What to read after Police Investigation - Powers, Tactics and Techniques (Vol 1 and 2 combined) 4th Edition 2022?

With Sithannan’s book ‘Police Investigation-Powers, Tactics and Techniques’ 4th Edition 2022, every Police Officer will be able to do a comprehensive investigation even if he/ she just follow the checklists given. The book is written in simple language, which can be easily understood by all Police Officers and will serve as a valuable tool/guide for every officer who has to investigate a crime, participate in the All India Police Duty Meet etc. This is a more exhaustive treatise than his initial one, prepared when he was working in the Police Training College and which is still used by Investigating Officers all over the state of Tamil Nadu.

In his present work titled ‘Police Investigation: Powers, Tactics and Techniques’, the author has meticulously catalogued the tools available to a police officer to become a successful investigator. He has carefully listed the duties of Police Officers at various stages of the investigation and the legal and statutory supports officially available to an investigating officer.

      The book contains 25 chapters and 4 annexures. In all the chapters, the author describes the problems at hand in elaborate detail, supported by relevant statistical and legal data, drawn from authentic sources. The first chapter includes a discussion on the development of settled society, the origin of law in society and the emergence of military and police in developing societies. In the following chapters, the author has given an exhaustive account of the role and powers of the Police in the registration of offences and taking up of the investigation. He has also discussed problems encountered by a Police Officer during the investigation, the trial till the judgement. The book dexterously deals with problems such as the jurisdiction of a Police Officer, the dying declaration of victims, the conducting of inquest, arrest, interrogation and confession of the accused, etc.

           Apart from Police Officers, Advocates, Law and Judicial Officers would also find this book very useful as a reference book. The reference to judgements pertaining to a host of criminal cases during the period 1965-2018 merit careful study by the guardians of Law. The checklist provided at the end of each chapter can serve as a ready-reckoner to the Police Officers at various stages of the investigation.

A trainee and a veteran equally will find this book a useful aid. To cite an example, under chapter 14, “Arrest”, he has cited 37 landmark judgements. By reading these fourteen pages alone one can avert many a pitfall.

           While writing this book, the academic pursuit of the author is in full bloom, as he has drawn valuable and authenticated data from various enactments, official documents, court judgements and a vast domain of related literature of national and international significance.

           Moreover, in this scholarly work, the author does not limit himself to expressing his sentiments of fellowship to the investigating Police Officers but also is concerned more about their legitimate and authorized duties, responsibilities, jurisdiction, rights of the accused and the natural processes of the long arm of the law.

           That the Author’s utopian ideal of no innocent person should be punished and no offender should go unpunished can be seen to dominate the whole message of the book. For this purpose, the Author has taken extra pains to give a balanced treatment of the whole problem of crime and its investigation.