Identify and explain the two major branches of forensic science. In 1910 the first police laboratory was established by Edmond Locard in Lyon, France. In the 1970, research was undertaken that examined the proficiency of crime laboratories in the United States in examining common types of physical evidence: bloodstains, bullets, and cartridge cases, controlled substance, lateen fingerprints, hair, glass, paint, and other type of
field note slide 1. . Each crime scene is different and may require a different approach to processing the scene. However there is a basic crime scene protocol that should be adhered to in all crime scenes. These basic functions or tasks are as follows: Interview is the first step in processing a crime scene. The crime scene technician must interview the first officer at the scene or the victim to ascertain the "theory" of the case.
Holmes & Holmes (2009, p290) stated “To appraise a crime without some knowledge of the victim is certainly remiss.” The victim constitutes half of the crime therefore victimology should be heavily looked at in order to connect them to the offender (Douglas, Burgess, Burgess, & Ressler, 1992).Victimology is important to an investigation process in that, it is not just learning about the victim’s personal history and personality, but it also why the victim was chosen (Petherick, 2010). Holmes and Holmes (2009,p 291) created a list of elements which should be important to victim profiling it includes: "Physical traits, marital status, personal lifestyle, occupation, education, personal demographics, medical history, psychosexual history, court history, and last activities." A victim’s lifestyle, preferences, family, relationships, and routines, can give investigators clues about potential suspects who had access to the victim (Brown & Davenport, 2012). Other concepts that should be considered when victim profiling are the method of approach, method of attack and risk assessment (Turvey, 1999). Con, surprise, and blitz are three methods of approach that an offender will use to capture his victim.
Emma Yates UNIT 39: From Crime Scene to Court It is the job of the FSI to find and collect evidence left behind by offenders on the crime scene. Using the latest forensic techniques they look for all sorts of evidence. The FSIs follow several procedures. To stop potential evidence being destroyed, lost or contaminated they preserve and protect the crime scene. FSIs then start to work with the investigating officers.
In assessing the question “Are official statistics a reliable source of information about crime in Britain?” several factors will be considered: including how the statistics are collected, the divide between males and females in crime statistics, the over representation of ethnic minorities and any problems in looking at the true extent of crime using statistics as an indicator for this. In the United Kingdom statistics are produced by the Home Office, the first crime statistics were published in 1976, and contained crimes recorded by the police. Today these statistics are published annually. These statistics make up the British Crime Survey, which measures the amount of crime in England and Wales by asking people about crimes they have experienced in the last year. The British Crime Survey also includes crimes which are not reported to the police, therefore is an important alternative to police records and provides criminologists, the police, the courts, the media and anyone else who has an interest with the statistics, two different types of data: Firstly trends on crime over time chartered, Details are compiled from offenders who are eventually found guilty or cautioned; details gathered include sex and the age of the offender.
It can depend on the investigation being held, the place and the difficulty of being able to solve the case. The investigator mindset is to find out why the crime happen, how it could’ve been prevented, and also investigate all the evidence that was found. These concepts can associate with the optimal mindset of an investigator manifest by how much the investigator knows, how much training the investigators has, and the experience that the investigator already has. The more training and
In it’s simplest definition, victimology is the study of the victim or victims of a particular offender (Wallace & Roberson 2011: 3). However, two other definitions expound deeper into victimology: (1) victimology is the study of crime victims and the psychological effects of being a victim (Def, Random House Dictionary, 2011), and (2) victimology is the study of the ways in which the behavior of crime victims may have or have not contributed to their victimization (Def, Merriam-Webster, 2011). The early works about victims were first written by criminologist, as early as the mid 1700’s. The term victimology was coined by Beniamin Mendelsohn in 1974 (Dussich, 2000). Several criminologist (Hentig, Mendelsohn and Ellenberger) examined victim-offender interactions and stressed reciprocal influences and role reversals.
Assess the usefulness of official statistics to our understanding of social problems. Illustrate your response with sociological arguments and evidence. To assess the usefulness of official statistics to our understanding of social problems, I will first look at what official statistics are, I will then look at crime and suicide as two examples of social problems. I will look at how both Positivists and Interpretativists use these statistics and how useful each of these sociological approaches find them. Official statistics is the name given to the numbers of crimes reported to or unveiled by the police themselves, which lead to a conviction, caution or are dealt with in some formal way by the law.
A insurance company might use an investigator to analyze a car accident to determine whether or not the company will pay for the damages that was done to the car. A law enforcement agency might use an investigator to analyze the crime scene of a homicide or even a robbery to help get evidence to find or prosecute a suspect. A Crime Scene Investigator will have to write reports, take photographs of the crime scene and evidence, sketch of the crime scene, collect evidence, like bullets, weapons, shoe prints, fingerprints, etc. There are several steps you will need to do to become a Crime Scene Investigator. The first thing you need to do is get your high school diploma or G.E.D.
Definition of Key Concepts 2.1 Criminal Profiling ( Hard evidence profiling) According to Turvey 1999, the process of inferring distinctive personality characteristics of individuals responsible for committing criminal acts has been commonly referred to as ‘criminal profiling.’ These include biographic details of the perpetrator, crime-scene analysis, and so on. 2.2 Criminological Profiling (Soft evidence profiling) According to Joubert, Hesselink & Marais 2003, criminological profiling is the assessment of criminal behaviour which includes assessing the victims’ credibility, motives & causes of the crime, modi operandi, personal & family background, post offence behaviour & appearances. 2.3 Risk Assessment The assessment of risk involves predicting how likely it is that the individual will in the future commit crime, or reoffend. 3. Main Views The main purpose of the profile is to investigate a crime in order to successfully apprehend the perpetrator, provide investigators with relevant leads & strategies & to help gain insight into the offenders state of mind before, during & after the commission of the crime, whereas the main objective of prediction is to identify the risk factors that are involved in reoffending &