Completed Unit 3 Controlled Assessment Notes- from crime scene to courtroom. Has all assessment criteria with cases and evaluation (very detailed and predicted an A, over 60+ hours of work). Created using textbooks, class notes and the 2021 specification.
AC 1.1 (50)
Crime scene investigators (CSI)
● civilians employed by police
● Role- collect, preserve + protect scenes/locate E
● liaise police/respond calls (what E collected/best to)
● Gather biological+physical E-specialist techniques
● Photograph scenes/E/people
● Package/store/document material/E- essential E collected reliable/uncontaminated
● E handled incorrectly- risk not admissible in court (miscarriage of justice/no justice)
S:
● Crucial role (prove innocence/guilt)-cases couldn't stand court without them
● Low salary, lowers cost of investigation
● Highly trained professionals- unlikely for contamination
W:
● emotionally difficult (long hours, high pressures +violent crime scenes)
● Available out of hours-long shifts + long travel times
● Human error/contamination
Amanda Knox:
● Small Italian police force- didn’t specialise murder investigations
● ‘Series of glaring errors throughout investigation’
● Failed to wear correct protective equipment/wasn’t collected correctly
● vital bra clasp-floor for 3 months
● Lead cross contamination- doubts in validity (overturned)
Cost
● salary depends role/experience- starting £17,000, experienced £28,000, senior CSI
up to £35,000
● low salary for high responsibility+level expertise-explain shortage
● Lowers cost of investigation
Expertise
● Extensive training-handling E correctly
● Highly trained professionals- unlikely for contamination
● Role meticulous- 1 mistake,guilty person goes free
● Most degrees-science, crim/psych
● Educated+knowledgeable
● Different forces,different requirements to be CSI- inconsistencies in quality of work
across country
Availability
● Most forces employ 12 CSI
● 1,300 employed by Government
● Largest private provider-500
● Not many jobs in profession- role highly competitive to get into
● work efficiently/effectively-best in business
, ● Difficult to get one when needed ( long distance to reach scene)- lose E/ become
contaminated)
Forensic specialists and scientists
● Science techniques + knowledge- apply to scenes
● Role- Sample E collected+Liaise with police
● E.g. body fluids analysed in lab DNA, interpreted-compared to suspect
● Forensic specialists=forensic scientists specialise in particular areas with expertise
e.g. toxicology, fires, computing
S:
● Help CPS build strong prosecution case- justice served
● Expertise help cold cases
● Crucial to investigations- concrete E (show guilt/innocence)
W:
● DNA analysis of person- against human ethics (reveals private information)
● human error-lead to miscarriages of justice
Stephen Lawrence (strength):
○ Attacked+murdered- white gang
○ 18 years to secure justice
○ Found microscopic matters of suspects blood
○ eventually led to conviction
Sally Clark (weakness):
○ Accused killing 2 children
○ EW- paediatrician Roy Meadows false statistic
○ 1 in 73 million chance 2 children dying sudden infant death syndrome
○ Led to conviction- no forensic E
○ Forensic pathologists eventually provided E helped acquit
○ Found one baby had bacteria lung infection at time of death
○ SC released after 3 yrs in prison- following appeal hearing (deemed conviction
unsafe)
Adam Scott (Weakness):
○ wrongfully accused of rape in Manchester-never been
○ DNA mix up in lab
○ human error had lead to contamination
Cost
● Role ranges £20,000-£45,000 at senior levels
● Now privately owned labs-police control over budget for forensics
● budget cut-spending on forensic services cut by 50% since 2008 (report by House Of
Lords in 2019)
● 80% all forensics carried out in police labs (save money)- lead to cognitive bias
● US report 2009 -forensics kept independent of police-avoid bias
● police selecting fewer items for analysis (save money)-E missed (miscarriages of
justice)
, ● very expensive + time-consuming
Availability
● only 3,400 FS in UK-enough to fill the roles available
● bigger problem funding of services + budget cuts being made
Expertise
● very highly trained-beyond degree level
● Expertise help with cold cases
Crown Prosecution Service
● Independent prosecution service-operates across E+W
● Made up 2,000+ crown prosecutors- fully qualified solicitors, barristers + support staff
(large workforce required due to demand)
● Handles half million cases each year (take cases in public interest)
● Work with police-reviews cases + decide if appropriate to prosecute
● Police refer cases,files, E collected
● Decide if E strong enough to proceed to court
S:
● Offer unbiased view-no emotional attachment to case
● national organisation- ensures consistency in how prosecutions handled across
country
● Before CPS set up police made prosecution decisions-not always objective+cost
taxpayers money in wasted legal fees when cases lost
● Ensure taxpayers money spent wisely on cases with good prospect of conviction
W:
● Only afford to take certain cases to court- lack of justice for some V’s
● Accused not taking domestic violence/rape cases to court because difficult to prove
Damilola Taylor:
● Reputation of CPS was damaged
○ Young boy stabbed with glass-two older brother
○ Heavy reliance on E from 14 yr (motivated by £50,000 reward)
○ E thrown out of court
○ Criticised lies obvious+little time spent cross checking her E against known
facts/videotaped interviews with her
Abu Hamza:
● Relationship with police sometimes difficult
○ Hate preacher AH-guilty of inciting murder+supporting terrorism
○ Police put E to CPS multiple occasions- they refused to prosecute
○ Danger to society
Costs
● Funding +staff cuts- resulted growing burden in cases
● Higher workload- lower quality of work
Availability
, ● CPS Direct (service provide) on call 24 hours (advise police in investigations)
● 14 regional offices-contactable 24/7 (always available)
● Increases efficiency + effectiveness-prevent release criminals back into society
● employ 2000 lawyers + deal 500,000 cases per yr (Lots jobs to be filled)
Expertise
● Staff highly qualified in legal matters-undergo training (knowledge+understanding in
role)
● 5 GCSEs+2-3 A Levels degree preferred- science/social science
Pathologists
● Medical doctors-specialise in studying causes of disease + death
● Perform postmortems (autopsies)
● Establish cause/time of death
● After examinations- produce report for coroner+W statement for police
● Give E court -supports P
● May provide advice to police + P throughout investigation (e.g. how to recover dead
body from scene+avoiding E being lost)
S:
● Provide information in investigations where reason death unclear
● Home office registered forensic pathologists work 6 regional group practises-
independent from police/coroners (ensures objectivity + lack of bias)
W:
● Fewer doctors opting to specialise in area- work on several cases at one time-human
error (miscarriages of justice)
Anthony Hardy (Camden Ripper):
● pathologist Freddy Patel decided V died natural causes
● Body found in locked room in Hardy’s flat+bloodstains on her clothes
● Hardy killed two other women as police had no crime to investigate
● Patel suspended from role after comments made by General Medical Council
Disciplinary Panel ‘actions irresponsible+not of standard expected of competent
pathologist’
Cost
● £80,000-£110,000 per year
● High paid salary- incentive to go into line of work
● Expensive-significantly increasing costs of investigation
Expertise
● Highly trained-Study medicine+ another 4+ years for specialist study
● Well qualified-experts in roler
Availability
● 35-40 Home Office registered pathologists
● Available 24/7
Alle Vorteile der Zusammenfassungen von Stuvia auf einen Blick:
Garantiert gute Qualität durch Reviews
Stuvia Verkäufer haben mehr als 700.000 Zusammenfassungen beurteilt. Deshalb weißt du dass du das beste Dokument kaufst.
Schnell und einfach kaufen
Man bezahlt schnell und einfach mit iDeal, Kreditkarte oder Stuvia-Kredit für die Zusammenfassungen. Man braucht keine Mitgliedschaft.
Konzentration auf den Kern der Sache
Deine Mitstudenten schreiben die Zusammenfassungen. Deshalb enthalten die Zusammenfassungen immer aktuelle, zuverlässige und up-to-date Informationen. Damit kommst du schnell zum Kern der Sache.
Häufig gestellte Fragen
Was bekomme ich, wenn ich dieses Dokument kaufe?
Du erhältst eine PDF-Datei, die sofort nach dem Kauf verfügbar ist. Das gekaufte Dokument ist jederzeit, überall und unbegrenzt über dein Profil zugänglich.
Zufriedenheitsgarantie: Wie funktioniert das?
Unsere Zufriedenheitsgarantie sorgt dafür, dass du immer eine Lernunterlage findest, die zu dir passt. Du füllst ein Formular aus und unser Kundendienstteam kümmert sich um den Rest.
Wem kaufe ich diese Zusammenfassung ab?
Stuvia ist ein Marktplatz, du kaufst dieses Dokument also nicht von uns, sondern vom Verkäufer TeeBott04. Stuvia erleichtert die Zahlung an den Verkäufer.
Werde ich an ein Abonnement gebunden sein?
Nein, du kaufst diese Zusammenfassung nur für 23,77 €. Du bist nach deinem Kauf an nichts gebunden.
