What is Involved in a Forensic Investigation?

C U R T IN HEALTHCARE S E R V I C E S

What is Involved in a Forensic Investigation?

Presented by Karen Kajmowicz

UNLI KE T H E T V S H O WS

The Methods of Solving Crime

A forensic investigation sounds like a complicated process and often reminds us of the popular crime dramas on television. At its core, forensics is simply the methods that are used to solve a crime.

A forensic investigation is the gathering and testing of physical evidence from a  crime scene to try to find the correct information needed to determine the nature of the crime and the suspect.

This evidence includes digital assets such as phone records, emails or credit card statements but also include DNA evidence such as hair, blood or fingerprints.

Many people are involved in a forensic investigation.

A detective will often lead the investigations. The detective will be responsible for interviewing persons of interest, victims and anyone else involved in the case. They will work to piece together information based on those interviews and the evidence that has been collected to create a case.

The People

Crime Scene Evidence Collectors are people who are trained in gathering all of the pertinent evidence from the crime scene such as fingerprints, DNA samples, trace evidence and the like. They are then responsible for documenting that evidence.

Crime Scene Photographers will also be apart of this team. They document, through photographs, the state of the crime scene before any evidence is collected. This will help immortalize the state of everything for the detectives before it is tampered with.

The Equipment It is hard to quantify exactly what you will need for a forensic investigation because the truth is – you will need a lot of stuff, and it will be different for different types of crimes. There are some essentials that every police officer or first responder should have in their vehicle for when they first arrive on the scene. This includes flares, flashlights, crime scene barricade tape, crime scene markers, biohazard bags, and others.

Crime scene officers and detectives should carry similar items as well as more specific items such as measuring devices, footwear casting material, and evidence seals. There are also multiple types of kits that will be used for various purposes such as blood collection kits, excavation kits, fingerprint kits, or trajectory kits.

One of the first steps of a forensic investigation is to define the scope of the crime scene and identify any immediate health or safety hazards. Starting with the central area of focus (such as where a body was found) and moving outwards, a detective will establish the area that is most likely to contain all physical evidence needed.

From there, the scene will need to be quickly secured. Every person who enters or exits the crime scene has the potential and most likely will compromise the evidence that is there, so it is essential to get it locked down as soon as possible.

This will often be done with crime scene tape.

The Process

The Process Continued An investigator will then work to determine the type of crime that took place before any evidence is collected. This will help them determine exactly the kind of evidence that is needed and should be looked for. After this is determined, an evidence collection strategy is developed.

The evidence collection process begins the documentation and recording of evidence. There is generally a priority set for each item. Once set, items and evidence are meticulously collected and documented in inventory logs. The scene is carefully surveyed many times to ensure that all evidence has been obtained.