Criminal Investigations

Course Description

CJK0077 – Criminal Investigations is a 50-hour criminal justice training course carrying zero credit hours. Broward College lists it at 50 total contact hours, all lecture. It is delivered by Florida criminal justice training centers as part of law enforcement training, and it teaches the initial investigation of crimes across the major offense categories.

The course's premise is that investigation begins with the first responding officer, not with the detective who arrives later. Decisions made in the first minutes — whether the scene was secured, whether witnesses were separated before comparing accounts, whether the victim's initial statement was captured, whether transient evidence was preserved — frequently determine whether a case can be built at all.

Content covers the initial investigation of crimes against persons, crimes against property, crimes against society, and economic crimes — the last increasingly significant as fraud and identity theft displace traditional property offenses in volume.

For each category students learn what the offense requires to prove, what evidence establishes it, the immediate actions the responding officer must take, and how to document the investigation so it survives review. Interviewing victims and witnesses, scene management, evidence recognition and preservation, and the handoff to follow-up investigators are covered throughout.

The course also addresses case development — leads, canvassing, records, and building a file the State Attorney can file on.

Offered at approximately 16 Florida institutions with criminal justice training centers.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Conduct an initial investigation of crimes against persons.
• Conduct an initial investigation of crimes against property.
• Conduct an initial investigation of crimes against society.
• Conduct an initial investigation of economic crimes including fraud and identity theft.
• Secure and manage a crime scene to preserve evidence.
• Recognize, protect, and document physical evidence at a scene.
• Separate and interview victims and witnesses appropriately.
• Identify the elements of an offense and determine what evidence establishes them.
• Develop and pursue investigative leads including neighborhood canvass.
• Document an investigation so the report supports each element of the offense.
• Recognize when a case requires specialized investigative resources and make the referral.
• Prepare and organize a case file for submission to the State Attorney.
• Apply legal requirements governing investigation, including search, seizure, and Miranda.

Optional Outcomes

• Describe surveillance methods and documentation.
• Describe informant development and management.
• Describe digital evidence recognition and preservation.
• Describe eyewitness identification procedures under Florida law.
• Describe interviewing techniques for reluctant or hostile witnesses.
• Analyze case studies of successful and failed investigations.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Investigative fundamentals — the purpose and structure of a criminal investigation.
• The preliminary investigation — first responder responsibilities and priorities.
• Scene management — securing, controlling access, and establishing a log.
• Evidence recognition and preservation — physical, biological, and transient evidence.
• Victim and witness interviewing — separation, initial accounts, and trauma-informed technique.
• Crimes against persons — investigation of assault, robbery, sexual battery, and homicide.
• Crimes against property — burglary, theft, and criminal mischief investigation.
• Crimes against society — drug, weapons, and public order offense investigation.
• Economic crimes — fraud, worthless checks, identity theft, and financial exploitation.
• Elements and proof — matching evidence to offense elements.
• Follow-up investigation — leads, canvass, records, and case development.
• Case file preparation — organization and State Attorney submission.
• Legal framework — search and seizure, Miranda, and admissibility.

Optional Topics

• Surveillance methods.
• Informant development.
• Digital evidence.
• Eyewitness identification under Section 92.70, F.S.
• Advanced interviewing technique.
• Case study analysis.

Resources & Tools

• CJSTC curriculum — the state-authored lesson plan governing criminal justice training content.
• FDLE Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission — curriculum and certification.
• Florida Statutes — Chapters 782, 784, 794, 810, 812, 817, 893; freely available on Online Sunshine.
• Section 92.70, Florida Statutes — eyewitness identification procedures.
• FDLE laboratory — evidence submission requirements and capabilities.
• Agency report forms, evidence procedures, and State Attorney filing guidelines for the local circuit.
• Staged scenes and scenario exercises with instructor evaluation.

Career Pathways

• Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officer (SOC 33-3051) — patrol officers conduct the initial investigation on most cases.
• Detective and Criminal Investigator (SOC 33-3021) — the natural progression, typically after patrol experience.
• Economic Crimes investigator — fraud and identity theft units, a growing area.
• Crime Scene Investigator (SOC 19-4092) — sworn or civilian.
• State and federal investigative agencies — FDLE and federal task forces, with separate hiring standards.
• Private investigator — requiring Florida licensure through DBPR.

Special Information

How this course relates to the basic recruit academy

Worth clarifying, because the numbering invites confusion. The 770-hour Law Enforcement Basic Recruit Training Program includes CJK0079 Crime Scene Follow-up Investigations (34 hours) as its investigation component. CJK0077 Criminal Investigations at 50 hours is a separate, longer course that Florida institutions deliver in criminal justice training contexts — some academy program versions, advanced or specialized training, and in-service training. Palm Beach State lists it as a PSAV course. Students and transcript evaluators should not assume the two are interchangeable; confirm which course a given program required.

Zero credit, and it does not count toward a degree

Broward lists CJK0077 at 0.00 credits with 50.00 contact hours. Like all CJK courses this is clock-hour criminal justice training, not college credit, and it does not count toward an associate degree. The academic equivalents are the CCJ courses — CCJ1010 Introduction to Criminology and CCJ1020 Introduction to Criminal Justice — which are transferable college credit and study the subject rather than train for it.

The first responder usually determines the case

The practical theme running through this course, and the reason it exists at 50 hours: patrol officers, not detectives, make the decisions that determine whether a crime can be prosecuted. Scene contamination cannot be undone, witnesses who compare accounts before separation produce contaminated testimony, and physical evidence not collected in the first hours is usually gone. Instructors typically teach from real cases where the initial response succeeded or failed.

Economic crime is the growth area

Fraud and identity theft now exceed many traditional property crimes in volume, and Florida — with a large older population and substantial retiree wealth — sees disproportionate financial exploitation of vulnerable adults. Officers who can conduct a competent initial economic crime investigation, including preserving financial records and documentation trails, are increasingly valuable.