own trial for that same offence.
2. When the witness is married to the accused. To preserve the privilege of communication between two partners in their marriage, legislation and case law provides a protection of privacy, and anything said between two married partners in relation to a criminal event cannot be compelled as testimony in court. This exemption to testify is stated under the Canada Evidence Act (1985). Specifically, Sec 4(3) states:

No husband is compellable to disclose any communication made to him by his wife during their marriage, and no wife is compellable to disclose any communication made to her by her husband during their marriage.

Many people incorrectly believe that this is a blanket protection where one spouse cannot testify against the other. However, the legislation only provides protection to the communication between spouses. It does not restrict a spouse being called to testify regarding observations of physical evidence or relationships. For example, a husband may arrive home covered in blood and carrying a bloody knife confessing to his wife that he just stabbed someone to death. Although the communication of the confession of the crime would not be compellable testimony, the observations of the blood, the knife, the time and location of the observation would be a compellable testimony. On this point, Sec 4(2) of the Canada Evidence Act (1985) also states:

No person is incompetent, or compellable, to testify for the prosecution by reason only that they are married to the accused.

In addition to the ability to call a spouse to testify regarding observations of evidence, the prosecution can compel a spouse to give evidence, including personal communications, for the prosecution in cases that involve an offence of violence against that spouse and certain sexual offence against children.

A Competent Witness

The proof of competency or incompetency is on the balance of probabilities (R v Ferguson, 1996).

Where competency is challenged, it must be established by a voir dire before the witness can be sworn (R v Steinberg, 1931). A witness who states that they may not tell the truth is still competent to testify. Such issues of truthfulness are factors of credibility for the trier-of-fact (R v Walsh, 1978).

Topic 4: The Witness/Suspect Dilemma

1. Did the crime happen at the time being reported?It is often difficult for a person fabricating a report to provide the true timing of the events without implicating themselves as present at the time of the crime. Asking questions that demand timelines accounting for witness activities during the crime time can sometimes detect deception.
2. Did the crime happen at the place being reported?Persons fabricating a report will sometimes change the location of the reported crime to avoid detection of the true crime scene where incriminating physical evidence may still be present. Carefully assessing the report in comparison to evidence present or not present can sometimes indicate this deception.
3. Did the crime happen in the manner being reported?False accounts of crime will often exaggerate or over report details of the event. The report will contain some level of fabrication that explains their own connection to the events. Assessing each witness version of the event for consistency or inconsistency with physical evidence and other witness versions can reveal deception.

Topic 5: Witness Credibility Assessment

1. Witness profile. Ideally, every witness would be an upstanding member of the community with a high level of integrity and an outstanding reputation. This is rarely the case. The nature of criminal activity and the natural proximity and association of criminals within a criminal community, often skew the witness list more towards those with more colourful and less upstanding personal profiles. Being part of the criminal community, or having a criminal record, does not necessarily mean that a witness will not be truthful. However, these are factors that an investigator must consider when assessing the value of the evidence being reported. For example, if a witness has a record for perjury, their evidence should be carefully scrutinized and additional corroboration may be required to strengthen the witness' account of the events to achieve acceptable credibility for the court.
2. Witness bias — motivation to lie. As discussed earlier in this chapter, independent witnesses who are not connected to the victim, the accused, or the event itself make the most credible witnesses. People close enough to a criminal event to become witnesses are often, in some way, related to the victim, the suspect, or to the event itself. As such, the associated witness may have a bias in making their report of the event. As a friend or foe, the witness may have some motivation to withhold information or to lie to influence the outcome. Understanding how each witness fits into the event, and what their linkages are to other participants or the event itself, is an important dynamic to uncover. In the case of a bias witness, additional corroboration should also be looked for.
3. Witness involvement — emotional impact of the event. Criminal events can be very stressful and anxiety producing experiences. This is not only true for the victim but for anyone who has been exposed to danger, violence, or situations where threats to personal safety or incidents of injuries or death have occurred. As human beings, we are not conditioned to live through these kinds of events without experiencing some kind of emotional response. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder speaks directly to the emotional damage traumatic events can inflict (Resnick, Kilpatrick, Dansky, Saunders, & Best, 1993). It is important for an investigator to consider the nature of the event and the exposure of the witness to these dynamics. Extreme post traumatic trauma, such as observing the violent death of a loved one, can sometimes render that witness unable to provide a reliable account of details (Streets, 2011). It may be necessary to give some witnesses time to regain their composure to provide information or evidence. In some cases, the traumatic effect is too significant and the information cannot be recovered. Knowing how a witness is connected to the event and being able to comprehend their potential exposure to emotional trauma provides the investigator with the insight that certain strategies, such as softer interview techniques, flexible timing, and professional support resources that take the emotional trauma of the witness into consideration, may be necessary and appropriate. Another kind of emotional trauma is a witness’ fear for their personal safety. This can be a fear of physical, psychological, or emotional reprisals for the witness providing evidence. In a situation that includes organized criminal groups, this fear is a genuine and understandable concern. In these types of cases, it may be difficult to protect the identity of a witness, and assurances of protection of the witness can be subject to jurisdictional or organizational limitations of witness protection resources.
4. Location when viewing the event. A witness’ physical location when observing an event can become an important point of evidence, and should be considered and included in the interview and statement of each witness. If a witness is providing details of the event that required them to be in direct proximity of the accused or the event to observe or hear, the physical location of the witness at the time of those observations is a critical element. Physical location can also be important in explaining gaps or differences in witness observations. The fact that one witness to a crime observed certain actions, but another witness did not, can sometimes be explained by the alternate angles of observation of each witness or because of some physical obstruction that affected one witness but not the other. Crime scene photos and diagrams can often help witnesses to demonstrate and describe their distinct perspectives. Returning to the scene of the crime to physically establish these locations and angles of observation can be a useful exercise for investigators to conduct.
5. Awareness of the crime — intent to observe and recall the occurrence. In most cases where a crime has occurred, a witness will know that the crime is happening, and this awareness will engage their attention to make observations that they can later recall and give an account of. In other cases, where a witness has not been alerted to the crime and is only observing the evolution of events as part of an unremarkable sequence, their memory is not as engaged and their processes of observation may not be as keen. To demonstrate this point, consider an example where a group of three people are standing in the teller’s line at a bank.

   Scenario

   At the front of the line, a young man hands the bank teller a note advising, “This is a robbery. I have a gun. Put all the cash from your till into an envelope and give it to me. Do not press the alarm or I will shoot you." The bank teller is aware that a crime is taking place; however, the two customers standing in line behind the robber are simply waiting their turn. The customer standing immediately behind the robber suddenly notices that the teller looks frightened and sees she is placing the contents of her cash drawer into an envelope. The third customer in line remains unaware and is talking on the telephone to his wife about their grocery list. The robber grabs the cash-filled envelope from the teller and turns to run out of the bank. The customer immediately behind him steps out of his way, but he bumps into the third customer still talking to his wife. In this scenario, an investigator could expect to get a detailed account of the events from the bank teller who was engaged in the event and aware of the crime from the outset. The customer immediately behind the robber become aware of the crime and was making observations half way into the robbery. This customer could likely provide some significant details. The third customer in line was never aware that a crime was in progress and, other than perhaps providing a limited description of a man who bumped into him, his value as a witness may be negligible. Many witnesses who make observations of a criminal’s activities in the pre-crime stage or in the post crime stage, when they are leaving the scene of the crime, fall into the category of not being aware of the crime. This does not mean these witnesses will be of no value but that their casual observations need to be identified and recorded as soon as possible.
6. Length of observation time. Very simply, length of observation time is the amount of time a witness had to see the event taking place. This amount of time will vary with circumstances, as there would be a difference in opportunity for observation between one witness standing stationary at the crime scene observing the event, and another driving past the unfolding events at 100 kilometers per hour. This can also be an issue contingent upon the awareness of the event taking place. Some witnesses become aware of the event more quickly and have a longer opportunity to observe. As with our example of the bank robbery, the teller being robbed had the longest observation time, the customer immediately behind the robber became aware that something was happening and had a shorter observation time, but the third customer did not become aware of anything until the robber bumped into him. This scenario demonstrates the value and detail of evidence an investigator might expect from witness with differing levels of observation time.
7. Time elapsed between the event and the interview. A critical aspect of gaining the best account of events from any witness is making sure that the interview happens at the earliest opportunity. It is a practice in police investigation to make every effort to identify and interview witnesses as soon as possible. As a simple exercise to demonstrate the importance of finding and interviewing witness quickly, take a piece of paper and to the best of your ability, write down the details of your day starting at the beginning of the day three days ago. What did you do? Where did you go? Who did you see? If you are like most people, you have some level of daily structure to your life. From that structure, perhaps you will recall you got out of bed at a usual time. Maybe you went to work or stopped at the gym or at your favourite coffee shop on the way to work. These benchmarks of your daily routine may be easily remembered. But, on your way to work, did you happen to see a green van with extensive damage to the front end on the street near your home? Of course, this is a fictitious question, but this would be the kind of inconsequential daily observation information you might be asked to recall by police canvassing for witnesses to a crime.Understanding this time limited aspect of human memory, investigators need to consider how much weight they can place on the accuracy of information being recounted by a witness. If a witness is providing a remarkably accurate recollection of something being recounted from any distance in the past, it is a good idea to ask that person how they can recall what should be a mundane event with such a degree of accuracy or clarity. If they are correct, the witness will sometimes provide a memory trigger that made them notice and causes them to recall. For example, a witness may answer, “Yes, I remember that green van with all the damage to the front end because my brother has a green van just like that and I looked at the driver and saw that it wasn’t my brother. I looked at it even closer because I had never seen that van on my street before.”
8. Ability to record or repetitively recount details. If a witness was aware that they had witnessed a crime and they were making a conscious effort to record or otherwise memorize the facts, this is a point that the court will be interested in hearing as part of the witness’ evidence. If, for example, to remember the licence number of a suspect vehicle, the witness repeated the number over and over until they were able to write it down, this is an important detail that should be recorded in the witness statement, and the paper upon which the number was written should be seized and retained as an exhibit that can be shown to that witness on the stand as the note they made at the time of the event. This demonstrated that the witness had intent to recall and record the details of an event, which will contribute in a positive way to the credibility of the witness.
9. Physical abilities — hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste and cognitive perception. The physical faculties of the senses may be used by a witness in their recollection of the events they are describing. When a witness makes a statement referring to their senses, their credibility in giving that evidence will depend upon the extent to which their senses are working. In taking statements from witnesses, the investigator must be satisfied that a witness who claims to have seen an event has adequate vision to make that observation. Similarly, a person who states that they heard something must be able to demonstrate that they have adequate hearing to have heard it. Speaking very quietly to test the hearing limits of a witness or asking a witness to describe something within the visual ranges of the evidence they saw are both reasonable strategies to informally test a witness’s range or limitations of senses. Asking a witness questions about their use of eyeglasses, contact lens, or hearing aids during their observation of events are all reasonable strategies to establish the credibility of a witness to make the observations they are reporting. Flowing from the use of their senses, witnesses will often provide information and cognitive perceptions of the events they witnessed. The cognitive perceptions of a witness are their own personal interpretation of the information they took in through their senses. As such, they are a subjective analysis of the information being sensed. A witness may provide a statement regarding the age of a suspect, the size of an object, the speed of a vehicle, the smell of alcohol on a person’s breath, or even the distance they stood from the event they witnessed. To a certain degree, the court will allow such evidence and opinions of common knowledge from non-expert witnesses; however, a witness may be challenged on their observations, and it is best to understand any misperceptions in advance. Again, informal testing of a witness to become comfortable that their cognitive perceptions and subject interpretations are accurate and not significantly skewed is a reasonable way to test credibility. For estimating the age of a suspect, an investigator could ask the witness to point out other persons who are approximately the same age. Similar tests could be undertaken in testing perceptions of the size of objects, the speed of vehicles, and the distance to locations. For statements regarding observations, such as the smell of alcohol, the investigator should ask the witness to describe their personal experiences with alcohol to know that it was alcohol they smelt. If the witness had not experienced alcohol or been with people who were drinking alcohol, that opinion of smell would lose credibility.
10. Cognitive capacity and age of witness. To establish the competency of either a child or a person of limited mental capacity, conducting a careful witness credibility assessment will be helpful for the prosecution in meeting challenges to competency. Part of the initial interview should seek to determine if the child or person of limited mental capacity understands the need to tell the truth. The competency background of the witness should be conducted by interviewing persons, such as parents, caregivers, teachers, or doctors, who know the witness and can attest to their mental capacity and their ability to understand questions and communicate their answers.The actual interview of both children and persons of low mental capacity are a delicate and time-consuming process. They must be conducted in a manner that is both suited to the maturity level of the witness, and structured using non-leading questions to elicit answers. In cases where it is possible, investigators with specialized training in this type of interviewing should be utilized. That said, in the first instance, at the scene of an event, it is important for the responding investigator to understand the special considerations that apply to this type of witness in consideration of their evidence. The goal in these cases is to determine how much weight can be attributed to the evidence being provided by witnesses. An investigator may determine that the evidence of a witness is credible and can be used in the development of forming reasonable grounds or, alternately, they may find that the credibility of the witness cannot be established, and the evidence cannot be used in the development of reasonable grounds to take action.

Topic 6: The Truthfully Incorrect Witness

Topic 7: Dominant Witness Influence and Conformity

Topic 8: Uncooperative Witnesses

Topic 9: Conducting Witness Interviews

1. Conduct immediate field interviews of each subject at the scene;
2. Do an immediate preliminary classification of persons found at the scene as victims, witnesses, or suspects; and
3. Take appropriate measures to separate the persons found at the scene for the purpose of physical security and protection of future testimony from cross-contamination of witness accounts and conformity.

Topic 10: The Field Interview

• Direct evidence of the eyewitness, which is evidence of seeing the criminal event occurring and perhaps even identifying the suspect; or
• Circumstantial evidence of the corroborative witness, which is indirect evidence of events, physical evidence, timelines, and spatial relationships that can assist the court in reaching a logical presumption of how the crime occurred and who was responsible.

“Did you see Larry pick up the revolver and shoot Bill in the head?”

Taking the Witness Statement

Witness Identification of a Suspect — Photo Lineups and Live Lineups

Summary

Long Descriptions

1. Note taking
2. Securing a crime scene
3. Evidence management
4. Scaling the investigation to the event

Topic 1: Note Taking

• A book with a cover page that shows the investigators name, the date the notebook was started, and the date the notebook was concluded
• Sequential page numbers
• A bound booklet from which pages cannot be torn without detection
• Lined pages that allow for neat scripting of notes
• Each entry into the notebook should start with a time, date, and case reference
• Blank spaces on pages should not be left between entries and, if a blank space is left, it should be filled with a single line drawn through the space or a diagonal line drawn across a page or partial page space
• Any errors made in the notebook should only be crossed out with a single line drawn through the error, and this should not be done in a manner that makes the error illegible

1. Start notes by creating a big picture perspective and then move from the general to the more specific observations. In this big picture, you are creating a perspective of the facts that you have been made aware of to begin an investigation. These big picture facts become the starting point of your mental map of events, and these facts will be the framework to begin thinking about offence recognition and forming reasonable grounds to believe and take action.
2. In more specific terms, and to the extent it is possible, begin recording all dates, times, and descriptions of persons, places, and vehicles as they emerge. You may, in fact, have already started a page in your notebook where some exact times, addresses, licence plate numbers, names or persons, and perhaps even blurted statements from a suspect have been jotted down. It is acceptable to use these key pieces of jotted information already recorded to enlarge your detailed notes at the end of the event in a more complete fashion.
3. Record the identities of persons encountered and how the identity of each person was verified. For example: Witness Jane Doe (DOB: 8 May 64) 34345-8 St Anywhere BC Photo drivers licence ID
4. Record all statements made by witnesses and victims to reflect an accurate account of the information being conveyed. It is often not possible to record every statement made verbatim in notes, and, in most cases, it is not necessary. Today, technology makes it possible to digitally record the verbatim account being provided by a witness or a victim. But, merely digitally recording a statement is not sufficient, since statements will frequently form considerations in establishing reasonable grounds for belief to take action. Recording the critical details being conveyed will provide a written record of the facts considered to form reasonable grounds for belief.
5. If a person is a suspect or is a person who may become a suspect, make every effort to record any statements made by that person verbatim. Suspects will often be found at the scene of a crime posing as a witness or even as a victim. Accurately recording the initial statements made by such a person can produce evidence of guilt in the form of statements that are provably false or even incriminating.

Topic 2: Integrity of the Crime Scene

a) Locking down the crime scene

b) Setting up crime scene perimeters

c) Establishing a path of contamination

d) Establishing crime scene security

a) Locking Down the Crime Scene

b) Crime Scene Perimeter

c) Path of Contamination

d) Crime Scene Security

• Forensic specialists
• Search team members
• Assigned investigators, and/or
• The coroner in the case of a sudden death investigation

Topic 3: Evidence Management

Contamination of Evidence

• Police or other first responders interfering with evidence during a tactical investigative response
• Suspects interfering with the crime scene to cover up or remove evidence
• Victims or witnesses handling evidence
• Animals, including pets, causing unwanted transfer of evidence or even removal of evidence through contact or consumption
• Weather-related contamination due to rain, wind, or snow diluting or washing away evidence, or
• Crime scene investigators failing to follow proper crime scene management procedures and causing contamination of exhibits or cross-contamination between exhibits during their investigation

1. Preventing contamination when possible,
2. Controlling ongoing contamination, and
3. Recording the known contamination that has taken place

Loss of Continuity

Attention to Originating Stages of Evidence

1. The Pre-Crime Stage occurs when evidence of preparation or planning can be found during the investigation. It can include notes, research, drawings, crime supplies or pre-crime contact with the victim or accomplices. Sometimes items of pre-crime origin, such as hair and fibre, will be later discovered at the crime scene creating an opportunity to link the suspect back to the crime
2. The Criminal Event Stage is when the most interaction takes place between the criminal and the victim, or the criminal and the crime scene. During these interactions, the best possibilities for evidence transfer occur. Even the most careful criminals have been known to leave behind some trace of their identity in the form of fingerprints, shoe prints, glove prints, tire marks, tool impressions, shell casings, hair or fibre, or DNA.
3. The Post-Crime Stage occurs when the suspect is departing the crime scene. When leaving the crime scene, suspects have been known to cast off items of evidence that can be recovered and examined to establish their identity. This post-crime period is also the stage where the suspect becomes concerned with cleaning up the scene. As much as a suspect may attempt to clean up, evidence transfers from the crime scene are often overlooked. These can range from hair and fibre on clothing to shards of glass on shoes. Frequently found post-crime are proceeds of the crime. These are often identifiable articles of stolen property with unique marks, victim DNA, serial numbers, or sometimes even trophies that the criminal takes as a keepsake.

Enhancing the Value of Evidence Recovered

• Items that the suspect may have touched or interacted with
• Items that a victim may have touched or interacted with
• Items that the suspect may have brought to the crime scene
• Items that may have passed between the suspect and the victim
• Items that the suspect may have taken from the crime scene
• Items that the suspect may have discarded while departing the crime scene

Creating a Field Sketch and Crime Scene Diagram

• If it is a building, it will show the address of the location, entries, exits, windows, the position of rooms, the position of furniture, and the location of all exhibits relative to the crime.
• In an outdoor crime scene, establishing and documenting the location of the scene becomes more complex. The geographic location of an outdoor scene needs to be established relative to some known geographic location, such as a roadway intersection, a mile-marker, or even by way of fixing of GPS coordinates of latitude and longitude to a permanent fixed object at the crime scene. In some cases, such as a large open field, where no permanent fixed objects are available, it may become necessary to place a fixed object like a steel survey pin to mark a fixed point at the crime scene.
• After the initial diagram features are completed and evidence is collected within the crime scene, each of those exhibits will be shown on the diagram with an exhibit number. That number will be cross referenced to the exhibit log that will be completed by an assigned exhibit custodian as part of the crime scene management team. This process of showing each exhibit as a number eliminates the need to clutter the diagram with written description of each exhibit found. In some cases, where there are many exhibits, writing the description of each exhibit onto the diagram would make it unreadable, cluttered, and confusing.
• In addition to existing features and evidence at the crime scene, the diagram will also show the location of the path of contamination that has been established and the external perimeter of the crime scene.
• As part of accepted protocols, these diagrams are always drawn with an orientation to North at the top of the diagram, and all writing on the diagram is oriented in one direction, namely east to west

The Exhibit Log

Searching for Witness Evidence

• Often, witnesses remaining at the crime scene can assist in identifying other witnesses who were present and have since departed.
• CCTV security cameras can sometimes assist in identifying other witnesses who were present.
• Identifying the vehicles parked in proximity to the crimes scene or returning to the crime scene on subsequent days around the time of the crime can assist in identifying a witness whose normal course of activities may have previously put them in the area at the time of the crime.

Searching for and Identifying Physical Evidence

1. Physical evidence can be transient or time sensitive. As part of the big picture search in the first instance, the investigator must be conscious of physical evidence that needs to be immediately recorded and documented.
2. Physical evidence can be concealed and may not be easily visible. Walking onto a crime scene in the first instance, it would be unrealistic for an investigator to believe they will immediately see all the physical evidence that needs to be collected. Items of physical evidence can exist in many forms and discovering their existence is a matter of careful examination of the entire scene. The idea of conducting a big picture search first allows the investigator to not only discover the immediately apparent items, but also for a survey of the crime scene to determine areas where the small scale and more detailed search might be productive.
   • Doors and windows: open, locked, or unlock can be relevant to time and means of entry or exit from the scene
   • Condition of room lighting: turned on or off can suggest the lighting conditions at the time of the crime
   • Status of appliances in use at the scene can indicate certain activities
   • Last activation of electronic devices can narrow timelines of activity
   • Ambient crime scene temperature and body temperature can be relevant in relation to time of death and the progress rigor mortis or decomposition
3. The immediate value of an item may not be visible at first glance. Moving from the big picture search to identify items in the smaller scale search, investigators can conduct a detailed grid search of the crime scene to locate items that may be very small or are concealed by other objects. These grid searches can be useful in breaking down the crime scene into smaller search areas to make sure that no area goes unexamined. Along with this detailed search for small or concealed items, the investigator needs to consider enlisting the assistance of forensic specialists to search for items that may require enhanced examination and analysis beyond the bounds of regular human senses and perception. For example, the use of black light can reveal body fluid or stains, and latent fingerprints can become visible after fuming or the application of special powder. In most major criminal cases, forensic specialists will be available to assist in conducting the detailed crime scene search. Every investigator must be proficient in recognizing when to utilize of these forensic tools.
4. The size or nature of an item of evidence may make it impossible to seize or preserve. Among the challenges of gathering evidence at a crime scene are:
   • Some exhibits are too big to be physically seized and brought to court. As previously noted, the entire crime scene and the inherent spatial relationships of objects within that scene could be considered as one big exhibit that needs to be shown to the court. This big crime scene exhibit is captured and can be presented to the court by way of video recording, photographs, crime scene diagram, or using a sample of smaller exhibits within the scene itself.
   • Some exhibits are perishable and impractical to seize and preserve for court. A good example would be the evidence of the dead body in a murder case. The body itself would be impractical to bring to court. It is considered adequate to have photographic evidence and certificates of analysis on pathology samples.
   • Some exhibits are transient in nature and cannot be permanently seized and preserved for court. For example, ambient room temperature or lighting status at the crime scene needs to be preserved by photographs and measurements in that moment of time and subsequently presented to the court as photographs and readings by the attending investigator.
5. The collection of certain evidence can cause cross-contamination to other exhibits. A major consideration in the collection of any evidence at a crime scene is to ensure that evidence with any potential for cross-contamination is handled in a manner that takes precautions against this occurring. In most cases, at major crime scenes, physical evidence is collected by forensic experts. However, this does not preclude the need for investigators to understand the dangers of cross-contamination and the precautions required to prevent it. This is particularly true when it comes to the collection of bodily substances where DNA might be collected. DNA analysis is now so advanced that even a small trace of DNA material can be transferred by the careless or inadvertent handling of one exhibit to the next. This cross-contamination can be avoided or prevented by the practice of handling only one exhibit at a time, marking that exhibit, placing into a secure container, and decontaminating the investigator by changing gloves and discarding any item could have come into contact with the previous exhibit. Despite the assurance that forensic specialists will normally attend a crime scene for evidence collection, it is possible that an investigator at the scene will be forced to handle a number of exhibits to protect that evidence from some type of environmental damage or other security threat.

Topic 4: Scaling the Investigation to the Event

• The crime scene must be secured, preserved, and recorded until evidence is collected
• Existing contamination must be considered and recorded
• Cross-contamination must be prevented
• Exhibits must be identified, preserved, collected, and secured to preserve the chain of continuity.

Summary

Long Descriptions

• Pre-crime stage
  • Planning
  • Notes
  • Research
  • Crime supplies
• Criminal event stage
  • Most transfer of physical evidence
  • Suspect to Victim
  • Victim to Suspect
  • Suspect to Scene
• Post-crime stage
  • Avoiding apprehension
  • Casts-off evidence
  • Evidence of clean-up
  • Transfer takeaway
  • Proceeds of the crime

1. The progression from interviewing to questioning to interrogating, and how this progression relates to investigative practices
2. The junctures that demonstrate the need to change from interviewing a witness to questioning a detained suspect to interrogating an arrested suspect
3. The issues of physical and mental distress, and how to avoid the perception of officer-induced distress during an interrogation
4. The seven elements to review to prepare an interrogation plan
5. The five common reasons arrested suspects waive their right to silence and provide statements and confessions
6. The interrogation strategies to initiate statements using the motivations within the five common reasons
7. The three types of false confessor and strategies to deal with false confessions
8. The additional rights of young offenders and practices required to meet the investigative obligations under Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act
9. Ancillary offence recognition

Topic 1: Interviewing – Questioning – Interrogating

Charter Warnings

Section 10(a) "I am arresting/detaining you for: (State reason for arrest/detention, including the offence and provide known information about the offence, including date and place.)" Section 10(b) "It is my duty to inform you that you have the right to retain and instruct Counsel in private, without delay. You may call any lawyer you want. There is a 24-hour telephone service available which provides a legal aid duty lawyer who can give you legal advice in private. This advice is given without charge and the lawyer can explain the Legal Aid Plan to you. If you wish to contact a legal aid duty lawyer, I can provide you with the telephone number. Do you understand? Do you want to call a lawyer?" (Canadian Charter, 1982, s 10(a,b))

Police Warning

"You are not obliged to say anything, but anything you do say may be given in evidence." (Transit Police, 2015) If the suspect has already had communication with the police in relation to the offence being investigated, they should be provided with the secondary caution. This secondary caution serves to advise the accused person that, even if they have previously made a statement, they should not be influenced by that to make further statements.

Secondary Police Warning

"(Name), you are detained with respect to: (reason for detainment). If you have spoken to any police officer (including myself) with respect to this matter, who has offered you any hope of advantage or suggested any fear of prejudice should you speak or refuse to speak with me (us) at this time, it is my duty to warn you that no such offer or suggestion can be of any effect and must not influence you or make you feel compelled to say anything to me (us) for any reason, but anything you do say may be used in evidence" (Transit Police, 2015).

1. Reviewing the suspect’s profile, criminal record, and past investigations
2. Reviewing the full details of the existing investigation to date
3. Determining the elements of the offence that will need to be proved
4. Determining if sufficient evidence has already been obtained to submit a prima facia case to Crown
5. Examining evidence that demonstrates motive, opportunity, and means
6. Determining what evidence was located and considered in forming reasonable grounds to arrest the suspect
7. What physical evidence has been found that may yet be analyzed to prove the suspect’s involvement

• Wishing to exonerate oneself,
• Attempting deception to outsmart the system,
• Conscience,
• Providing an explanation to minimize one’s involvement in the crime, or
• Surrender in the face of overwhelming evidence.

Exoneration

Deception to Outsmart the System

Conscience

Explanation to Minimize Involvement

Surrender to Overwhelming Evidence

Topic 2: Dealing with False Confessions

1. The confessor was enlisted to take the blame — On occasions where persons are part of organized crime, a person of lower status within the group is assigned or sacrificed to take the blame for a crime in place of a person of higher status. These organizational pawns are usually persons with a more minor criminal history or are a young offender, as they are likely to receive a lesser sentence for the offence.
2. The Sacrificial Confessor — Like the confessor enlisted in an organized criminal organization, there is another type of sacrificial confessor; the type who steps forward to take the blame to protect a friend or loved one. These are voluntary confessors, but their false confession can be exposed by questioning the confessor about the hold back details of the event.
3. The Mentally Ill False Confessor — This type of false confessor are encountered when there is significant media attention surrounding a crime. As Pickersgill (2015) noted, an innocent person may voluntarily provide a false confession because of a pathological need for notoriety or the need to self-punish due to guilt over an unrelated past offences. Additionally, those suffering from psychosis, endogenous depression, and Munchausen Syndrome may falsely confess to a crime they did not commit (Abed, 2105). As with other false confessors, these people can be discovered using hold back detail questioning.

Topic 3: Interviewing, Questioning, and Interrogating Young Offenders

Youth Criminal Justice Act (Section 146) (1) Subject to this section, the law relating to the admissibility of statements made by persons accused of committing offences applies in respect of young persons. (2) No oral or written statement made by a young person who is less than eighteen years old, to a peace officer or to any other person who is, in law, a person in authority, on the arrest or detention of the young person or in circumstances where the peace officer or other person has reasonable grounds for believing that the young person has committed an offence is admissible against the young person unless

(a) the statement was voluntary;

(b) the person to whom the statement was made has, before the statement was made, clearly explained to the young person, in language appropriate to his or her age and understanding, that

(i) the young person is under no obligation to make a statement,

(ii) any statement made by the young person may be used as evidence in proceedings against him or her,

(iii) the young person has the right to consult counsel and a parent or other person in accordance with paragraph (c), and

(iv) any statement made by the young person is required to be made in the presence of counsel and any other person consulted in accordance with paragraph (c), if any, unless the young person desires otherwise;

(c) the young person has, before the statement was made, been given a reasonable opportunity to consult

(i) with counsel, and

(ii) with a parent or, in the absence of a parent, an adult relative or, in the absence of a parent and an adult relative, any other appropriate adult chosen by the young person, as long as that person is not a co-accused, or under investigation, in respect of the same offence; and(d) if the young person consults a person in accordance with paragraph (c), the young person has been given a reasonable opportunity to make the statement in the presence of that person.

(3) The requirements set out in paragraphs (2)(b) to (d) do not apply in respect of oral statements if they are made spontaneously by the young person to a peace officer or other person in authority before that person has had a reasonable opportunity to comply with those requirements. (4) A young person may waive the rights under paragraph (2)(c) or (d) but any such waiver

(a) must be recorded on video tape or audio tape; or

(b) must be in writing and contain a statement signed by the young person that he or she has been informed of the right being waived.

(5) When a waiver of rights under paragraph (2)(c) or (d) is not made in accordance with subsection (4) owing to a technical irregularity, the youth justice court may determine that the waiver is valid if it is satisfied that the young person was informed of his or her rights, and voluntarily waived them. (6) When there has been a technical irregularity in complying with paragraphs (2)(b) to (d), the youth justice court may admit into evidence a statement referred to in subsection (2), if satisfied that the admission of the statement would not bring into disrepute the principle that young persons are entitled to enhanced procedural protection to ensure that they are treated fairly and their rights are protected. (7) A youth justice court judge may rule inadmissible in any proceedings under this Act a statement made by the young person in respect of whom the proceedings are taken if the young person satisfies the judge that the statement was made under duress imposed by any person who is not, in law, a person in authority. (8) A youth justice court judge may in any proceedings under this Act rule admissible any statement or waiver by a young person if, at the time of the making of the statement or waiver,

(a) the young person held himself or herself to be eighteen years old or older;

(b) the person to whom the statement or waiver was made conducted reasonable inquiries as to the age of the young person and had reasonable grounds for believing that the young person was eighteen years old or older; and

(c) in all other circumstances the statement or waiver would otherwise be admissible.

(9) For the purpose of this section, a person consulted under paragraph (2) (c) is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, deemed not to be a person in authority. (Government of Canada, 2015)

Topic 4: Ancillary Offence Recognition

• Conspiracy to commit an offence
• Attempting to commit an offence
• Being an accessory after the fact to an offence
• Aiding and abetting an offence
• Counselling a person to commit an offence
• Compounding an indictable offence

Conspiracy to Commit an Offence

Conspiracy Offence Criminal Code of Canada (1) Except where otherwise expressly provided by law, the following provisions apply in respect of conspiracy:

(a) every one who conspires with any one to commit murder or to cause another person to be murdered, whether in Canada or not, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to a maximum term of imprisonment for life;

(b) every one who conspires with any one to prosecute a person for an alleged offence, knowing that he did not commit that offence, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable

 (i) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, if the alleged offence is one for which, on conviction, that person would be liable to be sentenced to imprisonment for life or for a term not exceeding fourteen years, or

(ii) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, if the alleged offence is one for which, on conviction, that person would be liable to imprisonment for less than fourteen years;

(c) every one who conspires with any one to commit an indictable offence not provided for in paragraph (a) or (b) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to the same punishment as that to which an accused who is guilty of that offence would, on conviction, be liable; and (d) every one who conspires with any one to commit an offence punishable on summary conviction is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction. (Dostal, 2012)

Attempting to Commit an Offence

Attempts – Criminal Code of Canada

24. (1) Every one who, having an intent to commit an offence, does or omits to do anything for the purpose of carrying out the intention is guilty of an attempt to commit the offence whether or not it was possible under the circumstances to commit the offence. (Dostal, 2012)

Being an Accessory After the Fact to an Offence

Accessory after the fact – Criminal Code of Canada 23. (1) An accessory after the fact to an offence is one who, knowing that a person has been a party to the offence, receives, comforts or assists that person for the purpose of enabling that person to escape. (Dostal, 2012)

Counselling a Person to Commit an Offence

Person counselling offence – Criminal Code of Canada 22. (1) Where a person counsels another person to be a party to an offence and that other person is afterwards a party to that offence, the person who counselled is a party to that offence, notwithstanding that the offence was committed in a way different from that which was counselled. Idem (2) Every one who counsels another person to be a party to an offence is a party to every offence that the other commits in consequence of the counselling that the person who counselled knew or ought to have known was likely to be committed in consequence of the counselling. Definition of “counsel” (3) For the purposes of this Act, “counsel” includes procure, solicit or incite. R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 22; R.S., 1985, c. 27 (1st Supp.), s. 7. (Dostal, 2012)

Parties to an Offence

Parties to offence – Criminal Code of Canada 21. (1) Every one is a party to an offence who

(a) actually commits it;

(b) does or omits to do anything for the purpose of aiding any person to commit it; or

(c) abets any person in committing it.

Common intention (2) Where two or more persons form an intention in common to carry out an unlawful purpose and to assist each other therein and any one of them, in carrying out the common purpose, commits an offence, each of them who knew or ought to have known that the commission of the offence would be a probable consequence of carrying out the common purpose is a party to that offence. R.S., c. C-34, s. 21. (Dostal, 2012)

Summary

1. Physical Matching
2. Fingerprint Matching
3. Hair and fibre analysis
4. Ballistic Analysis
5. Blood Spatter Analysis
6. DNA Analysis
7. Forensic Pathology
8. Chemical Analysis
9. Forensic Anthropology
10. Forensic Entomology
11. Forensic Odontology
12. Forensic Engineering
13. Criminal Profiling
14. Geographic Profiling
15. Forensic Data Analysis
16. Forensic Document Analysis
17. Forensic Identification Sections
18. Crime Detection Laboratories

Topic 1: Physical Matching

Level One — The Examination of the Item for Class Characteristics

Level Two — Accidental Characteristics

Topic 2: Fingerprint Matching

Topic 3: Hair and Fibre Analysis

Topic 4: Ballistic Analysis

1. Handguns as either semi-automatic pistols or revolvers
2. Long rifles that are single shot bolt action, automatic, or semi-automatic
3. Shotguns that are breach loading or chambered pump action

Ballistic Fingerprints

1. Striations Matching;
2. Chamber Markings;
3. Firing-Pin Comparison; and
4. Ejector markings.

1. Striations Matching. Bullets fired from either a handgun or long rifle, other than a shotgun, fire a single projectile each time. This fired projectile is a lead or lead-composite bullet. When fired, this bullet travels down the barrel of the gun and begins to spin because the inside of the gun barrel has been intentionally machined with long gently turning grooves, called rifling. These grooves catch the soft-lead sides of the bullet spinning it like a football, and this spinning makes the bullet travel more straight and true to the target. As a result of these grooves designed into gun barrels, every bullet fired will arrive at its target with markings etched into the bullet material from contact with the grooves in the barrel. These etched markings are call striations, and they are uniquely identifiable back to the gun they were fired from. For an investigator, these striations create an opportunity to match the bullet to the gun that fired it. Recovered bullets can be recovered and compared to test bullets fired from a suspected gun. When striations of a recovered bullet are compared to known samples fired from a suspected gun, a side-by-side microscopic technique is used to match striation markings. An expert ballistic examiner can sometimes identify and illustrate matches in the striations to make a positive match.
2. Cartridge Chamber Markings. When a cartridge is loaded into the chamber of a gun, the shiny brass casing comes into contact with the hard steel sides of the chamber. This chambering of the cartridge can leave unique and identifiable scratch marks on the side of the casing. A cartridge casing ejected or unloaded from a weapon and left at the crime scene can sometimes be matched to the suspect gun by comparing these markings.
3. Firing Pin Comparison. When the firing pin of any gun strikes the primer on the bottom of a cartridge, it leaves an indentation mark. This firing pin indentation can sometimes be matched to the firing pin of a suspect weapon. This requires microscopic examination that looks for the unique characteristics of the firing pin that become impressed into the soft metal of the primer when the firing contact happens.
4. Ejector Mechanism Markings. Methods for loading and unloading weapons have evolved considerably due to different gun designs. The simplest guns allow the user to open the breach of the gun exposing the cartridge chamber to manually insert the cartridge and close the breach to make ready for firing. There is no ejector mechanism for these guns, so there will be no ejector marks left on the base of a cartridge when it is unloaded from the weapon. Other guns have a variety of different ejector methods, including ejectors that catch the base of the cartridge casing to physically pull it from the breach and eject them away from the gun. In cases where a gun does have an ejector mechanism, these mechanisms leave very distinct and unique marks on the soft brass cartridge base. These markings can sometimes be compared and matched back to the ejector of a suspect weapon. With this broad variety of ballistic comparison techniques, an investigator has a significant number of tools that can be deployed and strategies that can be engaged to assist in matching a bullet to the gun that fired it. Considering these tools, the cartridge casing left at the scene of a shooting can be as important as a bullet removed from the body of a shooting victim. An investigator needs to keep this in mind when seizing cartridge casings as evidence. Great care needs to be exercised to document the location where each individual casing was found, and to preserve each casing in a manner that does not degrade the possible markings that could enable a match to be made. Damage can be done by placing casings into a common bag where they can rub against each other causing more characteristics and obliterating existing marks.

Trajectory Analysis

Topic 5: Blood Spatter Analysis

Topic 6: DNA Analysis

Topic 7: Forensic Pathology

Body Temperature

• Ambient room temperature being within a normal range of approximately 22° Celsius
• Pre-death body temperature of the victim not being elevated by illness or exertion
• Thickness of clothing that might insulate the body temperature escape
• The temperature and conductivity of the surface the body was located on that could artificially increase or decrease temperature loss

Rigor Mortis

1. If the body feels warm and is flaccid, it has been dead for less than 3 hours
2. If the body feels warm and is stiff, it has been dead for 3 to 8 hours
3. If the body feels cold and stiff, it has been dead for 8 to 36 hours
4. If the body feels cold and is flaccid, it has been dead more than 36 hours

Post-Mortem Lividity

Decomposition

Causes of Death

• Laceration or Stabbing
• Shooting
• Blunt force trauma
• Asphyxiation
• Toxic substances
• Electrocution
• Depriving necessities of life

Duty of persons to provide necessaries 215 (1) Everyone is under a legal duty

(a) as a parent, foster parent, guardian or head of a family, to provide necessaries of life for a child under the age of sixteen years;

(b) to provide necessaries of life to their spouse or common-law partner; and

(c) to provide necessaries of life to a person under his charge if that person

(i) is unable, by reason of detention, age, illness, mental disorder or other cause, to withdraw himself from that charge, and

(ii) is unable to provide himself with necessaries of life.

Marginal note: Offence (2) Every one commits an offence who, being under a legal duty within the meaning of subsection (1), fails without lawful excuse, the proof of which lies on him, to perform that duty, if

(a) with respect to a duty imposed by paragraph (1)(a) or (b),

(i) the person to whom the duty is owed is in destitute or necessitous circumstances, or

(ii) the failure to perform the duty endangers the life of the person to whom the duty is owed, or causes or is likely to cause the health of that person to be endangered permanently; or

(b) with respect to a duty imposed by paragraph (1)(c), the failure to perform the duty endangers the life of the person to whom the duty is owed or causes or is likely to cause the health of that person to be injured permanently. (Justice Laws Canada, 2017)

Marginal note: Punishment (3) Every one who commits an offence under subsection (2)

(a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years; or

(b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding eighteen months. (Justice Laws Canada, 2017)

Topic 8: Chemical Analysis

• Accelerants used in the crime of arson;
• Explosive analysis in cases of conventional crimes and terrorism;
• Toxic chemicals and biological agents used in cases of murder, industrial negligence, and terrorism;
• Drug analysis in the cases of trafficking and drug overdoses;
• Gunshot residue analysis; and
• Analysis and chemical matching of paint transfer in cases of hit and run motor vehicle crashes.

Topic 9: Forensic Archaeology

Topic 10: Forensic Entomology

Topic 11: Forensic Odontology

Topic 12: Forensic Engineering

Topic 13: Criminal Profiling

Topic 14: Geographic Profiling

Topic 15: Forensic Data Analysis

Topic 16: Forensic Document Analysis

Topic 17: Forensic Identification Sections

Topic 18: Crime Detection Laboratories

• Biology — Comparison of the suspect’s and victim’s body fluids and hair; most often DNA analysis
• Chemistry — Identifying non-biological substances found at a crime scene, such as paint, glass, liquids, fuels, and explosive substances
• Toxicology — The examination of body fluids to determine the level of alcohol present in the body, and providing expert opinions in relation to the extent of intoxication
• Documents Examination — The analysis of documents to determine authenticity for fraud allegations. Can also provide handwriting comparison
• Firearms Ballistics — Matching shells, casing, and fired bullets to a weapon and making a determination of bullet trajectory
• Tool mark examination — Matching tool impressions to an originating suspect tool

Summary

Investigative Learning Going Forward

1. Major Case Management
2. Informant and confidential source management
3. Undercover investigations
4. Specialized team investigations

Topic 1: Major Case Management

The Bernardo case, like every similar investigation, had its share of human error. But this is not a story of human error or lack of dedication or investigative skill. It is a story of systemic failure. It is easy, knowing now that Bernardo was the rapist and the killer, to ask why he was not identified earlier for what he was. But the same questions and the same problems have arisen in so many other similar tragedies in other countries. Virtually every interjurisdictional serial killer case including Sutcliffe (the Yorkshire Rapist) and Black (the cross-border child killer) in England, Ted Bundy and the Green River Killer in the United States and Clifford Olsen in Canada, demonstrate the same problems arise and the same questions. And always the answer turns out to be the same – systemic failure. Always the problems turn out to be the same, the mistakes the same, and the systemic failures the same. What is needed is a system of case management for major interjurisdictional serial predator investigations. As system that corrects the defects demonstrated by this and so many similar cases. A case management system is based on co-operation, rather than rivalry, among law enforcement agencies. A case management system is needed that depends on specialized training, early recognition of linked offences, co-ordination of interdisciplinary and forensic resources, and some simple mechanisms to ensure unified management, accountability and co-ordination when serial predators cross police borders. (Campbell, 1996)

Topic 2: Informant and Confidential Source Management

Topic 3: Undercover Investigations

Topic 4: Specialized Team Investigations

• Forensic Identification Section
• Traffic Analyst and Accident Reconstruction Units
• Criminal intelligence and Crime Analysis
• Criminal and Geographic Crime Profiling
• Polygraph section and specialized interview teams
• Computer Crime Analysts and Data Recovery
• Organized Crime Sections
• Gang Crime Unit
• Integrated Homicide Investigation Teams
• Dedicated Surveillance Units
• Community Policing Teams

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Even the most carefully planned project can run into trouble. No matter how well you plan, your project can always encounter unexpected problems. Team members get sick or quit, resources that you were depending on turn out to be unavailable, even the weather can throw you for a loop (e.g., a snowstorm). So does that mean that you’re helpless against unknown problems? No! You can use risk planning to identify potential problems that could cause trouble for your project, analyze how likely they are to occur, take action to prevent the risks you can avoid, and minimize the ones that you can’t.

A risk is any uncertain event or condition that might affect your project. Not all risks are negative. Some events (like finding an easier way to do an activity) or conditions (like lower prices for certain materials) can help your project. When this happens, we call it an opportunity; but it’s still handled just like a risk.

There are no guarantees on any project. Even the simplest activity can turn into unexpected problems. Anything that might occur to change the outcome of a project activity, we call that a risk. A risk can be an event (like a snowstorm) or it can be a condition (like an important part being unavailable). Either way, it’s something that may or may not happen …but if it does, then it will force you to change the way you and your team work on the project.

If your project requires that you stand on the edge of a cliff, then there’s a risk that you could fall. If it’s very windy out or if the ground is slippery and uneven, then falling is more likely (Figure 13.1).

Figure 13.1 Risk Management Options
Illustration from Barron & Barron Project Management for Scientists and Engineers, http://cnx.org/content/col11120/1.4/ 

When you’re planning your project, risks are still uncertain: they haven’t happened yet. But eventually, some of the risks that you plan for do happen, and that’s when you have to deal with them. There are four basic ways to handle a risk.

1. Avoid: The best thing you can do with a risk is avoid it. If you can prevent it from happening, it definitely won’t hurt your project. The easiest way to avoid this risk is to walk away from the cliff, but that may not be an option on this project.
2. Mitigate: If you can’t avoid the risk, you can mitigate it. This means taking some sort of action that will cause it to do as little damage to your project as possible.
3. Transfer: One effective way to deal with a risk is to pay someone else to accept it for you. The most common way to do this is to buy insurance.
4. Accept: When you can’t avoid, mitigate, or transfer a risk, then you have to accept it. But even when you accept a risk, at least you’ve looked at the alternatives and you know what will happen if it occurs. If you can’t avoid the risk, and there’s nothing you can do to reduce its impact, then accepting it is your only choice.

By the time a risk actually occurs on your project, it’s too late to do anything about it. That’s why you need to plan for risks from the beginning and keep coming back to do more planning throughout the project.

The risk management plan tells you how you’re going to handle risk in your project. It documents how you’ll assess risk, who is responsible for doing it, and how often you’ll do risk planning (since you’ll have to meet about risk planning with your team throughout the project). Some risks are technical, like a component that might turn out to be difficult to use. Others are external, like changes in the market or even problems with the weather.

It’s important to come up with guidelines to help you figure out how big a risk’s potential impact could be. The impact tells you how much damage the risk would cause to your project. Many projects classify impact on a scale from minimal to severe, or from very low to very high. Your risk management plan should give you a scale to help figure out the probability of the risk. Some risks are very likely; others aren’t.

Risk Management Process

Managing risks on projects is a process that includes risk assessment and a mitigation strategy for those risks. Risk assessment includes both the identification of potential risk and the evaluation of the potential impact of the risk. A risk mitigation plan is designed to eliminate or minimize the impact of the risk events—occurrences that have a negative impact on the project. Identifying risk is both a creative and a disciplined process. The creative process includes brainstorming sessions where the team is asked to create a list of everything that could go wrong. All ideas are welcome at this stage with the evaluation of the ideas coming later.

Risk Identification

A more disciplined process involves using checklists of potential risks and evaluating the likelihood that those events might happen on the project. Some companies and industries develop risk checklists based on experience from past projects. These checklists can be helpful to the project manager and project team in identifying both specific risks on the checklist and expanding the thinking of the team. The past experience of the project team, project experience within the company, and experts in the industry can be valuable resources for identifying potential risk on a project.

Identifying the sources of risk by category is another method for exploring potential risk on a project. Some examples of categories for potential risks include the following:

• Technical
• Cost
• Schedule
• Client
• Contractual
• Weather
• Financial
• Political
• Environmental
• People

You can use the same framework as the work breakdown structure (WBS) for developing a risk breakdown structure (RBS). A risk breakdown structure organizes the risks that have been identified into categories using a table with increasing levels of detail to the right. The people category can be subdivided into different types of risks associated with the people. Examples of people risks include the risk of not finding people with the skills needed to execute the project or the sudden unavailability of key people on the project.

Example: Risks in John’s Move

In John’s move, John makes a list of things that might go wrong with his project and uses his work breakdown structure as a guide. A partial list for the planning portion of the RBS is shown in Figure 13.2.

Figure 13.2 Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS)
Source: http://pm4id.org/11/2/ 

The result is a clearer understanding of where risks are most concentrated. This approach helps the project team identify known risks, but can be restrictive and less creative in identifying unknown risks and risks not easily found inside the WBS.

Risk Evaluation

After the potential risks have been identified, the project team then evaluates each risk based on the probability that a risk event will occur and the potential loss associated with it. Not all risks are equal. Some risk events are more likely to happen than others, and the cost of a risk can vary greatly. Evaluating the risk for probability of occurrence and the severity or the potential loss to the project is the next step in the risk management process.

Having criteria to determine high-impact risks can help narrow the focus on a few critical risks that require mitigation. For example, suppose high-impact risks are those that could increase the project costs by 5% of the conceptual budget or 2% of the detailed budget. Only a few potential risk events meet these criteria. These are the critical few potential risk events that the project management team should focus on when developing a project risk mitigation or management plan. Risk evaluation is about developing an understanding of which potential risks have the greatest possibility of occurring and can have the greatest negative impact on the project (Figure 13.3). These become the critical few.

Figure 13.3 Risk and Impact
Source: http://pm4id.org/11/2/ 

There is a positive correlation—both increase or decrease together—between project risk and project complexity. A project with new and emerging technology will have a high-complexity rating and a correspondingly high risk. The project management team will assign the appropriate resources to the technology managers to ensure the accomplishment of project goals. The more complex the technology, the more resources the technology manager typically needs to meet project goals, and each of those resources could face unexpected problems.

Risk evaluation often occurs in a workshop setting. Building on the identification of the risks, each risk event is analyzed to determine the likelihood of occurrence and the potential cost if it did occur. The likelihood and impact are both rated as high, medium, or low. A risk mitigation plan addresses the items that have high ratings on both factors—likelihood and impact.

Example: Risk Analysis of Equipment Delivery

A project team analyzed the risk of some important equipment not arriving at the project on time. The team identified three pieces of equipment that were critical to the project and would significantly increase costs if they were late in arriving. One of the vendors, who was selected to deliver an important piece of equipment, had a history of being late on other projects. The vendor was good and often took on more work than it could deliver on time. This risk event (the identified equipment arriving late) was rated as high likelihood with a high impact. The other two pieces of equipment were potentially a high impact on the project but with a low probability of occurring.

Not all project managers conduct a formal risk assessment on a project. One reason, as found by David Parker and Alison Mobey in their phenomenological study of project managers, was a low understanding of the tools and benefits of a structured analysis of project risks (2004). The lack of formal risk management tools was also seen as a barrier to implementing a risk management program. Additionally, the project manager’s personality and management style play into risk preparation levels. Some project managers are more proactive and develop elaborate risk management programs for their projects. Other managers are reactive and are more confident in their ability to handle unexpected events when they occur. Yet others are risk averse, and prefer to be optimistic and not consider risks or avoid taking risks whenever possible.

On projects with a low-complexity profile, the project manager may informally track items that may be considered risk items. On more complex projects, the project management team may develop a list of items perceived to be higher risk and track them during project reviews. On projects of even greater complexity, the process for evaluating risk is more formal with a risk assessment meeting or series of meetings during the life of the project to assess risks at different phases of the project. On highly complex projects, an outside expert may be included in the risk assessment process, and the risk assessment plan may take a more prominent place in the project implementation plan.

On complex projects, statistical models are sometimes used to evaluate risk because there are too many different possible combinations of risks to calculate them one at a time. One example of the statistical model used on projects is the Monte Carlo simulation, which simulates a possible range of outcomes by trying many different combinations of risks based on their likelihood. The output from a Monte Carlo simulation provides the project team with the probability of an event occurring within a range and for combinations of events. For example, the typical output from a Monte Carlo simulation may indicate a 10% chance that one of the three important pieces of equipment will be late and that the weather will also be unusually bad after the equipment arrives.

Risk Mitigation

After the risk has been identified and evaluated, the project team develops a risk mitigation plan, which is a plan to reduce the impact of an unexpected event. The project team mitigates risks in various ways:

• Risk avoidance
• Risk sharing
• Risk reduction
• Risk transfer

Each of these mitigation techniques can be an effective tool in reducing individual risks and the risk profile of the project. The risk mitigation plan captures the risk mitigation approach for each identified risk event and the actions the project management team will take to reduce or eliminate the risk.

Risk avoidance usually involves developing an alternative strategy that has a higher probability of success but usually at a higher cost associated with accomplishing a project task. A common risk avoidance technique is to use proven and existing technologies rather than adopt new techniques, even though the new techniques may show promise of better performance or lower costs. A project team may choose a vendor with a proven track record over a new vendor that is providing significant price incentives to avoid the risk of working with a new vendor. The project team that requires drug testing for team members is practicing risk avoidance by avoiding damage done by someone under the influence of drugs.

Risk sharing involves partnering with others to share responsibility for the risky activities. Many organizations that work on international projects will reduce political, legal, labor, and others risk types associated with international projects by developing a joint venture with a company located in that country. Partnering with another company to share the risk associated with a portion of the project is advantageous when the other company has expertise and experience the project team does not have. If a risk event does occur, then the partnering company absorbs some or all of the negative impact of the event. The company will also derive some of the profit or benefit gained by a successful project.

Risk reduction is an investment of funds to reduce the risk on a project. On international projects, companies will often purchase the guarantee of a currency rate to reduce the risk associated with fluctuations in the currency exchange rate. A project manager may hire an expert to review the technical plans or the cost estimate on a project to increase the confidence in that plan and reduce the project risk. Assigning highly skilled project personnel to manage the high-risk activities is another risk-reduction method. Experts managing a high-risk activity can often predict problems and find solutions that prevent the activities from having a negative impact on the project. Some companies reduce risk by forbidding key executives or technology experts to ride on the same airplane.

Risk transfer is a risk reduction method that shifts the risk from the project to another party. The purchase of insurance on certain items is a risk-transfer method. The risk is transferred from the project to the insurance company. A construction project in the Caribbean may purchase hurricane insurance that would cover the cost of a hurricane damaging the construction site. The purchase of insurance is usually in areas outside the control of the project team. Weather, political unrest, and labor strikes are examples of events that can significantly impact the project and that are outside the control of the project team.

Contingency Plan

The project risk plan balances the investment of the mitigation against the benefit for the project. The project team often develops an alternative method for accomplishing a project goal when a risk event has been identified that may frustrate the accomplishment of that goal. These plans are called contingency plans. The risk of a truck drivers’ strike may be mitigated with a contingency plan that uses a train to transport the needed equipment for the project. If a critical piece of equipment is late, the impact on the schedule can be mitigated by making changes to the schedule to accommodate a late equipment delivery.

Contingency funds are funds set aside by the project team to address unforeseen events that cause the project costs to increase. Projects with a high-risk profile will typically have a large contingency budget. Although the amount of contingency allocated in the project budget is a function of the risks identified in the risk analysis process, contingency is typically managed as one line item in the project budget.

Some project managers allocate the contingency budget to the items in the budget that have high risk rather than developing one line item in the budget for contingencies. This approach allows the project team to track the use of contingency against the risk plan. This approach also allocates the responsibility to manage the risk budget to the managers responsible for those line items. The availability of contingency funds in the line item budget may also increase the use of contingency funds to solve problems rather than finding alternative, less costly solutions. Most project managers, especially on more complex projects, manage contingency funds at the project level, with approval of the project manager required before contingency funds can be used.

Project Risk by Phases

Project risk is dealt with in different ways depending on the phase of the project.

Initiation

Risk is associated with things that are unknown. More things are unknown at the beginning of a project, but risk must be considered in the initiation phase and weighed against the potential benefit of the project’s success in order to decide if the project should be chosen.

Example: Risks by Phase in John’s Move

In the initiation phase of his move, John considers the risk of events that could affect the whole project. Lets assume that John’s move is not just about changing jobs, but also a change of cities. This would certainly incur more risks for the project.  He identifies the following risks during the initiation phase that might have a high impact and rates the likelihood of their happening from low to high.

• His new employer might change his mind and take back the job offer after he’s given notice at his old job: Low.
• The current tenants of his apartment might not move out in time for him to move in by the first day of work at the new job: Medium.
• The movers might lose his furniture: Low.
• The movers might be more than a week late delivering his furniture: Medium.
• He might get in an accident driving from Chicago to Atlanta and miss starting his job: Low.

John considers how to mitigate each of the risks.

During his job hunt, John had more than one offer, and he is confident that he could get another job, but he might lose deposit money on the apartment and the mover. He would also lose wages during the time it took to find the other job. To mitigate the risk of his new employer changing his mind, John makes sure that he keeps his relationships with his alternate employers cordial and writes to each of them thanking for their consideration in his recent interviews.

John checks the market in Atlanta to determine the weekly cost and availability of extended-stay motels.

• John checks the mover’s contract to confirm that they carry insurance against lost items, but they require the owner to provide a detailed list with value estimates and they limit the maximum total value. John decides to go through his apartment with his digital camera and take pictures of all of his possessions that will be shipped by truck and to keep the camera with him during the move so he has a visual record and won’t have to rely on his memory to make a list. He seals and numbers the boxes so he can tell if a box is missing.
• If the movers are late, John can use his research on extended-stay motels to calculate how much it would cost. He checks the moving company’s contract to see if they compensate the owner for late delivery, and he finds that they do not.
• John checks the estimated driving time from Chicago to Atlanta using an Internet mapping service and gets an estimate of 11 hours of driving time. He decides that it would be too risky to attempt to make the drive by himself in one day, especially if he didn’t leave until after the truck was packed. John plans to spend one night on the road in a motel to reduce the risk of an accident caused by driving while too tired.

John concludes that the medium-risks can be mitigated and the costs from the mitigation would be acceptable in order to get a new job.

Planning Phase

Once the project is approved and it moves into the planning stage, risks are identified with each major group of activities. A risk breakdown structure (RBS) can be used to identify increasing levels of detailed risk analysis.

Example: Risk Breakdown Structure for John’s Move

Figure 16.4 Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS) for Packing John’s Apartment
Source: http://pm4id.org/11/3/ 

John decides to ask Dion and Carlita for their help during their first planning meeting to identify risks, rate their impact and likelihood, and suggest mitigation plans. They concentrate on the packing phase of the move. They fill out a table of risks, as shown in Figure 16.4.

Implementation Phase

As the project progresses and more information becomes available to the project team, the total risk on the project typically reduces, as activities are performed without loss. The risk plan needs to be updated with new information and risks checked off that are related to activities that have been performed.

Understanding where the risks occur on the project is important information for managing the contingency budget and managing cash reserves. Most organizations develop a plan for financing the project from existing organizational resources, including financing the project through a variety of financial instruments. In most cases, there is a cost to the organization to keep these funds available to the project, including the contingency budget. As the risks decrease over the length of the project, if the contingency is not used, then the funds set aside by the organization can be used for other purposes.

To determine the amount of contingency that can be released, the project team will conduct another risk evaluation and determine the amount of risk remaining on the project. If the risk profile is lower, the project team may release contingency funds back to the parent organization. If additional risks are uncovered, a new mitigation plan is developed including the possible addition of contingency funds.

Closeout Phase

During the closeout phase, agreements for risk sharing and risk transfer need to be concluded and the risk breakdown structure examined to be sure all the risk events have been avoided or mitigated. The final estimate of loss due to risk can be made and recorded as part of the project documentation. If a Monte Carlo simulation was done, the result can be compared to the predicted result.

Example: Risk Closeout on John’s Move

To close out the risk mitigation plan for his move, John examines the risk breakdown structure and risk mitigation plan for items that need to be finalized. He makes a checklist to be sure all the risk mitigation plans are completed, as shown in Figure 16.5. Risk is not allocated evenly over the life of the project. On projects with a high degree of new technology, the majority of the risks may be in the early phases of the project. On projects with a large equipment budget, the largest amount of risk may be during the procurement of the equipment. On global projects with a large amount of political risk, the highest portion of risk may be toward the end of the project.

Figure 16.5 Closeout of Risk Mitigation Plan for John’s Move
Source: http://pm4id.org/11/3/ 

References

Parker, D., & Mobey, A. (2004). Action Research to Explore Perceptions of Risk in Project Management. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management 53(1), 18–32.

Attribution

This chapter of Project Management is a derivative copy of Project Management for Instructional Designers by Amado, M., Ashton, K., Ashton, S., Bostwick, J., Clements, G., Drysdale, J., Francis, J., Harrison, B., Nan, V., Nisse, A., Randall, D., Rino, J., Robinson, J., Snyder, A., Wiley, D., & Anonymous. (DATE). Project Management for Instructional Designers. Retrieved from http://pm4id.org/. licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.

Contribution from Florence Daddey. 

Procurement management follows a logical order. First, you plan what you need to contract; then you plan how you’ll do it. Next, you send out your contract requirements to sellers. They bid for the chance to work with you. You pick the best one, and then you sign the contract with them. Once the work begins, you monitor it to make sure that the contract is being followed. When the work is done, you close out the contract and fill out all the paperwork.

You need to start with a plan for the whole project. Before doing anything else, you need to think about all of the work that you will contract out for your project. You will want to plan for any purchases and acquisitions. Here’s where you take a close look at your needs to be sure that contracting is necessary. You figure out what kinds of contracts make sense for your project, and you try to define all of the parts of the project that will be contracted out.

Contract planning is where you plan out each individual contract for the project work. You work out how you’ll manage the contract, what metrics it will need to meet to be considered successful, how you’ll pick a seller, and how you’ll administer the contract once the work is happening.

The procurement management plan details how the procurement process will be managed. It includes the following information:

• The types of contracts you plan to use and any metrics that will be used to measure the contractors’ performance
• The planned delivery dates for the work or products you are contracting
• The company’s standard documents you will use
• The number of vendors or contractors involved and how they will be managed
• How purchasing may impact the constraints and assumptions of the project plan
• The coordination of purchasing lead times with the development of the project schedule
• The identification of prequalified sellers (if known)

The procurement management plan, like all other management plans, becomes a subsidiary of the project management plan. Some tools and techniques you may use during the procurement planning stage include make-or-buy analysis and definition of the contract type.

Make-or-Buy Analysis

This means figuring out whether or not you should be contracting the work or doing it yourself. It could also mean deciding whether to build a solution to your problem or buy one that is already available. Most of the same factors that help you make every other major project decision will help you with this one. How much does it cost to build it as opposed to buying it? How will this decision affect the scope of your project? How will it affect the project schedule? Do you have time to do the work and still meet your commitments? As you plan out what you will and won’t contract, you need to think through your reasoning very carefully.

There are some resources (like heavy equipment) that your company can buy, rent, or lease depending on the situation. You’ll need to examine leasing-versus-buying costs and determine the best way to go forward.

Contract Types

You should know a little bit about the major kinds of contracts available to you (the client) so that you choose the one that creates the most fair and workable deal for you and the contractor. Some contracts are fixed price: no matter how much time or effort goes into them, the client always pay the same. In Figure 14.1 the cost to the client stays the same, but as more effort is exerted the profit to the contractor goes down. Some are cost reimbursable also called cost plus. This is where the seller charges you for the cost of doing the work plus some fee or rate. Figure 14.2 illustrates this by showing that as efforts increase, costs to the client go up but the contractor’s profits stay the same. The third major kind of contract is time and materials. That’s where the client pays a rate for the time spent working on the project and also pays for all the materials used to do the work. Figure 14.3 shows that as costs to the client go up, so does the profit for the contractor.

Fixed-Price Contracts

The fixed-price contract is a legal agreement between the project organization and an entity (person or company) to provide goods or services to the project at an agreed-on price. The contract usually details the quality of the goods or services, the timing needed to support the project, and the price for delivering goods or services. There are several variations of the fixed-price contract. For commodities and goods and services where the scope of work is very clear and not likely to change, the fixed-price contract offers a predictable cost. The responsibility for managing the work to meet the needs of the project is focused on the contractor. The project team tracks the quality and schedule progress to ensure the contractors will meet the project needs. The risks associated with fixed-price contracts are the costs associated with project change. If a change occurs on the project that requires a change order from the contractor, the price of the change is typically very high. Even when the price for changes is included in the original contract, changes on a fixed-price contract will create higher total project costs than other forms of contracts because the majority of the cost risk is transferred to the contractor, and most contractors will add a contingency to the contract to cover their additional risk.

Figure 14.1: A fixed-price contract the cost to the client is constant regardless of effort applied or delivery date.
Illustration from Barron & Barron Project Management for Scientists and Engineers, http://cnx.org/content/col11120/1.4/ 

Fixed-price contracts require the availability of at least two or more suppliers that have the qualifications and performance histories that ensure the needs of the project can be met. The other requirement is a scope of work that is most likely not going to change. Developing a clear scope of work based on good information, creating a list of highly qualified bidders, and developing a clear contract that reflects that scope of work are critical aspects of a good fixed-priced contract.

If the service provider is responsible for incorporating all costs, including profit, into the agreed-on price, it is a fixed-total-cost contract. The contractor assumes the risks for unexpected increases in labor and materials that are needed to provide the service or materials and in the materials and timeliness needed.

The fixed-price contract with price adjustment is used for unusually long projects that span years. The most common use of this type of contract is the inflation-adjusted price. In some countries, the value of its local currency can vary greatly in a few months, which affects the cost of local materials and labor. In periods of high inflation, the client assumes the risk of higher costs due to inflation, and the contract price is adjusted based on an inflation index. The volatility of certain commodities can also be accounted for in a price-adjustment contract. For example, if the price of oil significantly affects the costs of the project, the client can accept the oil price volatility risk and include a provision in the contract that would allow the contract price adjustment based on a change in the price of oil.

The fixed-price contract with incentive fee provides an incentive for performing on the project above the established baseline in the contract. The contract might include an incentive for completing the work on an important milestone for the project. Often contracts have a penalty clause if the work is not performed according to the contract. For example, if the new software is not completed in time to support the implementation of the training, the contract might penalize the software company a daily amount of money for every day the software is late. This type of penalty is often used when the software is critical to the project and the delay will cost the project significant money.

If the service or materials can be measured in standard units, but the amount needed is not known accurately, the price per unit can be fixed—a fixed-unit-price contract. The project team assumes the responsibility of estimating the number of units used. If the estimate is not accurate, the contract does not need to be changed, but the project will exceed the budgeted cost.

Figure 14.4 Table of Fixed Price Contracts and Characteristics
Source: http://pm4id.org/9/5/ 

Cost-Reimbursable Contracts

In a cost-reimbursable contract, the organization agrees to pay the contractor for the cost of performing the service or providing the goods. Cost-reimbursable contracts are also known as cost-plus contracts. Cost-reimbursable contracts are most often used when the scope of work or the costs for performing the work are not well known. The project uses a cost-reimbursable contract to pay the contractor for allowable expenses related to performing the work. Since the cost of the project is reimbursable, the contractor has much less risk associated with cost increases. When the costs of the work are not well known, a cost-reimbursable contract reduces the amount of money the bidders place in the bid to account for the risk associated with potential increases in costs. The contractor is also less motivated to find ways to reduce the cost of the project unless there are incentives for supporting the accomplishment of project goals.

Figure 14.2: In a cost-reimbursable or cost-plus contract, the contractor is guaranteed a fee, but the client’s costs can increase based on effort.
Illustration from Barron & Barron Project Management for Scientists and Engineers, http://cnx.org/content/col11120/1.4/ 

 Cost-reimbursable contracts require good documentation of the costs that occurred on the project to ensure that the contractor gets paid for all the work performed and to ensure that the organization is not paying for something that was not completed. The contractor is also paid an additional amount above the costs. There are several ways to compensate the contractor.

A cost-reimbursable contract with a fixed fee provides the contractor with a fee, or profit amount that is determined at the beginning of the contract and does not change.

A cost-reimbursable contract with a percentage fee pays the contractor for costs plus a percentage of the costs, such as 5% of total allowable costs. The contractor is reimbursed for allowable costs and is paid a fee.

A cost-reimbursable contract with an incentive fee is used to encourage performance in areas critical to the project. Often the contract attempts to motivate contractors to save or reduce project costs. The use of the cost reimbursable contract with an incentive fee is one way to motivate cost-reduction behaviors.

A cost-reimbursable contract with award fee reimburses the contractor for all allowable costs plus a fee that is based on performance criteria. The fee is typically based on goals or objectives that are more subjective. An amount of money is set aside for the contractor to earn through excellent performance, and the decision on how much to pay the contractor is left to the judgment of the project team. The amount is sufficient to motivate excellent performance.

On small activities that have a high uncertainty, the contractor might charge an hourly rate for labor, plus the cost of materials, plus a percentage of the total costs. This type of contract is called time and materials (T&M). Time is usually contracted on an hourly rate basis and the contractor usually submits time sheets and receipts for items purchased on the project. The project reimburses the contractor for the time spent based on the agreed-on rate and the actual cost of the materials. The fee is typically a percentage of the total cost.

Figure 14.3: In a time-and-materials contract the profit to the contractor increases with increased effort, as does the costs to the client.
Illustration from Barron & Barron Project Management for Scientists and Engineers, http://cnx.org/content/col11120/1.4/ 

 T&M contracts are used on projects for work that is smaller in scope and has uncertainty or risk. The project, rather than the contractor, assumes the risk. Since the contractor will most likely include contingency in the price of other types of contracts to cover the high risk, T&M contracts provide lower total cost to the project.

Figure 14.5: Table of cost-reimbursable contracts
Source:  http://pm4id.org/9/5/ 

To minimize the risk to the project, the contractor typically includes a not-to-exceed amount, which means the contract can only charge up to the agreed amount. The T&M contract allows the project to make adjustments as more information is available. The final cost of the work is not known until sufficient information is available to complete a more accurate estimate.

Progress Payments and Change Management

Vendors and suppliers usually require payments during the life of the contract. On contracts that last several months, the contractor will incur significant cost and will want the project to pay for these costs as early as possible. Rather than wait until the end of the contract, a schedule of payments is typically developed as part of the contract and is connected to the completion of a defined amount of work or project milestones. These payments made before the end of the project and based on the progress of the work are called progress payments. For example, the contract might develop a payment schedule that pays for the design of the curriculum, then the development of the curriculum, and then a final payment is made when the curriculum is completed and accepted. In this case there would be three payments made. There is a defined amount of work to be accomplished, a time frame for accomplishing that work, and a quality standard the work must achieve before the contractor is paid for the work.

Just as the project has a scope of work that defines what is included in the project and what work is outside the project, vendors and suppliers have a scope of work that defines what they will produce or supply to the company. (Partners typically share the project scope of work and may not have a separate scope of work.) Often changes occur on the project that require changes in the contractor’s scope of work. How these changes will be managed during the life of the project is typically documented in the contract. Capturing these changes early, documenting what changed and how the change impacted the contract, and developing a change order (a change to the contract) are important to maintaining the progress of the project. Conflict among team members may arise when changes are not documented or when the team cannot agree on the change. Developing and implementing an effective change management process for contractors and key suppliers will minimize this conflict and the potential negative effect on the project. (Source: http://pm4id.org/9/5/) 

 Procurement Process

The project procurement cycle reflects the procurement activities from the decision to purchase the material or service through to the payment of bills and closing of procurement contracts.

Procurement Plan

After the decision has been made to purchase goods or outsource services, the procurement team develops a plan that includes the following:

• Selecting the appropriate relationships and contract approaches for each type of purchased goods or outsourced service
• Preparing requests for quotes (RFQs) and requests for proposals (RFPs) and evaluating partnership opportunities
• Evaluating RFQs, RFPs, and partnerships
• Awarding and signing contracts
• Managing quality and timely performance
• Managing contract changes
• Closing contracts

Depending on the complexity level of the project, each of these steps can take either hours or sometimes weeks of work to complete. Each of these steps is also included in the project master schedule. The time involved in the procurement cycle can influence the scheduling of critical activities, including the decision to self-perform the work or contract the work to others. The delivery dates for equipment and materials and the work completion dates for contracted works are placed on the project schedule. Any procurement activities that create a project delay or fall on the project critical path may require special attention.

Selecting the Contract Approach

The technical teams typically develop a description of the work that will be outsourced. From this information, the project management team answers the following questions:

• Is the required work or materials a commodity, customized product or service, or unique skill or relationship?
• What type of relationship is needed: supplier, vendor, or partnership?
• How should the supplier, vendor, or potential partner be approached: RFQ, RFP, or personal contact?
• How well known is the scope of work?
• What are the risks and which party should assume which types of risk?
• Does the procurement of the service or goods affect activities on the project schedule’s critical path and how much float is there on those activities?
• How important is it to be sure of the cost in advance?

The procurement team uses the answers to the first three questions listed above to determine the approach to obtaining the goods or services and the remaining questions to determine what type of contract is most appropriate.

A key factor in selecting the contract approach is determining which party will take the most risk. The team determines the level of risk that will be managed by the project and what risks will be transferred to the contractor. Typically, the project management team wants to manage the project risk, but in some cases, contractors have more expertise or control that enable them to better manage the risk associated with the contracted work.

Soliciting Bids

A solicitation is the process of requesting a price and supporting information from bidders. The solicitation usually takes the form of either an RFQ or an RFP. Partnerships are pursued and established differently on a case-by-case basis by senior management.

Qualifying Bidders

Potential bidders are people or organizations capable of providing the materials or performing the work required for the project. On smaller, less complex projects, the parent company typically has a list of suppliers and vendors that have successfully provided goods and services in the past, and the project has access to the performance record of companies on that list. On unique projects, where no supplier lists exist, the project team develops a list of potential suppliers and then qualifies them to become eligible to bid on project work. Eligible bidders are placed on the bidders list and provided with a schedule of when work on the project will be put out for bid.

The eligibility of a supplier is determined by the ability to perform the work in a way that meets project requirements and demonstrates financial stability. Ability to perform the work includes the ability to meet quality specifications and the project schedule. During times when economic activity is high in a region, many suppliers become busy and stretch their resources. The project team investigates the potential suppliers, before they are included on the bidder’s list, to ensure that they have the capacity and track record to meet deadlines.

The potential supplier must also be financially stable to be included on the bidders list. A credit check or a financial report from Dun and Bradstreet (D&B)—a well-known provider of financial information about individual companies—will provide the project with information about the potential bidder’s financial status. D&B services include the following:

• D&B proprietary rankings and predictive creditworthiness scores
• Public filings, including suits, liens, judgments, and UCC (uniform commercial code) filings—standardized financial disclosure documents that conform to the uniform commercial code
• Company financial statements and history

Request for Quote

An RFQ focuses on price. The type of materials or service is well defined and can be obtained from several sources. The bidder that can meet the project quality and schedule requirements usually wins the contract by quoting the lowest price.

Request for Proposal

An RFP accounts for price but focuses on meeting the project quality or schedule requirements. The process of developing a proposal in response to an RFP can be very expensive for the bidder, and the project team should not issue an RFP to a company that is not eligible to win the bid.

Evaluating Bids

Evaluation of bids in response to RFQs for commodity items and services is heavily graded for price. In most cases, the lowest total price will win the contract. The total price will include the costs of the goods or services, any shipping or delivery costs, the value of any warranties, and any additional service that adds value to the project.

The evaluation of bids based on RFPs is more complex. The evaluation of proposals includes the price and also an evaluation of the technical approach chosen by the bidder. The project team evaluating the proposal must include people with the expertise to understand the technical aspects of the various proposal options and the value of each proposal to the project. On more complex projects, the administrative part of the proposal is evaluated and scored by one team, and the technical aspect of the proposal is evaluated by another team. The project team combines the two scores to determine the best proposal for the project.

Awarding the Contract

After the project team has selected the bidder that provides the best value for the project, a project representative validates all conditions of the bid and the contract with the potential contractor. Less complex awards, like contracts for printed materials, require a reading and signing of the contract to ensure that the supplier understands the contract terms and requirements of the project schedule. More complex projects require a detailed discussion of the goals, the potential barriers to accomplishing those goals, the project schedule and critical dates, and the processes for resolving conflicts and improving work processes.

Managing the Contracts

The contract type determines the level of effort and the skills needed to manage the contract. The manager of supplier contracts develops detailed specifications and ensures compliance with these specifications. The manager of vendor contracts ensures that the contractors bidding on the work have the skills and capacity to accomplish the work according to the project schedule and tracks the vendor’s performance against the project needs, supplying support and direction when needed. The manager of partnering arrangements develops alignment around common goals and work processes. Each of these approaches requires different skills and various degrees of effort.

Items that take a long time to acquire—long-lead items—receive early attention by the project leadership. Examples of long-lead items are equipment that is designed and built specifically for the project, curriculum that is created for training a new workforce, and a customized bioreactor for a biotech project. These items might require weeks, months, or years to develop and complete. The project team identifies long-lead items early to begin the procurement activities as soon as possible because those procured through the normal procurement cycle may cause delays in the project.

After the contract is awarded, the project team tracks the performance of the contractor against performance criteria in the contract and his or her contribution to the performance of the project. Usually, contractors deliver the product or service that meets the quality expectations and supports the project schedule. Typically, there are also one or two contractors that do not perform to project expectations. Some project managers will refer to the contract and use it to attempt to persuade the contractor to improve performance or be penalized. Other project managers will explore with the contractor creative ways to improve performance and meet project requirements. The contract management allows for both approaches to deal with non`-performing contractors, and the project team must assess what method is most likely to work in each situation.

Managing contractor performance on a project is as important to the overall project outcomes as the work performed by the project team.

Logistics and Expediting

Equipment and materials that are purchased for use on the project must be transported, inventoried, warehoused, and often secured. This area of expertise is called logistics. The logistics for the project can be managed by the project team or can be included in the RFP or RFQ. On international projects, materials may be imported, and the procurement team manages the customs process. On smaller projects, the logistical function is often provided by the parent company. On larger projects, these activities are typically contracted to companies that specialize in logistical services. On larger, more complex projects, the procurement team will include logistical expertise.

The project work often depends on materials procured for the project. The delivery of these materials influences the scheduling of the project, and often some materials are needed earlier than normal procurement practices would deliver. On long-lead items, the project schedule is included in the contracting plans and contractors must explain how they will support the project schedule.

On large, complex projects, critical items might be scheduled for delivery after they are needed on the project. The procurement team then explores ideas with the contractor to expedite the manufacturing or transportation of the equipment or materials. The contract can often place a priority on the fabrication of the equipment and delivery of the equipment to meet the project schedule. The project logistics team can also explore ways of shortening the transportation time.

Attribution

This chapter of Project Management is a derivative copy of Project Management for Instructional Designers by Amado, M., Ashton, K., Ashton, S., Bostwick, J., Clements, G., Drysdale, J., Francis, J., Harrison, B., Nan, V., Nisse, A., Randall, D., Rino, J., Robinson, J., Snyder, A., Wiley, D., & Anonymous. (DATE). Project Management for Instructional Designers. Retrieved from http://pm4id.org/ under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported. 

Communication throughout the project includes within the team and with others outside the team. Communications management is about keeping everybody in the loop. The communications planning process concerns defining the types of information you will deliver, who will receive it, the format for communicating it, and the timing of its release and distribution. It turns out that 90% of a project manager’s job is spent on communication so it’s important to make sure everybody gets the right message at the right time.

The first step in defining your communication plan is figuring out what kind of communication your stakeholders need from the project so they can make good decisions. This is called the communications requirements analysis. Your project will produce a lot of information; you don’t want to overwhelm your stakeholders with all of it. Your job is to figure out what they feel is valuable. Communicating valuable information doesn’t mean you always paint a rosy picture. Communications to stakeholders may consist of either good news or bad news. The point is that you don’t want to bury stakeholders in too much information but you do want to give them enough so that they’re informed and can make appropriate decisions.

Communications technology has a major impact on how you keep people in the loop. Methods of communicating can take many forms, such as written reports, conversations, email, formal status reports, meetings, online databases, online schedules, and project websites. You should consider several factors before deciding what methods you’ll choose to transfer information. The timing of the information exchange or need for updates is the first factor. Do you need to procure new technology or systems, or are there systems already in place that will work? The technologies available to you should figure into your plan of how you will keep everyone notified of project status and issues. Staff experience with the technology is another factor. Are there project team members and stakeholders experienced at using this technology, or will you need to train them? Finally, consider the duration of the project and the project environment. Will the technology you’re choosing work throughout the life of the project or will it have to be upgraded or updated at some point? And how does the project team function? Are they located together or spread out across several campuses or locations?

The answers to these questions should be documented in the communication plan.

All projects require a sound communication plan, but not all projects will have the same types of com­munication or the same methods for distributing the information. The communication plan documents the types of information needs the stakeholders have, when the information should be distributed, and how the information will be delivered.

The types of information you will communicate typically include project status, project scope statements and updates, project baseline information, risks, action items, performance measures, project acceptance, and so on. It’s important that the information needs of the stakeholders be determined as early in the planning phase of the project management life cycle as possible so that as you and your team develop project planning documents, you already know who should receive copies of them and how they should be delivered.

Types of Communication

Completing a complex project successfully requires good communication among team members. If those team members work in the same building, they can arrange regular meetings, simply stop by each other’s office space to get a quick answer, or even discuss a project informally at other office functions. Many projects are performed by teams that interact primarily through electronic communication and are, therefore, called virtual teams. To avoid miscommunication that can harm trust and to include team members in a project culture, the project team needs a plan for communicating reliably and in a timely manner. This planning begins with understanding two major categories of communication.

Synchronous Communications

If all the parties to the communication are taking part in the exchange at the same time, the communication is synchronous. A telephone or Skype conference call is an example of synchronous communication. The following are examples of synchronous communications:

• Live meeting: Gathering of team members at the same location
• Conference call: A telephone call in which several people participate
• Audio conference: Like a conference call, but conducted online using software like Skype
• Computer-assisted conference: Audio conference with a connection between computers that can display a document or spreadsheet that can be edited by both parties
• Video conference: Similar to an audio conference but with live video of the participants. Some laptop computers have built-in cameras to facilitate video conferencing
• IM (instant messaging): Exchange of text or voice messages using pop-up windows on the participants’ computer screens
• Texting: Exchange of text messages between mobile phones, pagers, or personal digital assistants (PDAs)—devices that hold a calendar, a contact list, a task list, and other support programs

Modern communication technologies make it possible to assemble project teams from anywhere in the world. Most people work during daylight hours, which can make synchronous meetings difficult if the participants are in different time zones. However, it can be an advantage in some circumstances; for example, if something must be done by the start of business tomorrow, team members in Asia can work on the problem during their normal work hours while team members in North America get some sleep.

Remember Time Zones

It is important to remember time zones and calculate the difference between yours and your associates’ zones correctly so as not to miss important meetings or deadlines. Cities and countries to the north or south of each other all observe the same local time. Be aware that many well-educated people in the United States and Canada think of South America as directly south of North America.  As you can see, South American countries can be up to five time zones east of North America.  A helpful site to convert local time to another time zone is http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc 

Figure 15.1: World Time Zones.
Standard time zones of the world by TimeZonesBoy (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Standard_time_zones_of_the_world.png) under the Public Domain

Time zones are calculated in reference to the time zone of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. The time at that location is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). More recent references designate it as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) instead of GMT. The time zones advance from Greenwich in an easterly direction (Figure 15.1). However, at the international dateline (about the midpoint around the world from Greenwich), you subtract the time zone from GMT. To prevent confusion between a.m. and p.m., times are often given using a 24-hour clock. For example, midnight is indicated as 00:00, noon is 12:00 and 1 p.m. is 13:00.

Getting a team together at the same time can be a challenge—especially if they are spread out across time zones. Many types of communication do not require that the parties are present at the same time. This type of communication is asynchronous. There are several choices of asynchronous communications.

Many companies prefer that final contracts are personally signed by an authorized representative of each party to the agreement. If several signatures are required, this can take weeks to get all the signatures if the contracts are transferred by a postal service. If this process is holding up the start of the project, you can use an overnight delivery service to minimize the time spent transferring the documents.

Fax machines have been around a long time and enjoy a high level of trust for transmitting documents accurately. Although it might seem archaic to still use fax transmissions, in many countries a fax of a signed contract is legal, but a computer-scanned image is not.

Electronic mail (email) is widely used to coordinate projects and to communicate between team members. It has several valuable characteristics for project management:

• Information can be sent to a list of team members.
• Messages can be saved to document the process in case of a misunderstanding or miscommunication.
• Files can be attached and distributed.

Project Blog

A blog is an online journal that can be private, shared by invitation, or made available to the world. Some project managers keep a journal in which they summarize the day’s challenges and triumphs and the decisions they made. They return to this journal at a later date to review their decision-making process after the results of those decisions are known to see if they can learn from their mistakes. Many decisions in project management are made with incomplete knowledge, and reflecting on previous decisions to develop this decision-making skill is important to growth as a project manager.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS)

Some projects are directly affected by external factors such as political elections, economic trends, corporate mergers, technological or scientific breakthroughs, or weather. To keep informed about these factors, you can subscribe to online news sources. A technology that facilitates this process is Really Simple Syndication (RSS). Web pages with RSS news feeds have labeled links.

If the user clicks on the RSS feed, news from the website is automatically sent to the user’s news reader, such as Google Reader. The news reader can be set to filter the news for key words to limit the stories to those that are relevant to the project.

Assessing New Communication Technologies

New technologies for communicating electronically appear with increasing frequency. Using a new technology that is unfamiliar to the team increases the technology complexity, which can cause delays and increase costs. To decide if a new technology should be included in a communications plan, seek answers to the following questions (Business Dictionary):

• Does the new communication technology provide a competitive advantage for the project by reducing cost, saving time, or preventing mistakes?
• Does the project team have the expertise to learn the new technology quickly?
• Does the company offer support such as a help desk and equipment service for new communication technology?
• What is the cost of training and implementation in terms of time as well as money?

So how do you create a communication plan?

1. Identify your stakeholders (to whom)
2. Identify stakeholder expectations (why)
3. Identify communication necessary to satisfy stakeholder expectations and keep them informed (what)
4. Identify time-frame and/or frequency of communication messages (when)
5. Identify how the message will be communicated (the stakeholder’s preferred method) (how)
6. Identify who will communication each message (who)
7. Document items – templates, formats, or documents the project must use for communicating.

Figure 15.2 shows a communication plan template.

Figure 15.2  Communications Plan Template (http://inte5160.wikispaces.com/Communication+Plans) used under CC-BY-SA license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)

RACI Chart

 RACI analysis is a communication tool which describes the tasks and roles that stakeholders take in delivering a project or operating process:

R – Responsibility (“I get it done”)

A – Accountability (“The buck stops here”)

C – Consulted (“I want to be part of the decisions)

I – Informed (“I want to know”)

Example: Responsible, Accountable, Consult and Inform chart (RACI Matrix)

Attribution

This chapter of Project Management is a derivative copy of Project Management for Instructional Designers by Amado, M., Ashton, K., Ashton, S., Bostwick, J., Clements, G., Drysdale, J., Francis, J., Harrison, B., Nan, V., Nisse, A., Randall, D., Rino, J., Robinson, J., Snyder, A., Wiley, D., & Anonymous. (DATE). Project Management for Instructional Designers. Retrieved from http://pm4id.org/ licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unportedand Communication Plans by Inte6160 Wiki licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.

Working with Individuals

Working with other people involves dealing with them both logically and emotionally. A successful working relationship between individuals begins with appreciating the importance of emotions and how they relate to personality types, leadership styles, negotiations, and setting goals.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotions are both a mental and physiological response to environmental and internal stimuli. Leaders need to understand and value their emotions to appropriately respond to the client, project team, and project environment.

Emotional intelligence includes the following:

• Self-awareness
• Self-regulation
• Empathy
• Relationship management

Emotions are important to generating energy around a concept, building commitment to goals, and developing high-performing teams. Emotional intelligence is an important part of the project manager’s ability to build trust among the team members and with the client. It is an important factor in establishing credibility and an open dialogue with project stakeholders. Emotional intelligence is critical for project managers, and the more complex the project profile, the more important the project manager’s emotional intelligence becomes to project success.

Personality Types

Personality types refer to the differences among people in such matters as what motivates them, how they process information, how they handle conflict, etc. Understanding people’s personality types is acknowledged as an asset in interacting and communicating with them more effectively. Understanding your personality type as a project manager will assist you in evaluating your tendencies and strengths in different situations. Understanding others’ personality types can also help you coordinate the skills of your individual team members and address the various needs of your client.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is one of most widely used tools for exploring personal preference, with more than two million people taking the MBTI each year. The MBTI is often referred to as simply the Myers-Briggs. It is a tool that can be used in project management training to develop awareness of preferences for processing information and relationships with other people.

Based on the theories of psychologist Carl Jung, the Myers-Briggs uses a questionnaire to gather information on the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment. Perception represents the way people become aware of people and their environment. Judgment represents the evaluation of what is perceived. People perceive things differently and reach different conclusions based on the same environmental input. Understanding and accounting for these differences is critical to successful project leadership.

The Myers-Briggs identifies 16 personality types based on four preferences derived from the questionnaire. The preferences are between pairs of opposite characteristics and include the following:

Extroversion (E)-Introversion (I)
Sensing (S)-Intuition (N)
Thinking (T)-Feeling (F)
Judging (J)-Perceiving (P)

Sixteen Myers-Briggs types can be derived from the four dichotomies. Each of the 16 types describes a preference: for focusing on the inner or outer world (E-I), for approaching and internalizing information (S-I), for making decisions (T-F), and for planning (J-P). For example, an ISTJ is a Myers-Briggs type who prefers to focus on the inner world and basic information, prefers logic, and likes to decide quickly.

It is important to note that there is no best type and that effective interpretation of the Myers-Briggs requires training. The purpose of the Myers-Briggs is to understand and appreciate the differences among people. This understanding can be helpful in building the project team, developing common goals, and communicating with project stakeholders. For example, different people process information differently. Extroverts prefer face-to-face meetings as the primary means of communicating, while introverts prefer written communication. Sensing types focus on facts, and intuitive types want the big picture.

On larger, more complex projects, some project managers will use the Myers-Briggs as a team-building tool during project start-up. This is typically a facilitated work session where team members take the Myers-Briggs and share with the team how they process information, what communication approaches they prefer, and what decision-making preferences they have. This allows the team to identify potential areas of conflict, develop communication strategies, and build an appreciation for the diversity of the team.

Another theory of personality typing is the DISC method, which rates people’s personalities by testing a person’s preferences in word associations in the following four areas:

Dominance/Drive—relates to control, power, and assertiveness
Inducement/Influence—relates to social situations and communication
Submission/Steadiness—relates to patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness
Compliance/Conscientiousness—relates to structure and organization

Understanding the differences among people is a critical leadership skill. This includes understanding how people process information, how different experiences influence the way people perceive the environment, and how people develop filters that allow certain information to be incorporated while other information is excluded. The more complex the project, the more important the understanding of how people process information, make decisions, and deal with conflict. There are many personality-type tests that have been developed and explore different aspects of people’s personalities. It might be prudent to explore the different tests available and utilize those that are most beneficial for your team.

Leadership Styles

Leadership style is a function of both the personal characteristics of the leader and the environment in which the leadership must occur, and a topic that several researchers have attempted to understand. Robert Tannenbaum and Warren Schmidt described leaders as either autocratic or democratic (1958). Harold Leavitt described leaders as pathfinders (visionaries), problem solvers (analytical), or implementers (team oriented) (1986). James MacGregor Burns conceived leaders as either transactional (focused on actions and decisions) or transformational (focused on the long-term needs of the group and organization) (1978).

Fred Fiedler introduced his contingency theory, which is the ability of leaders to adapt their leadership approach to the environment (1971). Most leaders have a dominant leadership style that is most comfortable for them. For example, most engineers spend years training in analytical problem solving and often develop an analytical approach to leadership.

A leadership style reflects personal characteristics and life experiences. Although a project manager’s leadership style may be predominantly a pathfinder (using Leavitt’s taxonomy), most project managers become problem solvers or implementers when they perceive the need for these leadership approaches. The leadership approach incorporates the dominant leadership style and Fiedler’s contingency focus on adapting to the project environment.

No particular leadership approach is specifically appropriate for managing a project. Due to the unique circumstances inherent in each project, the leadership approach and the management skills required to be successful vary depending on the complexity profile of the project. However, the Project Management Institute published Shi and Chen’s research that studied project management leadership traits and concluded that good communication skills and the ability to build harmonious relationships and motivate others are essential (2006). Beyond this broad set of leadership skills, the successful leadership approach will depend on the profile of the project. For example, a transactional project manager with a strong command-and-control leadership approach may be very successful on a small software development project or a construction project, where tasks are clear, roles are well understood, and the project environment is cohesive. This same project manager is less likely to be successful on a larger, more complex project with a diverse project team and complicated work processes.

Matching the appropriate leadership style and approach to the complexity profile of the project is a critical element of project success. Even experienced project managers are less likely to be successful if their leadership approach does not match the complexity profile of the project.

Each project phase may also require a different leadership approach. During the start-up phase of a project, when new team members are first assigned to the project, the project may require a command-and-control leadership approach. Later, as the project moves into the conceptual phase, creativity becomes important, and the project management takes on a more transformational leadership approach. Most experienced project managers are able to adjust their leadership approach to the needs of the project phase. Occasionally, on very large and complex projects, some companies will bring in different project managers for various phases of a project. Changing project managers may bring the right level of experience and the appropriate leadership approach, but is also disruptive to a project. Senior management must balance the benefit of matching the right leadership approach with the cost of disrupting established relationships.

Leadership Skills

The project manager must be perceived to be credible by the project team and key stakeholders. A successful project manager can solve problems and has a high degree of tolerance for ambiguity. On projects, the environment changes frequently, and the project manager must apply the appropriate leadership approach for each situation.

The successful project manager must have good communication skills. All project problems are connected to skills needed by the project manager:

• Breakdown in communication represents the lack of communication skills
• Uncommitted team members represents the lack of team-building skills
• Role confusion represents the lack of organizational skills.

Project managers need a large numbers of skills. These skills include administrative skills, organizational skills, and technical skills associated with the technology of the project. The types of skills and the depth of the skills needed are closely connected to the complexity profile of the project. Typically on smaller, less complex projects, project managers need a greater degree of technical skill. On larger, more complex projects, project managers need more organizational skills to deal with the complexity. On smaller projects, the project manager is intimately involved in developing the project schedule, cost estimates, and quality standards. On larger projects, functional managers are typically responsible for managing these aspects of the project, and the project manager provides the organizational framework for the work to be successful.

Listening

One of the most important communication skills of the project manager is the ability to actively listen. Active listening is placing oneself in the speaker’s position as much as possible, understanding the communication from the point of view of the speaker, listening to the body language and other environmental cues, and striving not just to hear, but to understand. Active listening takes focus and practice to become effective. It enables a project manager to go beyond the basic information that is being shared and to develop a more complete understanding of the information.

In the example above, the project manager used the following techniques:

• Listening intently to the words of the client and observing the client’s body language
• Nodding and expressing interest in the client without forming rebuttals
• Providing feedback and asking for clarity while repeating a summary of the information back to the client
• Expressing understanding and empathy for the client

Active listening was important in establishing a common understanding from which an effective project plan could be developed.

Negotiation

When multiple people are involved in an endeavor, differences in opinions and desired outcomes naturally occur. Negotiation is a process for developing a mutually acceptable outcome when the desired outcome for each party conflicts. A project manager will often negotiate with a client, team members, vendors, and other project stakeholders. Negotiation is an important skill in developing support for the project and preventing frustration among all parties involved, which could delay or cause project failure.

Negotiations involve four principles:

1. Separate people from the problem. Framing the discussions in terms of desired outcomes enables the negotiations to focus on finding new outcomes.
2. Focus on common interests. By avoiding the focus on differences, both parties are more open to finding solutions that are acceptable.
3. Generate options that advance shared interests. Once the common interests are understood, solutions that do not match with either party’s interests can be discarded, and solutions that may serve both parties’ interests can be more deeply explored.
4. Develop results based on standard criteria. The standard criterion is the success of the project. This implies that the parties develop a common definition of project success.

For the project manager to successfully negotiate issues on the project, he or she should first seek to understand the position of the other party. If negotiating with a client, what is the concern or desired outcome of the client? What are the business drivers and personal drivers that are important to the client? Without this understanding, it is difficult to find a solution that will satisfy the client. The project manager should also seek to understand what outcomes are desirable to the project. Typically, more than one outcome is acceptable. Without knowing what outcomes are acceptable, it is difficult to find a solution that will produce that outcome.

One of the most common issues in formal negotiations is finding a mutually acceptable price for a service or product. Understanding the market value for a product or service will provide a range for developing a negotiating strategy. The price paid on the last project or similar projects provides information on the market value. Seeking expert opinions from sources who would know the market is another source of information. Based on this information, the project manager can then develop an expected range within the current market from the lowest price to the highest price.

Additional factors will also affect the negotiated price. The project manager may be willing to pay a higher price to assure an expedited delivery or a lower price if delivery can be made at the convenience of the supplier or if payment is made before the product is delivered. Developing as many options as possible provides a broader range of choices and increases the possibility of developing a mutually beneficial outcome.

The goal of negotiations is not to achieve the lowest costs, although that is a major consideration, but to achieve the greatest value for the project. If the supplier believes that the negotiations process is fair and the price is fair, the project is more likely to receive higher value from the supplier. The relationship with the supplier can be greatly influenced by the negotiation process and a project manager who attempts to drive the price unreasonably low or below the market value will create an element of distrust in the relationship that may have negative consequences for the project. A positive negotiation experience may create a positive relationship that may be beneficial, especially if the project begins to fall behind schedule and the supplier is in a position to help keep the project on schedule.

Conflict Resolution

Conflict on a project is to be expected because of the level of stress, lack of information during early phases of the project, personal differences, role conflicts, and limited resources. Although good planning, communication, and team building can reduce the amount of conflict, conflict will still emerge. How the project manager deals with the conflict results in the conflict being destructive or an opportunity to build energy, creativity, and innovation.

David Whetton and Kim Cameron developed a response-to-conflict model that reflected the importance of the issue balanced against the importance of the relationship (2005). The model presented five responses to conflict:

• Avoiding
• Forcing
• Collaborating
• Compromising
• Accommodating

Each of these approaches can be effective and useful depending on the situation. Project managers will use each of these conflict resolution approaches depending on the project manager’s personal approach and an assessment of the situation.

Most project managers have a default approach that has emerged over time and is comfortable. For example, some project managers find the use of the project manager’s power the easiest and quickest way to resolve problems. “Do it because I said to” is the mantra for project managers who use forcing as the default approach to resolve conflict. Some project managers find accommodating with the client the most effective approach to dealing with client conflict.

The effectiveness of a conflict resolution approach will depend on the situation. The forcing approach often succeeds in a situation where a quick resolution is needed, and the investment in the decision by the parties involved is low.

Sometimes office size and location is culturally important, and this situation would take more investment to resolve.

This is a more complex situation, with personal commitments to each side of the conflict and consequences for the project. The project manager needs a conflict resolution approach that increases the likelihood of a mutually acceptable solution for the project. One conflict resolution approach involves evaluating the situation, developing a common understanding of the problem, developing alternative solutions, and mutually selecting a solution. Evaluating the situation typically includes gathering data. In our example of a change order conflict, gathering data would include a review of the original scope of work and possibly of people’s understandings, which might go beyond the written scope. The second step in developing a resolution to the conflict is to restate, paraphrase, and reframe the problem behind the conflict to develop a common understanding of the problem. In our example, the common understanding may explore the change management process and determine that the current change management process may not achieve the client’s goal of minimizing project changes. This phase is often the most difficult and may take an investment of time and energy to develop a common understanding of the problem.

After the problem has been restated and agreed on, alternative approaches are developed. This is a creative process that often means developing a new approach or changing the project plan. The result is a resolution to the conflict that is mutually agreeable to all team members. If all team members believe every effort was made to find a solution that achieved the project charter and met as many of the team member’s goals as possible, there will be a greater commitment to the agreed-on solution.

Delegation

Delegating responsibility and work to others is a critical project management skill. The responsibility for executing the project belongs to the project manager. Often other team members on the project will have a functional responsibility on the project and report to a functional manager in the parent organization. For example, the procurement leader for a major project may also report to the organization’s vice-president for procurement. Although the procurement plan for the project must meet the organization’s procurement policies, the procurement leader on the project will take day-to-day direction from the project manager. The amount of direction given to the procurement leader, or others on the project, is the decision of the project manager.

If the project manager delegates too little authority to others to make decisions and take action, the lack of a timely decision or lack of action will cause delays on the project. Delegating too much authority to others who do not have the knowledge, skills, or information will typically cause problems that result in delay or increased cost to the project. Finding the right balance of delegation is a critical project management skill.

When developing the project team, the project manager selects team members with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to accomplish the work required for the project to be successful. Typically, the more knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience a project team member brings to the project, the more that team member will be paid. To keep the project personnel costs lower, the project manager will develop a project team with the level of experience and the knowledge, skills, and abilities to accomplish the work.

On smaller, less complex projects, the project manager can provide daily guidance to project team members and be consulted on all major decisions. On larger, more complex projects, there are too many important decisions made every day for the project manager to be involved at the same level, and project team leaders are delegated decision-making authority. Larger projects, with a more complex profile will typically pay more because of the need for the knowledge and experience. On larger, more complex projects, the project manager will develop a more experienced and knowledgeable team that will enable the project manager to delegate more responsibility to these team members.

The project manager must have the skills to evaluate the knowledge, skills, and abilities of project team members and evaluate the complexity and difficulty of the project assignment. Often project managers want project team members they have worked with in the past. Because the project manager knows the skill level of the team member, project assignments can be made quickly with less supervision than with a new team member with whom the project manager has little or no experience.

Delegation is the art of creating a project organizational structure with the work organized into units that can be managed. Delegation is the process of understanding the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to manage that work and then matching the team members with the right skills to do that work. Good project managers are good delegators.

Adjusting Leadership Styles

Remember that personality traits reflect an individual’s preferences, not their limitations. It is important to understand that individuals can still function in situations for which they are not best suited. It is also important to realize that you can change your leadership style according to the needs of your team and the particular project’s attributes and scope.

For example, a project leader who is more thinking (T) than feeling (F) (according to the Myers-Briggs model) would need to work harder to be considerate of how team members who are more feeling (F) might react if they were singled out in a meeting because they were behind schedule. If individuals knows their own preferences and which personality types are most successful in each type of project or project phase, they can set goals for improvement in their ability to perform in those areas that are not their natural preference.

Another individual goal is to examine which conflict resolution styles you are least comfortable and work to improve those styles so that they can be used when they are more appropriate than your default style.

Working with Groups and Teams

Team Development and Behavior

A team is a collaboration of people with different personalities that is led by a person with a favored leadership style. Tuckman model of team development –Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning is an elegant and helpful of explaining team development behavior. The model explains that as the team develop maturity and ability, relationships establish, and the leader changes leadership style. Beginning with a direct style, the leader moves through coaching, then participating, finishing with delegating

Managing the interactions of the various personalities and styles as a group is an important aspect of project management.

Trust

Trust is the foundation for all relationships within a project. Without a minimum level of trust, communication breaks down, and eventually the project suffers in the form of costs increasing and schedules slipping. Often, when reviewing a project where the performance problems have captured the attention of upper management, the evidence of problems is the increase in project costs and the slippage in the project schedule. The underlying cause is usually blamed on communication breakdown. With deeper investigation, the communication breakdown is associated with a breakdown in trust.

On projects, trust is the filter through which we screen information that is shared and the filter we use to screen information we receive. The more trust that exists, the easier it is for information to flow through the filters. As trust diminishes, the filters become stronger and information has a harder time getting through, and projects that are highly dependent on an information-rich environment will suffer from information deprivation.

Contracts and Trust Relationships

A project typically begins with a charter or contract. A contract is a legal agreement that includes penalties for any behavior or results not achieved. Contracts are based on an adversarial paradigm and do not lend themselves to creating an environment of trust. Contracts and charters are necessary to clearly establish the scope of the project, among other things, but they are not conducive to establishing a trusting project culture.

A relationship of mutual trust is less formal but vitally important. When a person or team enters into a relationship of mutual trust, each person’s reputation and self-respect are the drivers in meeting the intent of the relationship. A relationship of mutual trust within the context of a project is a commitment to an open and honest relationship. There is nothing that enforces the commitments in the relationship except the integrity of the people involved. Smaller, less complex projects can operate within the boundaries of a legal contract, but larger, more complex projects must develop a relationship of mutual trust to be successful.

Types of Trust

Svenn Lindskold describes four kinds of trust (1978):

• Objective credibility. A personal characteristic that reflects the truthfulness of an individual that can be checked against observable facts.
• Attribution of benevolence. A form of trust that is built on the examination of the person’s motives and the conclusion that they are not hostile.
• Non-manipulative trust. A form of trust that correlates to a person’s self-interest and the predictability of a person’s behavior in acting consistent in that self-interest.
• High cost of lying. The type of trust that emerges when persons in authority raise the cost of lying so high that people will not lie because the penalty will be too high.

Creating Trust

Building trust on a project begins with the project manager. On complex projects, the assignment of a project manager with a high trust reputation can help establish the trust level needed. The project manager can also establish the cost of lying in a way that communicates an expectation and a value for trust on the project. Project managers can also assure that the official goals (stated goals) and operational goals (goals that are reinforced) are aligned. The project manager can create an atmosphere where informal communication is expected and reinforced.

The informal communication is important to establishing personal trust among team members and with the client. Allotting time during project start-up meetings to allow team members to develop a personal relationship is important to establishing the team trust. The informal discussion allows for a deeper understanding of the whole person and creates an atmosphere where trust can emerge.

Small events that reduce trust often take place on a project without anyone remembering what happened to create the environment of distrust. Taking fast and decisive action to establish a high cost of lying, communicating the expectation of honesty, and creating an atmosphere of trust are critical steps a project manager can take to ensure the success of complex projects.

Project managers can also establish expectations of team members to respect individual differences and skills, look and react to the positives, recognize each other’s accomplishments, and value people’s self-esteem to increase a sense of the benevolent intent.

Managing Team Meetings

Team meetings are conducted differently depending on the purpose of the meeting, the leadership style that is appropriate for the meeting, and the personality types of the members of the team.

Action Item Meetings

Action item meetings are short meetings to develop a common understanding of what the short-term priorities are for the project, individual roles, and expectations for specific activities. This type of meeting is for sharing, not problem solving. Any problems that emerge from the discussion are assigned to a person, and another meeting is established to address the issue. Action item meetings focus on short-term activities, usually less than a week in duration.

The action item meeting is fact based and information oriented. It is a left-brain-type focus. The action item meeting has very little dialogue except to ask clarification questions. If discussion is needed or disagreement is not easily resolved, another problem-solving meeting is established to deal with that issue. On smaller topics, that meeting might take place immediately after the action item meeting and only include those people with an interest in the outcome of the discussion.

The project manager keeps the successful action item meeting short in duration and focused on only those items of information needed for the short-term project plan. The project manager will restate the common understandings of what activities are priorities and who will be responsible for the activities. Often these meetings can include a review of safety procedures or security procedures when these issues are important to the project. The leadership approach to action item meetings focuses on data, actions, and commitments. Although the project manager may observe stresses between project team members or other issues, they are not addressed in this meeting. These are fact-based meetings. If issues begin to arise between people, the project manager will develop other opportunities to address these issues in another forum. Using the Myers-Briggs descriptions, team members who favor thinking more than feeling and judging more than perceiving are more comfortable with this type of meeting.

Management Meetings

Management meetings are longer in duration and are focused on planning. They are oriented toward developing plans, tracking progress of existing plans, and making adjustments to plans in response to new information.

These meetings include focused discussion on generating a common understanding of the progress of the existing plan. This discussion is based on quantitative information provided on the progress of the schedule and other data, but the discussion is qualitative in evaluating the data to develop a more complete understanding of the data. The experience and opinions of the project leaders are solicited, and disagreement about meaning of the data is even encouraged to develop a deeper understanding of the data. Through this discussion, a common understanding of the status of the project should emerge, and the project manager invites discussion, invites people to offer their thoughts, and assures that disagreements are positive discussions about interpretation of the information and that disagreements do not become personal.

Management meetings also focus on developing mid-term goals. For larger, more complex projects, the goals may be monthly or even quarterly. For smaller or less complex projects, weekly goals will provide the focus. The project manager focuses the discussion on the broad priorities for the next period and includes all the functional leaders in the discussion. The goals that emerge from the discussion should represent a common understanding of the priorities of the project for the next term.

For example, during the early phases of a project, the team is focused on developing a conceptual understanding of the project. A major milestone on complex projects is typically the completion of the conceptual plan. The project manager would lead a discussion on what needs to be accomplished to meet the project milestone and asks what potential barriers exist and what key resources are needed. From the discussion, the project team develops a few key goals that integrate the various functions of the project team and focus the team on priorities.

The following are some examples of goals during the conceptual phase:

• Developing a list of the procurement long-lead items and defining critical dates
• Developing a human resources plan that identifies critical positions
• Developing and building agreement with the client on the project scope of work.

Each of these goals is measurable and has a time frame specified. They can be developed as positive motivators and will take the project leaders and most of the project team to accomplish. They develop a general understanding of the priorities and are easy to remember.

Management meetings are a combination of left-brain thinking, which is fact based, and right-brain thinking, which is creative and innovative. Using the Myers-Briggs terminology, team members who prefer feeling over thinking and perceiving over judging can contribute ideas and perspectives on the project that the more fact-oriented members might miss.

The project manager allows and encourages conversation in developing and evaluating the goals but focuses the discussion on the goals and obstacles. Management meetings take on a different focus during the month. Meetings at the beginning of the month spend time addressing the progress and potential barriers to the goals developed the previous month. During the middle of the month, the project manager leads the team to develop next month’s goals as the team also works on the current month’s goals. Toward the end of the month as the goals for the month are accomplished, the meeting focuses more on the next month, enabling the team to remain goal focused during the life of the project.

Management meetings are also an opportunity to discover obstacles to goal achievement. The project team reallocates resources or develops alternative methods for accomplishing the goals. As the project team discusses the progress of project goals, the project manager explores possible obstacles and encourages exposing potential problems in achieving goals. The project manager focuses the team on finding solutions and avoids searching for blame.

The project manager uses a facilitation leadership approach, encouraging the management team to contribute their ideas, and builds consensus on what goals will bring the appropriate focus. The project manager keeps the focus on developing the goals, tracking progress, identifying barriers, and making adjustments to accomplish the management goals. Although there are typically meetings for scheduling and procurement and other meetings where goals are established and problems solved, the management meeting and the goal development process create alignment among the project leadership on the items critical to the project’s success.

Leadership Meetings

Leadership meetings are held less frequently and are longer in length. These meetings are used by the project manager to reflect on the project, explore the larger issues of the project, and back away from the day-to-day problem solving. The project manager will create a safe environment for sharing thoughts and evaluations of issues that are less data oriented. This is a right-brained, creative meeting that focuses on the people issues of the project: the relationship with the client, vendors, and project team. Team members who favor feeling, perceiving, and intuition often contribute valuable insights in this type of meeting. The team might also share perceptions by upper management and perceptions of the community in which the project is being executed. Where the time frame for action item meetings is in weeks and management meetings is in months, the time frame for leadership meetings is longer and takes in the entire length and impact of the project.

The project manager’s meeting management skill includes creating the right meeting atmosphere for the team discussion that is needed. For discussions based on data and facts, the project manager creates the action item type meeting. The conversation is focused on sharing information and clarification. The conversation for leadership meetings is the opposite. Discussion is more open ended and focused on creativity and innovation. Because each type of meeting requires a different meeting atmosphere, mixing the purposes of a meeting will make it difficult for the project manager to develop and maintain the appropriate kind of conversation.

Skilled project managers know what type of meeting is needed and how to develop an atmosphere to support the meeting type. Meetings of the action item type are focused on information sharing with little discussion. They require efficient communication of plans, progress, and other information team members need to plan and execute daily work. Management type meetings are focused on developing and progressing goals. Leadership meetings are more reflective and focused on the project mission and culture.

These three types of meetings do not cover all the types of project meetings. Specific problem-solving, vendor evaluation, and scheduling meetings are examples of typical project meetings. Understanding what kinds of meetings are needed on the project and creating the right focus for each meeting type is a critical project management skill.

Types of Teams

Teams can outperform individual team members in several situations. The effort and time invested in developing a team and the work of the team are large investments of project resources, and the payback is critical to project success. Determining when a team is needed and then chartering and supporting the development and work of the team are other critical project management abilities.

Teams are effective in several project situations:

• When no one person has the knowledge, skills, and abilities to either understand or solve the problem
• When a commitment to the solution is needed by large portions of the project team
• When the problem and solution cross project functions
• When innovation is required

Individuals can outperform teams on some occasions. An individual tackling a problem consumes fewer resources than a team and can operate more efficiently—as long as the solution meets the project’s needs. A person is most appropriate in the following situations:

• When speed is important
• When one person has the knowledge, skills, and resources to solve the problem
• When the activities involved in solving the problem are very detailed
• When the actual document needs to be written (Teams can provide input, but writing is a solitary task.)

In addition to knowing when a team is appropriate, the project manager must also understand what type of team will function best.

Functional Teams

A functional team refers to the team approach related to the project functions. The engineering team, the procurement team, and the project controls team are examples of functional teams within the project. On a project with a low complexity profile that includes low technological challenges, good team member experience, and a clear scope of work, the project manager can utilize well-defined functional teams with clear expectations, direction, and strong vertical communication.

Cross-Functional Teams

Cross-functional teams address issues and work processes that include two or more of the functional teams. The team members are selected to bring their functional expertise to addressing project opportunities.

Problem-Solving Teams

Problem-solving teams are assigned to address specific issues that arise during the life of the project. The project leadership includes members that have the expertise to address the problem. The team is chartered to address that problem and then disband.

Qualitative Assessment of Project Performance

Project managers should provide an opportunity to ask such questions as “What is your gut feeling about how the project going?” and “How do you think our client perceives the project?” This creates the opportunity for reflection and dialogue around larger issues on the project. The project manager creates an atmosphere for the team to go beyond the data and search for meaning. This type of discussion and reflection is very difficult in the stress of day-to-day problem solving.

The project manager has several tools for developing good quantitative information—based on numbers and measurements—such as the project schedules, budgets and budget reports, risk analysis, and goal tracking. This quantitative information is essential to understanding the current status and trends on the project. Just as important is the development of qualitative information—comparisons of qualities—such as judgments made by expert team members that go beyond the quantitative data provided in a report. Some would label this the “gut feeling” or intuition of experienced project managers.

The Humm Factor is a survey tool developed by Russ Darnall to capture the thoughts of project participants. It derived its name from a project manager who always claimed he could tell you more by listening to the hum of the project than reading all the project reports. “Do you feel the project is doing the things it needs to do to stay on schedule?” and “Is the project team focused on project goals?” are the types of questions that can be included in the Humm Factor. It is distributed on a weekly or less frequent basis depending on the complexity profile of the project. A project with a high level of complexity due to team-based and cultural issues will be surveyed more frequently.

The qualitative responses are converted to a quantitative value as a score from 1 to 10. Responses are tracked by individuals and the total project, resulting in qualitative comparisons over time. The project team reviews the ratings regularly, looking for trends that indicate an issue may be emerging on the project that might need exploring.

The result of the conversation led to better understanding by both the project team and client team of the change in behavior based on the current phase of the project and the commitment to developing more frequent informal discussion about the project.

Creating a Project Culture

Project managers have a unique opportunity during the start-up of a project. They create a project culture, something organizational managers seldom have a chance to do. In most organizations, the corporate or organizational culture has developed over the life of the organization, and people associated with the organization understand what is valued, what has status, and what behaviors are expected. Edgar Schein identified three distinct levels in organizational culture:

1. Artifacts and behaviours
2. Espoused values
3. Assumptions

Artifacts are the visible elements in a culture and they can be recognized by people not part of the culture.  Espoused values are the organization’s stated values and rules of behavior.  Shared basic assumptions are the deeply embedded, taken-for-granted behaviors that are usually unconscious, but constitute the essence of culture.

Characteristics of Project Culture

A project culture represents the shared norms, beliefs, values, and assumptions of the project team. Understanding the unique aspects of a project culture and developing an appropriate culture to match the complexity profile of the project are important project management abilities.

Culture is developed through the communication of:

• The priority
• The given status
• The alignment of official and operational rules

Official rules are the rules that are stated, and operational rules are the rules that are enforced. Project managers who align official and operational rules are more effective in developing a clear and strong project culture because the project rules are among the first aspects of the project culture to which team members are exposed when assigned to the project.

Example: Creating a Culture of Collaboration

A project manager met with his team prior to the beginning of an instructional design project. The team was excited about the prestigious project and the potential for career advancement involved. With this increased competitive aspect came the danger of selfishness and backstabbing. The project leadership team told stories of previous projects where people were fired for breaking down the team efforts and often shared inspirational examples of how teamwork created unprecedented successes—an example of storytelling. Every project meeting started with teambuilding exercises—a ritual—and any display of hostility or separatism was forbidden—taboo—and was quickly and strongly cut off by the project leadership if it occurred.

Culture guides behavior and communicates what is important and is useful for establishing priorities. On projects that have a strong culture of trust, team members feel free to challenge anyone who breaks a confidence, even managers. The culture of integrity is stronger than the cultural aspects of the power of management.

Innovation on Projects

The requirement of innovation on projects is influenced by the nature of the project. Some projects are chartered to develop a solution to a problem, and innovation is a central ingredient of project success. The lack of availability of education to the world at large prompted the open education movement, a highly innovative endeavor, which resulted in the textbook you are now reading. Innovation is also important to developing methods of lowering costs or shortening the schedule. Traditional project management thinking provides a trade-off between cost, quality, and schedule. A project sponsor can typically shorten the project schedule with an investment of more money or a lowering of quality. Finding innovative solutions can sometimes lower costs while also saving time and maintaining the quality.

Innovation is a creative process that requires both fun and focus. Stress is a biological reaction to perceived threats. Stress, at appropriate levels, can make the work environment interesting and even challenging. Many people working on projects enjoy a high-stress, exciting environment. When the stress level is too high, the biological reaction increases blood flow to the emotional parts of the brain and decreases the blood flow to the creative parts of the brain, making creative problem solving more difficult. Fun reduces the amount of stress on the project. Project managers recognize the benefits of balancing the stress level on the project with the need to create an atmosphere that enables creative thought.

Example: Stress Managed on a Website Design Project

When a project manager visited the team tasked with designing the website for a project, she found that most of the members were feeling a great deal of stress. As she probed to find the reason behind the stress, she found that in addition to designing, the team was increasingly facing the need to build the website as well. As few of them had the necessary skills, they were wasting time that could be spent designing trying to learn building skills. Once the project manager was able to identify the stress as well as its cause, she was able to provide the team with the support it needed to be successful.

Exploring opportunities to create savings takes an investment of time and energy, and on a time-sensitive project, the project manager must create the motivation and the opportunity for creative thinking.

References

Burns, J.M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.

Fiedler, F.E. (1971). Validation and Extension of the Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness. Psychological Bulletin, 76(2), 128–48.

Leavitt, H. (1986). Corporate Pathfinders. New York: Dow-Jones-Irwin and Penguin Books.

Lindskold, S. (1978). Trust Development, the GRIT Proposal, and the Effects of Conciliatory Acts on Conflict and Corporation. Psychological Bulletin 85(4), 772–93.

Shi, Q., & Chen, J. (2006). The Human Side of Project Management: Leadership Skills. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc.

Tannenbaum, R., & Schmidt, W. (1958). How to Choose a Leadership Pattern. Harvard Business Review 36, 95–101.

Whetton, D., & Cameron, K. (2005). Developing Management Skills. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Attribution

This chapter of Project Management is a derivative copy of Project Management by Merrie Barron and Andrew Barron licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported, Project Management/PMBOK/Human Resources Management and Development Cooperation Handbook/How do we manage the human resources of programmes and projects?/Manage the Project Team by Wikibooks licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0, Resource Management and Resource Leveling by Wikipedia licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0, Resource Management, and Project Management for Instructional Designers by Amado, M., Ashton, K., Ashton, S., Bostwick, J., Clements, G., Drysdale, J., Francis, J., Harrison, B., Nan, V., Nisse, A., Randall, D., Rino, J., Robinson, J., Snyder, A., Wiley, D., & Anonymous. (DATE). Project Management for Instructional Designers. Retrieved from http://pm4id.org/ under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unportedand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Schein.

Planning, monitoring, and controlling a project progress is an ongoing project management responsibility. From the very beginning of a project, a project manager must decide the type of data that needs to be collected, the analyses the data will undergo, and the formats in which pertinent information will be reported.

A project is a system and information keeps systems moving. To be successful you need to create an information system that gives the project manager and others the information they need to make informed, timely decisions that will keep project performance close to the plan. Type of information required includes:

Feedback

• Information about progress
• Suggests need to adjust after outcome measured
• E.g. Status reports

Feedforward

• Information about choices (options)
• Adjustments made prior to implementing
• E.g. Risk and communication analysis.

Both types of information are useful and necessary for success. Feedback is required to assess actual performance but it may be too late to adjust. Feedforward protects the project from surprises and may reduce turbulence when changes are necessary.

Project managers can design monitoring and controlling systems specially targeted for schedule performance, work-effort, and expenditures. Monitoring and managing scope creep and project change are two overarching control responsibilities.

After you have carefully planned your project, you will be ready to start the project implementation phase, the third phase of the project management life cycle. The implementation phase involves putting the project plan into action. It’s here that the project manager will coordinate and direct project resources to meet the objectives of the project plan. As the project unfolds, it’s the project manager’s job to direct and manage each activity, every step of the way. That’s what happens in the implementation phase of the project life cycle: you follow the plan you’ve put together and handle any problems that come up.

Implementation Phase

The implementation phase is where you and your project team actually do the project work to produce the deliverables. The word “deliverable” means anything your project delivers. The deliverables for your project include all of the products or services that you and your team are performing for the client, customer, or sponsor, including all the project management documents that you put together.

The steps undertaken to build each deliverable will vary depending on the type of project you are undertaking, and cannot therefore be described here in any real detail. For instance engineering and telecommunications projects will focus on using equipment, resources, and materials to construct each project deliverable, whereas computer software projects may require the development and implementation of software code routines to produce each project deliverable. The activities required to build each deliverable will be clearly specified within the project requirements document and project plan.

Your job as project manager is to direct the work, but you need to do more than deliver the results. You also need to keep track of how well your team performs. The implementation phase keeps the project plan on track with careful monitoring and control processes to ensure the final deliverable meets the acceptance criteria set by the customer. This phase is typically where approved changes are implemented.

Most often, changes are identified by looking at performance and quality control data. Routine performance and quality control measurements should be evaluated on a regular basis throughout the implementation phase. Gathering reports on those measurements will help you determine where the problem is and recommend changes to fix it.

Change Control

When you find a problem, you can’t just make a change, because it may be too expensive or take too long to do. You will need to look at how it affects the triple constraint (time, cost, scope) and how it impacts project quality. You will then have to figure out if it is worth making the change. If you evaluate the impact of the change and find that it won’t have an impact on the project triple constraint, then you can make the change without going through change control. Change control is a set of procedures that lets you make changes in an organized way.

Any time you need to make a change to your plan, you must start with a change request. This is a document that either you or the person making the request must complete. Any change to your project must be documented so you can figure out what needs to be done, by when, and by whom.

Once the change request is documented, it is submitted to a change control board. A change control board is a group of people who consider changes for approval. Not every change control system has a board but most do. The change request could also be submitted to the project sponsor or management for review and approval. Putting the recommended changes through change control will help you evaluate the impact and update all the necessary documents. Not all changes are approved, but if the changes are approved, you send them back to the team to put them in place.

The implementation phase uses the most project time and resources, and as a result, costs are usually the highest during this phase. Project managers also experience the greatest conflicts over schedules in this phase. You may find as you are monitoring your project that the actual time it is taking to do the scheduled work is longer than the amount of time planned.

When you absolutely have to meet the date and you are running behind, you can sometimes find ways to do activities more quickly by adding more resources to critical path tasks. That’s called crashing. Crashing the schedule means adding resources or moving them around to to bring the project back into line with the schedule. Crashing always costs more and doesn’t always work. There’s no way to crash a schedule without raising the overall cost of the project. So, if the budget is fixed and you don’t have any extra money to spend, you can’t use this technique.

Sometimes you’ve got two activities planned to occur in sequence, but you can actually do them at the same time. This is called fast tracking the project. On a software project, you might do both your user acceptance testing (UAT) and your functional testing at the same time, for example. This is pretty risky. There’s a good chance you might need to redo some of the work you have done concurrently. Crashing and fast tracking are schedule compression tools. Managing a schedule change means keeping all of your schedule documents up to date. That way, you will always be comparing your results to the correct plan.

Status Reporting

After data has been collected and analyzed, it needs to be reported in some form. Project reports provide senior management and project teams an opportunity to see whether a project is on track and to determine whether they should do something differently to ensure the projects meet their goals. The fundamental characteristics of a good reporting system includes:

Timely, complete and accurate reports

• Not too costly
• Readily acceptable to team and sponsor
• Containing pertinent information only.
• Warns of pending problems (feedforward)
• Easy to understand – short and concise

In general project managers should avoid periodic reports except in those cases in which the flow of data is periodic. Reports issued routinely – every day, week, month, or quarter- generally do not get read. Instead, let a project’s milestones, scope changes, problems, and the project teams’s need for information dictate the timing of reports.

Types of Status Reports

• Performance/progress reports –These reports indicate the physical progress to date. The report might include information about procurement, delivery and usage.
• Status reports – These reports identify where we are today and use the information from the performance reports to calculate Schedule Variances (SV) and Cost Variances (CV).
• Projection Reports- The reports provide forward-looking projections and emphasize where the project will end up.
• Exception Reports – These reports identify exceptions, problems, or situations that exceed the threshold limits on such items as variances, cash flows, resources assigned etc.

After the deliverables have been physically constructed and accepted by the customer, a phase review is carried out to determine whether the project is complete and ready for closure.

Attribution

This chapter of Project Management is a derivative copy of Project Management by Merrie Barron and Andrew Barron licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.

Contribution by Florence Daddey

Every project needs to end and that’s what project completion is all about in the last phase of the project life cycle. The whole point of the project is to deliver what you promised. By delivering everything you said you would, you make sure that all stakeholders are satisfied and all acceptance criteria have been met. Once that happens, your project can end.

Project completion is often the most neglected phase of the project life cycle. Once the project is over, it’s easy to pack things up, throw some files in a drawer, and start moving right into the initiation phase of the next project. Hold on. You’re not done yet.

The key activities in project completion are gathering project records; disseminating information to formalize acceptance of the product, service, or project; and performing project closure. As the project manager, you will need to review project documents to make certain they are up-to-date. For example, perhaps some scope change requests were implemented that changed some of the characteristics of the final product. The project information you are collecting during this phase should reflect the characteristics and specifications of the final product. Don’t forget to update your resource assignments as well. Some team members will have come and gone over the course of the project. You need to double-check that all the resources and their roles and responsibilities are noted.

Once the project outcomes are documented, you’ll request formal acceptance from the stakeholders or customer. They’re interested in knowing if the product or service of the project meets the objectives the project set out to accomplish. If your documentation is up-to-date, you’ll have the project results at hand to share with them.

Contract Closure

Contracts come to a close just as projects come to a close. Contract closure is concerned with completing and settling the terms of the contracts let for the project. It supports the project completion process because the contract closure process determines if the work described in the contracts was completed accurately and satisfactorily. Keep in mind that not all projects are performed under contract so not all projects require the contract closure process. Obviously, this process applies only to those phases, deliverables, or portions of the project that were performed under contract.

Contract closure updates the project records, detailing the final results of the work on the project. Contracts may have specific terms or conditions for completion. You should be aware of these terms or conditions so that project completion isn’t held up because you missed an important detail. If you are administering the contract yourself, be sure to ask your procurement department if there are any special conditions that you should be aware of so that your project team doesn’t inadvertently delay contract project closure.

One of the purposes of the contract closure process is to provide formal notice to the seller, usually in written form, that the deliverables are acceptable and satisfactory or have been rejected. If the product or service does not meet the expectations, the vendor will need to correct the problems before you issue a formal acceptance notice. Before the contract is closed, any minor items that need to be repaired or completed are placed on a punch list, which is a list of all the items found by the client or team or manager that still remain to be done. Hopefully, quality audits have been performed during the course of the project, and the vendor was given the opportunity to make corrections earlier in the process than the closing phase. It’s not a good idea to wait until the very end of the project and then spring all the problems and issues on the vendor at once. It’s much more efficient to discuss problems with your vendor as the project progresses because it provides the opportunity for correction when the problems occur.

The project team will then work on all of the items on the punch list, building a small schedule to complete the remaining work. If the number of items on the punch list is too large or the amount of work is significant, the project team continues to work on the project. Once the punch list becomes smaller, the project manager begins closing down the project, maintaining only enough staff and equipment to support the team that is working on the punch list.

If the product or service does meet the project’s expectations and is acceptable, formal written notice to the seller is required, indicating that the contract is complete. This is the formal acceptance and closure of the contract. It’s your responsibility as the project manager to document the formal acceptance of the contract. Many times the provisions for formalizing acceptance and closing the contract are spelled out in the contract itself.

If you have a procurement department handling the contract administration, they will expect you to inform them when the contract is complete and will in turn follow the formal procedures to let the seller know the contract is complete. However, you will still note the contract completion in your copy of the project records.

Releasing the Project Team

Releasing project team members is not an official process. However, it should be noted that at the conclusion of the project, you will release your project team members, and they will go back to their functional managers or get assigned to a new project. You will want to keep their managers, or other project managers, informed as you get closer to project completion, so that they have time to adequately plan for the return of their employees. Let them know a few months ahead of time what the schedule looks like and how soon they can plan on using their employees on new projects. This gives the other managers the ability to start planning activities and scheduling activity dates.

Final Payments

The final payment is usually more than a simple percentage of the work that remains to be completed. Completing the project might involve fixing the most difficult problems that are disproportionately expensive to solve, so the final payment should be large enough to motivate the vendor to give the project a high priority so that the project can be completed on time.

If the supplier has met all the contractual obligations, including fixing problems and making repairs as noted on a punch list, the project team signs off on the contract and submits it to the accounting department for final payment. The supplier is notified that the last payment is final and completes the contractual agreement with the project.

Post-Project Evaluations

Before the team is dissolved and begins to focus on the next project, a review is conducted to capture the lessons that can be learned from this project, often called a lessons-learned meeting or document. The team explores what went well and captures the processes to understand why they went well. The team asks if the process is transferable to other projects. The team also explores what did not go well and what people learned from the experience. The process is not to find blame, but to learn.

Quality management is a process of continual improvement that includes learning from past projects and making changes to improve the next project. This process is documented as evidence that quality management practices are in use. Some organizations have formal processes for changing work processes and integrating the lessons learned from the project so other projects can benefit. Some organizations are less formal in the approach and expect individuals to learn from the experience and take the experience to their next project and share what they learned with others in an informal way. Whatever type of approach is used, the following elements should be evaluated and the results summarized in reports for external and internal use.

Trust and Alignment Effectiveness

The project leadership reviews the effect of trust—or lack of trust—on the project and the effectiveness of alignment meetings at building trust. The team determines which problems might have been foreseen and mitigated and which ones could not have been reasonably predicted. What were the cues that were missed by the team that indicated a problem was emerging? What could the team have done to better predict and prevent trust issues?

Schedule and Budget Management

The original schedule of activities and the network diagram are compared to the actual schedule of events. Events that caused changes to the schedule are reviewed to see how the use of contingency reserves and float mitigated the disruption caused by those events. The original estimates of contingency time are reviewed to determine if they were adequate and if the estimates of duration and float were accurate. These activities are necessary for the project team to develop expertise in estimating schedule elements in future projects—they are not used to place blame.

A review of budget estimates for the cost of work scheduled is compared to the actual costs. If the estimates are frequently different from the actual costs, the choice of estimating method is reviewed.

Risk Mitigation

After the project is finished, the estimates of risk can be reviewed and compared to the events that actually took place. Did events occur that were unforeseen? What cues existed that may have allowed the team to predict these events? Was the project contingency sufficient to cover unforeseen risks? Even if nothing went wrong on this project, it is not proof that risk mitigation was a waste of money, but it is useful to compare the cost of avoiding risk versus the cost of unexpected events to understand how much it cost to avoid risk.

Procurement Contracts

The performance of suppliers and vendors is reviewed to determine if they should still be included in the list of qualified suppliers or vendors. The choice of contract for each is reviewed to determine if the decision to share risk was justified and if the choice of incentives worked.

Customer Satisfaction

Relationships with the client are reviewed and decisions about including the client in project decisions and alignment meetings are discussed. The client is given the opportunity to express satisfaction and identify areas in which project communication and other factors could be improved. Often a senior manager from the organization interviews the client to develop feedback on the project team performance.

A general report that provides an overview of the project is created to provide stakeholders with a summary of the project. The report includes the original goals and objectives and statements that show how the project met those goals and objectives. Performance on the schedule and budget are summarized and an assessment of client satisfaction is provided. A version of this report can be provided to the client as a stakeholder and as another means for deriving feedback.

Senior Management

The report to senior management contains all the information provided to the stakeholders in a short executive summary. The report identifies practices and processes that could be improved or lessons that were learned that could be useful on future projects.

Types of Closing Reports

Capturing lessons learned from a project experienced should be part of every close down operation. Project participants should convene to identify what went right and what went wrong. They should make a list of their successes, their mistakes, their unjustified assumptions, and the things that could have been done better. This should be stored with the rest of the other documents.

As stated earlier every project is different and depending of the complexities and project requirements four types closing reports may be produced for different purposes:

Project Evaluation and Review Report: Prepared by the core project team. Purpose is to compare results to commitment, to identify lessons learned, to refined project management processes.

Audit Report: A project audit is a more formal final review of a project by a group outside the project team. This is a special type of evaluation. It involves a thorough examination of the management of the project, its methodology and procedures, its records, properties, inventories, budgets, expenditures, progress.

Final Report: The final report is not another evaluation report though the audit and evaluation reports may have a role in it. It is prepared by the project manager (reflections) and should contain the following 5 areas of discussions: Project performance, administrative management performance, project organizational structure, project management techniques and team work.

Post Implementation Audit: Post-Implementation Audit is scheduled if appropriate in 6-12months. It involves an evaluation of the project goals and activities as measured against project plans.

Archiving of Document

The documents associated with the project must be stored in a safe location where they can be retrieved for future reference. Signed contracts or other documents that might be used in tax reviews or lawsuits must be stored. Organizations will have legal document storage and retrieval policies that apply to project documents and must be followed. Some project documents can be stored electronically.

Care should be taken to store documents in a form that can be recovered easily. If the documents are stored electronically, standard naming conventions should be used so documents can be sorted and grouped by name. If documents are stored in paper form, the expiration date of the documents should be determined so they can be destroyed at some point in the future. The following are documents that are typically archived:

• Charter documents
• Scope statement
• Original budget
• Change documents
• DPCI ratings
• Manager’s summary—lessons learned
• Final DPCI rating

Attribution

This chapter of Project Management is a derivative copy of Project Management by Merrie Barron and Andrew Barron licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unportedand Project Management for Instructional Designers by Amado, M., Ashton, K., Ashton, S., Bostwick, J., Clements, G., Drysdale, J., Francis, J., Harrison, B., Nan, V., Nisse, A., Randall, D., Rino, J., Robinson, J., Snyder, A., Wiley, D., & Anonymous. (DATE). Project Management for Instructional Designers. Retrieved from http://pm4id.org/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike (BY-NC-SA) license.

Adrienne Watt

The project team should celebrate their accomplishments, and the project manager should officially recognize their efforts, thank them for their participation, and officially close the project. A celebration helps team members formally recognize the project’s end and brings closure to the work they’ve done. It also encourages them to remember what they’ve learned and start thinking about how their experiences will benefit them and the organization during the next project.

Figure 19.1: Celebrate! Your project is over… at least until the next one.
Photo from Barron & Barron Project Management for Scientists and Engineers, http://cnx.org/content/col11120/1.4/

Attribution

This chapter of Project Management is a derivative copy of Project Management by Merrie Barron and Andrew Barron licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported. 

It’s important to reflect regularly on the skills you have, and on the skills you are gaining through your educational experiences. In this project management course you have the opportunity to deepen and sharpen some of these skills. Your future will most likely involve application forms, cover letters, resumes, personal statements, and job interviews. In all of these scenarios, you’ll be expected to identify the skills and strengths you can offer, as well as examples of when you used or displayed those skills.

Review the Employability Skills 2000+which are the employability skills attitudes and behaviors you need to participate and progress in today’s dynamic world of work. Applying these skills will help you enter, stay in and progress in the world of work. These skills are consistent with the JIBC Core Competencies.

Conference Board of Canada - http://www.conferenceboard.ca/topics/education/learning-tools/employability-skills.aspx

Adrienne Watt holds a Computer Systems Diploma (BCIT), a Bachelors in Technology (BCIT) and a Master’s in Business Administration (City University).

Since 1989, Adrienne has worked as an educator and gained extensive experience developing and delivering business and technology curriculum to post-secondary students. During that time she ran a successful software development business. In the business she worked as an IT Professional in a variety of senior positions including Project Manager, Database Designer, Administrator and Business Analyst. Recently she has been exploring a wide range of technology related tools and processes to improve delivery methods and enhance learning for her students.

Florence Daddey has an interdisciplinary background and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, a Postgraduate Diploma in Adult Education, and a Masters of Business Administration. Florence has over 20 years’ experience in teaching, curriculum development and program management in post-secondary education. In her role as a senior instructional designer at the JIBC, she has worked on many projects across the institute and coordinates faculty development activities. She teaches on the Law Enforcement Diploma Studies program (LESD), Bachelor of Law Enforcement Studies (BLES) and Emergency and Security Management Studies (BESMS) program. Her research interest includes pedagogical approaches to curriculum and learning designs for different learning environments - face-to-face, online and blended.

Previously, Florence was an instructional designer at Thompson Rivers University-Open Learning and British Columbia Open University. She spent 11 years as a faculty member at Bromley College of Further and Higher Education (Kent) and Greenwich Community College (Woolwich) in England UK.

1. Criminal investigation as a thinking process
2. The need to think through the process
3. Towards modern-day investigation
4. The path to becoming an investigator
5. Understanding the investigative mind

Topic 1: Criminal Investigation as a Thinking Process

Topic 2: The Need to Think Through the Process

• What must be done to protect the life and safety of persons?
• Should force, up to and including deadly force, be used to resolve a situation?
• Who will become the focus or subject of a criminal investigation?
• What is the best plan to apprehend the person or persons responsible for a criminal act?
• Will someone be subjected to a search of their person or of their home?
• Will someone be subjected to detention or arrest and questioning for a criminal act?
• Will someone have a criminal charge sworn against them?
• Will someone be subjected to a criminal trial?
• Will someone’s liberty as a free person be at risk?
• Will justice be served?
• Will the community be protected?

• Respond appropriately to situations where they must protect the life and safety of persons
• Gather the maximum available evidence and information from people and locations
• Recognize the possible offence or offences being depicted by the fact pattern
• Preserve and document all evidence and information
• Critically analyze all available information and evidence
• Develop an effective investigative plan
• Strategically act by developing reasonable grounds to either identify and arrest those responsible for criminal acts, or to eliminate those who are wrongfully suspected

• Is it possible that the wrong person was arrested or convicted?
• Is it possible that other persons were involved?
• Were all the possible suspects properly eliminated?
• Was information properly shared among police agencies?
• Did the investigators miss something?
• Was all the evidence found?
• Was the evidence properly interpreted?
• Were the investigative theories properly developed and followed to the correct conclusion?
• Was tunnel vision happening and misdirecting the investigation?

Topic 3: Towards Modern-Day Investigation

• Critical Incident Response
• Interpretation of criminal law and offence recognition
• Crime scene management
• Evidence identification and preservation
• Engaging forensic tools for evidence analysis
• Witness assessment and interviewing
• Suspect questioning and interrogation
• Case preparation and documentation
• Evidence presentation in court

Topic 4: The Path to Becoming an Investigator

• Being passionate about following the facts to discover the truth, with a goal of contributing to the process of justice
• Being detail-oriented and observant of the facts and the timelines of events
• Being a flexible thinker, avoiding tunnel vision, and being capable of concurrently examining alternate theories while objectively using evidence as the measure to confirm or disconfirm validity of theories
• Being patient and capable of maintaining a long-term commitment to reaching a conclusion
• Being tenacious and not allowing setbacks and false leads to deter continued efforts
• Being knowledgeable and skilled at the tasks, process, and procedure while respecting legal authorities and the limitations to take action
• Being self-aware of bias and intuitive responses, and seeking evidence to support gut-feelings
• Being trained in the processes of critical thinking that provide reliable analysis of evidence that can later be described and articulated in reports and court testimony

Topic 5: Understanding the Investigative Mindset

• Investigative thinking is disciplined thinking, and investigators must be consciously aware of and consciously in control of their own thinking
• This is a process of being intentionally engaged at a high level of analytical thinking
• This thinking process is strategically focussed, prioritizing investigative plans and actions to achieve outcomes
• Developing a mental map, the investigator deliberately selects a path of the investigation will follow. He or she travels that path with the knowledge that the outcomes of the investigation will only be accepted by the court if the rationale for the path taken can be recalled accurately and articulated in detail

Summary