Crime Scene Integrity and Evidence Collection

Midterm Essay Two

April Wesley

Criminal Investigation, CJ210

August 16, 2006

Crime Scene Integrity and Evidence Collection, Page 1

The integrity of a crime scene is extremely important to every aspect of
investigation and prosecution. The first officer on scene begins with establishing
the crime scene and securing it. This officer or investigator needs to keep people
out of the area where the crime occurred, and also where the perpetrator may have
been before or after the crime occurred. Any area where the victim or suspect was
present needs to be sealed off. If there are any witnesses present, the officer
needs to detain and separate them so that they cannot taint each other’s memories
with discussion of their observations. Also, the officer must obtain consent to
search the crime scene from whomever controls it. However, in the case that the
victim needs medical assistance, the victim becomes the priority, but the officer
must ask the paramedics not to touch anything that is not absolutely necessary to
gaining access to the victim. Also, he will tell the paramedics to carry the
victim out on a stretcher instead of rolling the victim out. The efforts of the
paramedics can often compromise important evidence like blood spatter, foot or
shoe impressions, or other evidence. The victim himself may have evidence on his
person, as in the clothing he is wearing or skin under his nails. His wounds may
also indicate the type of weapon used, and can give a clue to the emotions of the
perpetrator. This may help to establish a suspect and a motive. Even as the
officer is getting help for the victim, he must make sure that he does not allow
anyone into the crime scene area other than the medics. This would include
reporters, government officials, local residents, curious onlookers, or even other
officers who have no involvement. The officer must do everything in his power to
ensure the integrity of the crime scene. He must also record the time that every
action was taken. With those records, it would be difficult for the defense to
portray the officer as lazy, not thorough, or incompetent if the case goes to
court. Simply, he must secure the area, assist the victim, if applicable, and make
sure that nothing is touched,

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moved, or taken. This will be simple as long as he keeps everyone away from the
area. If the officer can accomplish all this, he will maintain the integrity of
the crime scene and help secure the capture and conviction of the perpetrator.
Once the team arrives, the crime scene investigation and evidence collection
will really begin. The team may be a group of two or more investigators and/or the
evidence collection technicians. They will start by taking
pictures, making sketches, and taking notes before they actually touch anything.
Something as insignificant as the placement of a certain object can turn out to be
important to the investigation, so these pictures, sketches, and notes are
imperative to the integrity of the investigation. The crime scene is the only
chance to recognize, collect, and record physical evidence.
The investigators and technicians will all start by putting gloves on. This
ensures that the investigator’s or tech’s touch will not contaminate any evidence.
Next, they will do a walk-through and take photographs of the entire crime scene
to establish the perpetrator’s point of entry, path through the premises, the
various rooms he entered, and the location of physical evidence. The investigator
will make sketches of the crime scene containing all relevant information such as
distances between objects or spatial relationships between items of evidence,
indoors or out. After pictures are taken, sketches are drawn, and areas of
physical evidence are established, the evidence collection begins.
There are three rules of evidence collection. First, the investigator or
evidence technician must control all variables. Second, background material must
be collected. Third, a sufficient quantity of the sample must be obtained. These
rules can be imperative to the prosecution. For example, a woman was poisoning
bottles of Excedrin and giving the pills to her husband. He did die, but his death
determined to be of natural causes. The

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woman protested this finding, because his insurance would pay an extra $100,000 if
his death was an accident, or murder. To ensure that she could make people believe
it was a case of product tampering, she poisoned other
bottles and put them on store shelves. Another woman whom she did not even know
also died from the poison. This woman may have never been convicted had it not
been for the perfect procedure in the evidence collection.
The investigators found the cup where she had been crushing the poison. The woman
had also been crushing her algae pills for her aquarium in that same cup. Because
of the diligence of the evidence team, this woman was arrested and convicted of
two murders and product tampering. This is a true life example of how correct
procedure in evidence collection can aid the prosecution of a criminal.
As for the collection and preservation of the evidence, there are many
guidelines. First, there must be no alteration of its inherent quality or
composition. All evidence needs to be tagged. This tag needs to include date,
time, case number, name of investigator, name of victim or suspect when possible,
and description of evidence. Evidence can be tainted in many ways, but
there are many ways to make sure that this does not happen. Evidence must be put
into fresh, clean, sealable, leak-proof containers. Plastic is preferred when it
can be used. You would not want powder evidence to leak from a seam or opening in
an envelope, or liquid evidence to leak or evaporate from an improperly stoppered
container. You would also not want any bacterial or chemical contamination from
unclean containers. You also need to make sure that each piece of evidence goes
into a separate container. You can never mix evidence in the same container. You
must keep evidence out of sunlight or other elements, and refrigerate evidence if
needed. Important evidence can decompose or be altered from exposure to light,
heat, or bacteria. You also must make sure that the evidence is handled as little
as possible. You can compromise evidence accidentally by altering a document with
a fresh fold or crease, or tearing or cutting a garment. Lastly, the evidence
needs to be delivered to the lab as soon as possible. You don’t want the

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evidence to change hands any more than it has to, so it is best if the
investigator or technician delivers the evidence to the lab personally.
A few other rules are also needed. For example, bodily fluids must be air
dried before storage. Once dry, they must be stored in a paper bag. The sample can
mold or putrefy in a plastic bag, and the evidence would be useless. This could
cost the capture of the suspect and/or his conviction. Also, if an accelerant is
recovered as
evidence in an arson case, or any case involving a fire, it should be stored in a
metal container since it can evaporate or eat through a plastic container. I’m
sure that there are many more exceptions to the rules, since there are special
materials that require special handling.
Without crime scene integrity and proper evidence collection, our whole
American criminal justice system would be compromised. The prosecutor depends on
evidence to indict and convict criminals, and it is up to our police officers,
investigators, and crime scene technicians to collect and preserve that evidence.
Without their hard work, the lab would have a difficult, if not impossible job. If
the rules of crime scene integrity and evidence collection are not followed,
criminals walk free. Not following rules creates reasonable doubt in the minds of
the jury. If we were jurors on a case where the evidence technicians did not
properly collect the evidence, would we convict the defendant? Probably not, since
we would have some knowledge of the possibility of tainted evidence. Guilty men
and women walk free every day for this reason. Not only do guilty men and women
walk free, but tainted evidence can also help to convict an innocent man or woman.
Either way, someone loses, whether it is the victim or the defendant. In any case
where someone is convicted or acquitted wrongly, the entire criminal justice
system loses. If our police officers, investigators, and crime scene technicians
don’t do their jobs perfectly, in the end, we all lose.