investigating an offence

Because of discussions I have been involved in with some of my ex-colleague and other members of my community on Facebook and other forums, I have been made aware that there is a deficit of knowledge as it relates to the responsibilities of and other key elements of the operation of the police service, force, department, etc., even among serving policing officers. 

It is my desire, therefore, to use my knowledge and understanding of this field to fill this gap in this series entitled Police 101, of which this is my fourth submission.

It is no secret that we are living in a troubled world and because of this well-known fact there are valid reasons for the existence of the police as an institution within the community.One of the services the police provide is: they entertain reports from an injured party (a victim/complainant) or on behalf of an injured party (in this case the reporting person is called the complainant).
Another of the responsibilities of the police is to investigate offences that were committed or are alleged to have been committed. With this in mind, when a report is made or the police receive information that an offence has been committed or is about to be committed. Base on the characteristics of the offence it may be a criminal offence or a non-criminal offence, the first responsibility of the officer entertaining the report is to verify whether an offence has been committed or if the allegations are strong enough for a reasonable person to conclude that there is a possibility that an offense will be committed. He or she does so by listening to the story of the complainant.
The officer has the obligation to inform the complainant of the legal term of the offence, and the type of and possible course of action the police could lawfully take against the offender on behalf of complainant or injured party (the party who was wronged), which may include advising the injured party to take other private actions on his own; such as civil litigation to recover financial damages, etc.
The next step will depend on the type of offence, and the seriousness of the offence that was committed. Let’s say, for example, the offence was a misdemeanor and the level of the damage was small, e.g. a brushed ego. The injured party may just want to lodge a report with the police for a matter of record.
After outlining the possible actions the police can take on the victim’s behalf, the police should then find out what course of action the complainant would like the police to take on his or her behalf. It is important to note that such actions can vary from full prosecution, to the issuing of a warning not to cause a re-occurrence of the incident, or the victim may derive satisfaction from the act of making a report to the police against the offending person.
With that said, however, in instances where an offence was committed and the injuries and or loss to the complainant or victims are great, then the officer must consider a more meaningful course of action. In this case, meaningful course of action may mean or involve taking actions to: 
• Immediately resolve a resolvable problem, 
• Prevent the escalation of the problem. 
• Ensure that offender(s) is brought to justice. 
• Or any other course of actions that may be appropriate in restoring the harmony within the community. 
In some jurisdictions, the injured party’s wishes on all offences must be followed, but in other jurisdictions there are certain offences that, once reported, the injured party cannot withdraw the matter -- offences such as those of a domestic nature, or offences against children, rape etc.. Such offences are always investigated with a view to imminent prosecution.

If the police officer, from the information obtained, concludes that there is a great possibility that an offense may be committed, then the police officer has an obligation to put the necessary resources in place to prevent that offense from being committed; However, the actions the officer takes should be based on the extent of the possible impact and the classification of the offense. On the other hand, if from the information obtained the officer is of the impression that  an offence was actually committed, the officer must first determined, is this an offence that I have the authority to deal with base on the evidence of a witness. If it is, then the officer must take the necessary steps base on the law and the department policies. His next step is to classify the offense; he must thus determine if the offence was a criminal or non-criminal offence. The officer is then required to follow the law, the institution's (police) policy, or institution’s standing orders in dealing with the matter.