From the Crime to the Courtroom

The initial response, conducted by the initial responding officers, ensures that
the scene is indeed a crime, and if so, secures it from public and natural hazards
as best as possible, to maintain the integrity of any evidence to be found there.
The initial responding officers then call the next level of authority, who begin
the initial investigation, and begin to correctly interpret the fact to reconstruct
the sequence of events. This means that it can be argued that this is the most
important stage of the investigation, due to it being when the case is first
classed as such, and any evidence used later, is first collected.
A follow-up investigation is conducted when a suspect hasn't been arrested
directly at the scene of a crime, and the crime is considered serious enough
(e.g. murder, as opposed to minor vandalism) to warrant a full, in depth
investigation. A clear plan of the case is constructed, and used throughout the
investigation. Each stage of investigation is important to the whole, as it is all
required to build a successful case. Without a in depth follow-up investigation,
there would be no suspects found of evidence analysed.
The Standard Operating Procedures of an investigation ensure that there is a
constant approach to the investigation, followed by every officer involved,
meaning that everyone understands where each section of the investigation is
applicable, and who should be working on it. It ensures that the standards are
met, and that each section of the investigation follows the regulations set down,
with the aim to achieve those standards, and ensure the case is solved as
efficiently as possible. If these are follower, it is unlikely that any court
evidence will be unusable. Without SOP, it would be hard to regulate a case's
efficiency to any level, as they ensure that all is where it's supposed to be at in
terms of understanding, and enforcement. This makes it important, as it guides
investigators in a case to work through each step.

Report writing is a necessary as it provides a record of all the details

pertaining to the case, the evidence, anyone involved, where it took place, and
the exact nature of the crime. It provides an important source of information for
any follow-up investigations or future cases, and can be used in the courtroom
as a piece of evidence to use in conjunction with a testimony. It can also be
used to add information to police databases, and help to coordinate
investigations that span multiple jurisdictions. Reports are extremely important,
as they hold a written timeline of events and actions, to ensure that no moment
is unaccounted for, in case events are questioned in court.
The use of Intelligence Systems in a criminal case, can aid investigators in
understanding if a crime of a similar nature has been committed before, by
whom, and if they were convicted. It means that crime can be tracked, and
patterns and statistics are made readily available. Intelligence Systems also

cover DNA and fingerprint databases, or arrest records, and other such records,
meaning it can be a fairly simple matter to either confirm or eliminate suspects,
and thus can be taken as evidence in a courtroom. This shows their importance,
as, without them, there would be no way of seeing whether or not someone was
re-offending, or if they are already known to law enforcement.
The gathering, and the analysis, of facts and evidence, is extremely important,
so it is imperative that the correct protocol is followed, so that it is impossible
to question the validity of the evidence. All evidence is collected by a Scene Of
Crime Officer (SOCO), and is analysed by a specialised forensic scientist, with
every movement of the evidence, from person to person, documented with date
and individual reference number. Without the analysis of evidence, there would
be no way to construct a case, as convictions are dependent of this evidence.
There would be no suspect, and the case would never be closed.
The identification of patterns and links in a criminal investigation is
essential, as it means that further information can come to light, that
strengthens the case to a suspect. Patterns can be used to predict where the
perpetrator may strike next, and helps to link it all to a final suspect for
conviction in court. Examples of patterns could be a certain type of victim, of
a specific day or location in which the crimes took place. Linking components
of a crime is important, as it can create a timeline of before the crime, and thus
can lead back to the perpetrator. The evidence can then be provided in court to
produce a conviction, after linking a suspect to, for example, the murder
weapon.
The Process of elimination means that avenues of investigation can be
explored, and either investigated further, or ruled out. If a suspect is given a
watertight alibi, then the case must be re-evaluated to continue investigation, as
they have now been eliminated from the suspect pool. Eliminating unconnected
information from the case, means investigators know where they need to turn
to next, and how to handle any information they discover. It is important to
exhaust each avenue of investigation, until the one is found that leads to a
conviction. By eliminating that which isn't relevant to the case, the bare facts
remain.
When conducting an investigation, it is important to be mindful of any ethical
considerations, as, if a suspect's lawyer claims an ethics violation it can be
extremely difficult to continue that avenue of investigation. Things such as
media coverage, and bugging a suspects house can be considered ethical
violations if not handled carefully, and can cause any evidence gathered in that
manner to become unusable in a courtroom. All this adds up to the fact that, if
ethics are not taken into account, then a case is worthless, and the justice
system will fail. Although it isn't part of the chain of evidence, or path of
investigation, ethics must be taken into account every step of the way.
Using any type of public media in an investigation can cause issues, as it can
sway public minds in a way they would not normally have thought, thus

influencing their opinion, which can especially cause an ethical concern if the
are picked for jury duty, after the media proclaiming that the police arrested an
innocent man, for example. An average jury has the potential to be influenced
by this, and it could adjust the chances of the suspect being cleared, even if
they did in fact, commit the crime. Of course, there are times when media
usage is necessary, at which point it is imperative that it is handled correctly,
and by specific people connected with the case, to prevent the truth from
becoming mangled. The media can play an important part, so long as the facts
are straight.

The police have a responsibility to the public to apprehend criminals, that is

their job, keeping the country as safe as possible from threats. That means that
each investigation conducted must be done with as much efficiency and haste
as possible.
The police have certain powers that allow them to perform their jobs. They can
set up road checks and vehicular searches, as well as searching someone's
person, can issue fixed penalty notices in regards to motoring offences, and can
enforce a breath test to ensure that drugs or alcohol have not been used in an
illegal situation. If these reveal a link to a larger criminal case, then they have
the ability to arrest the person involved.
They can often be called to give a report in court, as it can be the case that, for
example, a routine 'stop and search' can turn up something large.
Detectives in criminal investigations have the role of collecting information
from witnesses and suspects alike. They use the analysis of evidence provided
by forensic scientists to make connections and move the case forward, and use
both public and private records to move the case along. They are responsible
for all actions taken, based upon evidence and information they have received.
They are also in charge of securing any potentially needed help, or aftercare,
for victims and witnesses. They are often called to testify in court, as they
handle most of the investigative proceedings. Detectives have a large job, that
covers a majority of the whole investigation.
The role of a Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO), is to gather forensic evidence at
a crime scene. They pass evidence to forensic scientists, and they see crime
scenes on a daily basis, as, once the evidence has left them, they do no actual
investigating themselves. They record the crime scene in photographs, video,
sketches, and reports. This can range from collecting fibres at a crime scene, to
photographing an assault victim. They do not have expert witness status,
despite their regular crime scene attendance, however, they may be called to
court to testify their professional opinion.

Forensic scientist are the ones who actually examine and process the evidence,
various techniques and equipment to analyse what the SOCOs found. They are
specialists, in their own, already specialised, fields. The specific job duties may
differ depending on that area of expertise, but they always are rooted in at least
one science, and they all identify and interpret physical evidence gathered from
a crime scene. They can be expert witnesses, if they are specialised enough to a
particular field, and can be called to court for this reason, or to give a testimony
on their analyses.
The Scientific Support Unit (SSU), uses high tech equipment to examine
forensic evidence and can be called in to where a police jurisdiction does not
have its own adequate lab for evidence analysis. They can be called to assist
SOCOs, or give expertise on fingerprints, DNA, or to give forensic advice.
They may be required to write statements for court, or attend court itself to
provide expert evidence.
The Major Crime Squad does not exist in all police departments, and handles
such crimes as murder, rape, drugs busts, and terrorism. When a local are isn't
equipped or staffed to investigate a crime of that scale, the Major Crime Squad
is called in. They follow the cases through, and may be called to court to testify
proceedings.

The Crown Prosecution Service take over the case once it has been
completed by the detectives. They are responsible for charging and
prosecuting, dependent on their judgment of the integrity of the evidence
taken both from the original crime scene, and from other parts of the
investigation. They also consider alternatives to prosecution depending
on the circumstances. If they decide to prosecute, they prepare the case
for court, and then present the case.
Other investigative agencies can be involved in a case, such as
immigration, is a believed suspect is from another country, immigration
may be called in to see if anything similar was linked to them before they
came to England. They may also be called in if someone is not meant to
be in the country, either to legalise their position, or to return them home.
It depends on the individual case, whether or not they are called in to
court, just as it is dependents of the case whether they are needed at all.