Crime Scene Investigation v2016-1

Purpose

To equip students with an understanding of and ability to perform the techniques involved in crime scene investigation. 

General Outcomes

Appropriate crime scene management and crime scene investigation is fundamental in ensuring the efficacy of subsequent laboratory-based forensic examination or analysis. In this sense, it is at the heart of forensic science. In many cases, it is impossible for laboratory analysis or post analysis interpretation to overcome shortcomings introduced at the crime scene investigation stage.

The course should be designed to enable the student to: 

1. understand and describe the roles, responsibilities and liabilities of all personnel involved in the processing of a crime scene with particular emphasis on police scientific support personnel such as Scenes of Crime Officers, the Senior Investigating Officer (SIO), Crime Scene Manager and other police personnel or their equivalents;
2. describe and carry out the steps required for the preservation and documentation of the crime scene, the systematic search for evidence, and the collection, packaging and labelling of evidence;
3. understand the principles and demonstrate the use of controls and reference materials;
4. understand and describe the roles of specialists who may attend crime scenes. For example: ambulance personnel, anthropologists, archaeologists, pathologists, forensic medical examiners, scientists, bomb disposal experts, engineers, entomologists, fire service, fire investigators, odontologists, surveyors, and other forensic specialists;
5. understand and describe the potential complexity of crime scene investigation and the many practical and legal constraints, including the need for timeliness, within which the investigator must work;
6. demonstrate: (a) an understanding of the information needs of all personnel involved in crime scene examination and the processing of items of physical evidence; (b) an ability to convey information of this type in an appropriate form. Particular emphasis should be placed on the information that must be provided to and by SOCOs, or their equivalents;
7. understand and explain both evidential and intelligence values of information obtained by crime scene investigation;
8. demonstrate a full understanding of the critical importance of crime scene investigation in the crime scene to court chain;
9. demonstrate the skills of crime scene evidence interpretation;
10. critically evaluate case studies;
11. describe and demonstrate adherence to safe working procedures;
12. apply the skills and knowledge embodied in items 1 to 11 above to the investigation of a range of simulated crime scenes. 

Crime Scene Investigation Component Standard printable version v2016-1

Download a copy of the CSI Matrix v2016-1