FRSC3010: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION EXAM QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS VERIFIED
GRADED A++
Evidence Dynamics
Any influence that adds, changes, relocates, obscures, contaminates, or obliterates
physical evidence, regardless of intent
Crime Scene
A place where participants of a crime meet in time and space and where the instrument
of the crime is prepared and delivered regardless of route it takes
Forensic Science
Diverse group of professionals who employ and adhere to standards, consider the truth
of alleged facts whether criminal or civil
Criminalistics
Embraces a holistic philosophy, the principles of science, the scientific method, and
logic as it relates to the analysis and interpretation of evidence in relation to a set of
alleged facts
Evidence: Legal Perspective
Begins life in a legal proceeding
Evidence: Forensic Investigation Perspective
Begins life when it is perceived by the investigator
The Scientific Method: 5 Steps
,1. Observe phenomenon
2. Formulate hypothesis
3. Design experiment to test hypothesis
4. Perform experiment
5. Accept, reject or modify the hypothesis
Bandwagon Effect
Tendency to do or believe things because many other people do
What is the difference between scene investigators and scene scientists?
Scene investigators trust their experience to draw final conclusions whereas scene
scientists never offer their final interpretations until hypotheses have been tested
Observer-Expectancy Effect
The expectation of a given result with the unconscious manipulation of an experiment in
order to find it
Confirmation Bias
The tendency to search for or interpret information the way it confirms to one's own
beliefs
The Locard Exchange Principle
Belief that it was the nature of a violent crime to provide force necessary to affect an
evidence transfer
Deductive Reasoning
Theory -> Hypothesis -> Observation -> Confirmation
Inductive Reasoning
Observation -> Pattern -> Tentative Hypothesis -> Theory
, Concept of Divisible Matter: Inman and Rudin's 3 Corollaries
1. Some characteristic retained by the smaller pieces are unique to the original item
2. Some characteristic retained by the smaller pieces are common to the original item
as well as items of similar manufacture
3. Some characteristics of the original item will be lost or changed
The Macroscene
What the investigator sees upon entering the scene through any sensory stimuli
The Microscene
Not initially visually apparent upon entering the scene
1883: Alphonse Bertillon
Invention of anthropometry
1887: Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes
1891: Hans Gross
First comprehensive description of uses of physical evidence in solving crimes
1910: Edmund Locard
Established the first police crime laboratory
1920: Luke May
First American criminalist
1923: Frye vs. United States
Polygraphs inadmissible and did not meet criterion
1924: August Vollmer
First US police crime laboratory
AND ANSWERS WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS VERIFIED
GRADED A++
Evidence Dynamics
Any influence that adds, changes, relocates, obscures, contaminates, or obliterates
physical evidence, regardless of intent
Crime Scene
A place where participants of a crime meet in time and space and where the instrument
of the crime is prepared and delivered regardless of route it takes
Forensic Science
Diverse group of professionals who employ and adhere to standards, consider the truth
of alleged facts whether criminal or civil
Criminalistics
Embraces a holistic philosophy, the principles of science, the scientific method, and
logic as it relates to the analysis and interpretation of evidence in relation to a set of
alleged facts
Evidence: Legal Perspective
Begins life in a legal proceeding
Evidence: Forensic Investigation Perspective
Begins life when it is perceived by the investigator
The Scientific Method: 5 Steps
,1. Observe phenomenon
2. Formulate hypothesis
3. Design experiment to test hypothesis
4. Perform experiment
5. Accept, reject or modify the hypothesis
Bandwagon Effect
Tendency to do or believe things because many other people do
What is the difference between scene investigators and scene scientists?
Scene investigators trust their experience to draw final conclusions whereas scene
scientists never offer their final interpretations until hypotheses have been tested
Observer-Expectancy Effect
The expectation of a given result with the unconscious manipulation of an experiment in
order to find it
Confirmation Bias
The tendency to search for or interpret information the way it confirms to one's own
beliefs
The Locard Exchange Principle
Belief that it was the nature of a violent crime to provide force necessary to affect an
evidence transfer
Deductive Reasoning
Theory -> Hypothesis -> Observation -> Confirmation
Inductive Reasoning
Observation -> Pattern -> Tentative Hypothesis -> Theory
, Concept of Divisible Matter: Inman and Rudin's 3 Corollaries
1. Some characteristic retained by the smaller pieces are unique to the original item
2. Some characteristic retained by the smaller pieces are common to the original item
as well as items of similar manufacture
3. Some characteristics of the original item will be lost or changed
The Macroscene
What the investigator sees upon entering the scene through any sensory stimuli
The Microscene
Not initially visually apparent upon entering the scene
1883: Alphonse Bertillon
Invention of anthropometry
1887: Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes
1891: Hans Gross
First comprehensive description of uses of physical evidence in solving crimes
1910: Edmund Locard
Established the first police crime laboratory
1920: Luke May
First American criminalist
1923: Frye vs. United States
Polygraphs inadmissible and did not meet criterion
1924: August Vollmer
First US police crime laboratory
