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Summary criminology exam responses for all of unit 3
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criminology example exam responses for unit 3 1.1-3.2
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1.1 - Evaluate the effectiveness of the roles of personnel involvedin criminal investigations:
The first personnel to be called to a crime scene, responding to 999 calls,
is that of police officers, being responsible for starting an investigation, as
well as securing the crime scene. These personnel are expected to
safeguard the public, their priority being to attend those who may have
been injured at the scene, being responsible also for making any arrests
should the suspect still be present at the scene. Their availability Is a
detrimental factor as for their ability to provide an effective service, the
typical working hours of an officer being 37-40 hours per week, with
stations being accessible to the public at a 24/7 rate. It is therefore
essential that the service is well staffed, being as there needs to be a
steady follow of officers to meet the demand for a 24-hour service.
However, issues with this regard that there was a 14% decline in officers
from 2010 to 2019, equalling to a loss of about 20,600 officers, greatly
hindering the polices availability due to limited numbers. This occurring
due to the strains brought on with funding cuts, with a lack of officers
making it difficult to effectively police criminal investigations in an
effective manner, it commonly being the case that there is a delay as to
how quickly this service can arrive at the scene. As for costs, a police
officer is on average paid £21,000-£41,500 per year, this being quite low,
impacting on how many officers there are within the force. This salary is
likely to make a job of which is physically and emotionally demanding,
particularly less appealing, worsening the forces’ ability to provide an
effective service, due to it being significantly understaffed. To be eligible
for this role, an individual must have a degree in apprenticeship or a level,
being employed by the home officer of England and Wales, different forces
are required to follow the same procedures and go through similar
training. All police officers will be experts regarding the service they
provide, commonly having training surrounding ‘people skills’, where they
will be taught methods of interaction to ensure control at a crime scene.
Officers will also be trained and receive advice from SOCO’s as to how to
prevent contamination occurring once they have arrived at a crime scene,
being particularly effective as to aiding the success of a criminal
investigation. However, although they are trained for prevention, officers
have been known to pose risk of contaminating the crime scene, such as if
they fail to wear protective items or do not close off the crime scene quick
enough. Police have been known to be particularly effective regarding the
use of the golden hour during criminal investigations, being that a great
strength of the service is to act quickly, for purpose of trying to produce
the best results long term. This period being when the eyewitnesses have
the most current memory, forensic evidence is fresh and if an offender is
identified, they are likely to be at their most vulnerable closer to the time
in which the crime was committed. The case of Alice Ruggles
demonstrating the significance of the golden hour, as to solving cases
quickly and using the first moments following a crime to secure evidence
that leads to suspects. Following the 60 minutes of declared death,
officers were able to discover the suspect ‘Trimaan ‘Harry’ Dhillon’ by
,learning about his obsessive behaviours towards Alice and acquiring
evidently quickly. Later leading them to identify Alices blood on his
wristband and having a wide range of other evidence types to link him to
the crime.
Another type of personnel involved in criminal investigations is that of
scenes of crime officers, otherwise known as SOCO’s OR CSI’s, their
responsibility is to process evidence from a crime scene and to keep it
uncontaminated. It is essential on behalf of this service that the evidence
collected can be used in court, meaning that it must be admissible, they
therefore must document evidence, making sure it is properly accounted
for and ensure the necessary measures are taken out to avoid
contamination. SOCO’s are effective for purpose of being able to work
with other departments, such as the police force and forensic scientists,
this collaboration also being essential for preserving and analysing
evidence. The job averages around 42 hours per week, providing a 24-
hour service, with every force employing several SOCO’s. as for
effectiveness, although there is availability of SOCO’s per force, numbers
are limited, the government employing around 1300, which is arguably
insignificant, especially since they need to be available 24/7. These
personnel receive a salary of £16,000 - £24,000, other costs including
that of which covers the carrying out of tests, investigations and
recovering evidence. There is an appeal for more experienced SOCO’s
receive a salary averaging at about, £24,000 - £35,000, this, however,
placing a greater financial strain on the service. As for expertise, this role
requires a degree in forensic science or in a scientific subject, and prior
experience in police/intelligence, as to ensure they maintain knowledge
surrounding the gathering and analysis of evidence in criminal
investigations. There is reliability as for SOCO’s being able to effectively
obtain evidence in a standardised manner as they are trained within the
police force, rather than an outside service. One instance of which saw
SOCO’s fail to collate evidence effectively is within the case of Amanda
Knox, who was accused of the murder of Meredith Kercher. This case was
particularly messy, all personnel, including SOCO’s, failed at times to wear
protective clothing and gloves consistently. Furthermore, the crime scene
was in significant disarray due to poor performance on behalf of SOCO’s,
causing for evidence obtained to be almost completely unreliable. The
only evidence linking Knox to the crime was that of a bra clasp belonging
to Kercher, inferred to have her DNA on it, found in a highly contaminated
crime scene and 47 days following the crime.
A forensic scientist interprets evidence from a crime scene, being
expected to follow international standards (ISO 17025), to ensure that it is
admissible in courts. Their role regards analysing samples of bodily fluids,
to extract DNA samples and compare to those taken from suspects –
‘control sample’. They then develop a report, regarding their findings,
which may also be used as evidence in courts, they are also occasionally
expected to appear in court as an expert witness. This type of personnel
will work within a specialist company (CellMark), rather than the police,
, this can limit their availability when it comes to a large investigation,
delays negatively impacting on the charges against the suspect. There is
a reasonable number of employed forensic scientist, this figure being
around 3,4000, enough of which being likely to be able to provide an
effective service nationally, especially as they do not work at a 24/7 rate.
The average pay for this type of personnel is about £20,000 - £45,000 per
year, tests costing around £250 each to carry out, making their overall
service rather costly. Police forces often employ their own forensic
scientists for purpose of having them ‘in house’, allowing for them to
maintain control over the budgets regarding forensics, this being for
services such as fingerprinting and crime scene analysis services. this
service therefore requires individuals with advanced expertise in their
area, needing to be competent as to use specialist equipment, to qualify
for this role, individuals are therefore expected to have a degree in one of
the forensic sciences and experience working in a laboratory. Although
being particularly advanced in their field and essential to criminal
investigations, as for purpose of effectively analysing evidence, this type
of personnel experiences flaws in that they are known to have differing
views. Being as these individuals on occasion act as expert witnesses, this
may cause problems in court if the jury are exposed to varying opinions.
Flaws of individuals in this area have the potential to have detrimental
impacts within criminal investigations, being seen within the case of Adam
Scott. Scott spent 5 months in remand due to being falsely charged with
rape, following a DNA mix up, whereby his sample, linked to a driving
crime, was contaminated. His sample was falsely linked to the crime due
to forensics re-using a plastic tray containing a sample of his DNA for the
analysis of a swab from the rape victim. However, the rape had occurred
in Manchester, whereas phone records showed Scott to have been in
Plymouth a few hours following the attack, making him unlikely to have
been the offender. Once the contamination had been discovered, the
charges were dropped, had this discovery not occurred, it is likely that
Adam would have been charged for a crime of which he did not commit.
The crown prosecution service handles roughly half a million case, working
within this service is around 2000 barristers and solicitors, prosecuting the
cases brought to them by the police service. Previously, it was in fact the
police who were responsible for the service of prosecution, however, due
to issues regarding police bias, the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985
transferred the power to prosecute to the CPS. This service applies the full
code test for purpose of ensuring that there is enough evidence to see
through a trial, prosecuting around 500,000 cases a year. Their direct
service is available to the police and detectives 24/7, being
significant as they are not limited to officer hours and operate nationally.
The system does however struggle, due being underfunded and staffed as
consequence of the austerity policy, of which was introduced for purpose
of reducing spending within this sector. This service therefore has
implications regarding instances of neglect in cases and a slower turn
around rate. Furthermore, due to it being an independent service, they
therefore have the power to decline a police request to prosecute
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