Crime Scene Documentation

Most law enforcement agencies use forms (pre-printed documents) designed to

record certain aspects of CS investigation. These resulted from a trial-and-error
approach based on actual case experiences.
There is an important point to consider when forms are being drafted for routine
use during the CSI proceeding. Often, there is a tendency to consider forms as
means to cover every possibility that the investigator may confront. Take note that
such documents normally serve only as reminders of the minimum information
needed to perform a task. Each CS requires some degree of deviation from the
normal or standard operating procedures. Remember that forms are not
substitutes for thinking. These are merely tools to assist investigators to fully
exercise training and experience to meet the needs of a given situation.
Six Important Forms of CS Documentation:
According to the Crime-Scene Investigator.net as cited in King-eo (2008), the
following are the six important forms of documentation:
1. Administrative Worksheet. This is used in documenting major events, times
and movements relating to the search efforts. It is also appropriate in recording
initial and continuing management and administrative steps which are taken to
insure that an organized search is accomplished.
2. Narrative Description. This involves record of the crime scene's general
appearance as first observed. However, extreme detail regarding evidence or
actual collection of evidence is beyond the scope of the narrative description.
3. Evidence Recovery Log. It consists of the record of how physical evidence was
recognized, collected, marked, and packaged for administrative and 'chain-of-
custody' purposes.
4. Latent-Print Lift Log. It refers to the record of how fingerprints and other
prints at the CS were discovered, collected (lifted), marked, and packaged.
5. Photographic Log. It refers to the record on how the CS was systematically
documented using still and video cameras. The log shows the overall, medium, and
close-up views of the scene. It contains a series of photographs of the CS taken in a
systematic manner based on SOP.
The progression of CS photographs is useful in reconstructing the crime. The
following should be the progression of shots which the CS photographer should
observe:
a. Take long-range photos of the locality, points of ingress and egress, normal
entry to the property, exterior of the
building/premises, and street signs or other identifiable that will establish location
which is taken to portray the areas as if a person viewing the scene is seeing it
from the standing position. The photographer takes the photograph with the
camera at eye level.
b. Take mid-range photos of the immediate CS and the location of objects of
evidence within the area or room which portrays the scene from approximately 10-
20 feet from the subject matter.
c. Take close-range photos of specific evidence (strands of hair, fibers, footprints,
and bloodstains) approximately 5 feet or less from the subject matter.
Three Common Methods of Documenting the Crime Scene
According to Leysa, (2010), the following are the most common methods of
documenting the crime scene:
1. Note Taking
a. It serves as a personal record of the search for evidence.
b. It should be detailed so as to be understood as well.
c. It should begin with the crime scene specialist's name and assignment to the
case.
d. It should be supplemented by sketches and photographs of the scene.
e. It should be recorded in a sequential order.
f. It should be complete.

Essential Items of Information to be included during Note Taking

a. Date, time, and location
b. Detailed description of the victim and his/her clothing
c. Wounds the victim sustained
d. A general description of the crime scene
e. The type of camera and film used in photographing the crime scene
f. Discovery of each significant item of evidence g. The failure to locate items
Note: Notes are valuable not only as an aid to an accurate recall of events to be
testified to in court, but also to furnish the raw material needed in the written
formal report of the case. A different notebook should be used for each separate
case and the notebooks should be kept permanently in a safe place.
2. Sketching
It refers to the process of recording of information with respect to its location,
position, measurement, orientation and details of findings in a sketch pad through
symbols, arts and figures (See Unit 3).
3. Photographing the crime scene Importance of Photography
1. Permanent record of the crime scene
2. The first step in the investigation of any crime is to photograph all aspects of the
crime scene completely and accurately before any of the objects of evidence is
removed or disturbed. It is better to take too may photographs than too few.
3. Reconstruction of the crime scene.

What is Field Inquiry?

Refers to the general questioning of all persons at, near or around the crime scene
for purposes of gathering information about the crime. The moment that the
investigator sets his/her foot at the crime scene, he/she must immediately conduct
the general questioning of all people present thereat or he/she may assign his/her
assistant or any member of the investigating team. Most often, the members of the
Mobile Patrol Bureau who arrived at the scene earlier had already conducted the
field inquiry and have in their custody the witnesses and/or the suspects. The
investigator should not stop here but conduct further field inquiry at the remaining
people or those who will arrive at the scene (Cael & Agas, 2000).
How should witnesses and suspects retained at the crime scene be treated?
The witnesses and/or suspects retained at the crime scene shall be immediately
transported to headquarters with the basic guideline that they should be
immediately separated with each other upon arrival at the station. The purpose
why there is need to separate each witness from the others which also applies to
suspects is to preserve the independence of their respective accounts about the
commission of the crime. Their conflicting statements may be used to interrogate
them in the proper time of the investigation.
Importance of going back to the crime scene.
In some instances, crimes are committed during nighttime and the investigator
arrives at the scene at daytime due to late of discovery or delayed report about the
commission of a crime. The investigator goes back to the scene at the exact time
when the crime occurred, in order to see for himself/herself the order of things at
that precise moment. His note of concern shall be the lighting conditions, the
distance of normal visibility, the volume of pedestrian and vehicle traffic and other
things and conditions relevant to his investigation.
The other reason is that during the progress of the investigation, new matters may
crop up which maybe inadvertently considered irrelevant during the crime scene
investigation. Thus, there is a need to go back (Montojo, 2007)
UNIT 2. METHODS OF CRIME SCENE SEARCH
Five Critical Ingredients of Good Crime Scene Processing
Excellent crime scene processing is characterized by the following factors:
1. Knowledge. This refers to the basic understanding of
the crime scene technicians about what they are trying to accomplish and why.
2. Skills and Tools. The technician must have the appropriate equipment and be
skilled with it in order to collect the various types of evidence he/she may
encounter.
3. Methodical Approach. The methods employed by the technician must be
encompassing and purposefully regular.
4. Flexibility. Although methodical, the technician must also be flexible in order to
deal with unique situations.
5. Coordinated Effort. The entire team must coordinate their efforts in order for
everyone to pursue the same goal.
Six (6) Crime Scene Actions
The six crime scene activities and their basic order are; assessing, observing,
documenting, searching, collecting, and analyzing. Let's consider them one by one.
1. Assessing. The assessment of the scene assists the investigator in making a
decision on what to do, when to do it, and what resources may be required.
Assessment must be accomplished before taking any action, but assessment is an
on-going activity as well. The investigator is constantly assessing the scene
throughout processing.
Five Issues of Assessment
The purpose of the assessment and debriefing with initial responding officer is to
consider the five basic issues, to wit:
a. Scope and complexity of the scene;
b. Scene integrity and contamination control;
c. Team approach and composition;
d. Search methods to be used; and
e. Personal protective measures.
Assessment by the crime scene team always involves a debriefing of the initial
responders.
2. Observing. The most common activity involved in crime scene processing is
observing. Critical observation is the act of mentally registering the condition of
the scene and artifacts found in it. Observation is inclusive in assessing the scene
but always precedes the other activities. Observing by itself is a non-intrusive
action, but it often leads to ad-hoc "search" behavior. In the initial stages,
observing is always conducted in a non-intrusive fashion. The investigator
consciously acts to only observe and not move or alter items in the scene as he/she
observes them.
3. Documenting. The scene involves a variety of actions.
These include:
a. Creating written notes of observations
b. Obtaining photographs of the scene in-situ
c. Videotaping the scene
d. Creation of crime scene sketches
Documenting the scene involves both non-intrusive and intrusive actions, hence, in
the documentation, step there is an order as well. This order goes from least
intrusive to most intrusive, typically following this sequence:
a. An investigative walk through, creating written notes of basic observations
b. Photographing the scene in-situ, without altering or changing it
c. Video-taping the scene
d. Sketching and measuring the scene
e. Close-up photography of specific details and artifacts that may require
manipulation
This order allows the investigator to capture the complete scene context, without
altering that context. For example:
a. The investigator makes written notes of a revolver on the floor (e.g. brand,
caliber, location).
b. The unaltered revolver is captured in the photographs in its exact position.
c. The unaltered revolver is included in the sketch and measurements are taken
documenting its exact position.
d. It is then handled and photographed to show cylinder condition and other
details.

4. Searching. The nature of crime scene searches is always intrusive, searchers

may alter the original condition of the scene. To properly search, the investigator
must move through the scene, move the items and examine all surfaces. Because of
this, searches are accomplished in stages. The initial observation is a form of visual
search. True initial searches are done with limited alteration of the scene to
prevent disturbing any unobserved evidence. Later searches are extremely
intrusive, often requiring dismantling and movement of objects in the scene.
5. Collection. Collecting evidence is a very intrusive action. Once collected, the
context of the item and scene are already disturbed. There is no undoing the act of
collection. Unless there are issues of fragile evidence, collection of evidence is
accomplished only after all scene context is documented. Different forms of
collecting evidence result in different levels of alteration. Extremely intrusive
collection activities are always conducted last in the collection stage. Thus,
collection may be sequenced as well.
Examples
a. Recovering a revolver or casing from the floor has no impact on the remaining
scene context. It creates no further harm.
b. Recovering a bullet from a wall requires damaging the wall and may introduce
wall board dust into the scene, affecting other areas.
6. Analyzing/processing. This often involves significantly intrusive behaviors,
including:
a. large scale latent print processing of walls and furniture.
b. chemical enhancement of latent prints or bloodstains on floors, walls or objects.
c. forensic analysis of specific objects of evidence at the crime laboratory.
Investigative Ethics
The function of an investigation is to discover the truth. There should be no other
agenda. Personal agenda and personal involvement will wrap the investigator's
perspective. The investigator must remain neutral and impartial professional. To
remain neutral and impartial, the investigator must:
a. investigate completely and thoroughly: b. consider and report all evidence &
information;
c. consider all viable hypotheses to explain the evidence; and
d. not be swayed by any lawyer.
Thorough Recording and Searching for Evidence
The investigator begins the process of recording pertinent facts and details of the
investigation the moment he/she arrives at the crime scene. (Of course, he/she
records the time when he was initially notified prior to the arrival.) He/she writes
down the identification of persons involved and what he/she initially sees. He/she
also draw a basic sketch of the crime scene and takes the initial photograph (if a
photographer is available). This is to ensure that image of the crime scene is
recorded before any occurrence that disturbs the scene. As a rule, do not touch,
alter or remove anything at the crime until the evidence has been processed
through notes, sketches and photographs, with proper measurements.
The physical nature of the scene and the crime or offense is must have to be
protected. Consequently, the scene is processed in accordance with prevailing
physical characteristic of the scene and with the need to develop essential
evidentiary facts peculiar to the offense. A general survey of the scene is always
made, however, to note the location of obvious traces of action, the probable entry
and exit points used by the offender (s) and the size and shape of the area involved.
In rooms, buildings and small outdoor areas, a systematic search of evidence
should be initiated. (In the interest of the uniformity), it is recommended that the
"clockwise movement" shall be used. The investigator examines each item
encountered on the floor, walls. and ceiling to locate anything that may be of
evidentiary value. Investigator should do the following:
1. Give particular attention to fragile evidence that may be destroyed or
contaminated if it is not collected when discovered.
2. If any doubt exists as to the value of an item, treat it as evidence until proven
otherwise.
3. Ensure that the item or area where latent fingerprints may be present is closely
examined and that action is taken to develop the prints.
4. Note any peculiar odor emitting from the crime scene.
5. Treat as evidence all other items, such as hair, fibers, and earth particles,
foreign to the area in which they are found. For example, matter found under the
victims fingernails.
6. Proceed systematically and interruptedly to the conclusion of processing of the
scene. The search for evidence is initially completed when after a thorough
examination of the scene, the rough sketch, and necessary photographs and
investigative notes have been completed and the investigator has returned to the
point from which the search began. Further search may be necessary after the
evidence and the statements obtained have been evaluated.
7. In large outdoor areas, it is advisable to divide the area into strips about four (4)
feet wide. The policeman may first search the strip on the left as he/she faces the
scene and the adjoining strips.
8. It may be advisable to make a search beyond the area considered to be the
immediate scene of the incident or crime. For example, evidence may indicate that
a weapon or tool was used in the crime that may be discarded or hidden by the
offender somewhere within the square-mile area near the scene (WPD
Investigator's Handbook, 2006).