Traditionalist are basically non-tech savvy detectives. These investigators rely heavily on commons sense and their expertise rather than new age technology. Some people might refer to this detective as “old-school.” At my department, if a detective has a revolver on their hip instead of a semi-auto handgun it is a safe bet they lean towards being a traditionalist.
Revisionist utilize technology aids to assist them through the investigation or even solve the crime. These “young whipper snappers” as one of my traditionalist training officers would say use advancements in technology to help them solve their case or close the case.
Being a traditionalist means you trust your gut and have what a lot of people in law enforcement refer to as “street smarts.” Traditionalist use good old fashion police work, interviewing people to follow leads and listening to CI’s, diving deep into the case to find the potential suspect. A lot more face to face interaction is done. Advantages of this kind of police work is the investigators wealth of knowledge from his/her spiderweb of information is something technology could never produce. However, these investigators do not see the benefit of using technology to further their investigation. Doing a simple phone dump or warrant for GPS location on a suspect phone or a geo-warrant can really help lead investigators to the 5 W’s.
Being a revisionist usually requires less face to face and interviews with more time behind a computer. These investigators will use technology to further their case before they even think about going to knock doors and look around to talk with people. They come to really understand technology and how it can be used to further their investigation and how it can be defeated to help obtain suspect information. Unfortunately, they lack in the face to face interaction and I would beg to say they could possible struggle with interrogations.
Honestly a mix of the two is what most investigators should strive for. Having common sense and the willingness to do the dirty work and go knock on peoples doors to find possible witnesses is extremely valuable. It is as valuable as cell phone tower information or surveillance footage information. Being one or the other is not the being the best investigator, having a mix of the two allows you as investigator to grow in all aspects of your field and continue to solve cases efficiently. Discuss
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