The crime scene is one of the primary foundations of the police investigation. Finding, recording, and gathering physical and biological evidence at the crime scene is the aim of crime scene investigation. Because the case being investigated must be presented in court, this process must be carried out carefully and thoughtfully. Piecing together the evidence to create a picture of what transpired at the crime scene will be essential to solving the crime.
We will discuss the guidelines for investigating officers for processing a crime scene such as safety procedure, securing crime scenes, preliminary survey and more, but before that let's understand some crucial details below.
Who Examines Crime Scenes?
The number and kind of specialists assigned to investigate a scene and collect evidence depend on the type of crime and the resources available to the law enforcement agency. Larger agencies usually have specialist, highly trained crime scene experts, while smaller agencies may need detectives or first responders to handle the scene in addition to their other duties.
In order to investigate a case, a detective would usually interview victims and others of interest, follow up on leads, and compile the information obtained from the materials collected at the scene. The detective searches the site and collects evidence with a team of crime scene investigators. The crime scene investigation team may include evidence collection experts and crime scene photographers who focus on acquiring certain kinds of evidence, such trace evidence, latent prints, DNA, and the like.
For example, there are no official requirements to serve as a crime scene investigator in the United States; nonetheless, investigators can demonstrate their proficiency by obtaining one of four certification levels from the International Association for Identification (IAI):
- Certified Crime Scene Reconstructionist
- Certified Crime Scene Investigator
- Certified Crime Scene Analyst
- Certified Senior Crime Scene Analyst
What is the objective of crime scene investigation?
The primary objective of a crime scene investigation is to gather the evidence needed to convict the offender and put an end to the crime. When a crime takes place, an investigator's or law enforcement official's duty is triggered. The police officer or another law enforcement official must first determine if a crime has been occurred. If it is determined that there is no criminal activity involved or that the offense is one that belongs in the civil courts, law enforcement officers are not held accountable. Therefore, a crime scene investigator's goal is to find occurrences and physical evidence that were used before to, during, and after the crime was committed.
Goals of Crime Scene Investigation
- Knowing how crimes are perpetrated
- Locating tidbits of information and evidence through legal channels
- Determining whether or not a crime was committed
- Identifying and ruling out suspects using testimony evidence
- The primary suspect is apprehended and brought before the appropriate authorities.
Guidelines for Investigating Officers for Processing a Crime Scene
Safety procedure
Verify that other responders are not in imminent danger; look around for any sights, noises, or odors that might endanger staff (such as potentially dangerous substances like natural gas or gasoline). Before arriving on the site, the proper staff or agency should be notified if there are any biological weapons, a clandestine drug lab, or radioactive or chemical hazards.
- Approach the scene in a way that maximizes the safety of victims, witnesses, and other nearby individuals while lowering the possibility of injury to the officer or officers.
- Examine the area for potentially harmful individuals and maintain control. Inform supervisory staff and request support or backup.
Securing the crime scene
- Police line tape must be used to create a perimeter around the crime scene in order to safeguard it and keep persons with malevolent or inquisitive motives from entering without permission.
- The officer is required to keep people out of the crime scene to avoid contaminating it or any other evidence.
- To preserve the scene's integrity, manage the movement of people and animals coming and going. Preserve the crime scene's privacy and secrecy.
- Press and media persons should not be permitted.
Preliminary Survey
- Conduct a general examination of the crime scene.
- Assess and create a route for authorized persons to use to enter and depart the area.
- Assess the scene's first bounds.
- Perform a "walk-through" of the site and preliminary documentation.
- Recognize and safeguard perishable or delicate evidence.
- Create first documentation of the observed scenario.
- Make certain that any potentially tainted evidence is promptly recorded, captured on camera, and gathered.
- Determine the incident's cause and piece together the events that led up to it. Witness statements and the order of events shouldn't conflict.
Contamination control
- To preserve the integrity of the evidence and the safety of the staff, contamination control and cross-contamination prevention are crucial at crime scenes.
- Only those actively involved in scene processing should have access to the scene.
- Adhere strictly to the scene's designated access and leave paths.
- Biological evidence materials should be collected using a disposable instrument; utilize personal protection equipment to limit scene contaminating and prevent damage of personnel.
Documentation
- The paperwork must be kept as a permanent record by the investigating officer.
- Examine the initial assessment of the crime scene to ascertain the type of documentation required.
- The notes and reports should be completed chronologically, and they should only contain facts rather than opinions, analyses, or conclusions.
- When doing the preliminary survey, the investigating officer should provide a basic description of the crime scene as they view it.
Sketching of scene of crime
Generally speaking, the drawing of the crime scene should be sketchy, but in circumstances of a horrific crime, it must also be to scale, with precise measurements of distances and no vital details omitted.
One or two permanent fixtures' precise locations should be listed in order to assist determine how far away they are from important items, exhibitions, and markings like bloodstains and vehicle tracks, among other things.
It is necessary to indicate the compass point and use a compass to determine the north point.
Crime Scene Photography
- All actual crime scenes should have photographs included in their documentation.
- If a dead corpse is present, it should be included in the photos to highlight the locations, wounds, and state.
- To demonstrate the connection between the evidence and the victim, each piece of evidence should be documented to show where it was discovered.
- To avoid possible distance distortions, photos of the evidence should be shot directly overhead.
- The size and the blood pattern should be captured from several perspectives.
Conclusion
Effective crime scene management is the cornerstone of a successful criminal investigation. Each step—from ensuring the safety of responders to the final documentation and photography—plays a critical role in preserving the integrity of the scene and ensuring justice is served. Investigating officers must adhere to strict protocols and maintain a meticulous approach to safeguard physical, biological, and trace evidence. The accuracy, consistency, and completeness of their actions at the scene directly influence the strength of the case in court. By following a structured process and upholding the highest standards of professionalism and ethics, law enforcement agencies can ensure that the truth behind every crime is revealed and the rightful perpetrators are held accountable.