Many forensic manuals have been published in the last years. From the scientific and didactic point of view they are of different value. However, all their authors aimed at describing tactical and technical methods used in detecting processes. Against that background an idea to look through older manuals in that field was engendered. From among only a few books dating back almost 80 years, a 400-page handbook by a practitioner and trainer, a gendarmerie major Kazimierz Chodkiewicz, was chosen. The analysis of the manual revealed many interesting and also relevant views on criminality and methods of fighting against it. Modus operandi of many categories of criminals of the time and basic detecting activities from scene of crime examination to various ways of interrogation were described in it in detail. The author based many hints and pieces of advice on his experience, of course transforming it for the needs of training. The quoted manual skillfully linked forensic matters with criminological ones. There are noticeable differences between former and present criminality threats but many of the described methods, especially those of a tactical character, are still relevant and useful in the field of prosecution practice today.
The examination of legal systems, including the so-called system of police law, indicates that there are many systems and institutions with authoritarian competence and power to control and use repressive measures. They have at their disposal many tactical and technical means that can be used unofficially and out of trial procedure (surveillance, phone-tapping, controlled purchase, use of legalization documents, etc.). Some organs sometimes have the same tasks and powers. There is also a tendency to establish new units although some of their tasks can be successfully fulfilled within the scope of activities of the already existing organizational units of the state. For common fear of terrorism, new ideas in the field of new surveillance techniques are invented across the world, including Poland. Public opinion was alarmed by the increasing imbalance between the aspiration of governments to protect public safety and the necessity to protect civil rights and freedoms. Due to that, the question about the appearance of symptoms of a police state development seems to be justified
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