1. Documenting the Scene: Note Taking, Photographing, and Sketching
Chapter 2
Documenting the Scene: Note Taking, Photographing, and Sketching

2. Field Notes
Investigative notes are a permanent written record of the facts of a case to be used in further investigation, in writing reports, and in prosecuting the case.
Detailed notes can make or break a conviction.

3. Record Information
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
How?

4. How to Take Notes Don’t include words such as a, and, and the.
Write legibly.
Use standard abbreviations such as mph, DWI, and Ave.

5. Advantages of Photographs
They can be taken immediately.
They accurately represent the crime scene and evidence.
They create interest and increase attention to testimony.

6. Disadvantages of Photographs
They are not selective.
They do not show actual distances.
They may be distorted and damaged by mechanical errors in shooting or processing.

7. Commonly Used Photographic Equipment
35 mm camera
Instant print camera
Digital camera
Press camera
Fingerprint camera
Video equipment

8. Advantages of Digital Cameras
Elimination of time and expense involved in developing photographic film.
Quickly adaptable as attachments.
Easily incorporated into written reports.
Record information about each photograph.
Consistency.

9. What to Photograph Long-range pictures of the locality.
Medium-range pictures of the immediate crime scene and location of objects of evidence within the area or room.
Close-range pictures of specific evidence.

10. Photogrammetry
Refers to the making of 3-D measurements of the real world directly from photographs for use in courts.
Can accurately locate and measure any object appearing in two or more photographs.
Can automatically orient photographs taken from awkward angles.
Can correct for camera misalignment.

11. Types of Investigative Photography
Surveillance Photography
Aerial Photography
Night Photography
Laboratory Photography
Mug Shots
Lineup Photographs

12. Types of Laboratory Photography
Microphotography – takes pictures through a microscope.
Macrophotography – enlarges a subject.
Laser-beam photography – reveals evidence indiscernible to the naked eye.
Ultraviolet-light photography – uses the low end of the color spectrum to make visible impressions of bruises and injuries long after their actual occurrence.

13. Admissibility of Photographs in Court
Photographs must be:
Material,
Relevant,
Competent,
Accurate,
Free of distortion, and
Non-inflammatory.

14. Crime Scene Sketches Accurately portray the physical facts.
Relate to the sequence of events at the scene.
Establish the precise location and relationship of objects at the scene.
Help create a mental picture of the scene.
Permanent record of the scene.
Usually admissible in court.

15. Steps in Sketching the Crime Scene
Observe and Plan
Measure and Outline the Area
Plot objects and evidence within the outline
Record details
Identify the sketch with a legend and scale
Reassess the sketch
File the sketch

16. Plotting Methods Rectangular-Coordinate Method Baseline Method
Triangulation Method
Compass Point Method
Cross-Projection Method

17. Materials for Making Scale Drawings