Crime scene and duties of a police officer at a crime scene

When a crime is reported to the police, the initial police actions on arrival usually are:

— to arrest the perpetrators of the crime, if possible;

— to give first aid if required, protect the crime scene, question witnesses at the scene;

— to make a preliminary search for, recording and preserving of, and delivery of pertinent physical evidence to a laboratory.

The investigating process very often depends on the discovery of physical evidence found at the scene. The correct handling of any criminal evidence involves the vital need for proper collection and identification of all articles of interest.

Proper handling means to prevent careless destruction of any evi­dence, to establish and maintain the chain of evidence and to prevent, wherever possible, the addition of any extraneous data to evidence al­ready collected.

A competent search of a crime scene requires that an officer should have specialized training, an understanding of basic procedures, good knowledge of the «why» of certain actions, and close attention to detail in carrying them out.

To satisfy the legal requirements concerning physical evidence the investigator must be able to

— identify each article of evidence, even months after he collected it;

— describe the exact location of the item at the time it was col­lected,

— prove that from the moment of its collection until it was pre­sented court, the evidence was continuously in proper custody,

— describe changes that have occurred in the evidence between the time of its collection and its presentation in court.

 

Text 8: Read and translate the text:

FINGERPRINTS

The highly individual patterns of the ridges are constant tor the whole of life and cannot be altered except by the destruction of the skin, but with the growth of fresh skin, the original pattern returns.

Here is the table which lays down a rule of ridge counts as ap­plicable to ages:

New-born child 15—18 ridges

Age 8 — 10 years 13 ridges

Age 13 — 14 years 12 ridges

Over 14 years 9—10 ridges

20 years (large hands) 6 — 7 ridges

It is a general belief that most criminals wear gloves; in actual practice a surprising number of them fail to do so.

There are three main classes of chains impressions, the most im­portant being the latent print. This is generally invisible to the naked eye and is generally made by the finger ball which impresses the papil­lary lines on an object with the aid of small amounts of sweat, body grease, and dirt. If the hands are very clean and cold, latent prints are unlikely to be made on any but good surfaces such as glass.

The second class comprises visible prints which need little ex­planation, for here dirt, blood, etc., on the fingertip will enable the print to be made. Prints of the type are infrequently found and they could be the result of haste or inattention.

A third class is the plastic print where a negative cast of the print is made on a so-called plastic object.

The life of the impression is variable and is governed by various factors, but given a hard protected surface unlikely to be touched, a print is almost permanent.

If the visible print cannot be wholly or partially removed to the place of examination, photography is the first answer. Once the record is made, it then becomes the requisite of the expert.

The latent print has a variety of techniques, applicable to the me­dium under examination. Dusting for prints is the automatic pre­requisite in the search for latent prints. Generally speaking, the use of an appropriate powder for development comes first, and in theory the sort of powder used is not important providing it is fine-grained in quality. A print on white objects, for example, would be dusted with black powder. On dark objects white powder is used.

The possibility that the weapons of science can be turned against itself by the forging of fingerprints cannot be discounted since this factor arises every now and again. At least forgery is of theoretical importance.

To make a facsimile of a fingerprint for some purpose would not be difficult, but it becomes a very different matter when it is put into practical use as a forgery.

It is certainly possible to make a fingerprint by means of a copy executed in rubber, for example, and get from it a visible print, but the forged fingerprint does not stand up to expert examination. Even if it were possible, it is easily detectable with the use of a good hand-lens when the ridges show up at once as artificial. In brief, a forgery cannot be achieved in such a manner that it will successfully pass the examina­tion of a dactyloscopic expert. The chief weapon against such attempts at deceit is, basically the photographic enlargement.

 

Text 9: Do the written translation of the text:

LATENT PRINTS

The term «latent» means hidden, not apparent. For the purpose of police terminology and usage, however, a latent print (visible or invisi­ble) is one which is obtained in connection with an investigation involv­ing identification.

A latent print may be defined as the anatomical record, made by bodily contact, of and from the crests of the papillary ridges which are located on the palmar and plantar surfaces of the body.

Three general types of friction ridge prints may be obtained in connection with an investigation: visible, plastic, and latent.

Visible prints are those which have been made by transferring a foreign colored substance, such as ink, blood, etc., from the crests of the papillary ridges to the object touched.

Plastic or moulded imprints, also readily discernible, are depth impressions of the ridge design in a soft medium, such as thick dust, blood, grease, etc.

True latent prints are those which are made by the natural skin se­cretions such as perspiration, sebaceous oil, or by some colorless foreign substance.

It should be kept in mind that any palmar or plantar skin design will serve to positively identify a person, and it will be accepted and recognized by the courts as being conclusive evidence of identity.

Frequently a latent print is the only evidence available which will serve to identify a perpetrator with his crime.

The identification, apprehension, and successful prosecution of numerous criminals have been effected solely because a small friction ridge print was obtained during the investigation.

A thorough search of the crime scene should be conducted, and recovered evidence should be examined in an effort to secure latent prints, if such are present.

Theoretically, most surfaces with which the human skin comes in contact are capable of retaining latent prints. There is no guarantee, however, that an identifiable print will be found.

It would be ideal if a search for latent prints at every crime scene could be conducted by a lab expert, but until such time becomes prac­tical and possible, the field officer must look particularly for those sur­faces which, from experience, he may expect to be most productive in retaining friction ridge evidence.

In order to determine if there are items which possibly may bear latent prints, the officer should question the victim and witnesses care­fully, and should also rely upon his own observations, experience, imagination, and logical deduction.

UNIT 11. THE STUDY OF CRIME

Text 1: Match the following headings with the sections of the text below:

• History
• Application
• Techniques
• Subject
• Objectives

CRIMINOLOGY

(1) Criminology is a social science dealing with the nature, extent, and causes of crime; the characteristics of criminals and their organizations; the problems of apprehending and convicting offenders; the operation of prisons and other correctional institutions; the rehabilitation of convicts both in and out of prison; and the prevention of crime.

(2) The science of criminology has two basic objectives: to determine the causes, whether personal or social, of criminal behaviour and to evolve valid principles for the social control of crime. In pursuing these objectives, criminology draws on the findings of biology, psychology, psychiatry, sociology, anthropology, and related fields.

(3) Criminology originated in the late 18^th century when various movements began to question the humanity and efficiency of using punishment for retribution rather than deterrence and reform. There arose as a consequence what is called the classical school of criminology, which aimed to mitigate legal penalties and humanize penal institutions. During the 19^th century the positivist school attempted to extend scientific neutrality to the understanding of crime. Because they held that criminals were shaped by their environment, positivists emphasized case studies and rehabilitative measures. A later school, the 'social defense' movement, stressed the importance of balance between the rights of criminals and the rights of society.

(4) Criminologists commonly use several research techniques. The collection and interpretation of statistics is generally the initial step in research. The case study, often used by psychologists, concentrates on an individual or a group. The typological method involves classifying offences, criminals, or criminal areas according to various criteria. Sociological research, which may involve many different techniques, is used in criminology to study groups, subcultures, and gangs as well as rates and kinds of crime within geographic areas.

(5) Criminology has many practical applications. Its findings can give lawyers, judges, and prison officials a better understanding of criminals, which may lead to more effective treatment. Criminological research can be used by legislators and in the reform of laws and of penal institutions.

Exercise 1: Find in the text the English equivalents for the following:

1. криминология рассматривает природу и причины преступлений;
2. изучение обстоятельств правонарушения по материалам дела;
3. криминология опирается на открытия других наук;
4. проблемы задержания преступников;
5. проблемы предотвращения преступлений;
6. применение на практике;
7. исправительные учреждения;
8. установить причины преступности;
9. выработать действующие принципы;
10. смягчить наказание;
11. подвергнуть сомнению

 

Exercise 2: Replace the words and expressions in bold type with the words and expressions that mean the same:

1. The objectives of criminology and criminalistics are rather different.

2. The system of penal institutions is to be reformed.

3. The scientific study of criminals originated in the late 18^th century.

4. Modern criminologists hold that criminals are shaped by a multiplicity of factors.

5. Criminology studies the factors that lead to violent behav­iour.

 

Exercise 3: Match the legal terms on the left with their definitions on the right.

 

1. deterrence	a) guidance and instruction given to offenders, their beneficial treatment aimed at restitution of positive skills and attitudes
2. case study	b) measures taken to prevent hostile action
3. legislator	c) a person serving a prison sentence
4. retribution	d) a detailed analysis of a criminal person or group
5. convict	e) a member of a body which gives or makes laws
6. rehabilitation	f) something given or demanded in repayment, especially punishment

 

Text 2: Read the text and write down the Russian equivalents for the words and expressions in bold type:

CESARE LOMBROSO (1836—1909)

Professor Lombroso is a criminologist whose views, though not altogether correct, caused a lot of interest and made other people look into the problem of crime in a more scientific way. He is regarded as the father of the scientific study of criminals, or criminology.

Lombroso studied at the universities of Padua, Vienna, and Paris, and later he became a professor of psychiatry and forensic medicine, a director of a mental asylum.

In an enormous book called The Criminal, he set out the idea that there is a definite criminal type, who can be recognized by his or her appearance. Some of what he said is difficult to believe. For example, he said that left-handed persons have a criminal instinct. Among the things he considered important were the shape of the head, colour of the hair, the eyes, the curve of the chin and forehead and if the ears stick out.

Lombroso's theories were widely influential in Europe for a time, but his emphasis on hereditary causes of crime was later strongly rejected in favour of environmental factors. Lombroso tried to reform the Italian penal system, and he encouraged more humane and constructive treatment of convicts through the use of work programs intended to make them more productive members of society.

 

Exercise 4: Complete the following text with the words from the box. Translate the text:

criminal types; capital punishment; inmates; case studies; upbringing; investigations; suspended; multiple; unthinkable; rehabilitative

 

Cesare Lombroso, professor of psychiatry and anthropology at the University of Turin, sought through firsthand observation and measurement of prison ______ 1 ______ to determine the characteristics of _____2____ ________. Some of his ______ 3 _______ allowed him to establish the existence of 'hereditary criminals'. Lombroso held that such criminals exhibit a higher percentage of physical and mental anomalies than do noncriminals. Among these anomalies, were various unusual skull sizes and asymmetries of the facial bones.

Other scholars helped to introduce the ideas that crime has ____ 4 _____ causes and that most criminals are not born criminal but are shaped by their ____ 5 ______and associations. Thus, the emphasis in criminology had turned to experimental ___ 6 ____ ________and to preventive and ______ 7 ______ measures. Without this contribution into the scientific study of criminals the present-day alternatives to ______ 8 ______ and old-fashioned imprisonment such as probation, ______ 9 ______ sentence, fines, and parole would have been ____ 10 ______.

 

Exercise 5: Render the following article into English paying special attention to the words and expressions in bold type: