1.1 Evaluate the
effectiveness of
the role of
Overview of the question;
Worth 10 marks
personnel
You have 50 mins to answer involved in
You must; criminal
- Cover 4 crime personnel types -> choose the four you know best investigations
- Identify their overall role in criminal investigations briefly
- Identify their main strengths and weaknesses -> aim for 2 of each -> try to do more limitations than
strengths
- Cost, expertise, and availability – this doesn’t have to be on every single one but has to crop up a few
times. Cost refers to how expensive they are eg how much they will get paid. Expertise refers to what
qualifications they have – eg to become a police officer you need a degree and once you finish it you
become a fully qualified police officer = problem? They will only have knowledge on the theory side not
the practical element (however they will do a few practical’s)
- Give supporting examples -> use real life cases and examples from the brief
- How would you judge their overall effectiveness and why> -> this is your concluding statement
8-10 marks Clear and detailed evaluation of the effectiveness
of roles. The personnel involved are clearly
discussed in terms of potential limitation
4-7 marks Some evaluation of the effectiveness of relevant
roles. Description of the roles is also evident
1-3 marks Limited evaluation of the effectiveness of the relevant
roles. Response is largely descriptive and may only
be a list of personnel involved
, KEY PERSONNEL: POLICE OFFICERS
What do they do?
They are usually the first to attend a crime scene – they will cordon off the area (they usually use trees,
lampposts etc)
They need to safeguard the public and attend to anyone one seriously injured – there main aim is to
preserve life
They must ensure that the crime scene is secured in order to preserve the evidence – contamination
must be avoided, and they must leave everything as it was when they arrived
There are many issues can arise when cordoning and securing a crime scene:
DNA technology is being used in crime laboratories that can take very small samples or degraded and
xerox the DNA present to provide a large enough sample to be analysed – as the analyst has the ability
to xerox very small amounts of DNA from biological evidence, reducing the potential from contamination
– single hairs, perspiration or saliva deposited by the investigator can costs valuable time and can
confuse the interpretation of physical evidence.
A burglary scene would have lots of people present – eg first responder, paramedics, investigators,
crime scene examiners, coroner, or medical examiners. Due to the large number of individuals in
contact with the scene the potential of contamination would be significantly higher at the death scene
Golden hour – The golden hour is the term used for the period immediately after an offence has been committed,
when material is readily available in high volumes to the police. Positive action in the period immediately after the
report of a crime minimises the amount of material that could be lost to the investigation and maximises the
chance of securing the material that will be admissible in court
Golden hour considerations:
Victims = Identify, support, and sensitively preserve evidence
Scenes = Identify, preserve, assess, and commence log
Suspects = Identify, arrest, and preserve
Witnesses = identify, support, and sensitively preserve evidence
Log = Decisions and rationale, circumstances, resources, and conditions
Family/community = Identify, inform, and primary support (needs, concerns, expectations, sensitivity)
Physical evidence = Preservation (CCTV, public transport, escape routes, ambulances, and hospitals)
Police detectives;
These are officers who manage a role of criminal investigations, particularly those which involve
complex or serious crimes
They also work within specialist units such as; CID (Criminal Investigations Department), fraud, drugs
and firearms squad, child protection, sexual exploitation (trafficking), and special branch (riots)
Other specialist units are traffic and mounted police, air support and underwater search teams, and dog
handler units (drugs)
What are some of the challenges the police face?
Funding: Cost;
Funding for the police between 2010-2019 fell by 16% in real terms
However, the current government have promised an increase of 6% in 2019/2020 with a focus on
priorities, which include counter-terrorism policing, organised crime, serious crime, and police
technology
,Funding V Demand;
How might funding difficulties limit the role of the police? The police will not have enough officers to be
on every case therefore, they will have to prioritise cases which then means that not all crimes will be
getting the attention they need, crime rates will increase, people will be getting away with crimes (eg
vandalism etc). If crimes are not being dealt with, society may lose faith in them and not feel they need
to report crimes anymore as they don’t expect any action to be taken
Evaluation of the police:
Strengths Weaknesses
The police have specialist divisions – there are The police have been criticised for failing to secure a
experts in specific crimes such as drugs and child crime scene leading to contamination and evidence
exploitation becoming inadmissible in court or not valid
They save lives – as they are usually the first to arrive They sometimes fail to investigate some crimes:
at a crime scene, they will be able to help those who domestic abuse or hate crimes such as racist attacks
need medical attention before the paramedics arrive – some police officers could be racist
(institutionalised racism)
They have access to lots of resources – they have Such failures can be due to incompetence in handling
access to databases that hold fingerprints and DNA, evidence for discriminatory attitudes of individual
they also have the ability to access CCTV. All of this officers
could be crucial in a criminal investigation
They provide public reassurance – they are more
likely to get information out of the
community/witnesses so that they will be able to use
that as evidence. They also are able to reassure the
public that they are safe.
They have received lots of training to aid them – e.g.,
how to sensitively talk to victims and how to get
information from suspects
They keep everyone in the loop of what has
happened/happening on the case
As they patrol the streets, they could be seen as a
deterrent, so people won’t commit crimes due to them
being seen
Case Study: Stephen Lawrence
It took 18 years for the Stephen Lawrence case to get a just verdict (fair verdict). There were many problems
with the initial investigation that was conducted by the police. He was murdered on 22 April 1993 and two
defendants were convicted of his murder on 3 January 2012. Stephen Lawrence was stabbed to death in an
unprovoked racist attack by a gang on white youths as he waits at a bus stop in Eltham. The Macpherson
report find the police guilty of mistakes and "institutional racism" and makes 70 recommendations on changes
to policing and wider public policy. lt advises strengthening the Race Relations Act to tackle discrimination.
The report also suggests a rethink of the principle of "double jeopardy" to allow the retrial of acquitted
defendants in exceptional circumstances if new evidence emerges of their guilt.
, KEY PERSONNEL: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATORS (CSI)
Also, known as Scenes of Crime Officers (SOCOs) -> usually civilians rather than police officers
What do they do?
Collect and process evidence from crime scenes, as well as from post-mortems and accidents
One key responsibility is to preserve evidence and ensure it remains uncontaminated -> contamination means
that will not be able to be used -> could lead to innocent people going down for a crime they didn’t commit or a
guilty person going free
Some of their main activities include:
Taking charge of a crime scene, liaising with police to find out what evidence is required from the crime
scene and deciding how to obtain it
Photographing crime scenes, items, and people -> other things include shoe prints, weapons, injuries,
victims, and suspects
Packaging, storing, or documenting the materials found in a crime scene
Attending the post-mortems of suspicious deaths
Giving evidence in court
Advising police investigators on the physical evidence, photography, and samples for laboratory
analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
CSIs may gather evidence that can conclusively link Requires specialist skills, patience, meticulous care,
a suspect to a crime scene and a victim -> e.g., DNA and attention to detail. If evidence isn’t collected and
evidence recorded correctly, or allowing it to become
contaminated it may lead to a guilty person going free
or an innocent person being convicted
Evidence gathered may conclusively prove that s The samples that they may handle could put their
suspect is in fact innocent e.g., when fingerprints do health and safety at risk e.g., blood, bodily fluids,
not match those found by CSI at the crime scene hazardous chemicals, explosives, firearms, and
syringes
The role is very popular meaning that when a It can be emotionally demanding -> can lead to a
vacancy arises lots of people will apply -> lots of burn out and people leaving the profession
availability
Some criminals may have gotten people to clean the
crime scene before the CSI arrives e.g., gangs
Case Study: Amanda Knox
Amanda Knox was tried and convicted for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, who died from knife
wounds in the apartment she shared with Knox in 2O07, Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito,
were both found guilty of killing Kercher, receiving 26- and 25-year prison sentences, respectively. ln October
2OLt, Knox and Sollecito were acquitted and set free, ln March 2015, the Supreme Court of Italy overturned
the 2014 convictions of Knox and Sollecito. This ruling was the final decision in the case against the two and
more details on the court's verdict was released in June. After learning about the verdict, Knox issued a
statement, saying "l am tremendously relieved and grateful" for the court's decision. After returning home,
Knox finished her degree and began working as a freelance journalist The crime scene was contaminated and
not closed properly leading to evidence being invalid
effectiveness of
the role of
Overview of the question;
Worth 10 marks
personnel
You have 50 mins to answer involved in
You must; criminal
- Cover 4 crime personnel types -> choose the four you know best investigations
- Identify their overall role in criminal investigations briefly
- Identify their main strengths and weaknesses -> aim for 2 of each -> try to do more limitations than
strengths
- Cost, expertise, and availability – this doesn’t have to be on every single one but has to crop up a few
times. Cost refers to how expensive they are eg how much they will get paid. Expertise refers to what
qualifications they have – eg to become a police officer you need a degree and once you finish it you
become a fully qualified police officer = problem? They will only have knowledge on the theory side not
the practical element (however they will do a few practical’s)
- Give supporting examples -> use real life cases and examples from the brief
- How would you judge their overall effectiveness and why> -> this is your concluding statement
8-10 marks Clear and detailed evaluation of the effectiveness
of roles. The personnel involved are clearly
discussed in terms of potential limitation
4-7 marks Some evaluation of the effectiveness of relevant
roles. Description of the roles is also evident
1-3 marks Limited evaluation of the effectiveness of the relevant
roles. Response is largely descriptive and may only
be a list of personnel involved
, KEY PERSONNEL: POLICE OFFICERS
What do they do?
They are usually the first to attend a crime scene – they will cordon off the area (they usually use trees,
lampposts etc)
They need to safeguard the public and attend to anyone one seriously injured – there main aim is to
preserve life
They must ensure that the crime scene is secured in order to preserve the evidence – contamination
must be avoided, and they must leave everything as it was when they arrived
There are many issues can arise when cordoning and securing a crime scene:
DNA technology is being used in crime laboratories that can take very small samples or degraded and
xerox the DNA present to provide a large enough sample to be analysed – as the analyst has the ability
to xerox very small amounts of DNA from biological evidence, reducing the potential from contamination
– single hairs, perspiration or saliva deposited by the investigator can costs valuable time and can
confuse the interpretation of physical evidence.
A burglary scene would have lots of people present – eg first responder, paramedics, investigators,
crime scene examiners, coroner, or medical examiners. Due to the large number of individuals in
contact with the scene the potential of contamination would be significantly higher at the death scene
Golden hour – The golden hour is the term used for the period immediately after an offence has been committed,
when material is readily available in high volumes to the police. Positive action in the period immediately after the
report of a crime minimises the amount of material that could be lost to the investigation and maximises the
chance of securing the material that will be admissible in court
Golden hour considerations:
Victims = Identify, support, and sensitively preserve evidence
Scenes = Identify, preserve, assess, and commence log
Suspects = Identify, arrest, and preserve
Witnesses = identify, support, and sensitively preserve evidence
Log = Decisions and rationale, circumstances, resources, and conditions
Family/community = Identify, inform, and primary support (needs, concerns, expectations, sensitivity)
Physical evidence = Preservation (CCTV, public transport, escape routes, ambulances, and hospitals)
Police detectives;
These are officers who manage a role of criminal investigations, particularly those which involve
complex or serious crimes
They also work within specialist units such as; CID (Criminal Investigations Department), fraud, drugs
and firearms squad, child protection, sexual exploitation (trafficking), and special branch (riots)
Other specialist units are traffic and mounted police, air support and underwater search teams, and dog
handler units (drugs)
What are some of the challenges the police face?
Funding: Cost;
Funding for the police between 2010-2019 fell by 16% in real terms
However, the current government have promised an increase of 6% in 2019/2020 with a focus on
priorities, which include counter-terrorism policing, organised crime, serious crime, and police
technology
,Funding V Demand;
How might funding difficulties limit the role of the police? The police will not have enough officers to be
on every case therefore, they will have to prioritise cases which then means that not all crimes will be
getting the attention they need, crime rates will increase, people will be getting away with crimes (eg
vandalism etc). If crimes are not being dealt with, society may lose faith in them and not feel they need
to report crimes anymore as they don’t expect any action to be taken
Evaluation of the police:
Strengths Weaknesses
The police have specialist divisions – there are The police have been criticised for failing to secure a
experts in specific crimes such as drugs and child crime scene leading to contamination and evidence
exploitation becoming inadmissible in court or not valid
They save lives – as they are usually the first to arrive They sometimes fail to investigate some crimes:
at a crime scene, they will be able to help those who domestic abuse or hate crimes such as racist attacks
need medical attention before the paramedics arrive – some police officers could be racist
(institutionalised racism)
They have access to lots of resources – they have Such failures can be due to incompetence in handling
access to databases that hold fingerprints and DNA, evidence for discriminatory attitudes of individual
they also have the ability to access CCTV. All of this officers
could be crucial in a criminal investigation
They provide public reassurance – they are more
likely to get information out of the
community/witnesses so that they will be able to use
that as evidence. They also are able to reassure the
public that they are safe.
They have received lots of training to aid them – e.g.,
how to sensitively talk to victims and how to get
information from suspects
They keep everyone in the loop of what has
happened/happening on the case
As they patrol the streets, they could be seen as a
deterrent, so people won’t commit crimes due to them
being seen
Case Study: Stephen Lawrence
It took 18 years for the Stephen Lawrence case to get a just verdict (fair verdict). There were many problems
with the initial investigation that was conducted by the police. He was murdered on 22 April 1993 and two
defendants were convicted of his murder on 3 January 2012. Stephen Lawrence was stabbed to death in an
unprovoked racist attack by a gang on white youths as he waits at a bus stop in Eltham. The Macpherson
report find the police guilty of mistakes and "institutional racism" and makes 70 recommendations on changes
to policing and wider public policy. lt advises strengthening the Race Relations Act to tackle discrimination.
The report also suggests a rethink of the principle of "double jeopardy" to allow the retrial of acquitted
defendants in exceptional circumstances if new evidence emerges of their guilt.
, KEY PERSONNEL: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATORS (CSI)
Also, known as Scenes of Crime Officers (SOCOs) -> usually civilians rather than police officers
What do they do?
Collect and process evidence from crime scenes, as well as from post-mortems and accidents
One key responsibility is to preserve evidence and ensure it remains uncontaminated -> contamination means
that will not be able to be used -> could lead to innocent people going down for a crime they didn’t commit or a
guilty person going free
Some of their main activities include:
Taking charge of a crime scene, liaising with police to find out what evidence is required from the crime
scene and deciding how to obtain it
Photographing crime scenes, items, and people -> other things include shoe prints, weapons, injuries,
victims, and suspects
Packaging, storing, or documenting the materials found in a crime scene
Attending the post-mortems of suspicious deaths
Giving evidence in court
Advising police investigators on the physical evidence, photography, and samples for laboratory
analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
CSIs may gather evidence that can conclusively link Requires specialist skills, patience, meticulous care,
a suspect to a crime scene and a victim -> e.g., DNA and attention to detail. If evidence isn’t collected and
evidence recorded correctly, or allowing it to become
contaminated it may lead to a guilty person going free
or an innocent person being convicted
Evidence gathered may conclusively prove that s The samples that they may handle could put their
suspect is in fact innocent e.g., when fingerprints do health and safety at risk e.g., blood, bodily fluids,
not match those found by CSI at the crime scene hazardous chemicals, explosives, firearms, and
syringes
The role is very popular meaning that when a It can be emotionally demanding -> can lead to a
vacancy arises lots of people will apply -> lots of burn out and people leaving the profession
availability
Some criminals may have gotten people to clean the
crime scene before the CSI arrives e.g., gangs
Case Study: Amanda Knox
Amanda Knox was tried and convicted for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, who died from knife
wounds in the apartment she shared with Knox in 2O07, Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito,
were both found guilty of killing Kercher, receiving 26- and 25-year prison sentences, respectively. ln October
2OLt, Knox and Sollecito were acquitted and set free, ln March 2015, the Supreme Court of Italy overturned
the 2014 convictions of Knox and Sollecito. This ruling was the final decision in the case against the two and
more details on the court's verdict was released in June. After learning about the verdict, Knox issued a
statement, saying "l am tremendously relieved and grateful" for the court's decision. After returning home,
Knox finished her degree and began working as a freelance journalist The crime scene was contaminated and
not closed properly leading to evidence being invalid
