INGENIEUR
techniques, shutter speed, etc. is very important
to ensure that all the photos captured during site
investigation are of good quality — non-blurry
images, proper brightness and sharpness — to
show details of the scene.
Proper planning and selecting the right
subjects to capture rather than random shots
are essential to avoid missing any important
facts. Marking photos in chronological order and
right sequencing will ease analysis and report
writing and will be useful if it comes to a court
proceeding.
As many photos on a single subject should be
taken as possible even though not all the photos
will be used in report writing or court proceedings.
Photos should be captured from multiple angles
and ranges (Focus, medium and far range). It is
important to note that all objects must be tagged
or labelled, as highlighted earlier, before the
photos are taken.
Sketching
Sketching is essential during incident site
investigations when there are limitations
in recording the place of an incident using
photographic techniques. When describing the
scene thoroughly, it is useful to complement with
some sketches. For example, when investigators
want to describe the area of a
scene i.e. a room, a
single sketch of the layout plan is enough, rather
than a series of photos. Any observations from
the scene that cannot be photographed should
be sketched and these include measurements,
dimensions of a building, length of a structure
etc.
Sketches can help investigators correlate
photos taken and the original location of the
evidence. All sketches must be signed by the
person who drew them, including detailed
information such as the date and time as well
as the place of the incident for future reference.
Sketches of incidents do not require a high level
of drawing skills as simple symbols can be used to
explain something. References such as compass
directions and permanent objects should be
included in the sketches. Examples of permanent
objects are building walls, trees or permanent
structures, for the purpose of determining the
position of evidence, subject, or victim during a
re-visit to the scene.
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48
VOL
2018
VOL 76
55 OCTOBER-DECEMBER
JUNE 2013
Evidence Management and Chain of Custody
Evidence management is a critical element in
explaining facts related to an incident. Good
evidence management requires traceability of the
evidence from its origin and substantiation of its
authenticity. Any evidence obtained should correlate
with relevant incident facts. The chain of custody
should be established in chronological and logical
order to ensure there is no challenge or question
to the evidence. This is especially important, if an
incident leads to a criminal trial or civil litigation.
Any evidence to be admissible in a court of law has
to adhere to the provisions set out in the Evidence
Act 1950. Crime-related evidence must follow the
provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (Act 593)
as they apply to the incident.
The correct techniques to extract the evidence
from a scene should be selected. This is to avoid
tampering with the evidence and preserving it for
any required laboratory tests or if it is to be used
in a court proceeding. Investigators or teams need
to know the kind of evidence they have to take,
the sampling method, packaging requirements,
and how it should be stored. Wrong sampling,
packaging and storing techniques can cause the
selected evidence to be affected. For example, in
the sampling of volatile liquid chemical, choosing
the right equipment for sampling should be
identified to prevent the evidence from vaporising.
No evidence can be collected from the site before
tagging or labelling, sketching, and photography
have been completed and recorded.
Witnesses
Witness interviews are a process of finding the
cause of the accident and not establishing fault.
Communications between the investigator and
the witness must be professional and ethical.
Harsh questions will mislead the interview
process and the witness will begin to conceal
important facts in order to avoid being blamed,
even if they are totally innocent. Questions asked
professionally and neutrally, that do not look for
fault, will make the witnesses more co-operative
in telling the truth. The right choice of questions
should be selected during the interview process.
Investigators should always remember that
when interviewing a witness, they should avoid
leading questions. Leading questions may plant
some thoughts which do not originally come from