CRIME INVESTIGATION: FORENSIC SCIENCE

Forensic science and scientific expertise serves the administration of justice by providing scientific support in the investigation of crime and providing evidence to the courts.

When a crime is reported to the police, patrol officers are usually the first to arrive at the scene. They perform the initial investigation; fill out the forms, such as the complaint; interview witnesses; make an arrest if there is a suspect. If a crime requires expert investigation, detectives are called in. The detective’s first task usually is to examine the facts in order to determine whether a crime has actually been committed and whether further investigation is required. If a full investigation is initiated, detectives collect evidence, interview witnesses and victims, contact informants. After an arrest is made, investigative work is extremely important to the outcome of a court case. Case preparation includes reviewing and evaluating all evidence and reports on the case; re-interviewing witnesses and assisting in their preparation for court appearances; and preparing the final report.

Legal detectives and investigators in common-law countries have a wide variety of techniques available in conducting investigations. However, the majority of cases are solved by the interrogation of suspects and the interviewing witnesses, which takes time. Besides interrogations, detectives may rely on a network of informants they have processed over the years. Informants often have connections with persons a detective would not be able to approach formally. The best way is to obtain a confession from the suspect, usually this can be done in exchange for entering plea bargain for a lesser sentence. Evidence collection and preservation can also help in identify ing a potential suspect(s).

Criminalistics as a subdivision of forensic science is the application of various sciences to answer questions relating to examination and comparison of different types of evidence in criminal investigations. Typically, evidence is examined in a crime lab.

A Crime Laboratory (often Crime Lab), is a scientific laboratory where scientists examine evidence from a criminal case. A typical crime lab has two sets of personnel. These are the investigators who go to crime scenes and collect evidence and process the scene. The second type of personnel in a crime lab is the people who run experiments on the evidence once it is brought to the lab.

Each type of evidence has a specific value in an investigation. Evidence used to resolve an issue can be split into 2 areas. The testimonial evidence refers to any witnessed records of an incident. The physical evidence is any material item that is on the crime scene. What will evidence collected at a scene do for the investigation:

· May prove that a crime has been committed.

· Establish any key elements of a crime.

· Link a suspect with a scene or a victim.

· Establish the identity of a victim or suspect.

· Confirm verbal witness testimony.

· Release the innocent.

Among the identification methods there are fingerprinting, DNA profiling and microscopic examination.

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