Forensic Characteristics of Intentional Destruction or Damage of Property Belonging to a Law Enforcement Officer: Essence and Content

Abstract

The subject matter of the study is the forensic characteristics of intentional destruction or damage of property belonging to law enforcement officers. The purpose of the article was to define the concept and components of the forensic characteristics of the studied crime. The author has used special research methods, namely: the method of system analysis, comparative and legal, system and structural methods. According to the results of the conducted study, the author has established that the circumstances to be clarified during the investigation, as well as the identification of a person who committed the crime, to some extent depend on the investigator’s knowledge of forensic characteristics of the crime he is investigating. The study of forensic characteristics for scientific purposes is the key to a thorough research and construction of other elements of the structure of forensic methodology. It has been determined that the term of “forensic characteristics of intentional destruction or damage of property belonging to a law enforcement officer” should be understood as a generalized system of information, based on the analysis of materials of investigative, judicial and expert practice, about typical and interrelated characteristics that can be used as indicative information while investigating this category of crimes. It has been established that the elements of the forensic characteristics of the studied crime include: the circumstances of the crime (time and place), modus operandi, tools and traces of its commission, the object of destruction or damage, the personality of the offender and the victim. According to the results of generalization of the practice of investigative and judicial agencies, each of the mentioned elements has been characterized. It has been proved that all the above elements of the forensic characteristics of intentional destruction or damage of property belonging to a law enforcement officer, are in some way interrelated, but each of them has a different level of dependence.