• Question: how long does it roughly take to investigate a scene :)

    Asked by nikhilb11 to Jamie, Kat, Mark on 25 Mar 2011 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Mark Hill

      Mark Hill answered on 25 Mar 2011:

      Hi Nikhilb,

      I am called to the scene of a fatal crash by my traffic patrol colleagues.
      I often arrive whilst the fire and ambulance crews are still there, so I am somewhat limited as to how much I can do.

      Once they have left and I can see the extent of the scene, I start my detailed examination, of the road surface, the vehicles and the injuries on the bodies. Having marked the evidence, I photograph the entire scene and the evidence. This could include forensic techniques to develop grease and cleaning marks, before photographing them.

      After photography I start an electronic survey, using a theodolite. I supervise the removal of bodies, into the undertakers vehicles before recovery of the vehicles. When the recovery vehicles arrive, I may put the vehicles back together, at the point of impact, to show how they related to each other at the moment of collision. A photo of this aspect can save a lot of writing!

      I supervise the recovery of the vehicles for later mechanical exam, when I get the time.
      If there is street furniture, lamp posts or signs, that are damaged, they need removal and replacing.

      Generally, I will be at the scene for about 3 to 4 hours, although it may be less, or longer, depending on the size of the crash.

      The office and lab work, takes more time, as does the report writing, which typically takes 50 to 100 hours. I cannot write that until I have been to the post mortems and seen all of the witness statements, which may take several weeks.

      Sounds like a lot of work? However, it is really interesting and I wouldn’t do anything else.

      This is the first time this question has been asked, in two weeks. Thank you.

      Mark

    • Photo: Jamie Pringle

      Jamie Pringle answered on 25 Mar 2011:

      Hello nikhilb11,

      Well every investigation is different and the skills specialists use are also different and will take different time to do. Mark has given you a detailed answer of his area so I’ll just stick to search,

      For my search teams, specialist dog teams can be pretty quick, only taking a day or so (depending on the size of the search area), whereas I make take a week or so if I am doing a GPR survey, as I may have to collect data every 10cm, which if you are surveying an acre of ground, this may take some time!

      It completely depends on the target size (if small, have to collect more data) and survey area (if big, can take weeks+ to collect the data, let alone processing and interpreting it!). A typical back garden will take a few days in the field to collect enough data for my use, whereas a couple of current cases that I am working on, I have had to do a few weeks every year to gradually cover the survey area, which is a very big woodland! Just depends I guess.

      Hope that helps.

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