Criminology Unit 3:
AC1.1 – Evaluate the effectiveness of the roles of personnel involved in criminal investigations
Crime scene Investigators:
Role:
The responsibility of a crime scene investigator is to gather and safeguard evidence from the crime
scene. Their key duty is to watch out for contamination of the evidence at the scene because this
would make it inadmissible in court. They decide what evidence is crucial and the best approach to
obtain it in collaboration with the police. Using the usual approach route, they take pictures of the
crime site as well as any nearby locations that may provide evidence. Once they have all the evidence,
they must package and document everything so that it is prepared to be delivered to forensic experts
for investigation. Additionally, they may participate in post-mortems and provide testimony in court.
Expertise:
Due to their extensive training and degree in a science-related discipline, CSIs are experts in their
field. This would suggest that they possess a high level of knowledge because they have received the
training required to perform their job well.
Availability:
CSIs are accessible a lot of the time because they are on call. This implies that they might receive a
call at any moment of the day to a crime scene. This is crucial because, as we all know, crimes can
happen at any moment. As a result, it’s critical for crime scene investigators to get to the scene
immediately in order to collect evidence before it becomes potentially contaminated by elements like
the weather.
Cost:
The inquiry will consequently incur additional expenditures because each CSI is given a pay.
Additionally, they must be accessible after hours, which means lengthy shifts and far distances. This
raises concerns about whether the meagre £17,000 they earn yearly is adequate for the work they
accomplish and also raises the possibility of a significant shortage of personnel. Despite their low cost
during the investigation, the compensation they receive is insufficient to offset the anguish and
responsibility they bear.
Strengths:
Crime scene investigators (CSI), commonly referred to as scene of crime officers (SOCOs), are key
players in criminal investigations. Despite not being police officers, they are always available. They
might be hired by police departments or might work for private businesses. However, they continue to
play the same role in gathering and analysing evidence from crime scenes. They accomplish this by
taking pictures of recovered, packaged physical evidence, then testifying in court. Due to their
knowledge and experience, scene of crime officers is skilled at gathering evidence utilising a variety
of tools, which can be very helpful to the investigation. Additionally, because they are accessible at all
times, they can arrive at crime sites right away and avoid having to wait until morning. It is when it’s
possible that the evidence was tainted.
Limitations:
The role of scene of crime officers has certain further restrictions, such as the fact that crime scenes
frequently contain unpleasant or upsetting pictures that could have long-term effects on SOCOs. A
second limitation is that, despite any precautions that might be taken to reduce the dangers, there is
still a chance that you could become contaminated with hazardous or harmful substances, and there is
also a chance that the crime scene could become contaminated.
, Case study:
The case of Amanda Knox, who was detained for the murder of Meredith Kercher shortly after her
body was found and before all the physical evidence from the crime scene had been gathered, is an
illustration of how evidence can be contaminated. Due to the discovery of Knox’s and Kercher’s
DNA on the alleged murder weapon, the police continued to pursue her even after the DNA of the
perpetrator was identified. However, it was then claimed that Kercher’s DNA was there because of
contamination. The required DNA procedures were not followed during the investigation; for
instance, Kercher’s altered bra clasp was gathered so long after her passing that contamination was
very plausible.
Police officers:
The first people on the scene are police officers, who take advantage of the “golden hour” to gather
crucial evidence. They play a crucial role in protecting the public and securing the crime scene during
this “golden hour”, but they will also call for other services if necessary. Because of this, the police
have various advantages, including the fact that all of their officers receive specialised training. They
are therefore quite effective at handling any crimes they may encounter. Additionally, because police
are on call most of the time, it is guaranteed that they will arrive at crime scenes as soon as possible,
increasing the likelihood that the area will remain secure. Police brutality, failure to secure crime
scenes and improper management of evidence are just a few of the police’s shortcomings. They have
also been charged with discrimination frequently, racism in institutions in particular. The case of
Stephen Lawrence and the McPherson report, which concluded that the inquiry into his skilling was
“marred by a combination of professional incompetence”, is a well-known illustration of this, racism
inside institutions and poor leadership. In order to promote “zero tolerance” for racism in society, the
report made 70 recommendations. Within two years following the reports’ release, 67 of these
recommendations changed the way things were done in practise. Some of the immortal techniques and
tactics that the police have been known to employ are another drawback, the “honeytrap technique”,
for instance. When the authorities set up a honeytrap to try to coax Colin Stagg into confessing to
killing Rachel Nickel, they utilised this strategy. By employing this technique, an undercover police
officer going by the name of “Lizzie” appeared to be romantically interested in him in order to get a
confession. He never came clean, so the judge nonetheless declared that “excessive zeal” had been
used to incriminate him and referred to the police’s actions as “deceptive conduct of the grossest
kind”.
Costs:
The relatively small wage that police officers receive, between £20,880 and £24,177, makes them
inexpensive. For the hazardous tasks they do, this pay is shockingly low. Although its affordability
contributes to keeping investigative costs down.
Availability:
Although there are about 125,000 police officers in the entire UK, given that there are 68
million residents, this is a very small number.
Due to funding reductions, there aren’t enough officers to adequately serve the entire
community and their numbers keep falling.
This ultimately results in police prioritization.
Expertise:
There are various groups that are specialized in particular legal fields within the force.
Whether this is an underwater search team or narcotics squad. This not only guarantees that
the job completed is stronger due to the expertise in information they acquire, but also
means that arguments presented to the CPS may be supported with substantial evidence,
guaranteeing that more cases are tried and come to the right conclusion.
