Detectives

Roles and Responsibilities of Detectives in a Criminal Investigation

Another member of the police force who would be involved at a crime scene would be a detective. A detective holds a higher position within the police than a patrol officer – who is likely to have been the first attending officer. The Detective will respond to a crime scene after the first attending officer has called for backup and superior officers to attend the scene. The detective is involved in the preliminary investigation and often the follow up investigation stages of the investigation 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 a grasp of what occurred at a crime scene, and also to ensure no suspects or other people are present at the scene who shouldn’t be. After the scene has been secured by the first attending officer the detectives should ensure that the crime scene is secured, and secured to a sufficient radius, extending the radius of the crime scene and the cordon 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, this can be done prior to the arrival of a scene of crime officer or alongside the scene of crimes officer, after they have arrived at the scene. Supervising the scenes of crime officers 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 scenes of crime officers and also ensuring that all evidence being collected is accounted for and correctly labelled and processed in the chain of custody.

Role of the Detectives in the OJ Simpson case

One of the first detectives on the scene in the OJ Simpson case was Detective Mark Fuhrman, a detective with the Los Angeles Homicide division. Fuhrman carried out a visual inspection of the crime scene, he also later went on to enter the premises of OJ Simpson’s house without a warrant. He did this as he believed that Simpson may be hurt inside. Mark Fuhrman found and identified a bloody glove at the scene of the murders and another seemingly matching glove at the home of Simpson. He also alerted the other detectives who attended Simpson’s house to the presence of blood drops at Simpson’s home and on his Ford Bronco. Fuhrman was later accused by the defence team of planting evidence at Simpson’s house in an attempt to frame him, they said this was because Fuhrman was racist.

Role of the Detectives in other Investigations

Detectives can be involved in many types of criminal investigations, however they are not likely to be involved in minor investigations such as domestic burglaries. A detective will usually be involved in an investigation when requested so 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 investigations where the detectives are the most senior members of the investigation team they will usually take the lead in the investigation and organise the other members of the investigation team.