Essay Sample on Investigating a Crime Scene: Evaluating Evidence & Formulating Plans

Introduction

Evaluating a crime scene helps the investigator to find, collect, preserve evidence, and formulate a plan for processing the scene. Therefore, upon arriving at the place where the incident took place as the first person, the witness ill helps to get a clear picture of the crime scene before other people have tampered with the evidence that might have been left by the criminal or suspect. The investigator will be able to manage and oversee the sight of the crime. Also, evaluating the crime scene will help me as the investigator in collecting evidence materials and take pictures of the crime scene, which help me and the courtroom to keep engaged with the case content. Therefore, considering myself as an investigator at the scene of a crime, I was able to obtain the following information from the person who first witnessed the crime and crime scene, "He hit her until she fell....and that was just the beginning (Brandl, 2018)." I was also able to interview the witness to gather more information concerning the crime and to know more about what had happened before the crime. The new material on documented evidence via the well-written police reports also helped me to find more evidence and information concerning what happened before the crime occurred and what could have resulted in the crime. The purpose of the examination is to walkthrough the scene of the crime, identify the location of potential evidence, and to outline how the scene will be examined. Upon the arrival at the site of the crime as an investigator, I contacted the detective or officer who asked for the offense scene processing services or with the officer or detective who was assigned to manage and oversee the crime scene. After talking to the officer in charge of the place where the incident occurred, I was able to obtain the following information:

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1. The exact location and time when the incident occurred.
2. The name and personal data of the victim.
3. The identification number of the reporting officer or detective.
4. The case number and type of agents assigned to the case investigation.
5. The names of the witness.
6. Suspects information such as name, the car he drove, and other physical features.

The following is the information I obtained from the witness to help me get and establish the theory of the case.

• Can you remember at what time of the day the incident happened? The question will help me in analyzing the basic concept of the case together in bringing the truth precisely.
• Can you be able to describe or identify the character or person in the incident in which you have just told me, "He hit her until she fell...? (Brandl, 2018)" The question will help me to find out the possible suspect, connects him to the crime, and to be able to identify the primary bases of the initial crime.
• Did the crime contestants involve the use of bitter words against each other? This helps understand the ground and the cause of the incident since such a case has crucial information that leads to the crime.

Securing a Scene of Crime

To secure the crime scene, I was able to take photos, collect possible evidence materials that might contain the DNA evidence within the scene, and documented the scene. The reason I secured and compiled materials that may be used as evidence is to ensure that the evidence is not jeopardized through sketches, photographs, and notes. Also, to secure the scene of the crime, after the contact with the officer or detective in charge of guarding the place where the incident happened, as the investigator I established a pathway to enter and exit the scene of the crime, avoiding the path trails that might have been used by the suspect, to ensure that the sight is preserved and secure from any contamination.

Techniques and Procedures Used to Process the Scene of Crime

To process the scene of the crime, I was able to take photographs, collect the forensic evidence, interviewed the witness, and collected evidence such as footprints, fingerprints, blood, hair, clothes, or fiber and other body fluids that may be used as evidence. The evidence was gathered through digital techniques such as photographs, and a sketch that I took was to help give a picture of the extent and magnitude of the scene of the crime and capture any form of physical evidence that might support in the case and its positions. The biological evidence collected from the place of crime, such as hair, fingerprints, and blood, can be used to help identify the suspect through his DNA samples. Therefore the procedure used to evaluate a scene of crime include contact at the location, walkthrough or assessing the crime scene, looking for any biological and trace pieces of evidence, finding the truth about the evidence collected, and then report on the case based on the evidence collected. The reason for using the procedure is to ensure that the information collected is detailed and to obtain the required information from the scene. In other words, the process involved in evaluating a crime scene includes; identification of the possible evidence, collection of the evidence, preservation of the evidence obtained, analyzing the evidence gathered, and finally reporting on the evidence concerning the scene of the incident.

Preserving the Evidence

The evidence I collected from the location where the incident took place was appropriately stored in a careful and systematic manner to avoid contamination or jeopardizing. When gathering the evidence, I used gloves, and tools like sterile water and separate envelops or paper bags. Once I collected the evidence in the scene of the crime, I preserved each evidence specimen, material, and objects in different envelop or paper bags to prevent cross-contamination or a mixture of each other during transportation to the crime lab for processing. The reason why I kept the evidence gathered separately is that some samples of DNA proof can be contaminated when DNA samples from a different source get mixed with the DNA related to the case, especially when somebody coughs, sneezes, and touch the evidence (Platt & DK Publishing, Inc., 2006). The fingerprints and footprints that I gathered from the crime scene were stored in gray or black powder, while the object used to hit the victim was preserved in a plastic paper bag. Therefore, I was able to keep most of my evidence in the form of specimens, photographs, sketches, notes, recordings, and witnesses. The evidence I gathered in the form of liquid such as blood I preserved in leak-proof and unbreakable containers.

Photographs are significant materials used for the analysis of the case in the courtroom and provide visual documentation of the scene and locations of the evidence within the place of the incident (Miller & Massey, 2016). Examples of the photos that I took at the site of the crime are; the bloodstain on the ground, impressions of the shoe prints, the object that might have been used to hit the victim, and a mobile phone that might have been dropped by the suspect. Therefore, the photographs that I took at the scene were taken using a digital camera and by profession to help create an effect that cannot be seen through the photos but can be seen through the human eyes. The following are photos taken at the scene;

Figure 1: Footwear impression left at the place where the incident took place.

Figure 2: Mobile phone collected at the scene of the offense.

Figure 3: Bloodstain at the scene

Figure 5: The crime scene map upon arrival.

In the above Figure 5, E6 are the bloody stained footprints that might have been created by the suspect after committing the crime. E5 is the broken window where the suspect might have used to enter and come out of the house before and after hitting the victim. E4 are some blood-stained research files that the suspect might have opened to after the crime, while E3 is a bloody handprint on the hard drive case that the suspect might have used to obtain some information. E2 is the vase, the object I believe the suspect used to hit the victim from the behind, while E2 two is where the victim's body was lying in a pool of blood. As the crime scene investigator, I used the main room and kitchen door to access the crime spot so that I could not contaminate the suspect's entry and exit point and interfere with the evidence.

References

Brandl, S. G. (2018). Criminal Investigation, 4th Edition. Available at: Thousand Oaks, SAGE Publications, Inc. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1029412644

Miller, M. T., & Massey, P. (2016). The Crime Scene: A Visual Guide. Available at: Amsterdam, Elsevier. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1031853169

Platt, R., & DK Publishing, Inc. (2006). Crime Scene: The Ultimate Guide to Forensic Science. London: DK Pub. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/68629842