ABSTRACT
By definition, patience is “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset”. 1 In this chapter, the breadth and value of patience in an investigator will be discussed from the perspective of this career investigator. For an investigator working major case investigations, the quality of patience takes many forms. Here are a few examples. There is the patience involved when taking your time and doing your job to the best of your ability. The patience involved when waiting for search warrants to be drafted and signed by a judge. Being patient when allowing a suspect the chance to speak. (That is, the person seated in the interview chair who is coming up with the most outrageous story you have ever heard, and he expects you to believe it. In this case, just listen, and be patient. Allowing him to speak may allow him one opportunity to slip and reveal something that he otherwise intended to keep inside.) There is patience required to continually reassess the job at hand as new information develops. The need to be patient with supervisors who want answers before the investigator is done evaluating and assessing. The need to be patient with opposing attorneys who will always manage to find fault with something in your case file, and will liberally sling derogatory comments at you and your work. The ability to be patient with family members and understand their frustrations with your long hours at work, when your cases aren’t progressing quickly enough. Finally, there is patience required to explain investigative concepts to a layperson, such as the difference between a suggestion of involvement and admissible evidence. It takes evidence to bring a case to trial … not a feeling that “I just know he did it.” The virtues of patience in an investigator will be illustrated in this work, which documents some of my most memorable investigative experiences.
