ac1.1 roles of personnel Flashcards
1
Q
key personnel in criminal investigations
A
- police officers
- crime scene investigators
- forensic scientists
- forensic pathologists
- crown prosecution service
2
Q
the role of police officers
A
- usually first people called to a crime scene, vital role at the start of an investigation
- safeguard the public and attend to anyone seriously injured
- secure the crime scene in order to conserve evidence
3
Q
what are police detectives
A
- officers who manage a range of criminal investigations
- work within specialist departments (CID, fraud, drugs and firearms squad, child protection department and special branch)
4
Q
limitations of police officers
A
- criticised for sometimes failing to secure crime and preserve evidence
- criticised for sometimes failing to investigate certain crimes
- failures can be due to incompetence in handling evidence, discriminatory attitudes of individuals or system-level failings such as institutional racism
5
Q
the role of crime scene investigators
A
- take charge of crime scene, liasing with police
- photographing crime scenes for evidence
- recovering physical and biological evidence from crime scenes
- packaging storing and documenting material recovered
- attending post mortem exams
- advising police investigators
- giving evidence in court
6
Q
strengths of CSIs
A
- may gather evidence that conclusively links suspects to crime scenes and victims
-evidence may prove conclusively a suspect is innocent
7
Q
limitations of CSIs
A
- work requires specialist skill
- failure to collect,record or keeping evidence uncontaminated, lead to a guilty person going free or innocent being convicted
- forensic samples can put their health at risk
- work may be stressful and emotionally demanding
8
Q
the role of forensic scientists and specialists
A
- use specific knowledge to analyse and interpret evidence
- specialise in particular areas (DNA analysis, analysis of fires, toxicology, computing, psychology and forensic anthropology)
9
Q
strengths of forensic scientists and specialists
A
- special expertise may be able to identify and interpret evidence that proves a suspect’s guilt or innocence
- may be essential in complex cases where criminal also has specialist knowledge/skills
10
Q
limitations of forensic scientists and specialists
A
- services are expensive
- contamination of evidence can occur during examination
- experts may disagree, unabling to evaluate which side is right
- if expert deliberately misleads the court, can result in a miscarriage of justice
11
Q
strengths of pathologists
A
- can often provide conclusive scientific evidence as to the cause and time of death, may prove decisive in establishing the guilt or innocence of a suspect
11
Q
the role of pathologists
A
- medical doctors specialising in studying the cause of disease and death
- make a detailed external examination of the body for signs of foul play, examine internal organs and take tissue samples for laboratory analysis
- advise police on how to recover the body from the scene
- ‘defence’ post mortem carried out
12
Q
limitations of pathologists
A
- are only about 35 Home Office registered forensic pathologists
- highly specialised role involving up to seven years further training after qualifying as a doctor
- shortage of qualified pathologists can delay investigations
- services can be expensive
- work demands close attention to detail and sound judgement
- mistakes can cause miscarriages of justice and result in the wrong person serving a sentence
13
Q
strengths of the crown prosecution service
A
- prevents bias as CPS independently assesses evidence deciding whether or not to prosecute, preventing police from victimising particular individuals
- having a national organisation makes justice more equal
14
Q
limitations of the crown prosecution service
A
- CPS has the power to reject a police request to prosecute
- has sometimes made serious errors
- funding and staffing cuts have meant a growing burden of cases #
