Practical crime scene processing

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Q .1 what is the primary concern of scene assessment by the crime scene technician?
Scene assessment guides the crime scene technician on how the incident transpired and finally lead to becoming a crime scene (Gardner, 18). Scene assessment helps determine the range of the scene, the morals of the scene and control contamination. It also helps them identify methods they will use to identify the culprit.
Q .2 why is the use of a single crime scene barrier ineffective?
It is not effective to use one crime scene barrier because the crime scene might become contaminated, therefore rendering the scene ineffective by losing its integrity to come up with a case. The second barrier helps separate the onlookers, the law enforcement officers and the crime scene itself, therefore contamination of the scene is difficult.
Q .3 how can enforcing use of personal protective equipment (PPE) help control scene integrity with regard to any police supervisors on the scene?
When all around the scene are required to put on the personal protective equipment, with the supervisors included, it will act as a reminder to those with nothing less apart from the inquiring mind believing the scene is not safe. And putting on all the personal protective equipment might make everyone doubt whether they are safe being at the scene.
Q .4 when setting up crime scene teams, what are the two basic approaches to team composition?
When setting up a crime scene, it should be determined by a team’s approach that is one area or by function.

A one area team approach is whereby one team takes care of all the activities that deal with processing. While a team dealing with the function approach, the team leader designates duties to different teams who will be doing separate activities.
Q .5 identify and describe three of the four factors that affect decisions about team composition?Some of the factors affecting decisions on team composition include; the available resources because to have a large team composition at a crime scene the resources should be sufficient for all members and this will eventually lead to a good outcome, and another factor is the size of the crime scene physically the larger and more complex the crime scene is the more team members are required, this means the crime scene complexity and size will determine the team composition (Gardner, 54). The number of crime scenes is another factor because in a case of multiple crime scenes, a large team is required and the team leader assigns duties, while a one crime scene does not require a large team.
Q .6 identify and describe the five basic patterns used to search a crime scene?
Some of the main ways used to search for a crime scene include; zone search this is whereby the crime scene is divided into different parts, and therefore the team leader assigns each team a section to do searching of evidence. The grid search method is whereby two investigators walk in a straight line across the crime scene trying to come up with a clue. The circle search method is whereby the investigators perform a search on areas with proximity to the crime scene. Strip and line search are performed by splitting the crime scene in a chain of lanes and the investigators search thoroughly through the lanes. Point to point search method is whereby the investigators move from one crime scene to the next until they exhaust all areas.
Q .7 what are the variations of the zone search and when are they used?
A zone search is done in very small places like in a house or a very large farm that can be divided into small parts to make it easier for the investigators to search all sections thoroughly.
Q .8 why is post processing exposure to biohazards a problem and how might it occur?
Biohazards such as blood spill or dangerous chemical agent spills on a crime scene can be very dangerous to the investigators, therefore they are provided with protective clothing that protects them from the exposure of the harmful substances (Gardner, 27). And when they are done with investigating the crime scene, they remove the protective gear in an isolated area which is later disposed of by burning.
Q .9 when presented with a possible drug lab, how does the crime scene technician respond?
With the presentation of a possible drug lab, the crime scene technician should leave the crime area as soon as possible until a unit that his specialized with handling the issue arrives.
Q .10 why is it important to establish standard team processing techniques at a mass crime scene?
At a mass crime scene, it is vital to come up with ideal team processing techniques because the team might be victims if they are not aware of the standard operating procedures for various biohazards and chemicals they encounter at work.

Work cited
Gardner, Ross M. Practical crime scene processing and investigation. CRC Press, 2011.