Law Enforcement Evidence Collection and Crime Scene Management 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of maintaining 'chain of custody' for evidence?
- To track the cost of evidence storage
- To ensure evidence has not been tampered with and is admissible in court (Correct answer)
- To assign responsibility for evidence to a single officer
- To allow multiple agencies to share evidence simultaneously
Correct answer: To ensure evidence has not been tampered with and is admissible in court
Chain of custody documents every person who handled the evidence, ensuring its integrity and admissibility in court.
Question 2: When securing a crime scene, officers should FIRST:
- Photograph all evidence
- Establish a perimeter to preserve the scene and limit access (Correct answer)
- Interview witnesses on scene
- Collect physical evidence before it degrades
Correct answer: Establish a perimeter to preserve the scene and limit access
Scene security must be established before any other action to prevent contamination or destruction of evidence.
Question 3: Locard's Exchange Principle states that:
- Every crime has a motive that can be identified
- Whenever two objects come into contact, a transfer of material occurs (Correct answer)
- Physical evidence is always more reliable than eyewitness testimony
- DNA evidence is the gold standard in criminal investigations
Correct answer: Whenever two objects come into contact, a transfer of material occurs
Locard's principle is foundational to forensic science: contact between two objects always results in a transfer of trace material.
Question 4: Which type of fingerprint is visible without enhancement techniques?
- Latent fingerprint
- Patent fingerprint (Correct answer)
- Plastic fingerprint
- Subliminal fingerprint
Correct answer: Patent fingerprint
Patent fingerprints are visible to the naked eye because they are left in a contrasting substance like blood, grease, or paint.
Question 5: An officer should use what type of gloves when collecting biological evidence at a crime scene?
- Leather gloves
- Latex or nitrile disposable gloves (Correct answer)
- Cut-resistant gloves
- No gloves are required if evidence is bagged immediately
Correct answer: Latex or nitrile disposable gloves
Disposable latex or nitrile gloves prevent contamination of biological evidence with the officer's own DNA.
Question 6: Which method is used to search a large outdoor crime scene systematically?
- Spiral search
- Grid search (Correct answer)
- Random spot-check search
- Perimeter search only
Correct answer: Grid search
The grid search method involves overlapping parallel lanes searched in two perpendicular directions, providing the most thorough coverage.
