HOW DO INVESTIGATORS FIND WITNESSES

You’ve been hired to investigate an incident that took place 3 months prior.  Let’s say it’s a traffic accident.  It occurred on a specific day at a specific time.  How do you go about finding any witnesses to the accident, particularly if it happened some time ago.  In a case like this, you go back to the tried and true old fashion way, you conduct a canvass of the area.

Time permitting, it’s very important that you conduct your witness canvass on the same day of the week and at the same time that the incident happened.  Let me give an example of what I mean.  An attorney hired me to investigate a traffic accident.  The accident took place on a weekend night shortly after midnight.  It occurred on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood.  I went there on the same day of the week and began my canvass about a half hour before the accident occurred.  There were a few stores still open, and I happened to find an employee at one of the businesses who happened to be looking out the window and saw the accident.  Because he was a night time employee, I never would have found him if I had gone out in the daytime to canvass. 

Another reason you want to go out at the same time as the incident is that you can see what the lighting in the area was like at the time of the incident along with the pedestrian and vehicle traffic.  This gives you a much better feel for the incident scene similar to when it occurred. You also may find a witness on a delivery truck or other work related vehicle that happens to stop by around the time of your incident.  As I’ve stated before on this blog, you only need to find one witness to break a case wide open. 

CANVASSING FOR WITNESSES 101

One of the most important and yet often overlooked tools that investigators should use in criminal investigations is the neighborhood canvass for witnesses.  Let’s say you’re investigating a burglary that happened at a residence sometime between 8:00 AM when the victim left for work and 5:00 PM when they returned.  Usually the police response is uniformed officers who will take a report and do little else.  With no suspect(s) seen and no witnesses located, that’s usually the end of their investigation.  If you’re the private investigator hired on the case, the next step after your initial interview with the client should be to canvass the block where the crime occurred for witnesses.  It’s important to canvass at the time when you’ll find the most potential residents at home.  That’s usually in the evening between 5:30 and 7:30 PM on weekdays and 8:00 to 1200 noon on weekends.  If you’re going to pick a weeknight, surveys have shown that the evening which most people are home is Thursday nights.  Don’t be lazy and just door knock only the next door neighbors.  Door knock the whole block, both sides of the street. Always ask if anyone else may live in the residence whose not home when you came by.  Get their name and phone number and call them.  Leave your business card in the front door of any residences where no one is home with ‘Please Call Me’ printed on it.  This may be boring and tedious, but remember, you only need to find one witness to break a case.