Crime Scene Management

Raul Sutton, Head of School, Biology, Chemistry and Forensic Science, School of Applied Science, University of Wolverhampton, UK. Raul's research includes the way that we identify people from finger marks and palm marks left at scenes of crime, and also methods to improve the accuracy of post mortem interval determination using cartilage as a marker tissue.Keith Trueman is a retired West Midlands Police officerChristopher Moran, University of Wolverhampton, UKChris has extensive practical experience in the management of forensic investigations into serious and complex crime. He was a Forensic Scene Manager with West Midlands Police, has been responsible for  the training and mentoring of newly appointed forensic investigators and the provision of training to police investigative officers from trainee detectives to SIOs.

• Introduction and Use of this Text xiList of Contributors xivAbout the Companion Website xvPART I Crime Scene Principles 11 The Crime Scene Context 3Raul Sutton1.1 Introduction 31.2 What is a crime? 41.3 The nature of the UK legal system 61.4 The legal system in England and Wales 71.5 Other courts 91.6 The judicial system in Northern Ireland 91.7 The Scottish legal system 111.8 Judicial processes that deal with causes of death 121.9 What constitutes evidence? 141.10 The chain of events in evidence gathering 151.11 The relationship between evidence gatherers and analysts 191.12 Health and safety considerations 20Suggested further reading 212 First Officer Attending 22Keith Trueman and Christopher Moran2.1 Introduction 222.2 Response to incident report 232.3 Personnel involved in the investigative process 242.4 Recording and recovery of scientific evidence 252.5 Initial considerations of the First Officer Attending (FOA) 252.6 Dealing with the victim 272.7 Dealing with witnesses 282.8 Dealing with suspects 292.9 Dealing with the crime scene(s) 292.10 Documentation 352.11 Dealing with violent crime 352.12 Summary and conclusion 363 The Role of the Crime Scene Investigator 38Keith Trueman and Christopher Moran3.1 Introduction 383.2 Training the CSI 393.3 The responsibilities of a CSI 403.4 Forensic evidence 423.5 Request for CSI attendance at crime scenes 463.6 Actions when attending the crime scene 473.7 Initial scene assessment (including health and safety considerations) 483.8 Planning evidence recovery 513.9 Recording the evidence 523.10 The elimination process 583.11 Details of evidence recovered 583.12 Integrity, continuity and contamination 593.13 Packaging materials 643.14 Conclusion 68PART II Evidence-gathering Techniques 714 Police Photography, Video Recording,3D Laser Scanning 73Chris Crowe and Christopher Moran4.1 Introduction 734.2 General guidelines 744.3 Equipment 754.4 Exposure 764.5 Image quality/size 804.6 Depth of field 814.7 White balance 834.8 Image data 834.9 Flash photography 844.10 Room interiors 854.11 Vehicles 854.12 Evidential items 854.13 Recording injuries to the person 864.14 Night photography 884.15 Footwear impressions 894.16 Fingerprints 904.17 Recording video evidence at crime scenes 924.18 The use of digital images in court 944.19 3D laser scanning of scenes 95Suggested further reading 965 Fingerprints 97David Charlton5.1 Introduction 975.2 The nature of friction ridge skin 995.3 The structure of friction ridge skin 1005.4 Friction ridge growth 1005.5 Principles of friction ridge identification 1025.6 Comparison methodology 1035.7 Chemical composition of latent prints 1055.8 Identification of common locations for prints 1075.9 The use of powdering techniques to enhance latent finger marks 1095.10 Chemical development techniques 1125.11 Laboratory and scene applications 1135.12 Fingerprints in bodily fluids 1155.13 Scenes of fire 1185.14 Optical methods to reveal fingerprints (laser and other light sources) 1195.15 New and emerging techniques 1225.16 Remote transmission 1225.17 Chapter summary 123Acknowledgements 125Selected further reading 1266 DNA-rich Evidence 128Terry Bartlett and Sara Short6.1 Introduction and historical background 1286.2 The structure and properties of DNA 1296.3 DNA analysis 1306.4 Types of DNA testing 1306.5 Biological evidence 1346.6 Procedures for collection of biological evidence: general considerations 1366.7 Limitations of DNA evidence 1476.8 Elimination and reference samples 1486.9 Summary 148References 1497 Blood Pattern Analysis 151Raul Sutton and Terry Bartlett7.1 Introduction 1517.2 History of the development of blood spatter as a scientific discipline 1527.3 Composition of blood 1537.4 Physical properties of blood 1547.5 Causes of bleeding 1567.6 Blood dynamics 1577.7 Drop-surface impact and droplet pattern 1577.8 Determination of area of origin of spatter 1617.9 Cast-off patterns 1627.10 Arterial damage patterns 1637.11 Non-spatter patterns 1667.12 Physiologically altered bloodstains 1697.13 Volume bloodstains 1737.14 Composite patterns 1757.15 Investigative transfer and contamination issues 1767.16 Recording traces 1767.17 Summary 178Suggested further reading 1788 Physical Evidence 180Craig Williams8.1 Introduction 1808.2 Tool marks 1808.3 Clothing 1828.4 Fibres 1838.5 Footwear impressions 1868.6 Glass fragments 1888.7 Glass fragmentation 1908.8 Soils 1928.9 Firearms 1938.10 Scene recovery of firearms 1978.11 Gunshot residues (GSR) 1998.12 Drugs of abuse (DOA) 2008.13 The crime scene characteristics of various DOA 2028.14 Presumptive tests for drugs 2038.15 Amateur explosives 2068.16 Summary 206Suggested further reading 207PART III Specialised Scenes and Report Writing 2099 Fire Scene Examination 211Chris Perry and Mark McCabe9.1 Introduction 2119.2 The nature of fire 2129.3 The oxygen demand of fuels 2149.4 Flame and fire classifications; fire development 2179.5 Types of evidence specific to fire scenes 2199.6 Locating the origin of the fire 2209.7 Fire cause determination and evidence-gathering methods 2239.8 Methods for ascertaining whether a crime has been committed 2269.9 Health and safety considerations 2289.10 Summary 229Suggested further reading 23010 Examination of Recovered Stolen Motor Vehicles 231Keith Trueman10.1 Introduction 23110.2 What is a motor vehicle? 23310.3 The definition of an auto crime 23310.4 Auto crime scene examinations 23710.5 Requests to attend an auto crime scene 23810.6 The examination process 24110.7 Conclusion 25111 Managing Complex Scenes and Multiple or Mass Fatality Scenes 252Christopher Moran and Derek Forest11.1 Introduction 25211.2 Self-briefing 25411.3 Communication 25511.4 Establishing priorities 25511.5 Avoidance of contamination 25611.6 The forensic strategy 25711.7 ‘Defence’ case review meeting 25911.8 Incident debrief 25911.9 Introduction to mass fatality incidents 26011.10 The range and nature of mass fatality incidents 26111.11 The type of investigation conducted 26111.12 Sequence of events in managing disaster victim identification scenes 26211.13 Recovery of mortal remains 264Suggested further reading 26612 Preparing Reports and Statements 267Keith Trueman12.1 Introduction 26712.2 Documentation at the crime scene 26812.3 Photography 26912.4 Plans, sketches and diagrams 26912.5 The exhibit label 27112.6 Handling the evidence 27512.7 Statements of evidence 27812.8 Criminal Justice Act 1967, section 9 27812.9 Crime scene examination statements 27912.10 Conclusion 28113 Quality Assurance in Crime Scene Investigation 283Christopher Moran13.1 Introduction 28313.2 Informal aspects of quality assurance 28413.3 The development of formal quality assurance 28413.4 The role of the Forensic Science Regulator 28513.5 Responsibility for measuring quality assurance 28613.6 The accreditation process 28713.7 Organisational requirements for accreditation 28813.8 Personnel requirements for accreditation 28813.9 Resource requirements for accreditation 28913.10 Process requirements for accreditation 28913.11 Management requirements for accreditation 29013.12 Maintaining accreditation 290Suggested further reading 292Appendices 293Index 303