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| Unfortunately when you have been a victim of crime, its natural for you to want to tidy up and remove all reminders of the crime from sight. However in doing this you can destroy vital clues that can help the police to track down and catch the perpetrators of the crime. Just like in the hit TV show CSI, your local police have some of the finest forensics experts in the world, who can gather vital clues that can stop a criminal from committing the same crime again. |
| Listed below are some helpful guidelines to help conserve the clues that can provide evidence for successfully detection and conviction |
DO | DON'T |
ON DISCOVERING THE CRIME |
| DO Call the Police, who will instruct you what to do | DON''T tidy, clean or repair anything which may have been touched by the suspect |
BROKEN GLASS |
| DO BRING IN FROM OUTSIDE, (Handle other than face surfaces) | DON'T Leave outside to be spoilt by rain |
FINGER PRINTS |
| DO Protect any surfaces which may have be touched by the suspect | DON'T rely on your eyes! Fingerprints are often invisible, and powder may be needed to develop them |
| BEST SURFACES | WORST SURFACES |
| Any smooth, hard, non-grained surface | Any grained surfaces, eg leather, cloth, brick, etc |
BLOOD/DNA |
| DO Preserve, (Possible health hazard so be careful) | DON'T make contact to prevent any health risks to yourselves, pets and family |
| DNA Evidence can be obtained from head, hair, saliva, eg cups, cans and cigarettes. | |
SHOEMARKS |
| DO Preserve and Cover, if appropriate | DON'T walk over evidence, eg footprints, broken glass, etc. |
TOOLMARKS |
| DO Preserve for casting | DON'T repair before it has been examined |
TOOLS, etc |
| DO preserve in its location | DON'T pick up and test against the toolmarks! |
PAPER AND PLASTICS |
| DO Preserve Articles torn or handled by suspects | DON'T Handle the items yourself |
MOTOR VEHICLES |
| DO Preserve under cover if possible, Lock and display "Do not Touch" signs | DON'T sit in the vehicle, police can obtain vital clues from the suspects clothing fibres |
GENERAL |
| DO Preserve and try to disturb as little evidence as possible | DON'T try to handle items with gloves(evidence maybe spoilt) |
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| That's it, your local police will do their best to gather as much evidence as possible, if you have followed the pointers above you would have made a valuable contribution to reducing crime and helping your police force to obtain successful convictions. |
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