Criminal Investigations in the New Millennium - A New Story

This article seeks to advance the narrative regarding the police criminal investigation process into the new millennium. First, the old story of the ineffective reactive traditional investigation process is summarized. Then a new story uses a new theoretical proposition regarding crime to examine why a variety of historical detective models failed. A consistent theme emerges that the public, often at the expense of their own security, repeatedly rejected and/or constrained each of the past models because they encroached upon individual liberties. Finally, a new detective model is proposed that directly addresses this liberty vs. security issue.