AC 1.1 Evaluate the effectiveness of the roles of personnel involved in
criminal investigations: 10 marks.
Specification Requirements
Content Amplification
Personnel Learners should have an
● Crime scene investigators understanding of the roles of the
personnel involved and be able to
● Forensic specialists evaluate their effectiveness in
criminal investigations.
● Forensic scientists
● Police officers / detectives The effectiveness should be
considered in the context of potential
● Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) limitations:
● Cost
● Pathologist ● Expertise
● Other investigative agencies, e.g., ● Availability
National Crime Agency, HM Revenue &
Customs
, Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO)
Scene of crime officers go to crime scenes to collect, record and examine
evidence. The evidence they find is used to solve crimes. SOCOs also secure
and protect crime scenes in order to prevent evidence being contaminated.
SOCOs look for footprints, take pictures/videos, take DNA samples, search for
hair, fibre and blood. They then attend court with a statement and collect
evidence.
Evaluation of their effectiveness
Expertise: A weakness of SOCOs is despite their expertise their work and presence at crime
scenes can lead to errors. For example in the Amanda Knox case one of the Soco’s went to
the crime scene without protective clothing. SOCO’s also left a bra covered in blood at the
crime scene for many days. These mistakes led to the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox.
This shows SOCOs could miss important evidence that could lead to the correct suscept or
could easily make errors when collecting or preserving evidence leading to contaminated
evidence. This means this evidence will become inadmissible or won’t be strong enough to
prosecute the correct offender. This can cause miscarriages of justice or a collapse in cases
making their role in the criminal investigation process ineffective.
Cost: One strength of SOCOs is that Police services including SOCOs are going to receive
over £15 billion this allows more specialist equipment, resources and more recruitment for
officers to tackle crimes. The Government announced Police services will be given
£15.8billion including £400 million to recruit 20,000 new officers. The potential rise of SOCO
officers can lead to fewer cases per officer making more manageable work rates. This allows
them to take their time when collecting and preserving evidence leading to fewer mistakes
and less contaminated evidence. As a result there are fewer wrongful convictions and missed
leads. This makes SOCOs role in criminal investigations effective and increases conviction
rates.
Availability: A weakness of SOCOs is A SOCOs availability can be affected by their
workload, if there is high crime rates then officers may be overworked. After asking
respondents which scientific service job was cut the most respondents indicated SOCOs
experienced the largest cut with a reduction in officers by 83%. The lack of availability means
the crime scene analysis and the role of SOCOs in criminal investigation will be a slower,
more ineffective process. This means crime scenes may be left for a long time before a
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criminal investigations: 10 marks.
Specification Requirements
Content Amplification
Personnel Learners should have an
● Crime scene investigators understanding of the roles of the
personnel involved and be able to
● Forensic specialists evaluate their effectiveness in
criminal investigations.
● Forensic scientists
● Police officers / detectives The effectiveness should be
considered in the context of potential
● Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) limitations:
● Cost
● Pathologist ● Expertise
● Other investigative agencies, e.g., ● Availability
National Crime Agency, HM Revenue &
Customs
, Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO)
Scene of crime officers go to crime scenes to collect, record and examine
evidence. The evidence they find is used to solve crimes. SOCOs also secure
and protect crime scenes in order to prevent evidence being contaminated.
SOCOs look for footprints, take pictures/videos, take DNA samples, search for
hair, fibre and blood. They then attend court with a statement and collect
evidence.
Evaluation of their effectiveness
Expertise: A weakness of SOCOs is despite their expertise their work and presence at crime
scenes can lead to errors. For example in the Amanda Knox case one of the Soco’s went to
the crime scene without protective clothing. SOCO’s also left a bra covered in blood at the
crime scene for many days. These mistakes led to the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox.
This shows SOCOs could miss important evidence that could lead to the correct suscept or
could easily make errors when collecting or preserving evidence leading to contaminated
evidence. This means this evidence will become inadmissible or won’t be strong enough to
prosecute the correct offender. This can cause miscarriages of justice or a collapse in cases
making their role in the criminal investigation process ineffective.
Cost: One strength of SOCOs is that Police services including SOCOs are going to receive
over £15 billion this allows more specialist equipment, resources and more recruitment for
officers to tackle crimes. The Government announced Police services will be given
£15.8billion including £400 million to recruit 20,000 new officers. The potential rise of SOCO
officers can lead to fewer cases per officer making more manageable work rates. This allows
them to take their time when collecting and preserving evidence leading to fewer mistakes
and less contaminated evidence. As a result there are fewer wrongful convictions and missed
leads. This makes SOCOs role in criminal investigations effective and increases conviction
rates.
Availability: A weakness of SOCOs is A SOCOs availability can be affected by their
workload, if there is high crime rates then officers may be overworked. After asking
respondents which scientific service job was cut the most respondents indicated SOCOs
experienced the largest cut with a reduction in officers by 83%. The lack of availability means
the crime scene analysis and the role of SOCOs in criminal investigation will be a slower,
more ineffective process. This means crime scenes may be left for a long time before a
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