Crime Scene Investigation

Introduction

In the contemporary society, the security of a nation plays a greater role in as far as the economic development is concerned. When the internal security of a nation is intact, the locals manage to actively participate in the economic development activities. In addition, investors are also likely to implement their investment decisions in a country that values the security of its citizens. This is one of the core reasons why most governments, both the developing and the developed ones focus on enhancing the security of its citizens through increasing the number of law enforcers as well as taking punitive measures to individuals who are found guilty of criminal offences. However, there is need for law enforcers to conduct extensive investigation of crime in order to ensure that the actual propagators of the crime are the ones who are prosecuted and jailed.

Crime scene investigation

Crime scene investigation is important since it provides the basis of gathering data or evidence that would help to not identify the propagators of a crime but also to prosecute them in the courts of law. Effective crime scene investigation entails a number of aspects, which the officer in charge must adhere to in order to get the necessary evidence concerning the crime. Precisely, the crime investigation entails a number of phases, which are implemented in a consecutive manner. These phases are not limited to arriving at the scene (initial response/prioritization of efforts), preliminary documentation and evaluation of the scene, processing the scene, completing and recording the crime scene investigation, and crime scene equipment.

Arriving at the scene: Initial response/prioritization of efforts

The first phase entails the initial response of the investigating officer upon receiving information concerning the crime. Precisely, when the investigating officer happens to receive information concerning the occurrence of a crime, he or she is supposed to log or note dispatch information such as location, date, time, type of call, address and parties involved (U.S. Department of Justice 4-11). In addition, the crime scene investigator must remain alert and attentive in terms of listening, smelling, and looking, beware of the vehicles or individuals leaving the scene, treat the location as a crime scene until assessed and determined otherwise.

In addition, the investigating officers should establish his or her safety as well as that of any other individuals who might be around the crime scene. Precisely, the officer should ensure that there is no any immediate threat to the respondents. After containing and controlling any dangerous persons or situations, the next responsibility of the investigating officer is to ensure that medical attention is provided to any person who might have been injured in the crime scene. However, the officer should take care not to contaminate the scene during the process of providing emergency care to the injured victims (Ian 23-29). In addition, the crime scene investigator should also secure and control individuals at the scene. Controlling the individuals at the crime scene prevents the contamination of the crime scene. In the process of securing and controlling the individuals at the crime scene, the investigating officers should identify all individuals including suspects, witnesses, bystanders, victims, family and friends. More importantly, the investigating officers should secure the scene by setting up physical barriers such as cones, ropes, crime scene barrier tape, available personnel, as well as the use of existing boundaries such as walls, doors and gates.

Preliminary documentation and evaluation of the scene

Conducting preliminary documentation of the scene enables the investigating officer to determine the type of accident that ought to be investigated as well as the level of investigation to be conducted. The preliminary documentation may take numerous forms, including taking pictures of the injured persons, scene and vehicles, ensuring that the surrounding area is canvassed and the results are documented. Scene documentation is important since it allows for the development of plan for a coordinated collection, identification, and preservation of physical evidence as well as the identification of witnesses (Kevin 57). Moreover, the investigating officer should also embrace not-taking and logs, and this should be done in a clear manner and should be set up for individuals to use when arriving to and departing from the scene. Some of the information that should be documented include the name of the witnesses, name of victims, name of persons taken into custody, name of the first respondents, crime scene location, and the name of the supervising officer.

Processing the scene

It is necessary for the investigating officer to select a team of trained investigating officers, and this may include forensic specialists and other qualified specialists such as photographers. It should be noted that crime scene pictures should be taken in all sides (aerial, rear, lateral and frontal view) and this should be accompanied with videos, measurements, sketches, and notes.

Figure 1: Perspective Sketch of Vehicle Homicide Scene (U.S. Department of Justice 26).

Preservation, package, transport, and submitting of crime scene evidence

The evidence collected from a crime scene should be preserved in a proper way in order to prevent it from being contaminated during the transportation period. In order to achieve this, the crime scene investigating officer should ensure that the collected evidence is packaged in the most effective way possible though the use of clean sacks, bag, pictures or any other way that would lower chances of evidence preservation. Each evidence collected should be well-labelled in order to avoid confusion of evidence samples.

Analysis of evidence collected

Some of the samples of evidence collected needs to be analyzed further especially in government laboratories in order to be interpreted in a clear manner. For example, blood samples needs to be analyzed in order to help in the identification of whom among the suspects arrested is more likely to be the propagator of the crime. For example, if the blood sample or DNA happens to match with any of the arrested suspected, the investigating officer can have substantial evidence and arguments to prosecute the suspect in the courts of law (Aric 31). Moreover, the analysis of the samples in the forensic labs may take some days before the actual results are out. During the analysis of the collected evidence, the investigating officer can be conducting regular visits to the crime scene in order to try to gather more information concerning what or who the society suspects to be the main suspect.

Conclusion

It is, therefore, evidence that crime scene investigation plays a fundamental role in ensuring that the actual propagators of crimes in the community are brought to book. However, crime scene investigation entails a number of phases, which should be embraced and implemented one after the other. The investigating officer must conduct preliminary investigation, conduct regular documentation of evidence collected, pack and submit the evidence collected. Moreover, some of the collected evidence requires further analysis in the forensic laboratories in order to advance the level of advance that can help in the identification of the propagators of the criminal offences.

Works Cited

Aric Dutelle.  An Introduction to Crime Scene Investigation. 2016. Print.

Ian Pepper. Crime Scene Investigation: Methods and Procedures. , 2010. Print.

Kevin Lothridge. Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for Law Enforcement. Published on 12^th May, 2013. Retrieved from, https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/forensics/Crime-Scene-Investigation.pdf

U.S. Department of Justice. Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for Law Enforcement. Updated on August, 2000. Retrieved from, https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/about-us/lab/forensic-science-communications/fsc/april2000/twgcsi.pdf