Crime scene training seeks to improve police work
We all know that the miraculous forensic solutions so neatly wrapped up in an hour on C.S.I. and its many spin-offs, are–to put in mildly–works of fiction. But while TV drama may not be reality, the fact is that the Belize Police Department’s ability to investigate a crime scene has been less than spectacular. Hopefully, thanks to some serious training, that situation is about to change. Patrick Jones, has more.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
The scene is the quiet Mennonite community of Spanish Lookout where a gang of criminals has gone on a crime spree. In just a short space of time, this peaceful settlement was terrorized by murder, rape and robbery. And the Police Department?s newest soldiers in the war against crime are trying to figure out who is responsible.
Patrick Jones
?None of the crimes mentioned before actually happened here in Spanish Lookout. But in reality if there was a murder, a rape or a robbery, these are the guys we would want on the scene.?
Thirty-three men and women who will make up the core of the new Scenes of Crimes Unit are completing two months of training on how to preserve and process the location where a crime has been committed. Technician Jiro Sosa says the process starts with a visual inspection…in which nothing is left to chance.
Jiro Sosa, Crime Scene Technician
?Each scene that you reach, you must be very careful because you do not know exactly what happened. You must ensure that you do your job as good as possible because there is only one chance to do it good. If you mess it up, that?s it. So as soon as you come in, you don?t assume oh this is a murder you will find this or that. No, you go in and you see what is going on and you pay careful attention to what is going on there. You ensure that you inspect every single area properly so you can pick up all indications.?
Once located, the evidence is handled with kid gloves, literally, to avoid destruction. It?s a painstaking process, says Darlene Gabourel, combing every inch of a particular area, carefully lifting finger prints, and securing seemingly innocuous objects for analysis.
Darlene Gabourel, Crime Scene Technician
?We photograph it; we label it; we take pictures with it. Then we start lifting. Of course we have to do measurements and all the lot which comes with it. Then we start lifting the evidences; package them off to send them to the different places for analyzing.?
Technicians were also taught to use a compass, measuring tape and other simple props to duplicate as close as possible the crime scene in their notepads. Sosa says it?s important that their job is thorough in order to help the criminal justice system.
?I believe that this course will really help with investigation processes since–if I am not mistaken–many witnesses have retracted because of threats. But here we will be able to pick up prints and other evidences that can be used at court. And that we will not solely or that heavily rely on witnesses. We will have other sort of evidence that will allow and help to put the guilty persons behind bars.?
But while the technicians are being trained to gather the evidence and handle it professionally, the question is, will it be admissible in court. Head of the National Crimes Investigation Branch, Senior Superintendent Edwardo Wade says no doubt about it, the criminals now have reason to be worried.
Sr. Superintendent Edwardo Wade, Head, National C.I.B.
?You know there is never a perfect crime, and criminals need to understand that. And the training that these officers are now getting is to look at a crime scene and process it, minutely. The smallest thing should not be overlooked and that is the way we ought to be going and that is the way we are going at this time.?
And one important change that is readily noticeable is the technicians use of gloves and other protective clothing when on the job.
Darlene Gabourel
?Normally we come across blood or suspected blood stains or stuff like that, you know things that are contaminated. You never know what you will be dealing with when you go to the crime scene. So you have to protect yourself and also the area that you are dealing with. So you have to put on your foot wear, in case you know, you go and tamper with the evidence. And same way with your hand, because you don?t know, as I said what you will be dealing with.?
The plan is to utilize more than one person to process a crime scene, with the hope of reducing the chances of making mistakes or overlooking something. Gabourel says those who do this kind of work need to exercise patience and cannot afford to rush through their job.
Darlene Gabourel
?You can?t do that because if you do that, you will be overlooking something. You have to take your time because when you would say you are finished after three hours, and you do your last survey you might end up still finding two more evidences, so the idea is to look for as much evidences as you can to locate it and to connect it with the case. So it?s not a hurry up thing, you have to take your time, know what you are doing, don?t guess; you have to know what you are doing.?
But the technician?s job is not an easy one. They must put up with angry victims in sometimes hostile environments. Corporal Mark August says the public can help by giving the police room to do their jobs, even if it means temporarily inconveniencing people to get crucial evidence.
Cpl. Mark August, Crime Scene Technician
?Yes, the public has to understand that the Scenes of Crime Technicians needs to process the scene to gather the limited evidence that is left behind at a crime scene in order for us to help to solve a case. So they have to understand that whenever we have a crime scene, they have to give the police and the crime scene technician the opportunity to work in a contained area or if it?s inside a building, it is an enclosed scene or if it is an outside scene, they have to give the police an opportunity to get their work done.?
Jiro Sosa
?The leader will decide where to extend the barrier. When you put the barrier you have to ensure that it is an appropriate distance away that you have enough working place or you won?t be in trouble. And the media and other people that want to know what is going on cannot have easy access to what is going on. You don?t put it too far away either. So they can see what?s going on. But you give yourself space.?
One of the trainers who have been conducting the course over the last two months, Alejo Prado, says processing a crime scene depends on the location and how diligently the officers work once they arrive. One thing this group has gong for it Prado says, is their enthusiasm for the job.
Alejo Prado
?We are very satisfied because they people who were brought in are highly qualified. In the two months that they have been in training, they have conscientiously done well in the course, and we congratulate them and are pleased with the effort that they have put into their professional development.?
Patrick Jones, for News 5.
The course formally ends next week.
