The specifics of forensic investigation of the crimes while the scent is still fresh

The subject of the study is the organizational-tactical and cognitive features of forensic investigation of the crime scene in the detection and investigation of crimes while the scent is still fresh. In this context, the subject encompasses a system of techniques and tools that ensure the urgent identification, fixation, and utilization of trace information, allowing for the quick establishment of a suspect; the peculiarities of applying specialized knowledge by various specialists during the urgent examination; the mechanisms of interaction between the investigator and the investigative-operational group in solving the tasks of immediate search for the suspect; as well as the functional relationship between the urgent examination of the crime scene and forensic situational expertise of the material surroundings as interconnected levels of a single cognitive system, facilitating the transition from guiding information to procedurally admissible evidence, aimed at achieving the goal of detecting and investigating crimes "while the scent is still fresh." The methodological basis of the study includes general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, and a systematic approach, as well as specific scientific methods in forensics: situational approach, forensic modeling, study of investigative and expert practices, surveys, and statistical analysis. The scientific novelty lies in the formulation of the author's definition of the urgent examination of the crime scene, the disclosure of its distinctive features, and the justification of the compensatory nature of forensic situational expertise within the structure of detecting and investigating crimes "while the scent is still fresh." It is emphasized that the urgent examination is viewed as an independent, specially adapted form of cognitive activity for the "hot pursuit" regime, focused on the priority acquisition of search information under the objective limitations of time resources and the unfavorable dynamics of the trace picture. The novelty is also manifested in the clarification of the functional role of forensic situational expertise, which is interpreted as a systematic compensator for cognitive losses at the initial stage, ensuring the restoration of the structure of the material surroundings and the translation of guiding data into the evidential plane. The main conclusion is that improving the effectiveness of detecting and investigating crimes "while the scent is still fresh" is possible by considering the forensic investigation of the crime scene as a holistic two-level system of cognition, in which the urgent examination and forensic situational expertise mutually complement each other. This understanding allows for a new structuring of the activities of the investigator and the specialist, delineating the tasks of immediate search for the suspect and the subsequent reconstruction of the crime mechanism.