As a Police officer, whether you are of the Blade Runner department or no, demands you to conduct yourself according to certain protocol, an a method of managing case files.
Generally there is a certain workflow.
Get A Case Assignment – your Commanding Officer assigns a case to you and allocates Requisition Credits as funds to work your case. These can be used to rent office space, demand laboratory, aquire server and Uplink time, special equipment rent, like renting a police cruiser or flyer, and so on.
This step maybe skipped and granted sometime later if an officer is scrambled to a crime scene immediately, whereby they will start with step number 2.
Walk over the Crime Scene – Go to the Crime Scene, and look for clues and evidence. Collect and identify the evidence and make sure it is taken for processing. If the officer arrives to the crime scene early they must implement a proper crime scene handling protocol, including clearing the scene of civilians and setting up a perimeter, documenting everything before disturbing the scene, using gloves
Interview Witnesses – Go around the area and interview witnesses, gather clues that help you in formulating a hypothesis, and identifying persons of interest.
Profile Persons of Interest – identify people that maybe connected to the crime, and collect information about them. Not only where they were at the time of the crime, but every detail that may shed light to their mental and physical condition during that time. Look for their work, hobbies, family situation, stress, relationship with the victim. Seek possible motives, for the crime, and identify what evidence would prove or disprove their involvement.
Form a Hypothesis – Build a likely chain of events before, during and after the crime, so that you may identify leads and evidence you need to close the case and ensure a conviction. The most likely hypothesis however must not confound you from following leads that may contradict it. However the Working Hypothesis is the one you build your case around, just be ready to refocus to a new Working Hypothesis, if new evidence comes to life.
File an Initial Report – this report should include information such as, hypothesis as to what happened, identify persons of interest, identify leads and possible evidence needed for conviction.
Build a Case – according to the Working Hypothesis, who is the main suspect, if they have the Means (ability to commit the crime,) the Opportunity (time at which they are at the crime scene, or cannot be accounted for,) the Motive (a reason to commit the crime,) and Intent (the state of mind of the suspect before and while performing the act.)
According to all of these you catalogue the evidence that supports conviction, contradicts, or things that are missing or cannot be proven.
Present the Case to the Commanding Officer and the Prosecution – the officer that is in command of the department will decide if the weight of evidence is enough to present the case to the prosecution, and the prosecution will decide whether to take the case to court, or press for Retirement Order, if the thing concerns a Replicant.
The better is your evidence handling, the better the case you build, the harder the evidence, the faster the prosecution can either get a conviction, a plea bargain, a guilty plea and so on. At which point, the case gets closed, and you get awarded the Career Credits.