The Importance Of Criminal Investigation

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H.M. Adams Criminal Justice 102 Writing Laboratory Professor Reid Toth September 11, 2014 The first step and possibly the most important during an investigation is to secure the crime scene. Essentially the reason behind the importance needed to secure a crime scene is to protect evidence from any unnecessary intrusion by persons authorized or unauthorized that could result in the contamination of the evidence even if the cause of contamination is done unintentionally. This procedure is implemented to establish the process for the “chain of evidence” ownership. The location of the scene may be comprised from suspects and or witnesses that may also have information of an evidentiary matter (Inbau & Finney, 1936). It is important to get statements…show more content…
Why Treating a crime scene as if it was ongoing when law enforcement officers arrive is important for self protection of the law enforcement personnel themselves but also protection for bystanders as well as witness that are within the immediate area. It should be noted at this time that descriptions of vehicles, their position, and license plates should be recorded in case they leave from the scene (Wyatt, 2014). Although all these reasons for securing a crime scene are important for protection from any unauthorized person and from evidence contamination or manipulation, the protection of the area itself should never take precedence over those in need of medical assistance, the preservation of life and the well being of the victim or victims should always come first when a first respondent arrives upon a scene (Wyatt, 2014). When law enforcement personnel arriving upon a location where a possible crime may have occurred the first course of action is to verify if any medical help is needed to given to persons or person at the scene location. The following step would be to secure the scene as to protect all physical evidence afterwards make notation of all persons within the area and…show more content…
With the advent of information storage and the ease of computer access as well as the rise of social media, so too has the need for tools in electronic criminal investigation as well as a new and more focused informational gathering science that we know today as computer forensics (Holt & Bossler, 2012). A person may ask why the relevance of computer forensics in our daily lives? There is a twofold concept to this first is “detection” of computer forensics where as it entails more along the lines of prevention, although the definition may imply that it is of a proactive concept this may not always be generally the case. Secondly as suggested before “retrieval” much like its name this process has more to with intelligence gathering and dissemination and at times linking a suspect with an action albeit in most cases after the fact (Holt & Bossler, 2012). Most individuals that live their daily lives are generally unaware of just how interconnected in a nebulous ether of technology society has become. This type of interconnected way of life for the individual may take the form from a person's mortgage to one's medical care, finances, to even

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