Crime scene

Scenes are not only limited to a location, but can be any person, place, or object associated with the criminal behaviours that occurred.

To maintain the integrity of the scene, law enforcement must take action to block off the surrounding area as well as keep track of who comes in and goes out.

Evidence that has become contaminated, tampered with, or mistreated can pollute the scene and cause a case to be thrown out of court.

It is the job of the initial responding officer to make sure that the scene has an extremely coherent and summarized documentation.

While it is difficult to completely avoid contamination, many steps are taken to ensure the integrity of the crime scene remains intact.

Anything leftover by the officers on the scene could be mistaken for potential evidence and tamper with the success of the investigation.

The Initial Responding Officer receives a dispatch call and arrives at the location of the crime.

Initial responders are in charge of securing the scene by setting up physical barriers to control the traffic in and around the area.

Crime scene sketches allow for notes to be taken as investigators may take measurements and other data that may not be easily detected from only a photograph.

Other types of evidence include: fibers, firearm residue, photographs or videos, and fingerprints.

Ensuring that evidence is collected in an accurate and timely manner helps officers to better understand what happened at the scene and aids in the investigation being completed successfully.

There is trace evidence such as hairs, soil, fingerprints, footprints, shoe prints, gunpowder residue, glass fragments, carpet fibers, and similar items that are vital to crime scene processing.

Interviews of both witnesses and victims of the crime are taken by law enforcement officials to gain knowledge and creating a timeline of events.

Depending on the evidence collected determines the procedure that will be used- thin layer, gas, or paper chromatography which are specific ways to separate compounds.

[9] Fingerprints (which also include palm prints and footprints) are another type of evidence that can tie individuals to crime scenes.

Collecting fingerprints is a crucial process and should be one of the first things conducted when investigators arrive at the crime scene.

The chain of custody refers to the order in which evidence is handled by individuals who are involved in the case's investigation.

The chain of custody is pertinent to the investigation and guarantees the physical security of all evidence that is part of the case.

The exposure to elements such as rain, wind, or heat, as well as animal activity, contaminates the crime scene and leads to the destruction of evidence.

[6] Crime scene reconstruction helps aid in the arrest of suspects and prosecute in the court of law.

The steps to crime scene reconstruction involve: the initial walk-through and examination of the crime scene, organizing an approach for collecting evidence, formulate a theory, use the theory to track down suspects, reconciling all evidence that refutes the hypothesis or creates one.