Law Enforcement: Protecting Against Infectious Disease Risk - Essay Sample

Law enforcement officers and crime scene agents have to protect themselves adequately from contracting infectious diseases such as AIDS in the field. They have to wear appropriate clothing and ensure that the evidence they collect is well stored and should not affect another individual. Evidence collection has to be preserved well, and gloves and other appropriate tools should be worn and disposed of well after use. Investigators and other law enforcement agents should ensure that they determine the most probative piece of information that can be used as evidence, and priorities should also be established in the long run.

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The exclusionary rule established in the US Supreme Court prevents the government from using most evidence that is assembled in violation of the US constitution. The exclusionary rule mandates that the evidence seized unlawfully by the police is acceptable in court. As per the amendment violations, the information should not be taken in an aspect of unlawful conduct.

One of the exceptions of the exclusionary rule is the good-faith exception where evidence can be excluded if officers took it without a reasonable rely on invalid search warrants. However, the exception does not apply to the police officers when conducting their search in anticipation of binding the appellate precedent that facilitates them to do their search effectively in the long run.

However, the evidence that the officers have obtained can be admissible if they rely on the statute that is regarded as invalid. The court evaluated that the good-faith exception is an exclusionary rule since it applies to the police officers who intend to make errors while maintaining records in the warrant database.

The second exception is the independent source doctrine, where evidence that is assembled during an unlawful search can be accepted later through a constitutionally valid search. When the information collected by a police officer is obtained through force or other means, a warrant can be granted, and if the evidence relates to the crime scene, then it can later be accepted.

Independent source doctrine is referred to as expanded if the partially tainted warrant is put on hold after the tainted data leads to issuance. The information that is not misaligned should establish a probable cause where it is efficient in justifying its issuance.

The third exception is the inevitable discovery doctrine that allows acceptance of evidence without a warrant that was discovered in an unlawful seizure. If the information is found in any other way through an independent person or investigation and it led to an unlawful search, then the evidence can be accepted if it leads to a probable cause.

The fourth exception is the attenuation doctrine, where the relationship between the information obtained and the unconstitutional conduct is attenuated (Hills, 2019). In this case, evidence can be accepted if they are intervening elements such as actions by the third party that a court may evaluate to determine the taint that could have been attenuated through the discovery of the evidence that tends to have no objective in relation to its suppression.

The patent medicines have been dispensed into powder form, and various crime scene investigators have adopted this approach. Medicines are often commercially advertised to be over the counter, and when it does not have the efficiency, then it is referred to as the patent medicines.

The medicines that are often pre-packaged and sold without the doctor’s prescriptions are the proprietary medicines and can be used in powdered form and are classified as trace evidence. The crime scene investigators, therefore, have to adopt a comprehensive packaging approach for packaging their evidence that often relates to the commission of the crime and is referred to as evidence packaging. This approach can be used to trace various pieces of evidence, such as soil and glass, among other materials.

When crime scene investigators find the trace evidence, they place it in the druggist’s fold, such as the patent medicines. Other materials that can be used to store the medicine are envelopes and plastic covers to preserve the evidence. Crime scene investigators package the trace evidence in powder form to avoid contamination and facilitate the significant collection of evidence.

While much forensic analysis and detection techniques have emerged, the use of trace evidence packaging has enhanced for a long time (Hills, 2019). It also assists in tracing the evidence adequately and avoid missing them.

The collection of trace evidence from stuck objects tends to be a challenging task, especially when it involves larger forms of physical evidence. Investigators should send the entire objects that they obtained as evidence for processing in the lab. Objects tend to be blown away or destroyed when it is not effectively attached and sealed in protecting the evidence. If the smaller items are lost, then it is sufficient that the evidence is collected from the larger pieces of evidence even though it is stuck.

Samples of trace evidence should be evaluated well, and the initial process is to ensure that the trace evidence is kept well and clean. The evidence collected should be well specified and kept in separate containers. The exceptions, however, should be that the objects must be in a precarious situation, and if the items are too large, then the evidence can be removed or transferred to other objects.

Trace evidence should be carefully collected where information should yield sufficient wealth and helps to evaluate the probable cause. Crime scene investigators should ensure that they examine the optical and chemical properties of the trace evidence with a variety of tools and origins of each aspect.

In crime investigation, trace evidence will be evaluated effectively, and other considerations should be examined (Amano et al., 2016). Collected samples should be sent to the laboratory with the control samples that might be useful for the investigation. Samples can be broken down into smaller pieces, and other layers can also be assembled in protecting edges for further examination.

Crime scene investigators collect evidence from various sources and, at times, might involve the boat, vehicle, or aircraft. A crime scene investigator should investigate the vehicle by involving documentation and collecting physical evidence that is not too big. The evidence found in the vehicle, boat, or airplane should be dependent on what the crime is and the act that was committed at that particular moment. For instance, if it was a burglary, then fingerprints can help evaluate a person who entered into the vehicle. In a homicide that involved shooting, then an assortment of physical evidence is essential to consider what occurred.

The crime scene investigator needs to establish an organized method of processing the vehicle. The essential step that should be undertaken in any scene is gathering information that can be relevant in identifying the vehicles, boat, or airplane, and the available contents. The boat or car should be examined and evaluate what type of evidence are present.

The documents of the boat or vehicle should be thoroughly analyzed, and photographs should be taken of any evidence that is found. The importance of taking pictures is evaluating later if there is evidence that was not observed.

A crime scene investigator should also consider searching under seats and other places that can be hard to be found. When seats are broken and contaminated, then other alternatives can be taken to collect relevant evidence. A crime scene investigator should ensure that the information they collect should not expose them to more risks.

Other pieces of evidence that should be evaluated during the search can be marked and photographs taken as well in relating the evidence later. They should also consider starting with the most fragile evidence and limiting the exposures that they have on the environment. Also, samples can be collected from the steering wheel and on the seat belt buckles. Fingerprints are also essential in collecting detailed information.

In conclusion, crime scene investigators should be cautious in collecting the little information they find on the crime scene. They should not interfere with the evidence, and the evidence collected should be well labeled to avoid mix-ups. In effectively solving criminal cases and accidents, then evidence should be effectively analyzed, and the crime scene should be adequately investigated to gather all traces and information that can be relevant to the case in the long run.

References

Amano, H., Ito, K., Tsuda, H., Yoshikawa, Y., Nakamura, K., & Shimizube, D. (2016). U.S. Patent No. 9,233,767. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Hills, B. R. (2019). It's Time to Believe: Resolving the Circuit Split over the Good-Faith Exception to the Exclusionary Rule. Hofstra L. Rev., 48, 761.