AC 1.1 - Effectiveness of Roles of Personnel Involved in Criminal Investigations
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Course
Crime Scene to Courtroom
Institution
WJEC
These are lecture notes on the five main personnel that are involved in criminal investigations (Police, CPS, Pathologists, Scene of Crime Officers, and Forensic Scientists)
These are notes ONLY on AC 1.1 (2884 words)
AC 1.1; EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE ROLE OF PERSONNEL
INVOLVED IN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS
THE POLICE;
Police officers are the organisers of witnesses, victims, and suspect statements are usually the first
responder on the scene of crime. Their job is to gather and prepare information to enable a
prosecution in a court of law, and in order to do this, they use specialised units and organised
operations. Police are also responsible for preserving human life as they are trained professionals
who strive to reduce the amount of crime, solve as many cases as possible, and make sure all actions
and precautions they take are justified.
The police can be contacted 24 hours a day 7 days a week, however, when contacting the
emergency services, individuals may experience a lengthy waiting line due to a limited number of
officers, busy times, and that fact that they’re high in demand. The time between calling the
emergency services and getting the first response team there can be a crucial period, and if the
waiting for the police to turn up takes too long, the investigation and case conclusion may be
affected negatively, rendering their role in the investigation undefective. Although, police have a
lengthy training period where they must spend 18-22 weeks in classroom learning (including first aid
and personal training), driving courses for on-the-road skills, and assigned a tutor so they can spend
a month developing their expertise with on-the-job training; This all collates for a degree in policing.
Obviously, this is a lengthy and pricey system, and while required in order to do the job in an
effective and just manner, it limits the amount of individuals that are willing to go into the work.
Police have often been subjected to viewing certain groups of people differently and treating them
as such. Depending on who the victim of the crime is, and who is the initial or final suspect, maybe
impact the final decision made by the police when prosecuting. This was shown during the murder of
Stephen Lawrence, where the police didn’t bother to follow any procedures or leads or information
that was provided to them by the public and the witness of the crime (who was the initial suspect).
Because Stephen Lawrence was of Black-British descent, and the way the police handled the case,
the police were consequently labelled as institutionally racist. The case of Stephen Lawrence showed
how ineffective the police can be during a criminal investigation; Police can be highly discriminatory
(mainly by enforcing rules for a certain group and not others), not take certain crime seriously, and
not securing crime scenes properly, rendering their role ineffective.
On the other hand, police officers are effective during the criminal investigation due to them being
committed to their jobs by investigating all evidence. They are determined to solve the case and can
gather a broad range of information and evidence ready for prosecution. An example of a
determined police officer was in the Leanne Teinan case where the police officers searched 140 pet
shops, and on the 144th, they found indicators of the murderer which therefore led to a conviction.
Thanks to training in firearms Overall, the police have positive and negative aspects when in an
investigation, and while they are predominantly effective, there are possibilities for them to not
perform their job in such an effective way.
FORENSIC SCIENTISTS;
Forensic scientists (or criminalists) work as a team in the forensic science department of an
investigation. Their main goal is to analyse and determine evidence given to them by SCOS on scene
for collection in court, as well as collecting photos of the scene of the crime; They can also carry out
2nd post-mortems. Due to the high skill level required for the job, forensic scientists are highly
trained and intelligent, they must be meticulous when it comes to attention to detail while being
incredibly patient and have great concentration skills. They are able to interpret information and
, evidence such as bodily fluids and DNA evidence which is very important as finding DNA evidence
can be the defining factor of the outcome of the case.
For the typical forensic scientist at an entry level, the salary is around £20,000 a year which does
increase as the individual gains experience and moves up the job ladder. Forensic scientists carry a
lot of expertise knowledge considering they are required degrees and incredible training to go into
their jobs due to the complicated nature of it. They are also able to interpret evidence to determine
whether or not it holds any substance within the case, making it possible for them to determine the
innocence or guilt of the defendant while making them an effective role within the criminal
investigation. This expertise and knowledge makes them incredibility vital to the investigation,
especially in complicated situations and advances criminal cases were the criminal may also be
knowledgeable of how they can prevent themselves from being found on evidence.
However, the availability of forensic scientists is few. Typically, forensic scientists work at specialist
companies (like Cellmark) meaning they don’t directly work for the police or police investigations.
While they may be easy to come by for small and compact cases, having to recruit them for larger
and more complicated cases may be difficult, especially as there will be a delay with the
examinations, reducing their effectiveness as there aren’t many available. Forensic tests can also
cost up to £250 each, which can be costly for the police if there is a large amount of evidence
needing to be processed for prosecution. The education path for forensic scientists is also
complicated. Individuals require a degree from medical school and a specialist training period in
fields of scientific analysis. Interpretations of evidence is also subjective, and many individuals within
a team may have different opinions on what a certain type of evidence may mean (perhaps leading
to a miscarriage of justice). Evidence (especially DNA) is easy to mix up and cross contaminating,
much like in the Adam Scott case where Scott himself spent months being accused of a crime, he
didn’t commit thanks to the forensic lab keeping and cross contaminating his DNA. Not only this but
forensic evidence can be neglected and missed during examination. In the Stephen Lawrence case, a
bag strap that may have been used as an improvised weapon during the murder was mistakenly
recorded as further away (90 metres from Stephen) then it was. With the weaknesses in mind,
forensic scientists are shown to be seen as sometimes ineffective especially when it comes to cost
and accessibility; Forensic scientist also aren't always needed, especially in cases such as fraud or
healthcare fraud (white-collar crime) and would be highly ineffective in terms of such. However, with
the high levels of expertise needed to be a forensic scientist, and the qualifications required, forensic
scientists when needed are highly effective and can assess evidence that can be crucial for if/when
the case is taken to trial.
SCENE OF CRIME OFFICERS (SCOS);
The role of a crime scene is to collect and properly preserve evidence from the crime scene to make
sure that it does not cross contaminate with any other evidence or any substances/materials that
could tamper with the evidence validity and admissibility. SCOS work with the police to decide which
evidence to collect and will be vital to the case and decide which way would be the best possible to
collect the evidence. In addition to this, SCOS also take photographs of the crime scene (or any other
areas that are surrounding that contain any evidence), use the common approach path to secure the
scene (securing the entrance and exits points of the perpetrators, witnesses, victims, etc), and
documenting and packing everything appropriately for when it is sent of for analysis at the forensics
lab. SCOS also are able to attend a post mortem and give statements/evidence in court during trial.
SCOS are experts in their field as they have undergone several months of training with many having
degrees in relation to the scientific fields. With this training and qualifications it is safe to assume
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