Criminal Investigation - Ch. 3

The decision to release a scene must be well thought out. An absolute must is to:

Photograph the scene again just before it is turned over to the responsible party

Occasionally, it may be necessary to suspend an operation temporarily. One of the most common situations when this occurs is:

A priority crime with evidence subject to decay requires the temporary diversion of personnel from a scene where delayed processing will not result in any loss of physical evidence

Infectious Diseases: The appropriate risk of HIV infection after an accidental needle stick is:

Extremely low

This search entails dividing the area into a number of pie-shaped sections, usually six. These are then searched, usually through a a variation of the strip search

Pie/Wheel

Choice of Mapping Methods: This is useful both for interior scenes in buildings, as well as for the outdoor scenes, where measurement must spring from distinct "permanent: features or landmarks, such as the corner of a home, telephone, mailbox and lighting poles, fences, stop signs posts, the intersections of paved driveways and roads, and other similar features

The triangulation method

This search requires that an area be divided into four large quadrants, each of which is then examined using any of the methods already described

Zone/Quadrant

Even when the same type of criminal offense has been committed, the variation among crime scenes may be enormous. These variations are due to such factors as: (3)

1. the physical setting 2. the manner and means that the perpetrators used to execute the offenses 3. the length to which they may have gone to eliminate or destroy evidence

If splashed in the eyes or on mucous membranes (e.g., inside the nose), flush the area for _________ using water, sterile water, or a saline solution

15 minutes

Bites, needle sticks, cuts, or similar incidents involving broken pr punctured skin, however slight, should be washed immediately with soap in warm water for at least ________ and treated medically. Use soap from a dispenser not a bar.

30 seconds

Even the slightest opening in the skin can be a portal through which HIV enters the body. Protect skin wounds, abrasions, and openings with this:

360-degrees fluid-proof bandages

The use of latex or nitrile gloves may reduce the amount of blood transferred by an accidental stick by ______ percent?

50%

To satisfy legal requirements related to its introduction in a judicial proceeding, investigators must be able to: (6)

1. Identify each item of evidence they collected or handled 2. Describe the location and condition of the evidence at the time it was collected 3. State who had contact with or handled the evidence 4. State when, or during what time periods, the evidence was handled 5. Declare under what circumstances, and why, the evidence was handled 6. Explain what changes, if any, were made to the evidence

Rules for the Crime Scene Investigator: Regardless of the types of crime involved five fundamental rules must be observed: (5)

1. Maintain control 2. Conceptualize events 3. Proceed with caution 4. Apply Inclusiveness 5. Maintain documentation

The purpose of the crime scene search is to: (4)

1. Obtain physical evidence 2. Identify the method of operation employed by the perpetrator 3. Reduce the number of suspects 4. Identify the perpetrator

HIV: The greatest danger to officers arises when they are: (3)

1. Making arrests 2. Seizing drug-related evidence 3. Processing crime scenes and accidents where blood and other bodily fluids are exposed

The public thinks success is when the perpetrator is arrested and convicted, However, police consider success in two additional ways: (2)

1. "Clear by Exceptional Means" meaning the police can demonstrate who committed the crime, but for any over several reasons cannot pursue the case further 2. "Cleared by arrest" meaning that the perpetrator has been arrested and there is sufficient evidence to file criminal charges against him/her

Be cautious when conducting all types of searches; never put your hands anywhere you cannot see. Instead use: (5)

1. A mirror 2. Probe with a flashlight 3. Pen 4. Wooden dowel 5. Metal rod

Four major considerations dominate the crime scene search:

1. Boundary determination 2. Choice of search pattern 3. Intruction of personnel 4. Coordination

Three major methods of documenting crime scenes:

1. Digital Video Recording 2. Digital Still Photography 3. Sketching

The work at the crime scene is divided into three major functions: (3)

1. Overall coordination of the scene 2. Forensic services 3. Investigative services

There are five basic crime scene search patterns from which the crime scene coordinator may choose:

1. Spiral 2. Strip/line 3. Grid 4. Zone/quadrant 5. Pie/wheel

Crime Mapping Methods: This is an excellent tool, to use when there is a large outdoor scene with no significant features or landmarks.

A grid system

News media personnel may photograph or report:

Anything that they observe while legally at a crime scene or covering any other incident involving the police

This evidence is bidirectional in that it connects the perpetrator to the scene or victim or connects the scene or victim to the suspect

Associative Evidence

Evidence located in areas that are "Open-view" to the public are ordinarily processed first and then the out of view areas. The Open View rule is especially important when:

Bodies are in plain sight because common talk and potential news media photography will cause family members and friends great pain

The most important skill of the investigator is the ability to:

Converse equally well with a wide range of people (This is essential because much of what we learn during an investigation comes from the people)

Each criminal offense contains a distinct set of elements whose commission or omission must be demonstrated to have in order to prove a case ________ substantiates these elements.

Corpus delicti evidence

This reasoning creates a hypothesis about the crime. The explanation is tested against the factual situation

Deductive

A variation of the strip search is the ______; After completing the strip pattern, the searchers double back perpendicularly across the area being examined.

Grid

This is the most common serious disease in the world and is the leading cause of liver cancer? In the absence of precautions, officers are 100 times more likely to contract this than HIV

Hepatitis B (HBV)

This reasoning moves from the specific details to a general view. It uses the factual situation of a case to form a unified and logically consistent explanation of the crime.

Inductive

The most important protective barrier against a HIV infection is:

Intact skin

The fundamental assumptions on which crime scene searches rest is the _____________: there is something to be found

Locard's Principle

This scene is the 'large view'. It includes things such as the relevant location(s), the victim's and the suspect's bodies, cars and buildings.

Macroscopic

This consists of the specific objects and pieces of evidence that are associated with the commission of the crime, including knives, bite marks, hairs and fibers, shoe and tire impressions, cigar butts, blood and so on.

Microscopic

Choice of Mapping Methods: This mapping method is the best to use with scenes having clear and specific boundaries, such as interior walls:

Rectangular Coordinates

This dictates that every available pieces of evidence be obtained and, where there is a question as to whether a particular item constitutes evidence, be defined as such.

Rule of Inclusiveness

Criminal incidents may have more than one crime scene. The primary scene is the location where the initial offense was committed; the locations of all other subsequent connected events are called:

Secondary scenes

In actual practices, both the _____ and the _____ search patterns are rarely used

Spiral and Pie/Wheel

This search involves the demarcation of a series of lanes down which one or more persons proceeds. Upon reaching the starting point, the searchers proceed down their respective lanes, reverse their direction and continue in this fashion until the area has been thoroughly examined:

Strip search

The contributions of physical evidence to an investigation are diminished primarily by:

The inability, unwillingness, or failures to locate, properly collect, mark, and preserve the evidence, and by the drawing of improper conclusions of its analysis

The arrest of a news media worker at a crime scene should be made only upon

The most serious provocation and with full awareness of the adverse publicity that is certain to follow for the police department.

Choice of Mapping Methods: When you are mapping outdoor scenes at which evidence is scattered over a fairly large open area, this method is an effective tool; it is useful at scenes where the line of sight is limited.

The polar coordinates method

The essence of packaging any evidence is to do it in a way that:

Will make any tampering with it clearly evident

When the crime scene is of significant size, this search pattern is normally employed

Zone

In general the method of transmitting evidence is determined by: (2)

1. the nature of the evidence 2. the urgency of getting an analyst's conclusion

What is the primary means of capturing crime scene images?

Digital still photography

Crime scene investigation is purposeful behavior and is intended to accomplish the following nine objectives: (9)

1. Establish what happened 2. Determine the sequence of events 3. Find out what the suspect did or didn't do 4. Establish the modus operandi 5. Determine what property was stolen and what articles were left by the suspect 6. Note inconsistencies 7. Locate and interview witnesses 8. Document and recover physical evidence 9. Provide investigative leads

When officials fail to prevent or cannot deal effectively with crime, other problems are created: (4)

1. Future illegal acts are encouraged 2. Resources that could be devoted to other social problems are diverted to deal with rising crime 3. Public confidence in government faces a crisis 4. It tears the fabric of social relations and living patterns

Trace Evidence Vacuums: These systems are particularly effective in gathering: (3)

1. Hairs 2. Fibers 3. Certain types of drug evidence, such as cocaine

About 20% of AIDS patients developed raised, purplish-colored lesions (Kaposi's Sarcoma), which may be present anywhere on the body. Most commonly these are seen on the: (3)

1. Head 2. Neck 3. Oral cavity

In some investigations it is appropriate to withhold certain details about the crime scene from the media, such as: (4)

1. How a victim was mutilated 2. Messages left at the scene by the perpetrator 3. Particular types of evidence seized 4. The exact words spoken to a rape victim

One or more plainclothes investigators may also come to the scene, depending on the severity of the crime. If they do, the first responding officer has the following crime scene turnover responsibilities: (4)

1. Briefing the personnel taking charge 2. Assisting in controlling the scene 3. Turning over responsibility for starting another crime scene entry log 4. Remaining at the scene until relieved

Types of Evidence: There are three broad categories of evidence in which investigators have a particular interest: (3)

1. Corpus Delicti 2. Associative 3. Tracing

Evidence submitted to a crime laboratory is most often transmitted by: (3)

1. Courier 2. Air Express 3. Registered Mail In the ideal situation, the investigator most knowledgeable about the case takes it to the laboratory

Documentation of the crime scene is a constant activity, starting with the rough, shorthand record created by field notes. Other types of documentation that need to be maintained include: (10)

1. Crime scene entry log sheet 2. Administrative log 3. Assignment sheets 4. Incidence/offense reports 5. Photographic logs 6. Rough Sketch 7. Evidence recovery log 8. Emergency medical personnel documents 9. Lifted-prints log 10. Consent search form or search warrant

Although digital video recordings capture images, their supplemental to the four classes of photography that must be taken by digital still cameras. What are the four classes?

1. Orientation - long/longer range shots, general views of the entire scene 2. Relationship - medium-range, photos of evidence in their positional relationship to each other 3. Identification - close-ups that show specific features, such as the serial number on the firearm 4. Comparison - close-ups that document characteristics for future laboratory examination

Sketches typically employ one of three different views:

1. Overhead or Bird's-eye View - which is the most common 2. Elevation View - shows height 3. Cross-Projection View - "lays" the walls to a room down so objects of interest in the wall can be mapped

When suspects have been interviewed but not arrested, their identities should not be disclosed. It is appropriate for the crime scene coordinator to generally describe to reporters the:

1. Physical evidence found at the scene 2. Proceeds of the crime 3. Weapons involved 4. Issuance of warrants

Normally the preliminary investigation is conducted by a uniformed officer from the Patrol Division and consists of the following seven steps: (7)

1. Receipt of information, initial response, and officer safety procedures 2. Emergency care 3. Secure scene and control persons and evidence 4. Issue a be-on-the-lookout 5. Conduct neighborhood and vehicle canvases 6. Administrative Procedures for Processing Crime Scenes 7. The Incident/Offense Report

A variety of factors shape the initial plan for processing crime scenes, which may need revisions in light of new information/developments. Among these factors are these:

1. Remote or difficult terrain 2. Physical hazards that in peril crime scene technicians (i.e. downed power lines etc) 3. A hostile crowd 4. Human remains that are widely scattered cause of animal predation 5. Weather conditions 6. Potential presence of chemical/biological/nuclear weapons and agents 7. The presence of dangerous chemicals and vapors (i.e. meth labs) 8. Limited personnel or the availability of additional personnel 9. Infectious disease risks

In assessing the scene, use all of your senses: look, listen, smell. Be alert for: (3)

1. The possibility that violence is still on-going 2. Dangers from "ordinary" people 3. Dangers from special hazards

The investigative process has the following four objectives: (4)

1. To establish that a crime was actually committed 2. To identify and apprehend the suspect(s) 3. To recover stolen property 4. To assist in the prosecution of the person(s) charged with the crime

What type of log is responsibility of the crime scene coordinator and things such as who is assigned to what function at the crime scene and the sequence of events at the scene, including its release?

Administrative log

The identification and location of the suspect are the goals of this evidence; corpus delicti and associative evidence may also serve these purposes.

Tracing Evidence