AC1.1: Evaluate the effectiveness of the roles of personnel in criminal investigations (10
marks).
Police officers
Police officers are the first to attend a crime scene, where their role is to preserve life whilst
securing the crime scene and they are trained to prevent and reduce crime.
Evaluation
The strength of the police is to ensure that they can secure the crime scene in an
attempt to preserve evidence.
o Case study: Breck Bernard case where the mother first called the police who
was concerned that her son was a victim of online grooming. Moreover, the
police tend to try and reduce crime and the potential fear of crime and that
was possibly the reason why Breck’s mother called them first.
A weakness of the police is that they tend to lack knowledge in certain aspects
within their role, where they may not have any information or guidance to those
who are victims of online grooming.
o Case study: Breck’s case where due to the polices lack of information about
online grooming they were unable to support or provide any information like
Child exploration and online protection centres. Subsequently, the police
didn’t see the danger signs of grooming and were unable to act quick
enough, where a police national computer check should have been
completed and this perhaps would have prevented the murder of 14-year-old
Breck.
Another weakness is that they lack availability due to the budget cuts were made to
the police sector resulting in fewer police officers and this can lead to mistakes to be
made.
o Case study: The Hills Bourgh disaster 1989 where the lack of police
contributed to football fans to be overcrowded and the terrace crash and this
led to 69 people to have died because of the police inability to de-escalate
the situation and due to a lack of training on how to deal with a large crowd.
The budget cuts made, where police funding have fallen by 19% between 2010-2018
resulting in 20,000 fewer police officers, caused police to have less training on how
to deal with a crime scene investigation and could possibly lead to contamination.
For example, this was seen in the brief where the police allowed a journalist to access the
crime scene area and take pictures to try and catch the murder, however they didn’t realise
by allowing people who are not specialised in that area could have contaminated the area
and resulted in the evidence to be produced to be unreliable.
The police have a lack of expertise of dealing and investigating racially motivated
crimes.
o Case study: Stephen Lawrence, where they didn’t have any sense of urgency
to get justice for Stephen Lawrence ,where they neglected vital evidence and
information that were required when trailing those who were responsible for
, his death in court .So, as a result of this case being delayed and their failure
solving this case led to McPherson reports to be published where it revealed
that the police service was “institutionally bias and racist” and they failed to
recognise that it was a hate crime. Additionally, they failed to investigate all
aspects of the case, for instance a bag strap was found at the crime scene
that could have been used as an improvised weapon was overlooked because
of the police wrongly recorded it being found 90 meters away from the scene
and therefore led to a misconduct of justice where only 2 of the 5 men were
arrested for the crime.
o Case study: Liam Allan case where he was accused of raping a woman and
the police failed to check the alleged rape victim phone, where the messages
proved his innocence where the victim sent a message to her friend saying,
“it wasn’t against my will’ and this was vital information that was needed for
him to have a fair court trail.
Scenes of crime officers (SOCOs)
SOCOs are employed by the police service and undergo training to ensure that the crime is
preserved, protected and to gather a vital evidence, therefore are knowledgeable in their
role.
Evaluation
The strengths of SOCOs are that they have expertise, who are fully qualified and
knowledgeable in their role and are called upon in court to give evidence that seems
to be reliable. Furthermore, they undergo training to ensure they are capable of
correctly handling and gathering DNA evidence, such as fingerprints and hair.
o Case study: Soham Murders where they were able to collect sufficient
evidence using the correct technique from 3 crime scenes with no
contamination and this led to the police to use this evidence in a court trail.
This linked to Ian Huntley to the crime, where he killed 2 young girls and that
his DNA were found at the scene and was sent to prison. Furthermore, they
tend to search for any potential traces of evidence such as gunshot residue,
fingerprints, hairs and this can possibly decrease the likelihood of a wrongful
conviction.
This is seen in the brief where the SOCOs were able to search the crime scenes and found
several footprints at the scene and this can help build their profile of the potential suspect
when trying to solve the case.
The weaknesses of SOCOs are that they are potentially exposed to hazardous
substances during their roles, such as contamination on the skin. Furthermore,
collecting evidence can be extremely time consuming and costly due to the police
service having budget cuts, which can lead to possible contamination or time/money
, spent with no guarantee that the evidence they collect will lead to a conviction. For
example,
o Case study: Amanda Knox case where she was suspected of the murder of
Meredith Kercher who was found dead in her flat. The evidence collected
was unreliable because police officers failed to wear protective clothing and
could possibly have been contaminated the evidence and therefore, she
could not have been charged.
The availability of SOCOs be an issue where they be unable to reach rural areas due
to the lack of departments to store and are mainly based in urban areas and would
therefore take longer to gather vital evidence and could lead to the evidence to be
contaminated.
Forensic scientist
A forensic scientist will gather evidence from a crime scene and analyse the evidence to
produce information for a court trial. They also analyse DNA evidence such as blood and
other bodily fluids.
Evaluation
A strength of forensic scientists is that they can identify a victim or suspect by
analysing evidence that was found at the crime scene. For example, in the
o Case study: Sarah Payne case she was murdered by a convicted paedophile,
the forensic scientists were able use fibres from the sweatshirt they found in
the van that linked him to the murder of Sarah.
A weakness of forensic scientists is that there are ethical issues where people believe
that analysing DNA database without their consent goes against human ethics due to
it being private information gathered. Furthermore, collecting evidence can be time
consuming and expensive when ensuring that they don’t contaminate or miss out
any vital evidence needed for the jury to decide.
They also lack availability, where the lack of space or equipment can lead them to
neglect evidence and result in a miscarriage of justice.
o Case study: Adam Scott case where a plastic tray that contained his DNA had
been disposed of and was re-used in a rape case and was therefore falsely
charged and was sent to prison for 5 months.
This was also seen in the brief where the red scarf was brought into the police station,
however it was 2 days after the night in question and therefore this vital evidence is perhaps
contaminated, and this can affect the reliability of the evidence when presented to the
court.
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
CPS are an independent body who consider the evidence given and decide about the next
cause of action.
, Evaluation
The strengths of CPS they have legal team of solicitors and barristers who are fully
qualified to handle cases, where they review evidence given and decide on whether
to prosecute the offender or not.
This is seen in the brief where they criticised the Facebook operation, evaluated the
prosecution evidence of the witnesses, DNA on the red scarf and footprint evidence and
conclude on whether this is enough evidence to prosecute Hughes.
The Weakness of CPS they are criticised for the number of cases that have collapsed
due to the lack of evidence.
o Case study: Damilola Taylor case where he was found dead at the age of 10
due to a leg wound, the case went under a lengthy trial spanning 6 years and
including 3 trails before finally convicting 2 brothers. This was due to the
prosecution having holes within their investigation and they were too reliant
on unreliable witnesses resulting in the case to collapse.
Additionally, they have a difficult relationship with the police.
o Case study: Abu Hamza case where he found was guilty of inciting a murder
and racial hatred, where the police had said that they gave evidence three
times to CPS yet that refused to prosecute him implying that the evidence
presented was ‘insufficient’ and that it was said that they didn’t understand
why he wasn’t prosecuted sooner. This can therefore be difficult for the CPS
to get evidence needed from the police when preparing for their case.
marks).
Police officers
Police officers are the first to attend a crime scene, where their role is to preserve life whilst
securing the crime scene and they are trained to prevent and reduce crime.
Evaluation
The strength of the police is to ensure that they can secure the crime scene in an
attempt to preserve evidence.
o Case study: Breck Bernard case where the mother first called the police who
was concerned that her son was a victim of online grooming. Moreover, the
police tend to try and reduce crime and the potential fear of crime and that
was possibly the reason why Breck’s mother called them first.
A weakness of the police is that they tend to lack knowledge in certain aspects
within their role, where they may not have any information or guidance to those
who are victims of online grooming.
o Case study: Breck’s case where due to the polices lack of information about
online grooming they were unable to support or provide any information like
Child exploration and online protection centres. Subsequently, the police
didn’t see the danger signs of grooming and were unable to act quick
enough, where a police national computer check should have been
completed and this perhaps would have prevented the murder of 14-year-old
Breck.
Another weakness is that they lack availability due to the budget cuts were made to
the police sector resulting in fewer police officers and this can lead to mistakes to be
made.
o Case study: The Hills Bourgh disaster 1989 where the lack of police
contributed to football fans to be overcrowded and the terrace crash and this
led to 69 people to have died because of the police inability to de-escalate
the situation and due to a lack of training on how to deal with a large crowd.
The budget cuts made, where police funding have fallen by 19% between 2010-2018
resulting in 20,000 fewer police officers, caused police to have less training on how
to deal with a crime scene investigation and could possibly lead to contamination.
For example, this was seen in the brief where the police allowed a journalist to access the
crime scene area and take pictures to try and catch the murder, however they didn’t realise
by allowing people who are not specialised in that area could have contaminated the area
and resulted in the evidence to be produced to be unreliable.
The police have a lack of expertise of dealing and investigating racially motivated
crimes.
o Case study: Stephen Lawrence, where they didn’t have any sense of urgency
to get justice for Stephen Lawrence ,where they neglected vital evidence and
information that were required when trailing those who were responsible for
, his death in court .So, as a result of this case being delayed and their failure
solving this case led to McPherson reports to be published where it revealed
that the police service was “institutionally bias and racist” and they failed to
recognise that it was a hate crime. Additionally, they failed to investigate all
aspects of the case, for instance a bag strap was found at the crime scene
that could have been used as an improvised weapon was overlooked because
of the police wrongly recorded it being found 90 meters away from the scene
and therefore led to a misconduct of justice where only 2 of the 5 men were
arrested for the crime.
o Case study: Liam Allan case where he was accused of raping a woman and
the police failed to check the alleged rape victim phone, where the messages
proved his innocence where the victim sent a message to her friend saying,
“it wasn’t against my will’ and this was vital information that was needed for
him to have a fair court trail.
Scenes of crime officers (SOCOs)
SOCOs are employed by the police service and undergo training to ensure that the crime is
preserved, protected and to gather a vital evidence, therefore are knowledgeable in their
role.
Evaluation
The strengths of SOCOs are that they have expertise, who are fully qualified and
knowledgeable in their role and are called upon in court to give evidence that seems
to be reliable. Furthermore, they undergo training to ensure they are capable of
correctly handling and gathering DNA evidence, such as fingerprints and hair.
o Case study: Soham Murders where they were able to collect sufficient
evidence using the correct technique from 3 crime scenes with no
contamination and this led to the police to use this evidence in a court trail.
This linked to Ian Huntley to the crime, where he killed 2 young girls and that
his DNA were found at the scene and was sent to prison. Furthermore, they
tend to search for any potential traces of evidence such as gunshot residue,
fingerprints, hairs and this can possibly decrease the likelihood of a wrongful
conviction.
This is seen in the brief where the SOCOs were able to search the crime scenes and found
several footprints at the scene and this can help build their profile of the potential suspect
when trying to solve the case.
The weaknesses of SOCOs are that they are potentially exposed to hazardous
substances during their roles, such as contamination on the skin. Furthermore,
collecting evidence can be extremely time consuming and costly due to the police
service having budget cuts, which can lead to possible contamination or time/money
, spent with no guarantee that the evidence they collect will lead to a conviction. For
example,
o Case study: Amanda Knox case where she was suspected of the murder of
Meredith Kercher who was found dead in her flat. The evidence collected
was unreliable because police officers failed to wear protective clothing and
could possibly have been contaminated the evidence and therefore, she
could not have been charged.
The availability of SOCOs be an issue where they be unable to reach rural areas due
to the lack of departments to store and are mainly based in urban areas and would
therefore take longer to gather vital evidence and could lead to the evidence to be
contaminated.
Forensic scientist
A forensic scientist will gather evidence from a crime scene and analyse the evidence to
produce information for a court trial. They also analyse DNA evidence such as blood and
other bodily fluids.
Evaluation
A strength of forensic scientists is that they can identify a victim or suspect by
analysing evidence that was found at the crime scene. For example, in the
o Case study: Sarah Payne case she was murdered by a convicted paedophile,
the forensic scientists were able use fibres from the sweatshirt they found in
the van that linked him to the murder of Sarah.
A weakness of forensic scientists is that there are ethical issues where people believe
that analysing DNA database without their consent goes against human ethics due to
it being private information gathered. Furthermore, collecting evidence can be time
consuming and expensive when ensuring that they don’t contaminate or miss out
any vital evidence needed for the jury to decide.
They also lack availability, where the lack of space or equipment can lead them to
neglect evidence and result in a miscarriage of justice.
o Case study: Adam Scott case where a plastic tray that contained his DNA had
been disposed of and was re-used in a rape case and was therefore falsely
charged and was sent to prison for 5 months.
This was also seen in the brief where the red scarf was brought into the police station,
however it was 2 days after the night in question and therefore this vital evidence is perhaps
contaminated, and this can affect the reliability of the evidence when presented to the
court.
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)
CPS are an independent body who consider the evidence given and decide about the next
cause of action.
, Evaluation
The strengths of CPS they have legal team of solicitors and barristers who are fully
qualified to handle cases, where they review evidence given and decide on whether
to prosecute the offender or not.
This is seen in the brief where they criticised the Facebook operation, evaluated the
prosecution evidence of the witnesses, DNA on the red scarf and footprint evidence and
conclude on whether this is enough evidence to prosecute Hughes.
The Weakness of CPS they are criticised for the number of cases that have collapsed
due to the lack of evidence.
o Case study: Damilola Taylor case where he was found dead at the age of 10
due to a leg wound, the case went under a lengthy trial spanning 6 years and
including 3 trails before finally convicting 2 brothers. This was due to the
prosecution having holes within their investigation and they were too reliant
on unreliable witnesses resulting in the case to collapse.
Additionally, they have a difficult relationship with the police.
o Case study: Abu Hamza case where he found was guilty of inciting a murder
and racial hatred, where the police had said that they gave evidence three
times to CPS yet that refused to prosecute him implying that the evidence
presented was ‘insufficient’ and that it was said that they didn’t understand
why he wasn’t prosecuted sooner. This can therefore be difficult for the CPS
to get evidence needed from the police when preparing for their case.
