The Seven S's Of Crime Scene Investigations

There are a lot of different ways that criminal investigations and forensics connect. Forensics have come a long way since the huge technology jump in even the last couple of years. A huge step between forensics and criminal investigations are the on scene CSI investigators. They do both the forensics and the investigation in some cases. But the big question is how these departments connect in these cases.

The older method called most commonly known in the field “stringing” has proved to be a solid and reliable way to demonstrate the convergence of blood spatter for many years. Basically after the directionality and angle of impact of a stain is determined, The Crime Scene Analyst gets a coloured string (which can be red like its seen on T.V) to the point of impact. The analyst than can run it backwards to a termination point (for example the floor). After attaching multiple strings to the area where all the strings can be properly photographed. The strings can be used in different reconstruction events on the scene for example bullet trajectory can be reconstructed with the use of strings. This process shouldn’t begin until all of the samples (stains) have been properly recorded and collected. The stringing method of reconstruction is commonly one of the last tasks done by a Crime Scene Analyst. (Parkinson, 2003)

I have always loved suspenseful whodunit television shows, movies, and books that use forensic science to crack the cases. My favorite television show is The First 48, my favorite movie is The Silence of the Lambs, and my favorite book is The Body Farm. Therefore, I was excited to have the opportunity to take this course and learn even more about the subject of forensics. This essay gives a summary of N. E. Genge’s book, The Forensic Casebook: The Science of Crime Scene Investigation, and includes the things I disliked and liked about the book.

Forensic science technicians are vital on a crime scene because the collect and analyze physical evidence. Evidence is one of the most important factor of a crime scene because this puts in investigator a step ahead in finding the suspect of a crime. Crime scene specialists help to collect and preserve evidence in a crime scene. There are rules concerning the collection of data in order to preserve its natural state. For example, “all non-movable items, such as fingerprints, at a crime scene should be processed at the scene using gray powder, black powder, or black magnetic powder. Polaroid 665 black and white film loaded in a Polaroid CU-5 camera with detachable flash should be used to make one-to-one photographs of prints which do not readily lift.” (Schiro, n.d.) Also in the case where there is a computer involved, if it is turned on, it must not be turned off until all the information is properly collected and stored on a file for later use. DNA examiners usually search for anything that could possibly contain DNA. These include fingerprints, hair, blood, semen, bite marks, and dead skin found under fingernails. Tests can be done to determine whether the DNA is the victim’s own or the possible suspect. The coroner’s role is to certify the death of an individual and if unknown, to gain the identity of the victim. These agencies

In the episode “Gum Drops” of the series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, one of the featured forensic analysts was a crime scene investigator. The duties of a crime scene investigator are diverse, and include tasks such as securing and processing the crime scene, documenting the crime scene with photography and investigative reports, giving testimonies in court, and collecting evidence for analysis in forensic laboratories.

When investigating a crime scene before touching anything investigators must document and photograph everything, investigate all doors, windows, ect of any evidence of how offender got in and out of the crime scene, investigate every inch of the crime scene for blood, fingerprints, footprints, weapons, bullet holes, shell casings etc. and anything that looks out of place. Once this is done investigators can then collect any evidence using the right equipment.

The most efficient and acceptable means for the collection of evidence to be permissible and admissible to a court of law through trial proceedings is to maintain a credible chain of custody. However, the chain of custody is an insufficient factor without proper discovery retrieval and/or collection of evidence. When offenders respond to a scene in which there is evidence to be collected, only officers properly trained in the process are allowed to collect the evidence. In the State of Georgia, law enforcement officers undergo a strenuous police academy course in which they learn the fundamentals of collecting elements such as fingerprints and bodily fluids. In addition to learning the fundamentals of collecting elements at a crime scene, they are also instructed and trained on how to properly take crime scene pictures. These pictures are important because they show the courts where an element or piece of evidence was discovered in reference to the whole sight of the scene. Once the officer collects the elements/evidence according to his or her training they place the evidence in either a plastic or paper bag to be submitted into evidence. Upon the collection of evidence there is a legible record of each person that handles the evidence from start to finish

Investigating a crime can be a hard process but with the knowledge of CSIs, it’s good to know that they can get the job done by solving a crime and getting justice. Sometimes certain things are not what it seems like on TV but at least we can get a idea of what CSIs do and what they deal with when solving a crime. Being that the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation show is popular , they do a good job with portraying what real CSIs do in reality while solving a crime.

Since the time that the scientific science dramatization "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" turned into a tremendous hit and generated its fans, reporters have been worried about what they instituted the "CSI Effect." The hypothesis behind the effect is that fans of the well-known show disguise misguided judgments about the law that they bring with them into the court as jurors. In this way, the trepidation is that the TV show is at last influencing the results of trials - and not in a great manner. Criminal justice researchers have started to study the inquiry of whether nationals who are called to serve on juries bring unreasonable desires and convictions to the court as a consequence of TV projects. The impact that these projects may have on the jurors, their desires, and their choices is known as the CSI effect.

There are various things that can be resolved taking into account the intimations that are deserted by the criminal. These help the specialists comprehend things, for example, what sort of individual they are and distinctive inspirations just to give some examples. The BSU or Behavioral Science Unit from the FBI has been helping state and neighborhood law implementation organizations with wrongdoer profiling following the mid 1970's. This foundation was made in Quantico Virginia at the FBI Academy [ CITATION Sta157 \l 1033 ]. Based upon the exhaustive examination of the wrongdoing scene the BSU could create and utilize a sensible technique keeping in mind the end goal to recognize wrongdoer attributes.

The National Forensics Academy was full of multiple dimensions of crime scene investigation that I had not even thought about nor learned about in the past. The world of crime scene investigation is interesting to me because of all these aspects and because they are ever changing, and new and better methods are being discovered. Throughout the academy I learned about these aspects in detail and how there are various methods within each aspect. The aspects that I learned were how to photograph a crime scene, finger printing, foot impressions, crime scene sketches, blood spatter analysis, bullet holes, bones, and digging up a grace to recover a body. These aspects work together to investigate and recreate crime scenes.

Crimes scenes contains more information than what meets the eye. This information is gathered based off of evidence left behind by a criminal offender. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) has be around since the 1970’s. BSU experts develop criminal profiles based on the thorough examination of evidence and information gathered in reference to a specific crime. The FBI’s Crime Scene Analysis process involves six steps. These steps are Profiling Inputs, Decision Process Models, Crime Assessment, The Criminal Profile, The Investigation, and The Apprehension. These six steps play a vital role in the process of creating a criminal profile.

Today, more than ever, the quality of evidence in criminal cases is scrutinized because of contamination. Contamination is the introduction of something that physically corrupts a substance at a crime scene that was not previously there; it comes in many forms and most often times comes from the humans who investigate a crime scene. It is imperative that prevention of cross-contamination is implemented when gathering evidence. Several of the more sensitive forensic techniques such as trace analysis, bloodspatter interpretation, and DNA comparison are not being used to their fullest potential. Items of physical crime scene evidence are not always visible to the naked eye and may be easily overlooked so deliberate and methodical approach to collection and preservation of evidence is essential. Prosecutors have lost cases due to crime scene contamination; this could be prevented by simple and productive behaviors. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a leading case on physical evidence, stated:

Like you see in the Crime scene investigation shows like CSI and Bones, there are many things that go into investigating shows a lot of those things happen but it takes much longer than forty or sixty minutes to solve the crime. While crime scene investigating is very serious job, collecting evidence at crime scenes requires education and knowing of what you're doing, requires hard work, and it can be difficult to perform this job.

Since most investigations start with very limited information, care and common sense are necessary to minimize the chances of destroying evidence. A plan of operation is developed and initiated from an initial walk through of the scene. The plan is to decide what evidence may be present, what evidence may be fragile and need to be collected as soon as possible. What resources, equipment, and assistance are necessary for the processing? Consideration of hazards or safety conditions may need to be addressed.