Unit 3 Notes
AC1.1 – 45 minutes
Soco’s
• Soco’s collect evidence from a crime scene.
• Employed by the police service and play a vital role in criminal investigations.
• Essential that evidence is not tampered with and collected as soon as possible which
is why it is such vital role.
• Strengths of soco’s are that they work on an on-call system.
• They are always available whenever they are needed which is beneficial as this
means they are able to collect evidence as soon as possible.
• Soco’s are also highly trained and qualified meaning there is a low risk of any
mistakes occurring.
• Limitations - Not anyone can be a Soco, it requires years of training and patience.
• Failure to collect evidence correctly can also lead to a guilty person walking free.
• The cost for a soco is between £16,000 - £35,000.
• It can be argued that they are cost effective compared to other positions such as a
pathologist.
• There will need to be multiple soco’s present at a crime scene which could increase
the price.
• Availability can also be an issue depending on the location of the crime scene
• Easier to reach urban areas as this is where they are usually based.
• Much harder to reach rural areas as it takes longer, meaning evidence may be
compromised by the time they arrive.
• This was the case in Amanda Knox's case.
• Knox was accused of killing her roommate.
• Found guilty in her first trial, but because the evidence was misused, many re-trials
came as a result.
• Clothing the victim was wearing when attacked was not collected and moved around
by SOCOs which could have contaminated the clothing.
• A second search took place 47 days after the murder, where they found a bra clasp
of the victim which could have possibly been contaminated as it was exposed for a
while.
• Doubt was brought upon the expertise of SOCOs as a result of these mistakes.
Forensic Scientists
• The next personnel in the chain are forensic scientists. Their role is to review
evidence from a crime scene and produce information for a court.
• Evidence such as blood and other bodily fluids are analysed in a lab.
• Interpreted to provide detailed information for the judge and jury.
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,• Within the forensic scientist department there are specialist departments including:
computers, toxicology, dentistry and psychology.
• These allow for a wide range of evidence to be examined and increase the chance of
prosecution due to the developed understanding of the crime.
• Forensic scientists also have to be highly trained and undergo years of training,
including acquiring a bachelor's degree in forensic science at university.
• This is to ensure the job is carried out efficiently.
• Demonstrates the high expertise of this personnel, making sure the evidence and
information presented to the court is reliable.
• Despite these benefits of forensic scientists, there are many limitations that
accompany them.
• Such include the cost of a forensic scientist; first of all, their wage ranges from £20k-
£40k per year, as well as including the expense of testing all evidence, and the time
constraints surrounding these factors.
• This is especially the case when there are few forensic scientists available (low
availability) as it takes longer to work through and process all evidence.
• It will also take longer to receive test results due to budget cuts, especially if
departments have to work together.
• This can occur when crimes occur cross country lines or in different parts of the UK,
and specialist units work together to solve the same crime.
• However, not all areas in the UK have their own forensic teams due to a lack of
funding, and this means that there may be a lack of effectiveness in certain areas
due to this.
• This is not only affected by budget cuts, but degrees to get into a forensic scientist's
role are very expensive so this acts as a deterrent to many people.
• The use of forensic evidence is heavily criticised for revealing private information
about people which is very unethical.
• In some rare cases there are also inconsistent practices meaning labs are not all ran
in the same manner.
• Example - case of Adam Scott.
• A private forensic scientist re-used a plastic tray containing Scott's DNA in a rape
case, instead of disposing of it correctly.
• This led to him spending 5 months in jail despite phone records showing he was 180
miles away.
• This demonstrates the seriousness and ease of human error in forensic scientist
procedures as well as highlighting how practices need to be kept consistent to avoid
such errors.
• If care and attention are not present consistently, a miscarriage of justice may occur.
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,Police officers
• The police are the first personnel called to a crime scene, and their duty is to secure
the crime scene in an attempt to preserve evidence.
• Besides this, their first duty is to preserve human life.
• As trained professionals who aim to reduce crime as well as solve it, their initial
actions prove to be very important.
• Due to the nature and responsibilities of the police, they have certain strengths.
• There are specialist units within the police, such as the Crime Investigation
Department (CID) who specialises in serious crimes to ensure they are dealt with
appropriately.
• Additional teams include firearms and underwater, allowing them to deal with all
crime scenes.
• All departments also receive specialist training, making them more efficient in
dealing with crime scenes, and enduring evidence is not contaminated so they have
a bigger chance at catching the perpetrator.
• Also, due to the 24hour availability of the police, it is assured that a team will always
respond to a crime scene as quickly as possible, making the possibility of keeping it
secure higher.
• In addition, depending on the location of a crime scene, the response time is often
very quick, meaning there is less chance of contamination, making the effectiveness
higher.
• On the other hand, recent budget cuts have caused a cut of approximately 23% of
police staff resulting in fewer officers who are trained in certain areas; this leads to
lower availability as officers may be engaged in another issue and not be able to get
to a crime scene quickly.
• Budget cuts have also meant that police receive less specialist training, 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.
• Lack of police availability due to budget cuts was a clear factor in the Hillsborough
disaster, as the lack of officers led to overcrowding issues between fans, and this
demonstrated how the police can act inappropriately in criminal investigations.
• In addition to this, the inquest into the disaster found the blunders by police caused
or contributed to the disaster, and as a result of the lack of availability, victims had
been killed.
• A lack of expertise was also highly demonstrated in the case of Stephen Lawrence.
• The McPherson report published about the incident, claimed the police had
institutional racism, meaning they did not carry out their job appropriately.
• 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.
• These cases demonstrate how lack of funding, training and officers can discredit the
police, and cause harm to victims, limiting the effectiveness of their roles.
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, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
• The CPS was set up in 1986.
• Police will collect evidence and then the CPS will review these cases and decide
whether prosecution is appropriate or not.
• This then decides whether the cases are presented in court.
• Some strengths of the CPS are that they employ over 2000 solicitors and barristers
who have had several years of training.
• Some of these employees are specific to certain groups and have knowledge in that
particular area, like terrorism offences, gang crimes and fraud.
• This therefore prevents police bias.
• The CPS are available to both police and detectives 24/7. This is beneficial as
whenever they are needed, they are available.
• The CPS also provide support for victims; however, the hours are limited.
• As the CPS are a national organisation, they are consistent with charging cases.
• Contrary to this, the CPS can reject a request to charge a case if there is insufficient
evidence.
• Typically, this occurs in rape cases as only 1% are charged leaving victims with a lack
of justice.
• Funding and staffing cuts have resulted in an increase in the number of cases being
handled, which means that certain cases may take a long time to resolve.
• In particular, it can take years for a charge to be filed in a rape case.
• The CPS received £625 million in net funding for 2020/21.
• In the case of Damilola Taylor, the CPS put all their trust in the words from a 14-year-
old girl.
• Evidence, however, showed that the girl lied, and the CPS were criticized as the lies
were ‘extremely obvious’ and they shouldn’t have believed them.
• They were also criticized for the fact that little time was spent checking over the
evidence making sure everything was legitimate and factual.
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