Preliminary Investigation

Preliminary Investigation; The purpose of the preliminary investigation is to access whether more actions need to be initiated or whether the case will be closed down and no further actions are required. This will depend on if there is sufficient evidence for further actions to be carried out. This may involve there being a victim, or a crime scene or witnesses of the crime. An assessment of the crime will be carried out which will conduct a decision as to if the case is to be passed onto an investigation officer for further investigation. If the case is not passed on to the investigation officer, the case will be closed. Although the case may be closed, it doesn’t mean that the case is permanently closed. The case will be kept on record and may be brought up in the future if there are similar cases.

This stage in the investigation is an important stage because it determines whether or not further actions are to be initiated and if further investigation of the case is to be carried out. This stage may also result in the case being closed. This stage always follows initial response of the reported crime.

In the Madeleine McCann case, this stage results in further actions of the case to be carried out and also a further investigation of the reported crime.