Respond to the scene and make it safe - Answer- Plan a safe response
Take the most direct route and safets route
In progress crimes= look for matching
... [Show More] descriptions of people/ vehichles involved
Emergency care for injured/ wounded - Answer- Request EMS when needed
Establish a pathway for first responders to avoid evidence destruction
Do not clean up or move any treatment supplies used by EMS
Do not attempt to reposition/ return physical evidence to its original spot
ID Persons treated on scene
Bodily injury - Answer- Substantial impairment of the physical condition
Burn, fracture
Serious bodily injury - Answer- Creates permanent disfigurement prolonged/permanent loss of bodily function
Overall (injury photo taking) - Answer- Take at least one overall photo of the person to include the face, injury and other unique features such as jewelry, tattoos clothing.
Mid-range (injury photo taking) - Answer- Take photos of each injury from 2-4ft away
Close up (injury photo taking) - Answer- Take photos of each injury less than 2ft away. Place ruler or other objects to compare size
Follow up (injury photo taking) - Answer- Injuries may intensify over days. Take photos 2-3 days after
Separate and remove people - Answer- Prevent influence from other people
Separate victims and witnesses
ID and separate witnesses for interviewing
Remove uninvolved bystanders
Protecting the crime scene - Answer- The crime scene is a specific place where a crime has been committed and physical evidence is located
Establish temporary crime scene perimeters
Do not touch, move or alter any item within the crime scene until it has been evaluated
Establish pathways to enter and exit
Modus Operandi (MO) - Answer- Think motive
"Uniqueness of technique a distinctiveness or a particularly distinguishing pattern of conduct common to the current and former incidents that link one crime to another"
Initial walk through - Answer- Use pathways to minimize evidence contact or contamination prevention
Identify special clothing or equipment needs for safety or contamination prevention
ID points of contact
Request expert investigators and forensic specialists
Points of contact - Answer- Entry and exit
Between suspect and victim
Between suspect and evidence
Between victim and evidence
Inner perimeter - Answer- Where the actual crime took place and contains physical evidence
Make this perimeter at least twice the size of the actual crime scene
Use red tape for inner and yellow for outer perimeter
Only allow authorized personnel in
Establish a single entry and exit
At least 2 officers should guard the entry and exit
Establish a crime scene log
Outer perimeter - Answer- The staging area for support personnel and equipment
Identify perimeter with a combination of emergency vehicles, police officers, barriers and line tape
Photograph crime scene - Answer- Provides a visual record of the scene and helps identify relevant evidence
Use agency owned camera. Do Not use personal phone/ camera
Photograph crime scene/ evidence as found
Overall (photographing the crime scene) - Answer- Photograph crime scene from outer perimeter first. Multiple angles/ perspectives
Take these photos before placing markers
For outdoor crime scenes include land markers, street signs, house numbers
Midrange (photographing the crime scene) - Answer- Inside the inner perimeter
Multiple angles/ perspectives
Includes property damage and specific items, exits and entry points
5-10ft away
Close range (photographing the crime scene) - Answer- Specific evidence from a perspective of less than 4ft away
Positively identify objects (license plates, serial numbers, impression evidence)
Evidence collection - Answer- Evidence is something that establishes fact or truth
CSI effect - Answer- Juries are more likely to convict a suspect in an evidence based prosecution
Chain of custody - Answer- The meticulous and chronological documentation of evidence from the moment seized to presentation in court
Prevents loss, destruction, tampering, and contamination
Shows every person who came in contact with evidence
Evidence packaging and storage - Answer- Containers are made of paper, cardboard, plastic, and glass
Seal containers to prevent tampering
Evidence tags are used to identify evidence
Store evidence in a restricted location
Physical evidence - Answer- Is tangible (things we can touch) "can be perceived by sense of touch"
Can be direct or circumstantial evidence
Used to reconstruct crime scenes and link people to specific places and or other people
Items can be: drugs, money, clothing, weapons, documents, digital files, fingerprints, DNA etc.
Trace evidence - Answer- Evidence transferred from one surface to another during physical contact between people, places, and objects
Usually microscopic size (soil, gunshot residue, human/animal hair, paint fibers)
Can be found anywhere and is common when there is physical contact between suspect and victims
DNA evidence - Answer- Also known as biological evidence
Can be: human hair, tissue, bones, teeth, blood, saliva, semen
Best practices:
Change gloves between every sample collected
Package separately
Attach biohazard label
Finger Print Evidence - Answer- Human skin ridge impressions left behind on surfaces (palm print or finger print)
Patent finger print - Answer- Seen with the naked eye and left behind when materials (like blood, oil, or dirt) on fingers is transferred to a surface
Can be found on paper, wood, cloths, plastic, metal, glass etc.)
Plastic finger print - Answer- Seen with the naked eye and left when a person leaves an indentation in a soft surface (think pushing fingers into playdough or silly puddy)
Can be found in soap, gum, wax
Latent finger print - Answer- Cannot be seen with the naked eye. Left behind when oil and sweat on finger skin is transferred to a smooth, non porous surface
Exposed with special chemicals or light technology
Impression evidence - Answer- When one object presses against another with enough force to leave a matching imprint
Shoe prints, tire tracks, and human bites
Can be found in snow, blood, dirt/sand, human skin
Clothing, bedding, and linen evidence - Answer- Items worn/used by victims/suspects
Use paper bags, cardboard boxes, and porous items to package dry cloths
Use non porous plastic containers to temporarily collect wet clothing
Evidence that is wet SHOULD NOT remain inside any plastic container for more than 2 hours (can destroy/alter evidence)
Must be air dried before storing
Weapon evidence - Answer- Fire arms, ammo, knives, baseball bats
Use porous material like cardboard boxes to collect and package
Process DNA, trace, and finger print evidence first
Liquid evidence - Answer- Should be stored in its original container if possible
Store in leak proof containers
Currency evidence - Answer- Money, coins, stock, bond certificates
Identify total amount
have a second person verify and witness count by name and signature
seal in a plastic bag
Digital evidence - Answer- electronic evidence found on computers, flash drives, memory cards, smart phones
Must have a search warrant to search the cell phones contents
Documentary evidence - Answer- paper-- checks, bills, purchases, receipts, financial records, handwritten letters, signatures, and statements
use paper envelopes to package dry documents
label/write on the envelope before placing them in the evidence envelope.
Wet documents should be air-dried before storing
Systematic search - Answer- determined by circumstances and officer preference
Top-down: start people searches at the head and end at the feet. Dwelling searches on the uppermost floor and work down
Front-back: Search the front side of a person from head to feet, then search backside from head to feet.
Left-right: search the rear passenger seat area of a vehicle first, then search the right side. Search left side clothing pockets first, then right side
Outside-inside: Search outside of a container first, then inside. Search outside jacket pockets first, then inside pockets
Lane searches - Answer- Cover large areas quickly for missing people or evidence that would be easy to see given the crime scene circumstances
Divide search area into equal parallel lanes that go in the same direction [Show Less]