Criminology Unit 3 - 1.1 - Evaluate the Effectiveness of the Roles of Personnel Involved in Criminal Investigations
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Course
Unit 3
Institution
WJEC
Criminology Unit 3 - 1.1 - Evaluate the Effectiveness of the Roles of Personnel Involved in Criminal Investigations
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U3 AC 1.1 Evaluate the effectiveness of the roles of personnel involved in criminal investigations
Order of preference- police, CSI, forensics, CPS, pathologist,
Role - summarise Evaluation (+ & -) Case
1. Police Officers Strengths
First personnel at the crime scene, and -Due to the nature and responsibilities of the police, they do have strengths, such as there are
they have a vital role at the start of the specialist units within the police, such as the Crime Investigation Department (CID) who
investigation. Officers need to look after specialise in serious crimes and ensure they are dealt with appropriately. Additional teams
victims and prioritise saving life. For include firearms and underwater, allowing them to deal with all crime scenes.
example, attending to anyone who may -All departments receive special training, making them more effective and efficient in dealing
be injured. As trained professionals who with crime scenes and ensuring evidence is not contaminated so they have a bigger chance
aim to reduce crime as well as solve it, at catching the perpetrator.
their initial actions prove to be very -Also,due to the 24/7 availability of the police, it is assured that a team will always respond to a
important. crime scene as quickly as possible, so the risk of contamination is decreased and an increase
in effectiveness.
They have the role of safeguarding the -The often are quick responders as well as playing a large role in the golden hour and
crime scene. For example, keeping preserving the evidence and collecting statements when they are most recent in the witness's
people away from the scene which mind.
protects the golden hour,period -They have arrest and detain powers so can take immediate action if the offender is present.
immediately after crime, and keeps the
evidence undisturbed and Cost
uncontaminated. For example, taping -On the other hand, the police suffer from many downfalls, with the key problem being that
off the area to avoid contamination. they are expensive to fund, costing £300 million for 10,000 police officers. However, due to
Officers must swiftly take statements as recent budget cuts, there are fewer police officers leading to lower availability as officers may
the crime was recent and easiest to be engaged in other issues and may not be able to get to a crime scene too quickly. For
recall from memory, hence being more example, the officers may not reach the scene during the golden hour meaning the evidence
may have been contaminated and people who are seriously injured may not be getting the
, accurate. medical assistance they need.
-Budget cuts have also meant that police receive less specialist training, decreasing their
expertise, and if the only available officer has not been trained to deal with a particular crime
scene, this could lead to contamination of evidence, reducing the effectiveness of their role.
The police budget fell between 2010-2014 by 14% (BBC Reality Check). However, more
recently, budgets have increased.
-For example, lack of budget was a clear factor in the Hillsborough disaster, as lack of officers
led to overcrowding by fans, this also highlighted how officers can act inappropriately in
investigations linking to their expertise. In addition to this, the inquiry into the disaster found the
blunders by police caused or contributed to the disaster, and as a result of the lack of
availability. Due to their mistakes, there were 97 deaths and 766 injured.
Expertise
-A lack of expertise was also highly demonstrated in the case of Stepehen Lawrence, as the
Mcpherson report published about the incident claimed that the Met police were
“institutionally racist” , meaning they did not carry out their job appropriately and displayed
blatant incompetence while handling the case of Stephen Lawrence.
-Furthermore, the report criticised the officers expertise and procedures at the crime scene, for
example, the police failed to administer first aid on arrival to the crime scene, meaning they
did not follow their first duty which is to preserve life. The initial investigation was reviewed and
28 failings of the police were found. This demonstrates how lack of funding, training of officers
can discredit the police, ultimately limiting their effectiveness.
-Another limitation is that officers may not follow protocol when securing the crime scene
resulting in less trustworthy evidence.
-For example, in the Stephen Lawrence case, in which Stepehen was murdered by a white
gang in a racially motivated attack. The police failed to recognise the hate crime due to the
institutional bias and racism of the police service and failure to investigate suspects due to the
corrupt force. The police were accused of not following protocol at the crime scene such as
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