Step by Step

I know that I have explained how investigators investigate a crime, but I wanted to walk you through the investigation step by step.

Prior to the investigation, you have to make sure you got the agreement and access to search all property and everywhere. A warrant is optional. One needs to get an warrant if he/she cannot get a suspect to cooperate.

1. The investigation starts by observing the crime scene.
   Field kit is something that you take when you go out to investigate the crime scene. It contains impression materials, tweezers, swabs,  luminol and many other things that are needed to collect evidences.
   
2. Collecting evidences
   A crime is solved by sewing the pieces of evidences together. There are evidences everywhere at the crime scene. If you just pay attention and investigate thoroughly, you will be able to find some evidences that will help you with your investigation.
   
   – Food as evidence
   Food can serve as an important evidence that can help us figure out the cause of death. We can analyze whether the food contains toxin or not to figure out if the food was used to sedate or poison the deceased. The food will be taken to the toxicology station in the lab to be analyzed.
   – A notepad as an evidence
   A notepad can serve as an evidence too. There might be something crucial written, such as the victim’s schedule, or there might be indented writing that has to be taken to the lab and observed under the light table.
   – Hair (or other things that can serve as DNA) as evidence
   DNA Analysis can be done to analyze the DNA left at the crime scene. It can later be compared with the suspects’ DNAs. Not only hair, but also things such as saliva, skin cell, and bodily fluid can be used for DNA analysis.
   – Corpse as evidence
   The corpse of the deceased is certainly a cruicial evidence. It can be used to figure out the cause of death and the manner of death by doing a medical examination. Specifically, pathologists will carry out autopsies. By doing an autopsy, the time of death can be estimated. The body temperature at the scene tells the recency of the death. We must look for swelling, contusions (bruises), lacerations (cuts), and bone fractures. A puncture wound shows that the victim was possibly injected with a drug or a chemical that led him/her to death. A bite mark serves as a wonderful evidence that can possibly lead to the identification of the culprit. It can be used to compare with the impression of the suspects, and the saliva on the bite mark can also be used to compare the DNA with the suspects.
   – People as evidences
   If someone hated the victim, that person is a suspect. If someone knew the victim well, that person is also a suspect. People’s DNA can be collected for DNA analysis to see if that person is who left their trace at the crime scene. Teeth impression can be collected to compare the teeth structure with a bite mark, if there is one. Comparison microscope will be used to complete such tasks.
3. Testing the evidences
   After you collect all the evidences you want, you will go to the lab, or the morgue for the corpse, to find useful clues from the evidences.
   
   – Fingerprint Station
   The Fingerprint Station has the powders and chemicals necessary for processing any fingerprints. The computer has a database called CODIS with DNA information of previous suspects.
   – Toxicology Station
   The toxicology station is valuable when detecting the presence of drugs and other chemicals in substances such as blood, urine, and other bodily fluids.
   – DNA Station
   The DNA station processes evidences with DNA. They are things such as hair, blood, saliva, and sweat. CODIS is used here also.
   – Light Table
   The light table is useful when analyzing and comparing pieces of evidence in detail
   – Comparison Microscope
   The comparison microscope is used when comparing two objects. It can be used when comparing teeth impressions or fingerprints.
4. Step 2 and 3 are repeated constantly until sufficient evidences  and clues are found.
5. If clues are found adequate enough to surely hypothesize the culprit and how the crime occurred, the culprit is called upon and questioned.
6. After the suspect confesses his/her crime, they are sent to the court to be sentenced.
7. CASE CLOSED 🙂

As I wrote down the process of investigation step by step, I, once again, realized how important evidences are. The evidences start the investigation and end the investigation. I think a crime scene investigation is all about  how well you find the evidence, how well you sum them up together, and how apply the evidences to solve the crime. To become a crime scene investigator, I think the most important skill to have is finding and using evidences efficiently.