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Crime Scene

Crime Scene Behaviors Of Crime Scene Stagers

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Abstract

In an article entitled, "Crime Scene Staging and its Detection," Hazelwood and Napier (2004) defined crime scene staging as “the purposeful alteration of a crime or crime scene in an attempt to mislead investigators and frustrate the criminal justice process” (p. 745). While it is true that crime scene staging can frustrate the criminal justice process specifically, generally speaking, crime scene staging is quite a complex societal problem. Staged crime scenes can potentially threaten public safety, the effective use of public resources, and the adjudication of homicide cases on the very broadest level. Unfortunately, there is very little published empirical research on crime scene behaviors in staged homicide cases that can be applied by scholar-practitioners and law enforcement professionals in the field. Therefore, the identification and analysis of crime scene behaviors of crime scene stagers is necessary in order to build an...

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Gesture Based Interface for Crime Scene Analysis: A Proposal

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Abstract.

Within crime scene analysis, a framework providing interactive visualization and gesture based manipulation of virtual objects, while still seeing the real environment, seems a useful approach for the interpretation of cues and for instructional purposes as well. This paper presents a framework providing a collection of techniques to enhance reliability, accuracy and overall effectiveness of gesture-based interaction, applied to an interactive interpretation and evaluation of a crime scene in an augmented reality environment. The interface layout is visualized via a stereoscopic see-through capable Head Mounted Display (HMD), projecting graphics in the central region of the user’s field of view, floating in a close-at-hand volume. The interaction paradigm concurrently exploits both hands to perform precise manipulation of 3D models of objects, eventually present on the crime scene, or even distance/angular measurements, allowing to formulate visual hypothesis with the lowest interaction effort. A real-time adaptation of interaction to the user’s...

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Rhetoric vs Reality Investigating the Skills and Accuracy of Criminal Profiling

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INTRODUCTION

Arguably, the most fundamental question underpinning criminal profiling is whether the technique actually works, or more specifically, whether the predictions of profilers in describing the characteristics of an unknown offender are accurate. Despite the seemingly obvious nature of this question, rigorous empirical data to answer it has been in short supply. This observation, however, should not be interpreted as implying that the development of criminal profiling has occurred within a total vacuum. On the contrary, much material in the form of anecdotal accounts attesting to the merits of criminal profiles has been promulgated in support of their accuracy. Unfortunately, these anecdotal examples seldom appear in publications that are subject to the rigors of independent scientific review. Instead, they frequently originate from true crime novels often co-authored by retired profilers (1–3). Furthermore, although such anecdotal examples may illustrate the application of a criminal profile, the various studies...

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A Bibliography Related to Crime Scene Interpretation with Emphases in Forensic Geotaphonomic and Forensic Archaeological Field

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Introduction

The following bibliography consists of resources that contain information related to the recovery of evidence in outdoor contexts. In practice, archaeology and criminalistics share the goal of systematically documenting, collecting and interpreting physical evidence for the purpose of understanding the factors which affected the depositional history of that evidence. Archaeological method and theory can extend far beyond the recovery of buried remains. The goals of forensic science in general, and archaeology specifically, are similar in many ways. This is evident in their respective definitions. Archaeology may be defined as “the systematic recovery by scientific methods of material evidence remaining from man’s life and culture in past ages, and the detailed study of this evidence” (American Heritage Dictionary, 1978:67). If the temporal references in this definition are removed it becomes interchangeable with broader definitions of “forensic science”. One of the most often addressed areas in forensic science literature is that of homicide victims. Among outdoor crime scenes, an

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Characterizing Structural Relationships in Scenes Using Graph Kernels

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Abstract

Modeling virtual environments is a time consuming and expensive task that is becoming increasingly popular for both professional and casual artists. The model density and complexity of the scenes representing these virtual environments is rising rapidly. This trend suggests that data-mining a 3D scene corpus could be a very powerful tool enabling more efficient scene design. In this paper, we show how to represent scenes as graphs that encode models and their semantic relationships. We then define a kernel between these relationship graphs that compares common virtual substructures in two graphs and captures the similarity between their corresponding scenes. We apply this framework to several scene modeling problems, such as finding similar scenes, relevance feedback, and context-based model search. We show that incorporating structural relationships allows our method to provide a more relevant set of results when compared against previous approaches to model context search 1 Introduction A growing demand for massive virtual environments combined with increasingly powerful

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Scene Sketching and Diagramming for the Incident Scene Investigator

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SmartDraw makes creating crime scene investigation and forensics diagrams easy.

Start with the exact crime scene template you need—not just a blank screen. You can choose from floor plans of houses, offices, and apartments or outdoor or commercial crime scenes like alleys and offices. Next, drag-and-drop any of the thousands of ready-made legal symbols including weapons, gloves, blood splatter, and even dead bodies to customize your diagram.

Share your crime scene investigation & forensics diagrams with others in a variety of common graphics formats such as a PDF or PNG. You can also export them into any Office® or G Suite® application in just a few easy clicks. SmartDraw also works on your SharePoint® network.

You and your team can work on the same flowchart by sharing it on your included online account or by using your favorite file sharing apps like Dropbox®, Google Drive™, Box® or OneDrive®.

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Crime Scene Photography

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Introduction

OVERVIEW

Crime scene photography is one of the most important aspects of documenting crime scenes and evidence. Photographs are often used as courtroom exhibits to support witnesses’ testimony and to prove or disprove issues or theories before the court. Because of their value as court exhibits, the crime scene photographer’s goal should be to take photographs that meet the requirements for admissibility.

OBJECTIVES

In this chapter you will learn about:

1. The value of crime scene and evidence photography
2. The admissibility of photographic evidence in court
3. Testifying in court
4. Becoming an expert witness

THE VALUE OF CRIME SCENE PHOTOGRAPHY

It was a fairly quiet evening in the dispatch center until all at once the 9-1-1 calls started coming in. The callers reported hearing men shouting, then screams and someone calling out for help. The police responded to find a bleeding man with several wounds caused by some type of cutting instrument. The victim said he was

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Criminal Profiling from Crime Scene Analysis

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INTRODUCTION: HISTORY OF CRIMINAL PROFILING

Criminal profiling has been used successfully by law enforcement in several areas and is a valued means by which to narrow the field of investigation. Profiling does not provide the specific identity of the offender. Rather, it indicates the kind of person most likely to have committed a crime by focusing on certain behavioral and personality characteristics. Profiling techniques have been used in various settings such as hostage taking (Reiser. 1982). Law enforcement officers need to learn as much as possible about the hostage taker in order to protect the lives of the hostages. In such cases, police are aided by verbal contact (although often limited) with the offender and possibly by access to his family and friends. They must be able to assess the subject in terms of what course of action he is likely to take and what his reactions to various stimuli might be. Profiling has been used also in identifying anonymous letter writers (Casey-Owens 1983) and

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Crime Scene And Physical Evidence Awareness For Non-forensic Personnel

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Every incident, be it a crime, accident, natural disaster, armed conflict, or other, leaves traces at the scene. The goal of the subsequent investigation is to correctly interpret the facts, reconstruct the events and understand what happened. Due to the transient and fragile nature of those traces, their reliability and the preservation of their physical integrity depend to a very large extent on initial actions at the scene of the incident. Evidence integrity can be achieved with very limited means by observing a key set of guiding principles. Acting with care and professionalism throughout the crime scene investigation process is critical for the admissibility of evidence for court purposes as well as for human rights inquiries and humanitarian action. The present manual was prepared to fill a gap in the compendium of available tools for the judiciary and law enforcement agencies and is the result of a consultative process involving a number of reputable individuals, institutions and organizations, who

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Crime Scene Reconstruction

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Crime Scene Reconstruction

Definition(s)

Crime scene reconstruction is the use of scientific methods, physical evidence, deductive reasoning, and their interrelationships to gain explicit knowledge of the series of events that may have led up to the crime and what exactly happened at a specific crime scene. It is a disciplined and principled approach towards objectively understanding a crime scene. Crime reconstruction helps interpret physical evidence. It is an aid to help formulate a hypothesis and arrive at a conclusion about a certain crime. Forensic specialists all come together with their different forms of evidence such as photos, sketches, and other useful things gathered from the crime scene to paint a vivid picture which makes it possible to retrace a crime that took place. Using evidence found at a proper crime scene you can reconstruct what happened and possibly find more clues. When focusing on other types of forensics, there are three areas of importance in finding the answers and determining

Additional Resource:: Chapter 10 - Crime Scene Reconstruction

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Crime Scene Sketch

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Crime Scene Sketch

The crime scene sketch is an invaluable aid in recording investigative data. It is a permanent record that provides supplemental information that is not easily accomplished with the exclusive use of crime scene photographs and notes. A crime scene sketch depicts the overall layout of a location and the relationship of evidentiary items to the surroundings. It can show the path a suspect or victim took and the distances involved. It can be used when questioning suspects and witnesses. During trial, the crime scene diagram correlates the testimony of witnesses and serves as a tool for relaying reference and orientation points to the prosecutor, judge and jury.

I. Sketching the Crime Scene

Before beginning a sketch, obtain a comprehensive view of the scene. Determine the sketch limits – decide what to include and what to exclude. If the scene is complicated, a number of sketches may be necessary for adequate documentation

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Crime Scene Searches and the Fourth Amendment

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Introduction

Crime scene investigation requires understanding and application of elements of criminal law, criminal procedure, constitutional law and evidence. Legal requirements are derived from the U.S. and State Constitutions, federal and state statutory law, court rules and a combination of federal and state appellate court decisions. This article focuses on issues related to the Fourth Amendment, exigent circumstances and crime scene searches. The article begins with a brief discussion of the Fourth Amendment search and seizure warrant requirement rule and generally recognized exceptions to the rule. I then focus on crime scene searches and the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement rule. Key U.S. Supreme Court decisions are interpreted and analyzed. The parameters of exigent circumstances are explored. Other subject matter and materials are considered to provide context and clarify fundamental legal principles which impact practical decisions concerning crime scene searches. Differences in state law which may impact crime scene searches are also addressed. I conclude with recommendations to facilitate improved...

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Crime Scene Profiling

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Descriptions of crime scenes are sobering and often agonizing, but the crime scene like the one described above is atypical. Sexual murders are very rare, constituting from 1 to 3% of all homicides (Alison, West, & Goodwill, 2004), and homicides themselves are rare compared with other crimes. Nevertheless, we open with the above description from an actual case because it relates to concepts that will be discussed throughout the chapter. Steven Fortin was charged with the 1994 murder of Melissa Padilla. At the time of the charges, Fortin was serving a 20-year sentence for the aggravated sexual assault of a Maine state trooper, which occurred 8 months after the Padilla murder in New Jersey. Some of the details of the two crimes were similar. The Maine trooper who survived the crime was sexually assaulted and bitten, and her uniform pants were found with her underwear still inside them. Prosecutors in the New Jersey case wanted to introduce the expert testimony of a former special agent

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A Comparative Research of Two Lifting Methods: Electrostatic Lifter and Gelatin Lifter

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ABSTRACT

Two-dimensional dust shoe prints are often of very high resolution and contain unique features. Lifting these prints in the most effective method may contribute much to preserving these fine details. A research was conducted by experts from Israel and Switzerland to compare gelatin lifters and electrostatic lifters for lifting shoe prints. Several substrates were chosen, and on each material a set of dry dust shoe prints was made. A set of wet prints was made on paper as well. The shoe prints were approximately of the same quality, and the only variable was the nature of the material. On substrates indifferent to the method used, the preferable sequence was tested. Gelatin lifter was superior on most substrates and for wet prints. The superior sequence for using both methods is electrostatic lifting followed by gelatin lifter.

Two dimensional dust shoe prints found at crime scenes are often of very high resolution and contain unique features. Thus, it is most desirable to lift these prints...

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Methodical Approach to Processing the Crime Scene

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Additional Resource: Crime Scene Investigation: Guides for Law Enforcement

These guides are intended for use by law enforcement and other responders who have responsibility for protecting crime scenes, preserving physical evidence and collecting and submitting the evidence for scientific examination.

If crime scene investigators do not act methodically, they risk contaminating or losing evidence. Approach a crime scene investigation as if it will be your only opportunity to preserve and recover evidence. Combine a scientific assessment of physical evidence with case information and witness statements as you assess the scene.

Follow Agency Policies!
Actions taken following these guides should be performed in accordance with department policies and procedures and federal and state laws.

Jurisdictional, logistical or legal conditions may preclude the use of particular procedures contained herein.

The steps presented on these Web pages are a guide to recommended practices for crime scene investigation.

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Crime Scene Staging: An Exploratory Study of the Frequency and Characteristics of Sexual Posing in Homicides

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Abstract

Crime scene staging and sexual posing and/or positioning of a body in a crime scene are recognized homicide investigation phenomena. Even though staging and sexual posing might misdirect an investigation if unrecognized, there are no reliable data on the frequency of occurrences. The results of a survey administered to 46 trained homicide investigators indicated that while staging may be frequently observed at crime scenes, sexual posing occurs infrequently. Of an estimated 44,541 homicide investigations, respondents indicated that sexual posing was present in less than 1% of the cases (n = 428). Results also indicated that most often sexual posing, in contrast to crime scene staging, was typically not carried out to mislead, but the offenders' motivation was more often based on a psychological need for sexual fantasizing or to satisfy anger at the victim. Homicide case examples are presented and discussed to elaborate on the characteristics of sexually-posed crime scenes...

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