Crime Scene Investigation Who Does What??

The Case of the Fatal Oversight It took only five minutes on a hot August night for Johnson to kill Kuto and rob him of $3,000. Seven minutes before eleven p.m., the time the main feature at the corner movie theater began, Johnson stepped across the hall and knocked at Kuto’s door. Being admitted, Johnson closed the door behind him. Kuto stared questioningly at Johnson’s black-gloved hands; his eyes opened wide as Johnson drew his gun. The silencer whistled twice. Kuto fell. Taking the dead man’s keys, Johnson opened Kuto’s strongbox and put $3,000 in cash into his pocket. Then he dialed the police. “My name is Johnson,” he said. “I’m calling from Mr.Kuto’s apartment at 591 Grand Street. There’s been a murder!” Hanging up, Johnson slipped our of Kuto’s apartment, dropped the gun down the garbage chute, and went across the hall to his own room. There he removed his gloves and hid the money.

He was waiting in Kuto’s room when Inspector Winters arrived He was waiting in Kuto’s room when Inspector Winters arrived. He said: “It was too hot to sleep, so I decided to go to a movie. As I stepped into the hall a big man dashed out of Kuto’s door, knocked me down, tossed something into the garbage chute, and raced downstairs.” That night the inspector related the case to Dr. Haledjian, concluding with: “Johnson claimed he had not been in Kuto’s apartment for a week prior to tonight when he called us. But after our lab boys got through there, Johnson confessed. I suppose you can guess why.” Explain what evidence the lab produced and why it caused Johnson to confess.

solution Johnson’s fingerprints should have been on Kuto’s phone since he called the police from there but they weren’t since he was still wearing gloves. The CSI team did not find his prints on the phone causing the detectives to become suspicious of his story.

First on the scene... Uniformed officers are normally the first police officers on the scene. They take charge calm the chaos make things safe for the arriving investigators Sometimes, crime scenes are large and complicated; therefore, it may be necessary to set up a command post - a central location for coordinating police activities. Many police departments use mobile command centers, such as converted motor homes and travel trailers. Some patrol supervisors drive vehicles designed to quickly transform into a fully functional command post.

Crime Scene Investigation facts Patrol officers often assist police investigators with the recovery and collection of evidence. Not all crime scene investigators are sworn police officers. Many police departments employ specially trained civilian crime scene investigators/technicians. These crime scene investigators do not: (As seen on TV)  arrest criminals interrogate or question suspects carry weapons participate in, or conduct autopsies drive Hummers All police officers are trained to properly collect and preserve evidence. Sometimes, detectives are unavailable; therefore, uniformed officers assume the duty of investigating the crime.

Crime Scenes Okay, our alert patrol officers have determined that they do indeed have a crime scene, and they’ve called in the detectives . Before they get started with the investigation, they need to all be on the same page. Everyone knows the difference between a murder and a homicide, right? How about the difference between a crime scene and the scene of the crime? (You knew they weren’t the same, right?) Let’s compare notes before we go any further.

Subtle differences First of all, let’s talk about homicide. Homicide is the killing of one person by another.  A homicide can be ruled legal if the act was committed in self defense or in the defense of another. Even state executions are homicides. Murder is a homicide, but…

Scene of the crime vs crime scene The scene of a crime is the actual location where a crime was committed - where the killer pulled the trigger, or the spot from where the car was stolen. Crime scenes may be as small as a single room and they can be as large as the site of the entire area encompassing the collapsed World Trade Center towers. A crime scene is any location where evidence of a crime can be found. For example, a suspect robs a bank at gunpoint. The bank is the scene of the crime because that’s where the crime took place. It’s also a crime scene because evidence - fingerprints, video evidence, etc. - can be recovered there. The robber drives three blocks away and tosses his mask and gun into a dumpster. The dumpster and surrounding area are now a crime scene because evidence of the robbery can be recovered from the area. The police are in charge of crime scenes. Coroners and medical examiners are in charge of the bodies of murder victims.