On the 25th and 31st Janury students from groups 4 and 5 were turned into Crime Scene Investigators for the day. They studied bones, collected evidence, found out what blood groups the suspects were and solved a case. what's our evidence for this you sat well, we were allowed to take photos and this is our evidence...
Full crime scene photo
Red Fibre found on the trouser leg
A shell also found on the trouser leg
She told us that the main thing to do before collecting any evidence, is to corden off the scene. This prevents any members of the public from contaminating any evidence that may be present. The next step before collecting the evidence is to photograph any trace/fingerprints/shoeprints that are found. This helps the forensics teams to keep track of any vital evidence that could help break the case. After all the evidence has been photographed and a number card/letter card(as shown in the picture below) has been placed next to the evidence, it is then collected.
The evidence is collected by using a pair of tweezers if it is a hair or a fibre, or a swab if it is blood or any other type of fluid. If the piece of evidence is big enough to be piceked up the the forensic scientist can pick it up. If the evidence is a shoeprint/tireprint then they would have to make a cast of it so that the can determind the make and model of the item in question. This is then sealed in either a box or a see-through plastic bag and the person who collected the item needs to put their inials on the evidence bag so that they can identify who collected it. Then the evidence is sent to be tested, this is to keep the chain of evidence flowing. The Forensic Anthrapologist also showed us how to tell if someone is A+/- or if they are AB+/-.
The evidence is collected by using a pair of tweezers if it is a hair or a fibre, or a swab if it is blood or any other type of fluid. If the piece of evidence is big enough to be piceked up the the forensic scientist can pick it up. If the evidence is a shoeprint/tireprint then they would have to make a cast of it so that the can determind the make and model of the item in question. This is then sealed in either a box or a see-through plastic bag and the person who collected the item needs to put their inials on the evidence bag so that they can identify who collected it. Then the evidence is sent to be tested, this is to keep the chain of evidence flowing. The Forensic Anthrapologist also showed us how to tell if someone is A+/- or if they are AB+/-.
An example of number cards being used at a crime scene
Some people mix Anthropologists and Pathologists up. A Forensic Anthropologist studies bones and works out the age, gender, race and how they died from the bones. A Forensic pathologists studies the bodies of people that have been murdered or suspected of suicide. They can determine the time of death from the liver temperature and the cause of death for either obvious signs of injuries or by performing an autopsy.
