jimtrue.com : school : CJT2141 : 02: Crime Scene
Posted by Jim True on January 22, 2003 6:00 AM. Last Updated October 22, 2006 9:23 PM
Disclaimer for all material noted here is at the bottom of this web page.
* Physical Evidence - encompasses any and all objects that can establish that a
crime has been committed or can provide a link between a crime and its victim
or a crime and its perpetrator.
shows crime has been committed, link between the victim and crime, link suspect
to the crime, or link victim to the suspect.
Common types of physical evidence:
Fibers
Hair
Prints
Blood
Cigarette Butt
Semen
Clothing
Gun
Ammo
Soil
Saliva
Skin
Paint Chips
Tool Marks
Jewelry
Fuel/Petroleum Products
Bones
Sink
GSR
Glass
Paper
Drugs
Crime Scene
1 Secure the Scene
2 Walk through
3 Photo/Document the Scene)
4 Search
5 Collect and Package Evidence
Evidence, document where you found it and you package it for shipment to the
crime lab.
Biological - something that breathes (paper)
Non Biological - plastic
Arson/Fire Debris - airtight
Fiber, Trace Evidence -
Vacuuming - in quadrants and mark the quadrant (vehicles), Correlate evidence
to the quadrant.
Chain of Custody -
Once something is determined is evidence, you initiate chain of custody,
documentation of where the evidence was collected and every person that has
handled the evidence and where the evidence has gone. Document every move that
the evidence has taken.
1. Collected
2. Property Receipt
3. Courier to Evidence Collection
4. Evidence Collection signs out to Crime Lab
Control Samples - as evidence gets smaller, must be concerned about
contamination. QTip with blood evidence, QTip with water is the control sample.
Every evidence collected needs to have control samples for comparison.
Crime Scene Safety - Chemical, Biological hazards, hepatitis, AIDS. Protective
clothing, protective gloves.
Legal Considerations at the Crime Scene - once you've released the crime scene,
you must get a warrant to get access to the crime scene.
Disclaimer: These are MY notes taken from classroom lectures while I'm in the classroom. While I'm perfectly happy to share my notes with my classmates and I know I take very good notes, you should still make every effort to attend the class and TAKE YOUR OWN NOTES. I will not transcribe everything the instructor says in the classroom, and I will NEVER post pre-exam reviews. My notes will not replace the value of actually attending class and taking your own class notes.I also cannot attest to their accuracy, other than they are what was provided in the lecture; you should not reference my notes as "expert opionion" by any means, and if you notice an error or omission, please do me the favor of e-mailing me with the correction and I will re-post my notes. End of Disclaimer.