Physical Evidence and the Crime Scene

Wayne Petherick*, Andrew Rowan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingOther chapter contributionResearchpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Regardless of the type of case the crime analyst will be engaged to dissect, the basis of any examination will usually begin with the physical evidence. This evidence could be in the form of biological material such as blood, saliva, or semen, or it could be marks and impressions left by tools or firearms. The examination of this evidence should only be conducted by the appropriately qualified individual, and with physical evidence this will likely fall to a forensic scientist. This is especially true of different types of crime reconstruction, although sequential reconstruction, the placing of events into a time-ordered sequence, can be done by virtually anyone. This chapter discusses some of the more common types of physical evidence before moving on to describe various types of crime reconstruction and then closing with considerations of crime scene security and processing.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationApplied Crime Analysis: A Social Science Approach to Understanding Crime, Criminals, and Victims
EditorsW Petherick
PublisherElsevier
Chapter3
Pages39-61
Number of pages23
ISBN (Electronic)9780323296410
ISBN (Print)9780323294607
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 18 Jun 2014

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