Observation
 The
yellow tape is up, there are cops everywhere, and maybe even some
emergency vehicles. The Captain called the investigator on the phone.
"There's been a robbery. How soon can you get there?"
It's very late at night, of course, and he's half asleep.
Speaking of robbery,
his plans for the rest of the day just disappeared. In any case, there's
no need to get overly excited and start flying off in all directions.
It's a robbery, for goodness sake! The crime is that somebody has lost
something valuable. Now it is his job to find out what happened.
Crime scenes often yield forensic evidence that leads to the
apprehension of dangerous criminals. Perhaps just as often, though,
potentially valuable evidence is ignored, goes unseen or is destroyed, or is rendered
rendered useless by careless behavior at the crime scene. The
investigation carried out at the crime scene is one of the most
important aspects of any case. It is considered to be the treasure of
evidences or as the old saying goes, "The crime scene is the beginning of
the long and complex process of investigation."
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How
observant are you? Do you remember what your parent was wearing yesterday,
the color of the last car that drove by, or the color of the lady's
eyes at the checkout counter? |
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The clues that he obtains from the crime
scene may be small, but only in their size. Their value in the
course of investigation is worth millions. Such pieces of
evidence are not easy to come by. The most valuable quality in
an investigating forensic scientist is to be calm and observant. Good observation skills help the investigator find every
single piece of evidence, from soil to grass and glass, from torn papers to small
hairs etc.
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 Often
crime scene investigators work in teams-a photographer, fingerprint
specialist, medical examiner or specialist in tissue collection. Between
them all nothing goes unnoticed. The one investigator that can do
everything himself usually has several unsolved cases, whereas the team
effort experts have few if any unsolved cases. The warning to the
investigator in training is: The choice is yours. There is evidence at
all crime scenes. If you don't know what you are doing, DON'T DO
IT!
The power of observation is the best tool that a detective and a
forensic scientist have. To observe is to note
carefully, paying attention to details. When a detective or evidence
technician collects data at a crime scene, observations are very
important. Observations include everything from the objects found at the
scene of the crime and statements from witnesses, to the time of day the
crime took place and the temperature of the room where it occurred. A
detective looks for clues, which are real, measurable,
countable observations of the crime and the crime scene.
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An investigator does not know what data or evidence will eventually
prove to be important, so he or she observes everything. At the scene
of the crime, the detective and forensic scientist work together to
make sure that all possible evidence is collected for later examination.
If the evidence is badly handled, wrongly labeled, or allowed to become
contaminated, it will be useless in the laboratory and the courts.
Worse, if clues are overlooked, the investigator will get no second
chance. |
Eventually the forensic scientists will use information collected at
the crime scene, along with the evidence from the crime lab, to form a
hypothesis,
or an educated guess, about how the crime was committed and who did it.
Forensic scientists, like all scientists, must always keep an open mind
during an investigation and look for a hypothesis that could explain the
crime. |
