Investigation Resources
The following is a set of links involving investigation resources. Some of the resources are maintained by CPCS, many are not. For a comprehensive list of professional resources maintained by CPCS Training, check out their Professional Resources page.
Criminal Records
Mass CORI Reader How to understand probation records and rightshttp://www.mass…s/3d_Ed-2d_Rev.pdf
Mass. Law About Criminal Records Great link for anything related to CORI http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/subject/about/cori.html
Mass. Statute M.G.L. c.6, s. 167-178B
Freedom of Information
DEA Freedom of Information (FOIA) http://www.justice.gov/dea/FOIA/FOIA.shtml
FBI’s FOIA Website http://foia.fbi.gov/
FOIA First Amendment Project with online instructions. http://www.thef…esourcecenter.html
Federal FOIA It creates the letter after you put in the information. Fully automated online request form. https://www.ifoia.org/#!/
A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law http://www.sec….e/prepdf/guide.pdfwith sample requests at http://www.sec…..us/pre/preidx.htm
US Dept. of Justice FOIA page http://www.usdo…gov/oip/index.html
Investigation
Crime and Clues Crime Scene And Criminal Investigations Mega Site with daily updates. It is very good. http://crimeandclues.com/
Investigator’s Toolbox: Online resources from phone numbers to vital records.http://www.virt…llibrarian.com/it/
Virtual Gumshoe Free Resources for investigators http://www.virtualgumshoe.com/
Maps
Boston BRA You can get neighborhood maps. Most cities should have something similar.http://www.ci.b…/bra/maps/maps.asp Google Earth Google Earth combines the power of Google Search with satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings to put the world’s geographic information at your fingertips. This can also give you measurements from one place to another. http://earth.google.com/ GPS Visualizer http://gpsvisua…er.com/calculators Calculate the distance between two addresses This calculator will find the straight-line distance between two locations of any kind: street addresses, city names, ZIP codes, etc. You can superimpose the results on a variety of maps and sat photos. Other good sites are: Maporama http://maporama.com Mapquest http://www.mapquest.com/ Find a place; driving directions; Plan a trip. Microsoft Virtual Earth Amazing 2D – 3D Aerial Map Views Aerial Views of Cities and Streets Amazing 2D – 3D Aerial Map Views Aerial Views of Cities and Streets http://maps.live.com/ My Neighborhood My Neighborhood Just enter your property address to get detailed information about your community such as the nearest library or community center. http://www.city…/neighborhoods.asp Most cities will have something similar to this. Could be useful for voir dire.
Public Records
Criminal Records Free Listed below are over 1,330 state, county, city and federal (court) URL’s where you can access public record information for free.http://www.crim…om/freerecords.htm
Mass. Searchable Public Record Databases including: licensing and on line cities and towns. http://www.sear…et/list.php?nid=30 by city and town
Public Records Law http://www.sec…..us/pre/preidx.htm Lets you know what is a public record from accident reports to internal affairs.
Statewide Criminal Background Check Resources
Vital Records “This page contains information about where to obtain copies of Massachusetts vital records, such as birth & death certificates, marriage licenses & divorce decrees. See the guidelines for information on how to order vital records. Check the related links for additional information on Massachusetts and ordering vital records. http://vitalrec.com/ma.html
Weather
Historical Weather Conditions So you want to know what the weather was like on some past day. Well, this page is going to show you how to get the data you need.http://www.weat…ermatrix.net/past/ or http://www.weat…com/wxhistory.html National Climate Data http://www.ncdc…a.gov/oa/ncdc.html Sunrise/sunset times on the website of the U.S. Naval Observatory, in case anyone is interested, at http://aa.usno….ocs/RS_OneYear.php Time and Date http://www.timeanddate.com/ Weather Underground http://www.wunderground.com/
Witness Locating: Military
How to Locate Military People http://usmilita…es/a/millocate.htm Locating Military People Procedures http://usmilita…oom/l/bllocate.htm
Witness Locating: Telephone Numbers
Area Code Lookup http://www.benn…sd-pages/area.html Google www.google.com Type a phone number into Google, it will often disclose the name of the phone subscriber, address and even a link to a yahoo map. You need to write the number in this form 617-482-6212. Reverse Directory http://www.555-1212.com/ This contains a reverse phone number directory in addition to trying to locate a witness http://www.whitepages.com/ or www.reversephonedirectory.com Reverse Directory http://www.anywho.com