Exam (elaborations)
WJEC Criminology Unit 3 AC1.1
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This is my answer to AC1.1 for Unit 3, where I achieved 94/100 for the controlled assessment and an A* for the overall diploma.
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AC1.1Crime Scene Investigators (CSIs)
CSIs are civilians who undergo specialist training and majority have degrees in science and they provide 24/7
on-call service. Their role is to collect and process evidence from crime scenes, as well as from post mortems
and accidents. They also have the key role of preserving evidence in an uncontaminated condition, to ensure
the evidence doesn’t become inadmissible in court. The main activities they partake in include photographing
a crime scene, items and people, giving evidence in court, attending post mortem examinations of suspicious
deaths etc.
Strengths
One strength of CSIs is that they will gather evidence from a crime scene that could link suspects to the crime
scene or victim, which shows that they have high expertise within their roles. Another effectiveness of CSIs is
that the evidence they collect may also prove that a suspect is actually innocent. For example, their fingerprint
may not match those found at the crime scene by the CSI.
Limitations
One limitation of CSIs is that the work requires specialist skills, as well as patience, meticulous care and
attention to detail and some CSIs do fail to collect evidence correctly which leads to evidence becoming
contaminated and lead to a guilty person going free or an innocent person being convicted, which shows there
can be lack of expertise. This was present in the Amanda Knox case, where Knox was wrongfully convicted of
the murder of Meredith Kercher, in Italy. CSIs showed their ineffectiveness in this case as when they were
gathering all the evidence from the crime scene, they failed to wear the appropriate equipment to ensure that
they don’t cause any contamination, and as a result, the evidence did become contaminated and led to the
wrongful conviction of Knox. Another limitation is the work can be very emotionally draining which could lead
to burn out and people leaving the profession and low staff, which can result in a lack of availability. A final
limitation is that they can be expensive to pay, and due to funding cuts made by the government, that money
may not be available.
Police Officers
Police officers are also civilians and they are the personnel who are first to arrive at a crime scene and they
have a vital role at the beginning of any investigation. Their main duty is to protect the public by attending
emergencies. Another key role in an investigation is to preserve any evidence, by cordoning it off from the
public to avoid any contamination of evidence. They also arrest suspects and take any statements from
witnesses. They work during the ‘golden hour’ which is the name of the time immediately after a crime has
been discovered.
Strengths
A strength of the police is that they are a 24/7 service, which means that they are available at all times, which
means they can respond quickly to emergency calls.
Limitations
However, one limitation of the police is that they are expensive, with salaries of a police averaging from
£21,402 - £41,130, which shows that costs may be an issue. As well as this, the government have recently
made extensive cuts, resulting in 20,000 police officers being cut, which leads to another limitation that their
availability will be very limited which means it will take longer for them to attend emergency calls. The police
have also been criticised as they sometimes fail to secure crime scenes and to ensure that evidence is being
preserved properly. The police have also been criticised on their expertise as they sometimes fail to investigate
certain crimes, such as domestic abuse and honour crimes. The lack of police expertise was present in the case
of Banaz Mahmod, where she was killed by her family after she had reported to the police several times that
her family were planning to kill her but the police did not take Banaz seriously and had failed to make any
investigations, which led to her being murdered by her family.
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