The Police

Roles and Responsibilities of the Police in a Criminal Investigation

Within any investigation of a crime the police are always involved. Usually the first involvement of the police in an investigation will be when a patrol officer responds to the report of a crime. The first attending officer is the person who begins the investigation into a crime. The initial response stage of the investigation process is carried out by the first attending police officer. This officer has many roles and responsibilities to carry out whilst investigating a crime. Some of the roles and responsibilities of a police office- in particular the first attending officer 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 travel to and attend the scene of the crime. Another responsibility of the police is to 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. After securing the crime scene, if necessary 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 also so that this can be consulted if necessary later on in the investigation.

Role of the Police in the OJ Simpson case

In the case of the murders of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman, Robert Riske a police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department was the first attending police officer at the scene. Upon attending the crime scene, Riske assessed the situation and called for backup. After this he proceeded to begin to secure the crime scene, however he only secured the immediate area, he cordoned off the area to the end of the pathway of Nicole’s house but no further. Therefore any evidence which may have been on the pathway outside the house may have been missed or contaminated. Riske also allowed many other officers who responded to the backup call to access the crime scene without protective clothing and before the bodies had been removed or any evidence had been processed, therefore risking and potentially contaminating the entire crime scene. Robert Riske also made the phone call for backup from the phone inside Nicole Brown’s kitchen, this was done before dusting for prints or declaring the phone as evidence therefore any evidence will have been contaminated.

Role of the Police in other Investigations

Although the police are involved in all criminal investigations, the role they play in different types of investigation will vary depending on what they are faced with. For example in more minor cases such as a domestic burglary the police are unlikely to cordon off the scene, however as part of a terrorist attack 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, however 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 almost all cases of crime, the police will be the first to the scene to assess what has occurred.