CFA Investigative Techniques & Case Management 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An agent receives a tip about ongoing criminal activity at a specific location. Before conducting physical surveillance, what should the agent do FIRST?
- Immediately set up surveillance to avoid losing the opportunity
- Conduct a preliminary records check and assess legal authority for surveillance (Correct answer)
- Notify local law enforcement and defer to them
- Recruit a confidential informant to enter the location
Correct answer: Conduct a preliminary records check and assess legal authority for surveillance
Before physical surveillance, agents must verify legal authority and conduct records checks to plan operations lawfully and safely.
Question 2: Which technique is MOST effective when interviewing a subject who is being deceptive?
- Confronting the subject immediately with evidence of deception
- Using open-ended questions and allowing the subject to elaborate, then probing inconsistencies (Correct answer)
- Ending the interview and scheduling a polygraph
- Threatening the subject with legal consequences
Correct answer: Using open-ended questions and allowing the subject to elaborate, then probing inconsistencies
Open-ended questions allow deceptive subjects to elaborate, creating inconsistencies that can be probed without triggering defensiveness.
Question 3: In case management, what does 'closing a lead' mean?
- Permanently abandoning an investigative avenue
- Documenting that a specific lead has been fully investigated and the result recorded (Correct answer)
- Transferring the lead to another investigator
- Sealing the lead information from disclosure
Correct answer: Documenting that a specific lead has been fully investigated and the result recorded
Closing a lead means fully documenting its investigation and outcome, not abandoning it, so the record reflects what was pursued and found.
Question 4: A field agent must testify about observations made six months earlier. What is the BEST way to prepare?
- Rely on memory to demonstrate confidence
- Review detailed contemporaneous notes and reports written at the time of observation (Correct answer)
- Request that another agent who reviewed the case testify instead
- Study similar cases to anticipate likely questions
Correct answer: Review detailed contemporaneous notes and reports written at the time of observation
Contemporaneous notes written at the time of observation are the most reliable foundation for accurate testimony about past events.
Question 5: What is the purpose of a 'be on the lookout' (BOLO) notice in field investigations?
- To formally charge a suspect with a crime
- To alert law enforcement and other agencies to watch for a specific person, vehicle, or item (Correct answer)
- To close a case when the subject has fled
- To request judicial authorization for an arrest
Correct answer: To alert law enforcement and other agencies to watch for a specific person, vehicle, or item
A BOLO notice disseminates identifying information to multiple agencies so they can assist in locating a specific subject, vehicle, or item.
Question 6: When an agent's investigative report contains sensitive source information, what is the appropriate handling procedure?
- Include full source details so the case file is complete
- Redact or separately document source identity using controlled access procedures (Correct answer)
- Omit all reference to the source from every document
- Share the report widely to increase the chance of solving the case
Correct answer: Redact or separately document source identity using controlled access procedures
Sensitive source information must be protected through redaction or controlled access documentation to protect informants while preserving evidentiary value.
Question 7: During a search, an agent finds evidence of a crime unrelated to the current investigation. This is known as what?
- Secondary evidence
- Plain view doctrine evidence (Correct answer)
- Fruit of the poisonous tree
- Derivative evidence
Correct answer: Plain view doctrine evidence
Evidence of a crime discovered incidentally during a lawful search falls under the plain view doctrine and may be seized and reported.
CFA Investigative Techniques & Case Management 3
An agent receives a tip about ongoing criminal activity at a specific location.
Before conducting physical surveillance, what should the agent do FIRST?