Essay Sample for You: Criminal Investigation for a Juvenile Female Rape

The criminal investigation is for a home invasion burglary that involves a juvenile female who was raped. The purpose of the criminal investigation is to collect information that will serve as enough evidence for presentation at the future court proceedings. There are four actions that one must take at the scene of crime including receipt of information, conducting scene assessment, undertaking walk-through and original documentation of the scene as well as taking notes (The National Institute of Justice, 2013).

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Obtain Initial Information

As a detective, the first and crucial action is to receive information from the people who are at the scene. Crucial information to get from the people at the scene includes the victim's body, position, and movement to the hospital, items present in the scene of the crime, the suspect, and any other potential evidence. The detective needs to note the information including the time and date the crime was committed, the location, address, and the parties involved (The National Institute of Justice, 2013). Obtaining this information is essential to secure the crime scene with minimal contamination as well as disturbance of physical evidence. It is also necessary to have these details as a basis for investigation of the crime. Failure of obtaining such information may lead to assuming critical information from the initial officers at the scene of the crime before the detective. It may take the detective more time in investigating evidence that has already been collected by those who arrived at the scene earlier.

Conduct Scene Assessment

Undertaking an actual evaluation of the scene after receiving the initial information from those at the scene is critical to confirm the earlier findings. The detective should cautiously approach the scene, remain observant of the people, events, environmental conditions and potential evidence available at the crime scene (The National Institute of Justice, 2013). The process of evaluation is essential to note the people at the scene and possible secondary crime scenes. Actual scene assessment is also critical in recognizing the people and the vehicle associated with the crime. The failure of undertaking a real scene assessment may prevent the detective from affirming the conclusive findings from the scene of the crime. The initial evidence may have left essential details useful in executing a prosecution. A failure to conduct the scene assessment may prevent the detective from having physical proof of the actual observation he made from the scene necessary in a court proceeding.

Undertake a Walk-Through and Initial Documentation of the Scene

The walkthrough is a necessary action that gives the detective an overview of the whole crime scene and that it is intact (Geberth, 2003). The detective will be able to identify any threat to the integrity of the scene and ensure the protection of the physical evidence that is available. During the walk-through, it is necessary to write and take photographs of the actual observation of the scene (The National Institute of Justice, 2013). Failure of undertaking a walk-through may not provide the detective with information on the actual events as they took place at the crime scene. It may also compromise the identification and protection of perishable and fragile evidence.

Take Notes

Documenting all the actions and observations made at the crime scene is critical for the detective. Record the location of the persons involved including the victim, suspect, and witnesses, the condition and appearance of the scene on arrival including the running computer and drugs on the suspect's car seat. Record personal information of the suspect, victim, witnesses and any statements they make. This action is vital to assist the detective in preserving the details collected at the scene (The National Institute of Justice, 2013). The report shall be kept as a permanent record for use in future court case proceedings. Providing clear, concise and well-documented evidence is critical in executing successful court proceedings. Failure of making these notes may compromise the evidence that the detective presents to the court during prosecution of the suspect. The detective will not be able to give information that substantiates investigative considerations.

References

Geberth, V. (2003). The homicide crime scene: Practical homicide investigation. CRC Press.

The National Institute of Justice. (2013). Crime scene investigation: A guide for law enforcement. Retrieved from https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/forensics/Crime-Scene-Investigation.pdf