Crime Scene Procedures for Police Officers and Investigators

Police officers and investigators that work for law enforcement agencies in the nation must learn about crime scene procedures in order to be successful in their goals of aiding, serving, and protecting the public. The actions that take place during an investigation that involves a crime scene has the potential to play a vital role when it comes to the resolution of the case. No witnesses should be overlooked and all forms of evidence that are physical based must be considered and not tainted in any manner. While it is important to understand that policies and procedures will vary from one jurisdiction to another, there are many basic crime scene procedures that should take place when a crime has been attempted or performed against some type of property, an individual, or another living creature.

The Initial Response to a Crime Scene

The initial response that a police officer or an investigator makes to a crime scene is the most important aspect of the entire investigation that will take place to determine the details of the crime that has been committed. The crime scene must be preserved as much as possible with little to no contamination. Disturbing physical evidence that may be present at a crime scene could mean the difference between a case being solved and not being solved. The law enforcement officers that arrive on the scene must make many observations. It is important to see who is at the scene, events that are transpiring at the scene, any physical items that could be evidence and even the conditions surrounding the scene - such as weather conditions, how people are relating to each other, and other situations.

Ensuring Safety

The next step that law enforcement officers should indulge in is ensuring that all individuals that are in or around the crime scene are completely safe. In addition to this, it is important that the law enforcement response team guarantees that there is no immediate threat to the other emergency response personnel that may need to go in or around the scene of the crime that they are investigating. In the process of ensuring safety, it is important for police officers and investigators to determine if there is a need for emergency medical care. If the need is present, the professionals should administer that care until the appropriate individuals arrive - such as first responders, the fire department, or the paramedics.

Controlling the Movements of All Present

Once emergency care has been issued to those in need, the police officers and investigators must then control the movements of all of the individuals at the scene. The purpose and intent of this is to ensure that all responsible parties are held responsible for their actions and to conduct interviews and acquire statements from any and all people involved or those that witnessed the chain of events that occurred at the scene. Many officers focus on this aspect of the crime scene procedure in an effort to prevent vital evidence from being destroyed and/or removed. This is an important aspect of minimizing the loss and contamination of evidence and gathering additional pieces of information that will assist in solving the case.

The Evidence

While gathering evidence, there are many procedures that police officers and investigators may indulge in. First, the crime scene will be controlled through the means of distinguished boundaries. Second, individuals wishing to go in and out of the scene will be limited. Physical evidence will be marked. Physical identifiers such as shoe prints and fingerprints will be lifted, organized, and stored for the duration of the investigation. The collection, preservation, and the transport of evidence to the appropriate labs will be conducted and the concluding interviews with suspects, victims, and witnesses will be concluded. By indulging in these crime scene procedures, police officers, investigators, and other law enforcement personnel will be able to effectively resolve nearly one hundred percent of all cases.

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Accounting Fraud and Computer Crimes Create Need For Qualified Investigators

An epidemic of white-collar financial crime has resulted in the development of specialized education programs focused on economic crime investigation and fraud management. These college-level degree programs attract students who are interested in law enforcement and are attracted by the very unique nature of these types of crimes and the special investigative techniques required to solve them.

There seems to be no end to the greed in the hearts of some professional business people. It isn't enough to have fancy cars, vacation homes and other lavish perks of the highly successful. Many selfish individuals have decided to play a risky game of "milk-the-company-for-all-it's-worth" to fuel an unhealthy appetite to acquire more "things" for no other reason than to have them. As a result, books are cooked, balance sheets become unbalanced and finally, as in the case of Enron, there is nothing left to share with the shareholders.

Economic crime is a broad category encompassing a variety of offenses all of which are focused on bilking a private company, government agency or other professional institution out of their financial resources. Individuals at any level of an organization including, as we have seen in recent years, the most senior management, may perpetrate these crimes. And the methods that they use may be highly sophisticated including manipulating computer systems or fudging accounting records.

A fraud investigator must be highly educated and well versed in the financial and technological systems and practices that may have been altered or doctored in some way. Terms like "computer forensics and "accounting forensics" have entered the lexicon of crime investigators as they begin probing a crime scene that does not contain blood evidence, signs of violence or even an obvious victim. But these are certainly not victimless crimes.

Hundreds of major corporations, government institutions and law enforcement agencies are staffing up with economic crime specialists, fraud investigators and fraud management specialists. The need for qualified investigators has prompted colleges to develop specialized curricula devoted to the study of economic crime prevention. Some schools feature Bachelor's and Master's Degree programs in Economic Crime. The courses are usually instructed by faculty members experienced in economic crime investigation and computer crime control. Right now, more than 90% of their Bachelor's in Economic Crime Investigation graduates are working in professional positions relevant to their career interests.

Graduates with these unique, highly specialized degrees are in great demand. A number of colleges are now making these programs available for online study. That means that, no matter what your current commitments or time constraints, these very attractive and potentially lucrative and rewarding degree programs are available to almost anyone. Who knows, at some point in the not-too-distant future you may be instrumental in finding, apprehending and convicting economic criminals that are stealing from us all.

Terry McDermott is the author and administrator of a portfolio of specialized education websites with a primary focus on the category of online education at AccessOnlineDegrees.com. Find additional information about online criminal justice degrees and economic crime degree programs on the website.

An Overview On A Crime Scene Investigator's Job

There are some individuals out there who have capabilities of understanding situations and the skill to solve and analyze problems well.  It is not only the gifted individuals who can do this but including those who are born with having an average intellect.  Solving problems is not easy especially when the given information is vague and is not enough to support facts.

There are special areas or careers that require critical and analytical thinking. In the field of business, it is important that businessmen will analyze figures and think of possible ways to make their business to flourish. In fixing cars, mechanics or repairmen need to analyze well how they could return things back to normal and how they could make things function back again.  Before they start to fix things or to implement interventions, they need to make an assessment first and study the whole problem. 

Crime scene investigators have this special talent when it comes to solving problems.  They do their best and really work out just so they could provide answers or solutions to the problem.  As you can see, the work of a crime scene investigator is not easy. All they have are unclear evidences, tracks, unsupported facts and assumptions and a head ache.  They need to study well the evidences and the proofs that will answer the crime. 

There have been movies or television shows, sequels even about how crime scene investigators do their jobs.  It is hard for them to understand the minds of the criminals and what is going through their head.  It is not only the evidences which include crime scene investigation pictures that they need to study but it also includes the witnesses and the victim as well, if not killed. If you are pretty much interested in becoming a crime scene investigator, you must undergo tough training and must pass the standards in becoming an effective investigator.

Before you can become one or be a part of their world, you must first study the different principles, the nature and the basics of solving crimes.  You cannot just attack and solve problems without knowing the right and proper ethics or tactics.  You need to be equipped with the right knowledge that way you can better understand every angle of the crime scene. 

Studying and training is also not enough for you to better understand the nature of a crime scene investigation job.  You need to discipline yourself and value the importance of discretion.  As much as possible, you should keep things between you and the rest of the crime scene group.  Remember that you are still studying and have theories or assumptions.  If you do not want to make false accusations, better study every angle of the crime and only report information to the media once you already have a clear evidence.

If you want to become an effective crime scene investigator and contribute help to a crime scene investigation, you need to be physically and mentally fit that way you will better understand and comprehend what others are saying or reporting.  It is important for you to have a clear and undisturbed mind in order for the whole investigation to be a success and be solved without any delay.

Do you possibly think that a crime scene investigation job is just easy? Well it is not. You have to undergo several trainings and learn different things that will help you become an effective investigator. For you to learn more, you can visit http://www.Crime-Scene-Investigation.org ad gather as much information as you need.