What are the primary functions of the initial Police responders?
- Attending the scene and an early stage
- Taking control of the situation
- Coordinating tasks
What is the first thing to consider when understanding a course of action at a serious crime scene?
Every person who undertakes a course of action at a serious crime scene must first consider what risks may exist.
The actions of the first responding Police have a critical effect on an investigation and on the potential for gathering evidence. List the point in general investigation model that should be applied in all cases?
Victim- Identify and locate the victims
Appreciation - Make an initial appreciation of the incident. Assess personal risk then preserve the life of others
Witnesses - Locate and contain witnesses
Scene- Preserve the scene
Exhibits - Note ecidence and preserve any that would otherwise be lost or destroyed
Elements - Consider whether the elements of the alledged offence have been established
Powers - Identify what powers are available and whether to execute them
Offenders - Identify and apprehend suspects
What are 4 benefits of applying appreciation technique?
- Manages risk
- Reduces uncertainty
- Eliminates duplication
- Ensures nothing is overlooked
What are the steps to take conducting an appreciation?
Aim - An aim if short, one line, statement which succinctly demonstrates a single objective
Factors - A factor is any circumstances or fact that could possibly have an effect on the manner in which you will achieve your desrired outcome
Course Open - Course open are a list of possible ways the aim could be achieved, bearing in mind the factors and the deductions made from those factors
Plan - A plan is a proposed course of action designed to put the selected course into action in order to acheieve the desired aim
What are the 2 main purposes for Police attending the scene of any death?
- Police’s purpose if always to investigate thouroughly
- Gather sufficient evidence to satisfactorily explain the circumstances of the death
What information should you gain from the informant / complainant at the scene of a serious offence who will assist your investigation?
- Identity and location of the suspect
- A first-hand account of what the complainant/informant knows
- Precise details of the location of the scene
- Circumstances leading to the discovery
- Identity of the victim
- Details of anyone else at the scene
- Full contact details of the complainant / informant
- Demeanour of the complainant / informant
- Relationship of the complainant / informannt to victim / suspect
- Details of action the complaintant / informant has taken and where they have been
- Details of any hazards or safety issues that may affect Police approaching the scene / victim
What can you ask of complainants / informants where there may be a delay in Police arrival?
- To return to the proximity of the scene, and guard it, if it is considered safe for them to do so
- Not to enter the obvious boundaries of the scene
- Not to touch or move anything
- To prevent others from entering or touching the scene
- To await Police arrival and identify themselve s to the first Police at the scene
What should inital action Police take note of when having initial contact with the complainant / informant?
- What they say
- Their clothing
- Their demeanour
What is the first priority when conducting a risk assessment at the scene of a serious incident?
- The first priority will always be to ensure the safety of the attending Police members.
- Next is establish the physical condition of the victim. Falls into 3 categories:
Alive and uninjured
Alive but injured
Shows no signs of life
Upon arrival at a hospital, what steps should you follow in regard to the victim?
- Obtain a medical opinion as to the victim’s current medical condition
- Seize the victims clothing and other possessions as evidence
- Establish the victim’s identity
- Obtain a pre-transfusion of blood
- Seize any discarded bandages used to cover gunshot wounds and record the position where each bandage had been applied
- Arrange DNA swabs to be taken from the victim’s skin
- Obtain details of any and all persons who come to visit or contact the victim
- Conduct a scoping interview consider recording if they might die
- Note / photo injuries
Upon initial arrival, the victim shows no signs of life. What steps should you take?
- Consider ambulance or resuscitation. If victim has been moved for this purpose, record it
- Remain with body until relieved by CIB or a supervisor
- Arrange a doctor to pronounce life extinct, unless death is obvious
- Treat victim as a scene
- Instruct medical staff to leave clothes on body
- If medical equipment has been used, then request for it to be left in situ
- Conduct scoping interviews with medical staff who treated the victim
- Ascertain if victim spoke to anyone before death
- Record body position, lividity, obvious injuries, and clothing
- Objectively record everything observed using all senses
- Record all exhibits
- Sketch a plan including the position of the body and exhibits
- Provide full information to the OC investigation at an early stage
Explain common approach path
- A common approach path is a path used for all movements into and out of the scene which avoids any route possibly taken to and from the scene by the suspects or victim
- A common approach path is a way in which to get from A and B in a crime scene with least amount of disruption to the scene itself
- This will be the only way attending staff will travel once at or in the scene
Obtaining forensic evidence from a witness at the scene. What action interviewing Police take prior to interview and then of physical evidence that may be present?
- Some witnesses have been so proximate to events that it is likely evidence was transferred to the witness from the victim, suspect or the scene itself.
- Before a witness is interviewed, a plan must be prepared to preserve and recover all available physical evidence from the witness, such as fibres, bodily fluids, glass, or other material.
Initial Police arrive at a stabbing incident where the victim has serious injuries and is anticipated to die. A verbal statement is taken from the victim. Under Section 18(1)(a) of the Evidence Act 2006, how can Police satisy statement is admissable?
The courts must be satisfied that both the content of the statement and the person who made it are reliable. Police taking the statement must therefore record any factors which demonstrate the realiability of the statement or it’s maker. The circumstances to consider under section 16(1) of Evidence Act 2006 include.
- Nature of the statement
- Contents of the statement
- Circumstances relating to the making of the statement
- Circumstances relating to the veracity of the person and
- Circumstances relating to the accurancy of the observation of the person
Police who arrive at a serious crime scene should identify, preserve, and record the scene. What actions should Police take to preserve the scene upon inital arrival?
- Identify and preserve the scene (freeze, control, guard and preserve)
- Carry out an initial assessment of the scene
- Use a common approach path
- Clear the scene
- Arrange and brief scene guards. Ensure crime scene logs are used
- Establish adequate cordon parametres
- If no immediate life is at risk, consider using stepping plates
- Protect fragile exhibits and any exposed to the element
- Call for assitance/resources as necessary
- Make appropriate records, ie. who, what, where, when, why and how
- Sketch plan/initial photographs of the scene
- Make accurate records and report them to OC investigation as soon as possible
What action must Police staff at the scene of serious crime take if the media are present?
- If members of the media are present at the scene, keep them away from the immediate crime scene cordon and make no comment about the incident
- Consult with OC investigations on arrival and explain what has happened, identify media members and where they are located
You are the first at the scene of a homicide and you are advised that the suspect is still present. What should be your first priority in relation to the suspect?
- The identification, apprehension and isolation of the suspect are priority. Locating the susect quickly can provide the investigation with forensic and other evidence that may otherwise be lost.
You are the first at the scene of a homicide and you are advised that the suspect is still present. What are the 4 steps that you should follow?
1- Seperate suspects from other persons at the scene
2- Consider the condition of the suspect, whether they are injured or under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or suffer from a medical or mental impairment or other such condition
3- Ask them to remain at the scene and to cooperate with Police. ASAP remove suspect from the scene
4- If suspect refuses to cooperate whether grounds exist to arrest and the most appropriate offence
5- To prevent cross contamination issues, consider usising officers who have not entered the scene to manage the suspect
6- Caution the suspect if required
7- Consider searching the suspect and the suspect’s vehicle and belongings
8- Consider searching the vicinity of the suspect and the area or route they are thought to have taken
9- Note the suspects appearance and behaviour
10- Record everything the suspect says and consider a preliminary interview if appropriate
11- Brief the OC investigation on their arrival, highlighting any significant risks surrounding cross contamination or movement within or near the scene
