Crime scene report unit 4A:
I have recently begun my training as a CSI at West Mercia Police where I have been
informed by my mentor that there is a crime scene at Canary Bridge (southeast of
Hereford’s city centre) that I can go and process. For this investigation I will need to
ensure that I have prepared all the equipment needed in order to limit any
contamination as well as sterile tools to collect the forensic evidence with. My job
when I arrive at the crime scene will be to search, preserve and recover all the
evidence to be analysed. In this report I will be discussing all the theory behind the
procedures in forensic science and why we do them, and then applying these skills
into doing a crime scene of my own.
THEORY OF PROCEDURES DONE WHEN COLLECTING EVIDENCE:
Restriction of access:
Before anything else is done at the crime scene in question, the investigators must
make sure to cordon off the crime scene. The police attending the scene need to
decide the boundaries of the scene, which could be a room in a building, a house or
even the whole town. This is known as the primary scene. The area that is being
cordoned off needs to have the spot where the crime had taken place, any entries or
exits in the area, and anywhere where there is important evidence present, like for a
murder, the victim’s body etc. Police can cordon this area off using lots of items, most
commonly crime scene tape, but they can also use vehicles, barricades or police
guards can stand guard. When this has all been established, the personnel need to
make a specific route at which they can enter and exit the cordons to ensure that
everything is logged, as well as contamination being limited. This is called the
common approach path (CAP).
When the scene has been successfully cordoned off, the first attending officer needs
to create a cordon log, which is essentially a sign in sheet. All personnel entering and
exiting the scene need to sign this, saying which entrance they went through, what
time, their full name, and what evidence could have been potentially damaged by
them.
This needs to be done before all else at the crime scene to ensure that the integrity of
the evidence is maintained, by preventing anyone from entering and potentially
tampering with any evidence. As well as this, is can help make sure that none of the
public gets injured or ill from any harmful pieces of evidence.
This is very beneficial to the crime scene as it avoids any evidence being pointlessly
contaminated without anyone knowing, making the case move along faster and more
reliably. If this is done, the evidence can be used in court as well, making the
investigation progress smoothly without any false convictions. People of the public
can’t get harmed if they cannot actually enter the scene, as well as the personnel at
the crime scene. If this is not done it can cause some problems for the investigation,
like it leading to any contamination of key pieces of evidence, as well as damaging or
tampering with it. Neglecting to do this important step in crime scene investigation
can lead to distorting the findings at the scene, possibly resulting in dead ends or
false leads, completely ruining, or prolonging the investigation.
Cordon controls - ICS (PUBLISHED) | NFCC CPO (ukfrs.com)
,Compromised investigations: Poor scene preservation - OPS | NFCC CPO (ukfrs.com)
Forensics for dummies book by D.P. Lyle, MD.
Health and safety measures:
Before any of the personnel can enter the crime scene, they need to ensure health
and safety measures are established beforehand. For forensic investigators or any
police attending the scene, it is essential to wear all PPE equipment required (Personal
Protective Equipment). This typically involves masks, shoe covers, a forensic suit and
most importantly, gloves. This is not only to prevent as much contamination as
possible to the evidence, but to also protect the personnel from harming themselves
or getting ill from any biological evidence or sharp objects.
As well as this, before anyone can begin the investigation inside the cordon,
investigators need to make a risk assessment, looking for any obvious health and
safety or just potential hazards. They need to write down what could happen in you
have been in contact with any of the hazards found, and any precautions that need to
be taken to make the crime scene safer.
Other safety measures put in at the crime scene include the outer cordon, which is
made to prevent the public from entering and potentially harming themselves from
any hazards in the area. Police may also bring in some specialised equipment to the
crime scene to help prevent the personnel from walking into any hazards. An example
of this is an air monitoring device that is sometimes used by police at the scene, and
this can detect any potentially dangerous hazards in the air that are not visible to the
naked eye.
This is a very important step when attending the crime scene as it ensures the
integrity of the evidence, keeping it safe and reliable for later analysis. It is not only
beneficial for the progression of the case but also for the health of the attending
officers as well as the public. PPE prevents anyone from being exposed to harmful
substances and potential health hazards, like sharp objects (e.g., a knife) or any
biological evidence (bodily fluids) or chemicals (drugs). If this step is not done
properly it can lead to lots of problems at the crime scene. To begin, the personnel
would then be exposed to any harmful substances present in the area, which would
then potentially lead to illness as well as injuries. If health and safety measures are
not carried out at the scene it would also ruin the integrity of the evidence, not only
leading to analysis being more difficult later on, but the evidence may not even be
able to be used in court, ruining the investigation all together. For example, if
fingerprints are distorted in any way, this could lead to the database matching it with
completely different people, and this could potentially cause a miscarriage of justice.
Crime scene strategy (futurelearn.com)
Observing and recording evidence:
Now all the beginning steps have been taken investigators can begin the search,
starting off with the lead investigator entering the scene and doing a walk through.
, This is done so as they can get a look at the type of scene they’re working with, and
so as they can plan out a method to collect the evidence. As this is only the beginning
once through of the scene, the investigator usually doesn’t focus in on any specific
pieces of evidence, instead just looking at the overall scene to get an idea and to be
more organised in their approach. After this has been thoroughly completed,
personnel attending the scene can enter and look at the general area as well, finding
any obvious places where evidence would be found, as well as any entries or exits the
perpetrator may have used.
Whilst the investigation of the crime scene is taking place, everything that is
happening in the area is documented using lots of methods. Most commonly used are
crime scene notes, sketches, photographs and more recently videos can be taken of
the scene as well as tape recordings of your notes. You can use any of these methods
to document your evidence, but for any of these it is imperative that you have the
notes written in detail, discussing, or showing the whole scene, where and what every
piece of evidence is, and who had collected and packaged it, and who had transported
it to the crime lab.
Photographs of the scene and the area around the scene are very important to take
before anything is altered around the crime scene, as well as photos of every piece of
evidence. If there is a body at the scene a photograph needs to be taken at different
angles before it is moved, as well as photos of any injured parties at the scene. There
needs to be a means of measurement at the scene as well, so as we can see the sizes
of the evidence, and a marker with the reference number of the evidence.
In order to take good notes at the crime scene you need to ensure that no opinions
are written, only the facts that you can see and observe, as well as this you need to
accurately write a detailed description of what each item of evidence is. There are a
number of steps you need to take to make a good quality video. Firstly, for the
introduction you need to include the date, time, where it is, and what type of crime
scene it is, done by an investigator. As well as this, you should include a description of
the rooms and the evidence there that is shown on the video. After this, you will want
to record an overview of the crime scene, doing close ups at the evidence and
showing the layout of the area, all using slow movements. When drawing a sketch of
the crime scene, you will want to note the location, the date at the crime scene as
well as making the sketch, and who drew it. You should make a key, so everything is
accurately sized, also adding a north line, so they know what direction it is facing. To
begin with your sketch can be rough, so long as it is accurate on the locations of the
evidence, as you will have time afterwards to redraw it to look better. In more recent
times, programs have been made so as you can generate clear drawings which may
be preferred.
This is done so as the evidence is all documented, making sure none can be forgotten
or tampered with without anyone noticing. As well as this, if the evidence is damaged,
they will still have a photograph of said evidence, so it isn’t ruined completely if it is a
very important item.
This is a very important step in crime scene investigation as observing and recording
can help us ensure that all evidence is collected and preserved, which can help in
improving the case. As well as this, it can help us to be as accurate as possible when
making theories of what had happened once, we leave the scene. Photographs and
other methods of documenting can be used in court to build your case as well. There
are some problems with not doing this. If you do not document the scene in detail it
I have recently begun my training as a CSI at West Mercia Police where I have been
informed by my mentor that there is a crime scene at Canary Bridge (southeast of
Hereford’s city centre) that I can go and process. For this investigation I will need to
ensure that I have prepared all the equipment needed in order to limit any
contamination as well as sterile tools to collect the forensic evidence with. My job
when I arrive at the crime scene will be to search, preserve and recover all the
evidence to be analysed. In this report I will be discussing all the theory behind the
procedures in forensic science and why we do them, and then applying these skills
into doing a crime scene of my own.
THEORY OF PROCEDURES DONE WHEN COLLECTING EVIDENCE:
Restriction of access:
Before anything else is done at the crime scene in question, the investigators must
make sure to cordon off the crime scene. The police attending the scene need to
decide the boundaries of the scene, which could be a room in a building, a house or
even the whole town. This is known as the primary scene. The area that is being
cordoned off needs to have the spot where the crime had taken place, any entries or
exits in the area, and anywhere where there is important evidence present, like for a
murder, the victim’s body etc. Police can cordon this area off using lots of items, most
commonly crime scene tape, but they can also use vehicles, barricades or police
guards can stand guard. When this has all been established, the personnel need to
make a specific route at which they can enter and exit the cordons to ensure that
everything is logged, as well as contamination being limited. This is called the
common approach path (CAP).
When the scene has been successfully cordoned off, the first attending officer needs
to create a cordon log, which is essentially a sign in sheet. All personnel entering and
exiting the scene need to sign this, saying which entrance they went through, what
time, their full name, and what evidence could have been potentially damaged by
them.
This needs to be done before all else at the crime scene to ensure that the integrity of
the evidence is maintained, by preventing anyone from entering and potentially
tampering with any evidence. As well as this, is can help make sure that none of the
public gets injured or ill from any harmful pieces of evidence.
This is very beneficial to the crime scene as it avoids any evidence being pointlessly
contaminated without anyone knowing, making the case move along faster and more
reliably. If this is done, the evidence can be used in court as well, making the
investigation progress smoothly without any false convictions. People of the public
can’t get harmed if they cannot actually enter the scene, as well as the personnel at
the crime scene. If this is not done it can cause some problems for the investigation,
like it leading to any contamination of key pieces of evidence, as well as damaging or
tampering with it. Neglecting to do this important step in crime scene investigation
can lead to distorting the findings at the scene, possibly resulting in dead ends or
false leads, completely ruining, or prolonging the investigation.
Cordon controls - ICS (PUBLISHED) | NFCC CPO (ukfrs.com)
,Compromised investigations: Poor scene preservation - OPS | NFCC CPO (ukfrs.com)
Forensics for dummies book by D.P. Lyle, MD.
Health and safety measures:
Before any of the personnel can enter the crime scene, they need to ensure health
and safety measures are established beforehand. For forensic investigators or any
police attending the scene, it is essential to wear all PPE equipment required (Personal
Protective Equipment). This typically involves masks, shoe covers, a forensic suit and
most importantly, gloves. This is not only to prevent as much contamination as
possible to the evidence, but to also protect the personnel from harming themselves
or getting ill from any biological evidence or sharp objects.
As well as this, before anyone can begin the investigation inside the cordon,
investigators need to make a risk assessment, looking for any obvious health and
safety or just potential hazards. They need to write down what could happen in you
have been in contact with any of the hazards found, and any precautions that need to
be taken to make the crime scene safer.
Other safety measures put in at the crime scene include the outer cordon, which is
made to prevent the public from entering and potentially harming themselves from
any hazards in the area. Police may also bring in some specialised equipment to the
crime scene to help prevent the personnel from walking into any hazards. An example
of this is an air monitoring device that is sometimes used by police at the scene, and
this can detect any potentially dangerous hazards in the air that are not visible to the
naked eye.
This is a very important step when attending the crime scene as it ensures the
integrity of the evidence, keeping it safe and reliable for later analysis. It is not only
beneficial for the progression of the case but also for the health of the attending
officers as well as the public. PPE prevents anyone from being exposed to harmful
substances and potential health hazards, like sharp objects (e.g., a knife) or any
biological evidence (bodily fluids) or chemicals (drugs). If this step is not done
properly it can lead to lots of problems at the crime scene. To begin, the personnel
would then be exposed to any harmful substances present in the area, which would
then potentially lead to illness as well as injuries. If health and safety measures are
not carried out at the scene it would also ruin the integrity of the evidence, not only
leading to analysis being more difficult later on, but the evidence may not even be
able to be used in court, ruining the investigation all together. For example, if
fingerprints are distorted in any way, this could lead to the database matching it with
completely different people, and this could potentially cause a miscarriage of justice.
Crime scene strategy (futurelearn.com)
Observing and recording evidence:
Now all the beginning steps have been taken investigators can begin the search,
starting off with the lead investigator entering the scene and doing a walk through.
, This is done so as they can get a look at the type of scene they’re working with, and
so as they can plan out a method to collect the evidence. As this is only the beginning
once through of the scene, the investigator usually doesn’t focus in on any specific
pieces of evidence, instead just looking at the overall scene to get an idea and to be
more organised in their approach. After this has been thoroughly completed,
personnel attending the scene can enter and look at the general area as well, finding
any obvious places where evidence would be found, as well as any entries or exits the
perpetrator may have used.
Whilst the investigation of the crime scene is taking place, everything that is
happening in the area is documented using lots of methods. Most commonly used are
crime scene notes, sketches, photographs and more recently videos can be taken of
the scene as well as tape recordings of your notes. You can use any of these methods
to document your evidence, but for any of these it is imperative that you have the
notes written in detail, discussing, or showing the whole scene, where and what every
piece of evidence is, and who had collected and packaged it, and who had transported
it to the crime lab.
Photographs of the scene and the area around the scene are very important to take
before anything is altered around the crime scene, as well as photos of every piece of
evidence. If there is a body at the scene a photograph needs to be taken at different
angles before it is moved, as well as photos of any injured parties at the scene. There
needs to be a means of measurement at the scene as well, so as we can see the sizes
of the evidence, and a marker with the reference number of the evidence.
In order to take good notes at the crime scene you need to ensure that no opinions
are written, only the facts that you can see and observe, as well as this you need to
accurately write a detailed description of what each item of evidence is. There are a
number of steps you need to take to make a good quality video. Firstly, for the
introduction you need to include the date, time, where it is, and what type of crime
scene it is, done by an investigator. As well as this, you should include a description of
the rooms and the evidence there that is shown on the video. After this, you will want
to record an overview of the crime scene, doing close ups at the evidence and
showing the layout of the area, all using slow movements. When drawing a sketch of
the crime scene, you will want to note the location, the date at the crime scene as
well as making the sketch, and who drew it. You should make a key, so everything is
accurately sized, also adding a north line, so they know what direction it is facing. To
begin with your sketch can be rough, so long as it is accurate on the locations of the
evidence, as you will have time afterwards to redraw it to look better. In more recent
times, programs have been made so as you can generate clear drawings which may
be preferred.
This is done so as the evidence is all documented, making sure none can be forgotten
or tampered with without anyone noticing. As well as this, if the evidence is damaged,
they will still have a photograph of said evidence, so it isn’t ruined completely if it is a
very important item.
This is a very important step in crime scene investigation as observing and recording
can help us ensure that all evidence is collected and preserved, which can help in
improving the case. As well as this, it can help us to be as accurate as possible when
making theories of what had happened once, we leave the scene. Photographs and
other methods of documenting can be used in court to build your case as well. There
are some problems with not doing this. If you do not document the scene in detail it
