Professionalism in Crime Scene Examination: The Seven Key Attributes of Top Crime Scene Examiners

Abstract

The crime scene is a critical element of criminal investigations and where forensic science begins. Inadequately managed scenes lead to poor evidence and risk of wrongful convictions. Reports from the United States and the United Kingdom highlight that some crime scene examiners (CSEs) outperform their peers, leading to less unsolved cases. What neither report explained was why some CSEs excel. We identified the attributes of top-performing CSEs using job analytical techniques with 72 police investigators, forensic scientists, senior police managers, and 18 top CSEs from across Australia. We analyzed the data and found seven distinct critical skill sets for top performance in CSE: knowledge, life experience, professionalism, approach to life, communication, cognitive abilities, and stress management. In this paper we present the critical skills and discuss the multiple ways that top CSEs positively impact the work of criminal investigators and other CSEs, as well as the impact they have upon efficiencies within forensic laboratories.

Crime Scene Examiners and Volume Crime Investigations: An Empirical Study of Perception and Practice

“…The acceptance of CSEs by police investigative teams, and the degree of integration, has been shown to hinge on the perception of their role by others involved (Bradbury & Feist 2005;Blakey 2000). Kelty et al (2011) in Australia that has begun to investigate the key core skills required to be a high-performing/proficient crime scene examiner. Their aim was to provide an "explanation of why some CSEs excel at crime scene work relative to their peers" and the impact high performance CSEs have on criminal investigations (Kelty et al 2011, p.176).…”

“…Their aim was to provide an "explanation of why some CSEs excel at crime scene work relative to their peers" and the impact high performance CSEs have on criminal investigations (Kelty et al 2011, p.176). They determined that factors such as cognitive abilities, knowledge base, experience, work orientation, communication skills, professional demeanour, and approach to life were important as the qualities associated with high performance of CSEs (Kelty et al 2011). …”

La sélection et l’évaluation des techniciens en scène de crime

“…Le caractère scientifique de l'investigation des scènes de crime et les compétences particulières qui lui sont associées -la connaissance des principes fondamentaux de la criminalistique, la capacité à varier et à confronter des hypothèses, la capacité d'abstraction, la créativité, le sens logique, etc. (Kelty et al, 2011) -gagneraient ainsi certainement à être considérés par les dirigeants policiers du Québec lors de la sélection et de l'évaluation des techniciens en identité judiciaire.…”

“…Pour tenir efficacement ces rôles, les techniciens en scène de crime mettent à profit toute une série de compétences et d'aptitudes. Kelty, Julian et Robertson (2011) ont recensé sept attributs par lesquels certains techniciens en scène de crime se démarquent et sont reconnus par leurs pairs comme étant les plus performants au sein de leur unité. Les habiletés cognitives (par ex.…”

Understanding crime scene examination through an ethnographic lens

“…Once in post, CSEs are subject to detailed training in a variety of trace recovery and investigative techniques. While some studies have highlighted, for example, the key attributes of top CSEs to help recruit the best individuals (see Kelty et al, ), little is known about the realities of the training received by CSEs and how this is taken on board and utilized in specific organizational contexts. This is particularly noteworthy with pushes within the UK setting to accredit the CSE role and more broadly to standardize CSE practice (see, e.g., Delémont, Bitzer, Jendly, & Ribaux, ).…”