Processing the Crime Scene
Summary
TLDRThis script offers an in-depth guide to processing a homicide crime scene, emphasizing the importance of thorough evidence collection and crime scene reconstruction. It outlines various search methods, including lane, grid, zone, and spiral searches, and stresses the need for careful consideration before evidence collection to avoid disrupting potential reconstruction scenarios. The script also highlights the significance of maintaining evidence integrity and the consequences of overlooked evidence, as illustrated by a real-world example of a missed gun at a shooting scene.
Takeaways
- 🔍 Start the crime scene investigation by documenting the exterior and general vicinity before moving inside to process the scene.
- 📸 Photograph and measure any points of entry, such as windows or doors, and use these as starting points for indoor processing.
- 👥 Prioritize the collection of evidence with the team, and consider crime scene reconstruction before collecting to avoid disrupting the scene.
- 🔬 Use tent numbers to mark and identify pieces of evidence before collection, which is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the scene.
- 🔎 Different search methods like lane, grid, zone, and spiral searches are used depending on the size and nature of the area to be searched.
- 🏠 For indoor scenes, zone search is preferred for its thoroughness, while spiral search is less common indoors.
- 💡 Use a flashlight at an oblique angle to highlight evidence, especially in small, detailed areas, ensuring a comprehensive search.
- 🚫 Remember to turn on lights to aid in the search, as darkness can obscure evidence.
- 🔑 Collect, preserve, inventory, package, transport, and submit evidence carefully to maintain its integrity and prevent contamination.
- 👀 Listen to the evidence; it can provide insights and theories about the crime that may not be immediately apparent.
- 🔮 Crime scene reconstruction uses scientific methods and deductive reasoning to understand the sequence of events, which can be vital for proving or disproving witness and suspect statements.
Q & A
What is the initial step in processing a homicide scene?
-The initial step in processing a homicide scene is to start outside the residence, document any signs of evidence outside, photograph it, and add it to the sketch along with measurements of the general vicinity.
Why is it important to document the outside of a crime scene before entering?
-Documenting the outside of a crime scene is crucial as it can provide valuable evidence, such as points of entry, escape routes, or any signs that could link to the crime, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the crime scene.
What is a common method used to mark and identify evidence at a crime scene?
-A common method used to mark and identify evidence at a crime scene is by placing tent numbers around each piece of evidence before collecting anything.
Why is crime scene reconstruction considered before collecting evidence?
-Crime scene reconstruction is considered before collecting evidence to ensure that the collection process does not disrupt the scene in a way that could hinder the understanding of the events that occurred, such as bullet trajectory or blood stain patterns.
What are the four types of crime scene searches mentioned in the script?
-The four types of crime scene searches mentioned are the lane or strip search, the grid search, the zone search, and the spiral search.
Why is the zone search preferred for indoor crime scenes?
-The zone search is preferred for indoor crime scenes because it involves dividing the area into smaller zones and searching each one thoroughly, which helps in being meticulous and ensuring no area is missed.
How does the grid search differ from the lane or strip search?
-The grid search differs from the lane or strip search in that it involves changing direction and double backing, ensuring the area is covered twice for a more thorough search.
What is the purpose of using a flashlight during the zone search?
-Using a flashlight during the zone search helps to focus attention on smaller areas at a time and use an oblique angle to create shadows that can reveal evidence that might blend in with the surroundings.
Why is it crucial to consider the integrity of evidence during its collection and handling?
-Maintaining the integrity of evidence is crucial to ensure that it remains uncontaminated and effective for the investigation, as compromised evidence could be deemed inadmissible in court.
What is an example of a situation where thorough searching is critical, as illustrated in the script?
-An example where thorough searching is critical is the situation where a gun was missed at a shooting scene near Georgia State University, highlighting the importance of careful and comprehensive searches to avoid missing crucial evidence.
Outlines
🔍 Crime Scene Investigation: Initial Steps and Evidence Collection
This paragraph outlines the initial steps in processing a homicide scene. It emphasizes starting with an examination of the exterior for any evidence, then moving to a point of entry or a chosen entryway to begin interior processing. The importance of documenting the scene through photography, measurements, and sketches is highlighted. The paragraph also stresses the need for crime scene reconstruction before evidence collection, suggesting a walk-through to understand the scene's narrative. The use of tent numbers for marking evidence before collection is mentioned, along with the need for a collaborative approach among investigators to theorize and interpret the evidence.
🔎 Crime Scene Search Methods: Strategies for Evidence Discovery
The second paragraph delves into various search methods used in crime scene investigation, including the lane or strip search, grid search, zone search, and spiral search. It explains the circumstances in which each method is most effective, such as the zone search being the preferred method for indoor scenes. The paragraph also discusses considerations for choosing a search strategy, such as the size of the area and whether the scene is indoors or outdoors. It highlights the importance of thoroughness in evidence search, ensuring that all potential evidence is accounted for.
🔦 Zone Search Technique and Its Application in Indoor Crime Scenes
This paragraph focuses on the preferred zone search technique for indoor crime scenes, detailing how to divide the area into smaller zones for thorough examination. It describes the use of a flashlight at an oblique angle to reveal evidence that might blend into the surroundings. The importance of turning on lights to facilitate the search and the methodical approach of searching each zone carefully before moving on to the next is emphasized. The paragraph also touches on the use of the zone search in vehicles, dividing them into distinct areas for systematic searching.
🌀 Spiral Search Method and Its Outdoor Crime Scene Application
The fourth paragraph introduces the spiral search method, which can be used to start from the center of a scene and move outward or from the outside in. It discusses the suitability of this method for outdoor scenes, such as bombing incidents, where the search begins at the point of explosion and expands in a spiral pattern. The paragraph advises caution to avoid walking over potential evidence and maintaining a tight search pattern to ensure no gaps are left. It also mentions the use of flags to mark evidence found during the spiral search for easy collection and documentation.
🚓 The Importance of Thorough Evidence Collection and Crime Scene Reconstruction
The final paragraph discusses the critical nature of detailed evidence collection and the consequences of missing crucial evidence, as illustrated by a real-life example where a gun was found near a shooting scene after the initial investigation had concluded. It underscores the necessity of being meticulous and considering odd places for evidence. The paragraph also explains crime scene reconstruction, which involves using scientific methods and deductive reasoning to understand the sequence of events in a crime. It highlights the role of reconstruction in corroborating or refuting witness and suspect statements and mentions blood stain pattern analysis and firearms examination as examples of reconstruction techniques.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Homicide Scene
💡Evidence Collection
💡Crime Scene Reconstruction
💡Search Methods
💡Zone Search
💡Spiral Search
💡Preservation of Evidence
💡Blood Stain Pattern Analysis
💡Firearms Analysis
💡Contamination
Highlights
Documenting the outside of a crime scene for evidence before processing the interior.
The importance of photographing and measuring the crime scene's entry points.
Starting the interior processing from the front door and moving towards the body.
Prioritizing the collection of evidence based on its importance and potential for reconstruction.
Considering crime scene reconstruction before collecting evidence to avoid disrupting the scene.
Using tent numbers to mark and organize evidence for collection.
The necessity of photographing and sketching evidence before collection.
The role of evidence in telling a story and the investigator's role in listening to it.
Different crime scene search methods: lane, grid, zone, and spiral searches.
Choosing the right search strategy based on the size and nature of the crime scene.
The zone search method's effectiveness for indoor crime scenes.
The use of a flashlight for focused and thorough searching of evidence.
The importance of turning on lights to aid in the search for evidence.
The spiral search method's application in outdoor scenes, such as bombing incidents.
Ensuring thoroughness in crime scene searches by considering environmental factors.
The process of collecting, preserving, packaging, transporting, and submitting evidence.
The critical role of maintaining the integrity of evidence during its handling.
The case study of a missed gun at a shooting scene near Georgia State University.
The necessity of careful and repeated searching to avoid missing crucial evidence.
The concept of crime scene reconstruction and its importance in understanding the sequence of events.
Techniques such as blood stain pattern analysis and firearm trajectory in reconstruction.
Transcripts
and we're talking about now processing
the scene and where to begin here we
have this diagram of a residence with
these rooms in it it's a homicide scene
there's the body so what we would do is
normally we would start outside document
the outside if there's any signs of uh
evidence outside we would collect that
evidence uh photograph it add it to our
sketch take the measurements and another
thing other than just the four sides is
the general vicinity itself so this
number five is showing the area so that
would be where we could start outside
then if you have a point of entry you
might go ahead and photograph let's say
that it was the window back here of the
dining room well then you could perhaps
photograph that window and then start
your processing inside inside that
window if you're pretty sure about the
point of entry otherwise you're probably
just going to choose one of the entry
ways so here's a front door here's a
back door to begin your process or your
photographing and processing of the
scene so uh let's say we start here at
the front
door then we could process this this
area the hallway leading up to the
body once we
have process this area and we process
the area of the body then we can move on
to other areas that are less important
so the living room the dining room the
family room and then perhaps upstairs at
a homicide scene you're going to want to
check out the entire
house um
and so that's a that's kind of a a way
to get started further in processing the
crime
scene uh the main points we're going to
prioritize the collection of evidence so
the investigator in charge and the team
members will determine the order in
which evidence is collected and a very
important thing to keep in mind here I
touched on a moment ago is we need to
consider crime scene reconstruction
before we collect evidence so uh what
will often happen is you'll do your walk
through you'll go back in you'll do your
search we'll talk about the search in a
moment and we'll search out
evidence we will then
be placing these tent
numbers we see these all the time on TV
and in the movies we actually do use
these that's accurate and we'll put our
little numbers down around everything
before we start collecting anything
there's other steps we have to
photograph all of our evidence we have
to measure it and add it to our sketch
uh some of it we may have to do samples
of some sort and then we'll be
collecting evidence well before we
collect evidence we need to consider
crime scene
reconstruction as an example let's say
that we have uh a some gun shots were
fired in the in the scene and there is a
bullet hole
in uh an object the bullet passes
through and then goes into a wall well
what we're going to want to do is try
out bullet trajectory analysis showing
the path of the bullet well if this
object that the bullet passed through is
something we're going to collect as
evidence maybe it's a small figurine a
wood carving something like that we
would not want to collect the evidence
and then go gee should we do any
reconstruction because now we have moved
the item that had the bullet hole in it
so before we collect evidence we should
all stop people should get together if
there's more than one of you there and
say now what do we think about this so
far uh what kind of theories do we have
what does the evidence say to us I like
to to say that the evidence is talking
to us it's actually probably screaming
at us it's it's like my grandkids
they're say the evidence is going on
look at me look at me look at me that's
what my grandkids do you know when
they're doing something they want me to
look at them uh and they're showing off
well the evidence is doing the same
thing it's saying look at me but a lot
of times what csis will end up doing is
going okay let's see I've got to uh find
the evidence okay I found it all I got
to photograph it uh now I've got to put
it on my sketch okay I got that I got
those did I get all the measurements
okay now what bags do I put these things
in do I use plastic or paper okay I and
then they collect it all and they're
just focused on the tasks alone and they
just completely missed the opportunity
to listen to the evidence to let the
evidence tell it tell them what happened
so before collecting evidence you stop
you look at it you talk it over and if
there is any evidence that can help you
to do a reconstruction like the bullet
trajectory or blood stain evidence some
items will have blood stain patterns on
them if you collect them and move them
now you have a problem with the with the
Reconstruction so those things need to
stay so we need to consider that as we
prioritize the collection of
evidence now the next thing we want to
talk about is um crime scene search
methods so we need to when we're doing
this process in the scene we need to
find evidence a lot of evidence is in
plain view it's hard to miss uh if we
don't pay attention we'll just trip
right over it it's right there there's
the body there's the the gun uh there is
whatever else but often evidence is hard
to find sometimes it's very small hard
to see sometimes it's invisible such as
DNA and body fluids uh so we have to
search out for our evidence and there
are several different ways to do that so
the investigator in charge is going to
consider the different search strategies
for crime scenes depending upon the
local and the number of officials
available to Aid in searching
so there are four types of
searches and those four types are the
lane or strip search the grid search The
Zone CH search and the spiral search now
there are some things to consider when
choosing a strategy a search strategy or
method uh the size of the area is one
are we indoors or we Outdoors
that sort of thing so let's look let's
just jump into it and look at these
different strategies so the first one is
the lane or strip
search so here's a little
diagram uh couple of them and basically
with a lane or strip search you just
walk along and if you have multiple
Searchers you can actually walk parallel
to each other and cover a large area so
let's say you're Outdoors you have a
large area you can get several Searchers
side by side and just walk through the
area searching as you go now a couple
things to keep in mind if you're going
to do this Outdoors you want to make
sure if you have more than one person
and you're doing like this that they're
not too far
apart uh they need to be close enough to
be able to
see uh a little bit of overlapping area
so that if one person might miss
something right here in between the
other one will pick it up uh and a lot
of that depends on the terrain also as
you're going along in a row let's say
there's four people in a row you're
using police Cadets or something like
that uh if somebody finds something the
whole Road the whole line stops
everybody stops they stay where they are
and they don't move any further you want
everybody to stay together that way you
ensure that you're you're going to cover
the whole area if the line starts go
becoming uneven it can actually go you
know stop being straight and you'll have
gaps so everybody stops all right you
can also use this kind of a search
method indoors so here we have uh a
lane thing that you could do indoors all
by yourself you could even do this
indoors with more than one person
probably not but that that would be the
lane or strip
search where I see it used most is
outdoors all right so that's that's one
way of searching a second way is to use
the grid search now grid search is a bit
like a lane search but you change
direction and double back you go across
and back and across and back and then
you do it the other direction
like so that way you're covering every
area
twice and that helps you to be a little
more thorough takes twice as long but it
gives you a much more thorough search of
the area and then the third search
technique is the one I prefer especially
indoors and that is the zone surch now
with a Zone surch basically all you do
is you divide the area to be searched
into smaller areas or
zones and then each one of these zones
is searched one at a time very
thoroughly if this was a room here I
would probably make the Zone even
smaller than what you see on the screen
I take a small area and then I search it
very
carefully I use my
flashlight by the way on television the
way they use a flashlight is they put
the flashlight alongside their head and
they walk around in the dark looking for
evidence that's what they do on TV
that's why I don't watch those CSI
programs because I got tired to
screening at my television turn on the
lights because they never turned the
lights on it was always dark in their
crime scenes well you know what once you
have done your walk through and you've
recorded the which lights are on and
which are off turn on the lights it's
going to be a lot easier to find
evidence and to process your scene when
you have light but still even if there's
a lot of light I'm going to use my
flashlight because what I'll do is use
my light at a low oblique angle on the
floors on
furniture often there will be things
that blend in with the floor I'll have
my little flashlight and you can get
really power ful ones that's what you
want and use an oblique angle and then
see your evidence more clearly also what
that flashlight allows you to do is
focus your attention into a smaller area
if you just walk in and kind of look
around I don't see anything here you'll
never find anything except the big stuff
that you're going to trip over anyway
finding small items you need to be very
focused and look at small areas at a
time by using a flashlight I can paint
the whole area slowly looking carefully
making sure I don't miss any area and in
those small areas use my light at an
oblique angle causing Shadows I'll look
um now this is by the way after we've
taken our overview photographs so now we
can move things this is the search part
uh I've already done that so now I can
move things in my search so I can look
underneath Furniture I can lift cushions
and look under cushions look behind
pillows I can look in lampshades I can
look at the ceiling the walls don't
forget to look at the ceiling um in
drawers whatever I need to do and I'm
very thorough so once I have finished uh
covering one of these zones then I can
move to the next Zone and what is
helpful is if there is more than one of
you there
is somebody else follows you and does
your Zone your first Zone once you're
done and let them see if they find
anything now as you find things again
you're probably going to use your
markers so that is the Zone search and
um that's the that's the search for
indoors that I probably used 99% of the
time zone search is also very helpful in
something like uh a vehicle so you can
just say that the driver's uh seat front
seat area driver's side or left side if
you're if it's not U you right-and drive
car uh the driver's side uh front seat
area would be Zone one the back seat
area on the driver's side or left side
would be zone two zone three passenger
side front zone four back seat and then
zone five the trunk and zone six the
engine compartment so very simple
setting up those zones searching them
one at a time if instead what you did
was just lean in and look at the whole
front area you'd probably miss things so
we take our time and we do it by
zones
then the fourth uh way of searching is
the spiral search so with a spiral
search uh you can do it one of two ways
you can start in the middle of your
scene and work your way
outward or you could actually start
outside the scene and work your way
inward though that seems to be much more
difficult to kind of keep track of where
you are now where would you use this
well I definitely would not use this
indoors um unless we're talking about an
indoor stadium and it's the playing
field something like that maybe that
might be a time to do the spiral search
but typically what we find is we use
that outdoors and for a scene such as a
bombing scene so you have an explosion
you'll have a crater you'll have the the
initial point of explosion and you can
start there and then just start
searching by walk in a spiral fashion
going outward looking for evidence and
then you just keep going until you run
out of evidence and then go some more
and then when you're satisfied you've
covered the area you stop so that's a
spiral search uh now a couple things to
keep in mind there is number one when
you're walking to the center you may be
walking over evidence so you have to be
very careful uh walk
carefully and uh you know see where
you're
stepping uh then second is there's a
tendency when some people do this when
they get further out the spacing gets
larger but keep it nice and tight again
tight enough so that you can
see everything as you go by each time in
that area that you're supposed to see
that there's no gaps you're not too far
away now as far as an outdoor search
those little wire
uh devices that have a flag on them and
you just go ahead as you find evidence
as you are doing the spiral search and
you just stick one of those uh little
Flags in the ground right where your
evidence is and then keep going and then
it's easy to come back uh measure where
your evidence is photograph it collect
it so that's the spiral
search so we have the lane or strip
search
the grid search The Zone search and the
spiral search as I said zone is usually
going to be what you use
indoors spiral
search would be the least likely to use
indoors you can do the lane or strip
search and the grid search indoors and
you'll just look at the scene and decide
what is uh most appropriate for what you
have next point on processing the crime
scene we're going to collect preserve
inventory package transport and submit
evidence so the team members that's all
of you are going to ensure that we
collect the evidence colle uh correctly
we preserve it properly we package it uh
in the right materials and then we
transport it to be booked into
evidence and the handling of physical
evidence is one of the most important
factors of the investigation we need to
handle it properly so that we maintain
the Integrity of the evidence we do not
contaminate it and then it will be
effective for our um our our case I want
to show you a video in that shooting
where four people shot near Georgia
State University near J.R crickets
Jennifer Bellamy on the scene our crew
found a gun in the
street our crew not police not
investigators but we did Jen Jennifer
explain to us exactly walk us through
how you guys on the scene were able to
find this gun well Vinnie this happened
about 25 minutes ago and if you look
right here the gun is still here in the
middle of the street what happened is
one of uh uh the vehicles that was
parked along the street moved to get
their state their day started and after
that car moved out of this parking space
my photographer JoJo Johnson noticed
this gun and said whoa what is this out
here uh police have arrived on the scene
they're checking out but the gun is
still where it was found right here in
the middle of the street now this is all
after a quadruple shooting that happened
here last night on cide Street we're
told that this may have all started as
an attempted robbery right now police
still sorting out information and
clearly there's more investigating to be
done with this gun found out here where
finny yeah uh Jennifer so police were
already gone police had left the scene
the investigation was over when you
found the gun well the investigation on
going but the scene had been cleared vny
and we spoke with police overnight and
they told us that there were two guns
recovered but clearly there is a third
out here that we just found that is most
likely connected to what was going on
this is just in the street a few feet
away from the buildings that had their
Windows shot out as a part of the
situation that happened last night all
right Jen if you if you can Jennifer if
you could for us show us where the
shooting was and then where the gun was
found how close in proximity here it's
it's right there can you kind of show us
camera JoJo can we turn around and show
this is the JR Crickets where uh we're
told that the shooting happened just
around you can see the boarded up
Windows there was shattered glass out
here and just a few feet away if you
turn walk with me and you'll see right
here in this parking lot just adjacent
to the building is where we've found
that gun so just a matter of feet
imagine if you were the chief of police
or the CSI
supervisor and you see that first thing
in the morning you're going to be
wondering what what's with my
csis and you noticed how close to the
shooting this gun was it was you know
just a few feet away from the holes in
the windows now obviously what they're
saying is the gun was underneath a park
car but that just shows us that we have
to search carefully Not only was the gun
uh under a park car but over here you
can see there's a cartridge case and the
information that I was able to get said
that there were two additional shell
casings is what it they're cartridge
cases but here's a picture of one of
them and even the gun has blood stain on
it and it was
missed um not acceptable not acceptable
uh can we miss things at a crime scene
well of course it's going to happen a
lot of evidence is small uh there's
environmental factors lighting but
something like a gun you had a shooting
uh wouldn't you be looking for cartridge
cases as well at a shooting scene count
how many bullet holes there are find out
from Witnesses how many shots were fired
see how many cartridge cases you have
found and then maybe there should be
some more and search until you have
looked everywhere uh so that's kind of a
that's a big one all right so I I
certainly would not want to be the csis
that missed that and a lot of times you
have to look in the oddest places for
things often you have to take things
apart to be able to get to where you
want to look at something so we have to
be very
thorough another point in the processing
of a crime scene uh detailed evidence
collection um this is where uh we're
going to collect any and all potential
evidence so that's one of the steps that
we take again we talked about doing this
after we have discussed whether we need
to do crime scene reconstruction and if
we do we leave that evidence alone until
the Reconstruction is finished speaking
of crime scene reconstruction here we
have a little information about that
what is crime scene reconstruction the
use of scientific methods physical
evidence deductive reasoning and their
inter relationships to gain explicit
knowledge of the series of events that
surround the commission of a crime so
this is a very deliberate act or process
we're going to look at our
evidence uh we're going to do some
calculations perhaps as with blood stain
pattern interpretation where we're even
going to measure blood stain and get
angles from that uh we're going to use
our deductive
reasoning and how the evidence all
interrelates
in order to come up with conclusions now
this is very important because a lot of
what we do is prove or disprove
Witnesses and suspects and even victims
statements and so being able to prove
out how things happen is very important
uh blood stain patter analysis is a good
example you can
identify uh where people were uh their
identity who's blood was it the number
of blows that were uh were given
Firearms is another really good example
we can learn about trajectory which is
the path of the bullet you know that
could be very important to our case
shooting distance uh gunshot residue and
so forth crime scene reconstruction is
something that we do uh we at many
scenes not all but when you have an
opportunity hopefully you're not going
to miss
it
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