Analysis of the procedures

There are a variety of universal procedures that are put into place for officers, SOCO’s and other official personnel to abide by when at a crime scene or analysing evidence. This is to ensure that no evidence will be overlooked or contaminated thus offering the best possible outcome.

One procedure used for attending a crime scene and analysing evidence is the use of personal protection equipment (PPE). The use of personal protection equipment only has the ability of benefiting the investigation process as it ensures that the evidence found at the crime scene will not be contaminated by individuals who are handling it, therefore it will be preserved. Therefore when presenting the evidence in court it can be deemed as reliable as it has not been tampered with and potentially tells the story of the criminal act. In addition personal protection equipment will protect the individual from the crime scene, such as coming into contact with hazardous substances, thus ensuring the safety of individuals attending the scene.

A second procedure which is carried out when a crime scene comes under analysis is cordoning off the scene. Cordoning off the scene will be beneficial to the investigation as it has the ability to protect any unwanted personnel’s entering the scene which have the potential of damaging or contaminating the enclosed evidence. It will also prevent the media coming in close contact with the scene which may have detrimental effects upon the investigation. As if the media gets a hold of disclosed information regarding the case, they will potentially leak the information into the public in order to achieve a higher profit. Thus the public will be aware of private information which may jeopardise the investigation process. For example that have been many situations where individuals have come forward to committing a serious offence as a result of information they have attained from the media, as they want recognition and feel a sense of power by admitting to the crime. It typically happens a lot with ‘copycat’ individuals. If the procedure isn’t carried out correctly it can have detrimental effects upon the investigation, as the media may be able to obtain private information, evidence may be left out of the area, thus has the potentially of being contaminated which will result in neglecting of evidence.

Another procedure which is carried out at a crime scene is the initial scene assessment. The procedure can be considered very beneficial to the investigation process as it enables for all information regarding the crime scene to be recorded before it has been analysed. Therefore it allows any official to refer back the entry to identify different aspects of the scene, for example the time of day, the weather, where the evidence was collected etc. However if the initial scene assessment was carried out adequately it may have detrimental effects upon the investigation. As when called upon in court, if the initial scene assessment doesn’t include specific information such as the date or time the jury may see the investigators as being incapable of carrying out a specific procedure therefore will question their reliability of other procedures which were to be carried out during the investigation process.

A procedure which is carried out when analysing a crime scene is the common approach path. The procedure will be beneficial to the investigation as its purpose is to prevent contamination of evidence, this is accomplished by ensuring that individuals who attend the crime scene do not walk over potential evidence. However if individuals do not adhere to the common approach path, they have the potential of contaminating evidence, thus it will be incapable of being used as proof when called upon in court.

To conclude all procedures discussed are necessary to be completed at a crime scene to ensure the most beneficial outcome of the criminal investigation. Specific procedures may be more beneficial to an investigation, as it is essential such as the use of PPE, as if the evidence was contaminated it would be disregarded thus prove no relevance. However if the procedures are not implemented correctly then they can cause detrimental effects to the investigation, as it can jeopardise the evidence thus can not be used to demonstrate facts when called upon in court.