Week 2 Response
Each response should be 250 words with one reference.
Response 1-Branam
When we approach a crime scene and begin to process the scene of crime we have to make several considerations like the location, weather, as well as size of area that needs to be processed. The variation of these will make us choose one of the following: circle/spiral search, strip/line search, grid search and/or zone search. Each has a particular strength and weakness and can be combined based on the size of the scene or location.
Beginning with Circle/ spiral is useful when searching in and around a building starting at the perimeter working around in circular fashion before moving to the interior and doing the same in each room till the entire location has been searched. This can also be down in reverse and should be to ensure a through processing of the scene. With this search and others it is important to keep in mind to search in methodical fashion and keeping a consistent pace searching high to low or vise versa. The next search pattern is strip or line search in which you begin at one side searching back and forth from one side to the other. This is good for open outdoor areas where it is easy to keep track of the area that has been searched. If there is multiple searchers they all begin on the same side slowly working across the crime scene and this is the line search. The grid search is breaking down of a scene into designated areas of varying sizes dependent on total size of a crime scene typically used for massive scenes and the area of each grid is very thorough to ensure nothing is missed before moving to next grid. This method also allows for searcher to revisit a grid if needed without having to research the entire scene. Then the final search pattern is zone search which breaking down a scene into defined areas like if the scene is a house each room would be a zone for the searcher to process. this works well for a variety scenes from vehicles to large scenes.
When selecting one of the search patterns the size of the scene is going to be the first consideration as circle, and strip are rather basic in approach are better for moderate size areas while grid or zone are better for large scenes by breaking them down into smaller more manageable areas to ensure the processing stays thorough. In the instance of vehicle then zone or circle would be recommended to search the smaller confined spaces. Another consideration is how many searchers are processing the scene as with the more searchers the faster a scene can be processed using line search, grid, or zone. Another consideration is the weather if the scene is outdoors as in foul weather DNA evidence and other crucial evidence can be destroyed or damaged if not adequately collected in a quick manner or measures to protect the scene are not taken. A final consideration is whether the scene is time sensitivity where duration can hamper valuable information and increases the risk of contamination like a scene along a road.
Each response should be 250 words with one reference.
During this weeks discussion we are explaining the various search patterns that is used in a crime scene investigation and how it is determined which method to use for that specific crime scene. There are various established search patterns that can be used for search patterns like the zonal method, Strip Method, Line Search, Grid Method, Spiral Method (Outward Spiral & Inward Spiral), Wheel Search Method, Random Search.
When it comes to the zonal method typically divided up into different zones depending on the size and complexity of the crime scene. This method can also be used on indoor or out door crime scenes, everyone that's assigned to this crime scene will be giving a zone and they will have to search there zone thoroughly while using different techniques like UV lights or even video. With the strip method it is well suited for crime scene's like class rooms, where rows are present already, each row can be considered as a strip. Also, minimum number of the personals are required for this method the reason being is that this method needs the individual who are using this method to be very thorough and walk slowly from one end to the other.
Also when it comes to the grid method it is pretty similar to strip method but the difference between the two is that the grid method has two strips to actually form a grid and only two individual can do the strip walking then they can switch and go over each others work. The spiral method you can use for an indoor or outdoor crime scene with less obstacles like furniture in the house or office area and the individual doing this method can work from the inside of the room on outward or vise versa.
When approaching the wheel method this method is used for larger areas like fields, deserts, huge lots and open areas. The way the wheel is operated is by dividing the crime scene up in various zones depending on the size of the crime scene then all individual will then switch zones the attack a different zone for better analysis. The most common method is the random search method method employed by the investigators only because of the feasibility at any location and area of a crime scene any of the above-mentioned rules is to be followed for this method. It is also advisable to consider this method on complex crime scenes where things could be difficult and getting the evidence right away is necessary. At all times when approaching a crime scene and your ready to conduct an investigation be sure to understand and sketch out what kind of crime scene your in and the size of the crime scene no matter if its indoor or outdoor there is always rules and guidelines to follow unless given the order to use the random search method at that crime scene.