The Police
Within any investigation of a crime the police are always involved. In almost all cases of crime, the police will be the first to the scene to assess what has occurred. Usually the first involvement of the police in an investigation will be when a patrol officer responds to the report of a crime (usually a 999 call). The first attending officer (FAO) is the person who begins the investigation into a crime. The initial response stage of the investigation process is carried out by the FAO. This officer has many roles and responsibilities to carry out whilst investigating a crime, some of the roles and responsibilities of the FAO include: Respond to the radio call reporting a crime, when a crime occurs it will be reported to the police, it may be reported by the victim or witnesses to the crime. The first attending officer is most often the person who is alerted by the police control room to the crime, and therefore will attend the scene of the crime. Also, they assist the victim, this means helping or discovering the reason as to why a crime or incident has been reported to the police, and providing assistance to the victim. The role of the police also involves keeping any witnesses and suspects present, but away from the main crime scene and separate from one another. This is important so that statements of witnesses and potential suspects can be taken. They should be kept separately to avoid intimidation or a situation when a witness’s statement is influenced by another person. Another role of the police is to isolate the area where the crime occurred, and to protect the crime scene to prevent evidence which may be present at the crime scene from being contaminated or stolen. After securing the crime scene, if needed the first attending police officer should then notify backup, investigators, superior officers and specialised units. A final example of a role of the police, in particular the first attending police officer is to organise a sign-in sheet for those accessing the crime scene, this is in order to stop unnecessary people accessing the crime scene and so that this can be consulted if necessary, later on in the investigation.
Although the police are involved in all criminal investigations, the role they play in different types of investigation will vary depending on what type of crime has been committed. For example, in a minor incident such as a domestic burglary or domestic violence, the police are unlikely to cordon off the scene, however if a terrorist attack occurs they may be required to cordon off a very large area. In some cases such as a burglary or mugging the police will take statements from the victims or witnesses and unless the situation is serious they are unlikely to call for backup, furthermore in more serious cases such as a murder or terrorist attack the police would be required to call for backup and specialised departments almost immediately.
In this case, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Humberside police joined forces as it was a high profile case and there was also speculation that Cambridgeshire Constabulary were not doing their jobs properly as there was only one Chief officer was on duty throughout this investigation therefore Humberside joined the investigation to make sure everything was thorough as there was two little girls life at stake during the missing period of this investigation. The FAO in this case arrived at the home where the girls were last seen and took witness statements from friends and family, the next step is to alert the chief officer or detective so they can put together a search party, this search party included volunteers as Soham is part of a large rural area.
Detectives/Inspectors
Another member of the police force who would be involved at a crime scene would be a detective or an inspector. A detective holds a higher position within the police than a patrol officer/FAO. The detective will respond to a crime scene after the FAO has called for backup and superior officers attend the scene. The detective is involved in the preliminary investigation and often the follow up investigation stages of the process. The roles and responsibilities of a police detective include; to visually inspect and search the crime scene, this is in order to assess or try to get an idea of what occurred. After the scene has been secured by the FAO, the detectives should ensure that the crime scene is secured, and extending the radius of the crime scene if necessary. Detectives are required to assist at the crime scene by identifying evidence which needs to be examined by a scene of crime officer (SOCO), this can be done prior to the arrival of a SOCO or after they have arrived at the scene. Supervising the SOCO is another role of a detective in a criminal investigation, this role requires the detective to ensure that no evidence is being contaminated by the SOCO and also ensuring that all evidence being collected is accounted for and correctly labelled and processed in the chain of custody. Detectives can be involved in many types of criminal investigations, however they are not likely to be involved in minor investigations such as a mugging or shoplifting. A detective will usually be involved in an investigation when requested by the police after they attend to a report of a crime, as stated this will only be in the event the police feel the investigation is serious enough to require detectives to attend. In the Soham case, there was no report on the detective in charge but there was a senior investigating officer (SIO) who arrested the suspects Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr, however he was a very experienced detective but he had no SIO training which came into question among other things, during the trials of Huntley and Carr. Also, there was no detective chief superintendent as it was abolished by Cambridgeshire Constabulary which was also questioned as there was no superior officer capable of running this investigation.
Specialist Departments
Within serious investigations such as murder investigations and other investigations where the lives of the public are at risk, specialist departments such as the major crime squad will often become involved. For example; Developing an investigation plan, due to the specialist nature of these departments they are better suited for developing an appropriate investigation plan to move the investigation into a major crime forward. The specialist departments involved in a criminal investigation will usually take over from the police detectives and will be in charge until the investigation has ended. During the time of an investigation the specialist departments will attempt to gain as much information about a crime as possible to allow them to identify suspects in a case. In conjunction with the detectives, in majority of cases members of specialist departments will carry out the stages of the investigation as shown in this blog. Specialist Departments will usually only be involved in major crimes. These crimes include major fraud crimes, murder, terrorist attacks or abductions. An example of this is the bomb squad, these are involved in threats of explosions and can join forces with the CDC if a biological weapon is involved. Specialist departments will be required as part of a criminal investigation when more specialist investigation methods are required. When involved, specialist departments will take the lead in an investigation and will be involved in organising the investigation, investigating leads, interviewing suspects and making sure what ever methods they use there will be no lives at stake or any collateral damage involved. In this case, the specialist department involved was the Missing Person's Team (MPT) this ensures that all opportunities have been met, witnesses have been questioned, surveillance has been thoroughly looked through and that all media are alerted which in some cases is a hindrance to a case however in this case it was acceptable as people in the surrounding rural areas were constantly aware of the seriousness of Holly and Jessica's disappearance. The basic command units (BCU) also worked with the Missing from Home investigation team, this is to make the search for the girls more wide spread and increase the chance of finding them.
Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO)
Scenes of crime officers are individuals who attend crime scenes after a crime has been committed and collect relevant evidence to be examined in a laboratory. SOCO's will attend crime scenes when requested by the lead investigator of a case. SOCO’s will be involved in the gathering and analysing facts stage of a criminal investigation, the facts they will gather are in the form pieces of evidence at the crime scene. SOCO's have many roles and responsibilities within an investigation, these include: Preventing contamination of evidence at a crime scene, SOCO's do this by wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) such as goggles, gloves and a full body suit, this is done to prevent the SOCO themselves from contaminating the evidence. They also do this by establishing a common approach pathway to establish a safe pathway into the scene that will allow access without evidence from being cross contaminated. Another role of a SOCO is to identify evidence, on attendance at a crime scene, the SOCO will thoroughly comb through the area for any potential evidence such as fingerprints, bodily fluids, hairs or fibres or in a murder perhaps a murder weapon. The purpose of them identifying evidence is to enable them to build up a portfolio of evidence to potentially identify a suspect who committed the crime and this will be used in court. After identifying evidence another role of a SOCO is to collect the evidence, it has to be ensured that they do this correctly, putting evidence in the correct bags to prevent the evidence from being contaminated, damaged or stolen. It also has to be collected using the correct method for example dusting and lifting fingerprints. In every type of investigation a SOCO attends their roles and responsibilities will be to identify and collect evidence relevant to the case. However, the type of evidence a SOCO collects is the factor which differs depending on the type of criminal investigation. For example; as part of an investigation into a murder the SOCO would collect any blood evidence or potential murder weapons. Whereas if working as a SOCO at a terrorist attack the evidence they collect will be linked to determining what occurred and who carried out the attack, so for example collecting components of a bomb or possible DNA. In the Soham case, the SOCO's were not needed until the bodies of Holly and Jessica were eventually found. There was three crime scenes were the SOCO's were needed; where Huntley dumped the bodies, where the murder was committed and where he tried to dispose of evidence. The SOCO's combed through each crime scene with consistency and were able to ensure every piece of evidence were collected efficiently and all evidence collected lead to Ian Huntley who was their main suspect therefore they had enough evidence to charge Huntley and Carr for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. You can see more about the crime scenes in the Crime Scene page on this blog were more is explained.
Forensic Scientist's
Forensic scientists are involved in criminal investigations when evidence has been collected at crime scenes by the SOCO's and needs analysing in the laboratories. Forensic scientists are the individuals who analyse this evidence. They are involved in the gathering and analysing facts stage of the criminal investigation. The roles and responsibilities of a forensic scientist within a criminal investigation include; Analysing biological, chemical or physical evidence which was collected from a crime scene, a forensic scientist is an individual who usually remains within a laboratory analysing evidence which has been collected at a crime scene. They do this to obtain information which could be crucial to the investigation. Analysing the evidence may include performing DNA tests on bodily fluids such as blood or analysing fingerprints. After analysing the evidence collected from a crime scene the forensic scientist will be tasked with the role of writing up a report detailing the findings of the analysis of the evidence, this is an important role if the case eventually goes to court, the report written by the forensic scientist will be used as evidence to prosecute. The role of a forensic scientist is unlikely to change depending on the type of criminal investigation they are involved in. This is because their roles and responsibilities will involve analysing evidence which has been collected at crime scenes no matter what type of crime has been committed, the type of evidence will change but the forensic scientist's stay the same and do their job thoroughly as it is crucial to any investigation. In this case, the forensic scientists had to examine petrol found on the girls bodies and in the metal bin where Huntley tried to burn the evidence and the bodies, this traced back to a petrol station where police analysed the CCTV footage which showed Huntley purchasing the petrol. Also, bodily fluids were examined to maintain and eliminate different DNA types surrounding the crime scene and can be compared to blood found in Huntley's house and car.
Pathologist's
Within a criminal investigation, mainly when an individual has been murdered, a pathologist or more commonly known as a coroner - a medically trained individual will examine the body to attempt to establish the cause of death of an individual and to attempt to gather further more in depth information regarding how an individual died, they can also search the body for further evidence such as bodily fluids. As mentioned above a role of the pathologist in a investigation involving a body will include performing autopsies, this is done to gain information about how an individual died and information about the body leading up to their death. A pathologist will also in many cases supervise the collection of evidence from the body of a victim at the crime scene, this is to ensure that evidence is not contaminated and also that the body is not damaged during the investigation at the crime scene. Another example is collecting further evidence from the body, this evidence includes tissue samples, hairs or fibres found on the body and also potentially scrapings from under the fingernails of the victim which may contain the DNA of the person who killed them. A final example of a responsibility of a pathologist is to write a report regarding the findings of the autopsy, this will report will contain crucial information about how an individual died and the manner in which their death came about. This report will be used and presented in any court proceedings which occur. Pathologists will only be involved in criminal investigations when the circumstances of a person’s death is unknown or suspicious. This for example is likely to be as part of murder investigations to determine how a person was killed or terrorist attacks where victims have to be identified. A pathologist’s role is to carry out the examination of bodies, or autopsies to identify how a person died or the extent of a deceased individuals injuries. A pathologist can provide the investigators with additional information about potential suspects such as if they are left or right handed depending on the way an attack was carried out. In the Soham investigation the pathologist, Dr Nathaniel Cary gave a dramatic revelation: Holly Wells died when Ian Huntley slipped and she fell into a bath hitting her head and drowned. Jessica died when Huntley put his hand across her mouth to stop her from screaming. It is also compulsory in this type of case to do a Sexual Assault Evidence Test and in this case it was clear.
Prosecution (CPS)
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is a government service which employs prosecution lawyers/solicitors, these prosecutors will argue a case against suspects (defendants) in court. A prosecutor has many roles and responsibilities, most of which aim to prove beyond reasonable doubt that a person is guilty of the crime that they are being accused of. The prosecutor is involved in the report writing and presentation of evidence in court. Responsibilities of prosecutors include: Communicating with the police, other professionals involved in the investigation and also victims of the crime. Prosecutors do this to gather information about the case and the investigation so that they can gain a full understanding, allowing them to prosecute a case to the best of their ability. Preparing a report combining all the evidence and statements of individuals involved in the case and investigation, this is used within the court case, and the report prepared by the prosecution contains all of the information gathered by each of the professionals involved in the case and information regarding evidence. A final example of a responsibility of a prosecutor is to present evidence in court. The evidence will be presented in front of the judge and jury. This evidence is a compilation of forensic evidence and any intelligence gathered during the investigation. The presentation of this evidence allows the court to decide if the defendant is guilty or innocent. A prosecutor will only be involved in criminal investigations which are presented in court. In any of the investigations the prosecutor’s role will be similar. This is because in any case, the prosecutor’s responsibility is to convince the judge or the jury that a defendant carried out the crime that they are being charged with. R v Huntley and Carr was high profile all over the UK, the CPS was involved in the investigation very early to help build a case even if they had no suspect as this was the biggest case the Cambridgeshire Crown Prosecution Service has seen, they were also there to consolidate the families of Holly and Jessica. The CPS solicitor used in this case was Marion Bastin and she stated; "The conviction of Ian Huntley for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman and of Maxine Carr for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, was a team effort." due to all the thoroughness of the SOCO's, Forensic Scientist's and police even with few mistakes, they still ended up with a full conviction of both Huntley and Carr beyond all reasonable doubt.
Defence
The defence in a criminal investigation is responsible for defending the person suspected of committing a crime in court. The defence involves defence lawyers and they are involved in the report writing and presentation of evidence in court stage of an investigation. Their main job is to cause doubt in the juries minds that this individual did not commit the crime therefore they can not prosecute beyond all reasonable doubt.The defence has a number of roles and responsibilities to fulfil within a investigation, these include: Arguing against the prosecution, this is a role designed to provide a defence for a suspect, the defence team will in most cases attempt to gather evidence which contradicts that of the prosecution. Each of the roles of the responsibility of the defence are carried out with the goal of getting the defendant acquitted of the charge they face or being found innocent, this is to sustain a fair trial for the individual even if they loose. Like the prosecution, the defence will only be a part of an investigation which make it to court. In every form of an investigation the role of the defence will be to defend the accused, of whatever crime they have been charged with. The arguments for the defendant will vary depending on the type of crime they have been accused of. However the defence’s role and responsibilities will always include attempting to get the defendant acquitted of committing any given crime. In R v Huntley, Huntley pleaded not guilty to the deaths of Holly and Jessica, the jury thought beyond all reasonable doubt he was proven guilty and his defence team tried to get the judge to sentence him to manslaughter but the evidence was too sufficiently not in his favour therefore Ian Huntley was convicted of murder and Maxine Carr was cleared of assisting an offender, but found guilty of perverting the course of justice, and jailed for three-and-a-half years, but she was freed under police protection in May 2004, as she had already spent 16 months on remand, pending the trial. Carr was given a new identity upon her release and on 24 February 2005, was granted an indefinite order protecting her new identity by the High Court, on the basis that her life would be in danger were her new identity to be revealed.
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