Unnecessary Presence and Poor Communication in the Conduct of Forensic Investigation

¶ … obstacles to prompt and efficient forensic investigation in major crime scenes. The presence of too many unnecessary personnel in the crime area and poor communication or reporting of the details are these obstacles. The applicable FBI rules and an analysis of each issue follow. A conclusion is also provided for each issue.

Too Many Unnecessary Personnel at the Crime Scene

The presence of too many extraneous personnel is considered the biggest hindrance to effective and prompt crime investigation (Schiro, 1999). What makes it worse is that most of these unnecessary people are police officers themselves (Schiro).

Rule

The policy mandates the initial responding officer or officers to identify all personnel or persons at the crime scene and to oversee their movements (FBI, 2000). Then the officer or investigator in-charge shall evaluate the scene in order to come up with a list of specialized resources needed in the investigation (FBI).

Analysis

Protecting the crime scene is a major function of the said officer or officers (FBI, 2000). He should supervise the movements of all the persons in the area. They should be prevented from changing, moving or destroying any physical evidence. They should be accurately identified as suspects, witnesses, victims and families or friends, assisting police personnel or mere bystanders. The latter and all other unnecessary persons should be told to leave the area (FBI).

Determining the composition of the investigation team is the first step in processing the scene (FBI, 2000). The decision shall be made according to the nature or type of the crime incident and its complexity. Only trained personnel shall handle the processing. The investigator should first conduct a walk-through and then follow an orderly procedure. He should determine if additional personnel are needed. This immediately solves the problem of having too many of them in the crime scene. If additional ones are needed or desirable, particularly in cases of several crime scenes, several victims, witnesses or complex circumstances, the investigator should be keenly aware of their respective needs. He should simultaneously be aware of forensic needs and call in specialists for their expertise or special equipment to the crime scene. He should also secure the scene and the sustained passage of documentation work. From the selected team, he should choose those who shall perform special functions, such as photography, drawings, prints, or collection of evidence. Then the investigator shall be promptly informed when these special tasks are completed (FBI).

Conclusion

Limiting the number of persons in the crime scene and controlling their movement are necessary in preserving and safeguarding evidence from alteration, destruction and contamination (FBI, 2000). The investigator assesses the necessary number of personnel who should be in the crime scene and their respective assignments (FBI).

A crime scene debriefing team should also be constituted (FBI, 2000). It shares scene findings before releasing the scene and provides inputs for follow-ups, requests for assistance, and other post-scene requirements. It determines evidence collected, preliminary scene findings, tests to be conducted, and initiates all actions needed to complete the overall crime scene investigation. Debriefing is the best assurance of the completeness of the scene investigation (FBI).

Issue 2: the Lack of Communication at the Crime Scene

This is another essential in the conduct of forensic investigation. The lack of prompt, accurate and sustained communication through channels can delay or obstruct the disposition of a case (Yolasite, 2012).

Rule

The initial responding officer must promptly but carefully enter the crime scene, observe every detail in it and report all his observations to the detectives FBI, 2000; Yolasite, 2012). These reports should, in turn, be documented as soon as they are received to preserve the information as a permanent record.

Analysis

These observations or information shall include the location of the involved persons in the crime scene, how they look and the conditions of the area when the responding officer or officers arrive (Schiro, 1999). These shall also include personal information gathered from witnesses, the victims, the suspects or any other relevant persons (FBI).

All these observations shall be communicated to the detectives and crime scene investigators who, in turn, must coordinate with the coroner or medical examiner (FBI, 2000). The pathologist performs autopsies and communicates the findings back to the detectives, crime scene investigators and forensic scientists at the crime laboratory. Further findings are communicated by them to forensic scientists for analysis for additional or maximum information. The analyses are turned over to the detectives to complete the investigation (FBI).