Criminology Unit 3
AC 1.1 Evaluate the effectiveness of the roles of personnel involved in criminal investigations
Police officers
Police officers are very important in criminal investigations, due to them being the first of all the
personnel at the crime scene. Police officers work in partnerships with the communities they serve to
maintain law and order; protect members of the public and their property; prevent crime; reduce the
fear of crime; and improve the quality of life for all citizens. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984
gives the police their powers. As far as requirements of education, police need a degree in policing or a
related field. Specialist roles such as CID (Criminal Investigation Department) mean that police officers
can offer high expertise to assist criminal investigations.
One strength that shows the police are effective is public satisfaction. The home office conducts an
annual survey called the ‘crime survey for England and Wales' (CSEW), which includes questions about
public perceptions of the police. It was concluded that the majority of people have confidence in the
police and think they are doing a good job. The police can be effective, operation conifer is an example
of this, which is one of the largest missing person operations in police history. The operation spanned
over 9-10 months and was the largest in history of west Yorkshire police, involving the search of around
1,750 buildings and DNA samples were taken from over 200 people - resulting in Leanne’s body being
discovered and the murderer convicted. Compared to other personnel, police are relatively inexpensive
and is funded by the central government through council tax and local taxes in 2019/20, the police
expenditure was around 15.2 billion a year and the average costs for one officer is around £30,000 per
year. Another strength of police effectiveness is criminal investigations is the fact that crime rates have
fallen, overall crime has fallen by 70% in England according to the office for national statistics (ONS). This
can be down to the police acting as a deterrent, policing strategies and public engagement. As of March
2020, violent crimes have decreased of 5% compared to previous years. Also, the annual rate of violent
crime had decreased in the five-year period from March 2015 to March 2020, from around 1.7 million
incidents to around 1.2 million incidents.
However, they can have their drawbacks in a criminal investigation, as the facility as a whole is
understaffed their availability is limited. In March 2021, there were approximately 126,000 police
officers in England. In 2019, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans to recruit 20,000 new police
officers over three years. Although there is a staff shortage at present limiting the effectiveness of the
police. An example of this was in the case of Hillsborough, in which a crowd crush developed in the
Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield resulting in deaths of 96 Liverpool fans. This case proved the
ineffectiveness of the police as the 1990 Taylor Inquiry Report on the incident found that the police had
neglected their duty by opening all the gates in an attempt to over ease crowding, subsequently leading
to the crush in the pens as fans rushed in. 96 people were unlawfully killed due to Chief Superintendent
David Duckenfield's gross negligence manslaughter. Shortly after the disaster, police blamed the victims,
supporters and Liverpool fans for the disaster to shift the blame off themselves, however, it was
revealed to be an act of gross negligence by the police at the scene and the blame was removed from
the victims and supporters. Cases highlight problems such as institutional racism, (Stephen Lawrence)
inadequate responses to serious crime (worboys) and failures in crowd control and public safety
, (Hillsborough). Furthermore, another limitation of the effectiveness of police in criminal investigations is
their criticisms for being institutionally racist. Evidence suggests that there is a racial bias within the Uk
police force are police disproportionate targeting and treatment of individuals from ethnic minority
backgrounds. HMICFRS study in 2017 found that black people were over four times more likely to be
stopped and searched than white people. A further study in 2020 showed that black people were nine
times more likely to be searched than white people. The Macpherson report, 1999 on the Stephen
Lawrence case identified institutional racism within the metropolitan police service and made
recommendations for reform. Although in 2023 little change has happened and some police can still be
classed as racist. Also, Legal Constraints (PACE), can limit police effectiveness to gather evidence,
conduct search and stops. Police departments often face budgetary constraints and a lack of resources
and staff shortages. Furthermore, organisational challenges and bureaucratic processes can also result in
excessive paperwork, taking away valuable time from proactive policing activities. Another limitation is
societal issues, such as lack of trust in the police due to police misconduct. For example, in the murder
of Sarah Everard case by a police officer prompted the case review into the metropolitan police in 2022 -
the report found that only 8% of police misconduct or sexual offences were investigated. According to
the 2020 crime survey of England and Wales, public confidence in the police has been on a downward
trend over the last two years - from 62% in 2017 to 55% in 2020.
Crime scene investigators/SOCO’s
Crime scene investigators are very important in a criminal investigation. This is because they collect and
process any evidence from a crime scene, while keeping it uncontaminated, so it doesn’t become
inadmissible in court. Their role is vital in securing a safe conviction or acquittal of a suspect involved in a
criminal investigation. CSI plays a crucial role in the criminal justice system by providing scientific and
technical expertise to help solve crimes and bring perpetrators to justice. Becoming a scene of crimes
officer (SOCO) requires a degree in forensic science or scientific subject and experience in police work or
data gathering and analysis. This job averages around 42 hours a week with around £16,000 to £35,000
per year making them relatively cost effective. CSI is funded via the police budget, police funding in
England and Wales for the financial year 2020/2021 was approximately £15.8 billion. They must recover
any physical and/or biological evidence, like fingerprints, fibres, bodily fluids or hairs etc. This role is
really useful in criminal investigations as any mistakes with evidence could mean the acquittal of a
criminal. SOCO’s often work on an on-call system, meaning they’re always available to assist on criminal
investigations, however, it may take some time for them to arrive. There is normally one team of SOCOs
covering a large geographical area, so if there are multiple crime scenes that need attending, there may
not be enough officers to attend.
One strength of CSI’s is they are effective in solving cases, for example in the Leanne Tiernan case CSIs
found hairs matching Leanne’s DNA on dog collar, this was the first case to use dog hair analysis which
solved the murder. The forensics were able to analyse the evidence and make links to figure out who the
murderer was and solve the case. Another example is the Soham Murders (2002), which resulted in the
tragic deaths of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, who were killed by the caretaker. The investigation
relied heavily on CSI techniques to gather evidence to convict Huntley. In Everard's case, CSIs found
blood stain in the car of Wayne Couzens which had a DNA match with Everard. Another strength that
shows the CSIs are effective in criminal investigations is they can help solve crimes, prosecute murderers
