UNIT 3 AC1.1
Rate the effectiveness of the roles of personnel involved in criminal
investigations
10 MARKS = 48 MINUTES
- Brief description of role
- Personnel discussed in terms of strengths and weaknesses = 4
personnel
- Evaluate: cost, expertise, availability
Police Officers and Detectives:
Golden hour - immediately after the scene is discovered, when police officers are to quickly
secure the scene of crime and ensure that the evidence is not contaminated.
Police officer is usually the first at the crime scene. Their key responsibilities are to
safeguard the public; attend to the wounded; arrest the suspect; secure the crime scene to
prevent contamination.
Police detectives are officers involved in more serious and complex investigations. They
work with specialist departments such as CID (Criminal Investigation Department), fraud,
drugs etc.
Police specialist units: traffic and mounted police, air support and dog handler units.
Strengths:
- Availability: 171,000 police officers in the UK (fluctuates year to year)
- Cost: the average cost of training a new recruit is £2,124, the average salary of a
police officer is £28,551, relatively cheap compared to other personnel
- Expertise: Degree in any subject and then apply to a police entry programme
- Police officers successfully secured the crime scene in the Andrzej and Waldemar
Markuszewki, allowing for the SOCO’s to collect evidence
Limitations:
- Failing to preserve evidence and crime scene due to incompetence
- Failing to investigate certain crimes: e.g domestic abuse, hate crimes. This may be
due to discriminatory attitudes of individual officers or system failures like institutional
racism.
- When the police officers are inexperienced they may unintentionally contaminate a
crime scene, such as the police officers in the Amanada Knox case
Scene of Crime Officers/ Crime Scene Investigators (SOCO)/(CSI):
Their key responsibilities are to process,collect and preserve evidence to prevent
contamination. They also photograph the crime scenes, advise police on physical
evidence and provide evidence in court.
, Strengths:
- May find evidence that leads to the conviction of the suspect
- Evidence may prove a suspect is innocent, for example fingerprints left on crime
scene do not match suspects.
- In the double murder in Luton, SOCO gathered evidence that led to the conviction
of the suspect - forensic evidence such as fingerprints on the clip of the dumbbell
and skin cells on the t-shirt in the Waldemar and Andrzej Markuszewski case.
Forensic scientists were able to use their expertise to extract these skin cells
from the inside of the t-shirt, and using technology they were able to find the
fingerprint of the perpetrator
- In a double murder in Luton, there were only 2 SOCO’s who gathered the evidence
correctly and there were no issues
- Availability: 24 hour availability, crime scene can’t be preserved for the day after
- Expertise: Skilled, some employers look for Biology or Chemistry A levels such as
lab skills, 3 year science degree is required
Limitations:
- Requires specialist skills for example forensic photography
- Requires patience and attention to detail, mistakes can lead to someone innocent
getting convicted or someone guilty walking free
- Forensic samples may put the SOCO’s health at risk, for example, blood, explosives,
firearms, hazardous chemicals
- Work can be emotionally damaging and stressful
- In the case of Amanda Knox, the knife was contaminated and wasn't handled
properly by the SOCO’s, additionally they didn't collect her bra until 6 weeks later,
and they stored it incorrectly so it started rusting.
- 2 people for over 1000 pieces of evidence in the Andrzej and Waldemar
Markuszewski, that is too much for 2 people to do, they worked for over 18 hours a
day for 3 days, more SOCO’s should have been allocated to the case, tiredness can
lead to mistakes
- Cost: Crime scene investigators earn £27,220 on average per year - processing a
crime scene requires a lot of time and money
Forensic Scientists and Specialists
Forensic scientists apply their knowledge of science onto crime and legal matters.Their key
responsibility is to interpret evidence left at the crime scene, for example comparing
bodily fluids left at the crime scene in comparison to the ‘control sample’ of the
suspect. Analyse the patterns blood forms - what happened, sequence of events and where
the blood came from. They often specialise in fields such as DNA analysis, toxicology,
computing and psychology.
Strengths:
- The expertise of the specialists may find out whether a suspect is innocent or
guilty
- They may be essential in a case where the criminal also has scientific knowledge
- Expertise: Highly qualified, post-graduate qualification in forensic science or a
related subject like chemistry, biology, medical science, etc
Rate the effectiveness of the roles of personnel involved in criminal
investigations
10 MARKS = 48 MINUTES
- Brief description of role
- Personnel discussed in terms of strengths and weaknesses = 4
personnel
- Evaluate: cost, expertise, availability
Police Officers and Detectives:
Golden hour - immediately after the scene is discovered, when police officers are to quickly
secure the scene of crime and ensure that the evidence is not contaminated.
Police officer is usually the first at the crime scene. Their key responsibilities are to
safeguard the public; attend to the wounded; arrest the suspect; secure the crime scene to
prevent contamination.
Police detectives are officers involved in more serious and complex investigations. They
work with specialist departments such as CID (Criminal Investigation Department), fraud,
drugs etc.
Police specialist units: traffic and mounted police, air support and dog handler units.
Strengths:
- Availability: 171,000 police officers in the UK (fluctuates year to year)
- Cost: the average cost of training a new recruit is £2,124, the average salary of a
police officer is £28,551, relatively cheap compared to other personnel
- Expertise: Degree in any subject and then apply to a police entry programme
- Police officers successfully secured the crime scene in the Andrzej and Waldemar
Markuszewki, allowing for the SOCO’s to collect evidence
Limitations:
- Failing to preserve evidence and crime scene due to incompetence
- Failing to investigate certain crimes: e.g domestic abuse, hate crimes. This may be
due to discriminatory attitudes of individual officers or system failures like institutional
racism.
- When the police officers are inexperienced they may unintentionally contaminate a
crime scene, such as the police officers in the Amanada Knox case
Scene of Crime Officers/ Crime Scene Investigators (SOCO)/(CSI):
Their key responsibilities are to process,collect and preserve evidence to prevent
contamination. They also photograph the crime scenes, advise police on physical
evidence and provide evidence in court.
, Strengths:
- May find evidence that leads to the conviction of the suspect
- Evidence may prove a suspect is innocent, for example fingerprints left on crime
scene do not match suspects.
- In the double murder in Luton, SOCO gathered evidence that led to the conviction
of the suspect - forensic evidence such as fingerprints on the clip of the dumbbell
and skin cells on the t-shirt in the Waldemar and Andrzej Markuszewski case.
Forensic scientists were able to use their expertise to extract these skin cells
from the inside of the t-shirt, and using technology they were able to find the
fingerprint of the perpetrator
- In a double murder in Luton, there were only 2 SOCO’s who gathered the evidence
correctly and there were no issues
- Availability: 24 hour availability, crime scene can’t be preserved for the day after
- Expertise: Skilled, some employers look for Biology or Chemistry A levels such as
lab skills, 3 year science degree is required
Limitations:
- Requires specialist skills for example forensic photography
- Requires patience and attention to detail, mistakes can lead to someone innocent
getting convicted or someone guilty walking free
- Forensic samples may put the SOCO’s health at risk, for example, blood, explosives,
firearms, hazardous chemicals
- Work can be emotionally damaging and stressful
- In the case of Amanda Knox, the knife was contaminated and wasn't handled
properly by the SOCO’s, additionally they didn't collect her bra until 6 weeks later,
and they stored it incorrectly so it started rusting.
- 2 people for over 1000 pieces of evidence in the Andrzej and Waldemar
Markuszewski, that is too much for 2 people to do, they worked for over 18 hours a
day for 3 days, more SOCO’s should have been allocated to the case, tiredness can
lead to mistakes
- Cost: Crime scene investigators earn £27,220 on average per year - processing a
crime scene requires a lot of time and money
Forensic Scientists and Specialists
Forensic scientists apply their knowledge of science onto crime and legal matters.Their key
responsibility is to interpret evidence left at the crime scene, for example comparing
bodily fluids left at the crime scene in comparison to the ‘control sample’ of the
suspect. Analyse the patterns blood forms - what happened, sequence of events and where
the blood came from. They often specialise in fields such as DNA analysis, toxicology,
computing and psychology.
Strengths:
- The expertise of the specialists may find out whether a suspect is innocent or
guilty
- They may be essential in a case where the criminal also has scientific knowledge
- Expertise: Highly qualified, post-graduate qualification in forensic science or a
related subject like chemistry, biology, medical science, etc
