Chapter 3 The Crime Scene Vocabulary
1. Chain of Custody – the documented and unbroken transfer of
evidence; lists all the people who came into contact with an item of
evidence.
2. Crime-scene investigation – a multidisciplinary approach in which
scientific and legal professionals work together to solve a crime.
3. Crime-scene reconstruction – a hypothesis of the sequence of events
from before the crime was committed through its commission.
4. First responder – the first police officer to arrive at a crime scene.
5. Paper bindle – a folded paper used to hold trace evidence.
6. Primary crime scene – the location where the crime took place.
7. Secondary crime scene – a location other than the primary crimes
scene, but that is in some way related to the crime, where evidence is
found.
8. Trace evidence – small but measurable amounts of physical or
biological material found at a crime scene.
9. Physical Evidence – any object that can establish that a crime has
been committed or can link a suspect to a victim or crime scene.
Tangible items that tend to prove some material fact; also called
REAL evidence.
10.
Indirect Evidence – evidence providing only a basis for
inference about the disputed fact
11.
Circumstantial Evidence – evidence based on suggestion rather
than personal knowledge or observation.
12.
Questioned or Unknown Sample – material that has been
collected from a known location but is of unknown origin.
13.
Known Sample – material that comes from a proven or known
source. Reference Sample – a sample from a known source used for
comparison also referred to as exemplar. Control Sample – material
that is similar to the questioned and known samples, and is used to
validate the test method and procedure.
14.
Observation – what a person perceives using his or her senses.
15.
Opinion – personal belief founded on judgment rather than on
direct experience or knowledge.
16.
Perception – interpreting information received from the senses.
17.
Fact – a statement or assertion of information that can be
verified.
18.
Analytical skills – the ability to identify a concept or problem, to
isolate its component parts, to organize information for decision
making, to establish criteria for evaluation, and to draw appropriate
conclusions.
19.
Ethics – a set of rules that define appropriate behavior in a
situation.
20.
Interrogation – official questioning of a suspect or witness by
law enforcement.
21.
Interview – a question and answer session that does not
accuse but is instead intended to gather information concerning a
case and/or a suspect.
22.
Interviewer – a trained individual who questions witnesses or
suspects and is able to interpret cues in verbal and physical behavior.
23.
Objectivity – judgment that is not influenced by personal
feelings or bias, focused on fact.
24. Suspect – an individual under investigation for his or her alleged
involvement in a crime.