Evidential Aspects of Law Enforcement will assist law enforcement officers with gaining a clear understanding of the legal principles involved in the gathering of evidence, whether on crime scenes or during further investigations.

A successful prosecution depends on the value of the evidence gathered from the moment that the crime was reported. Evidential Aspects of Law Enforcement addresses the law of evidence and aspects of the law of criminal procedure that relate to the law of evidence. The book also explains the importance of effecting an arrest to facilitate the gathering of evidence from a suspect (such as fingerprints and DNA), and how the conduct of the enforcement officer may affect investigations.

Evidential Aspects of Law Enforcement explains technical legal terms in a straightforward and practical way, and contains the information that all law enforcement officers require to perform their duties effectively.

• Table of Statutes
• Table of Cases
• Introduction, outline and purpose of the book
• ‘Law enforcement officer’ and ‘investigating officer’
• The reporting of crime
• Interviewing of victims and witnesses and obtaining of statements
• The use of force in effecting an arrest
• Establishing the bodily features of the suspect
• Confessions and admissions
• Pointing out
• Testifying in court
• Oral testimony of a witness
• Cautionary rule
• Similar fact evidence
• Previous consistent statement
• Character evidence
• Opinion evidence
• Circumstantial evidence
• Hearsay evidence
• Real evidence
• Documentary evidence
• Evidence gathered by electronic means
• Terms and definitions

• Law enforcement officers
• Police officials
• Investigators from the Independent Police Investigative Directorate
• Military police
• Security officers