# Police Work Questions



## mr_smartiepants (Apr 11, 2012)

I'm writing a story and I really want to nail some of the police work that is being done. I don't know much about the whole process of what cops do. 

For all intensive purposes the scene is supposed to be a murder scene. The main character is a detective who receives a call from an officer who reported to the scene.

Now if someone would be as so kind to answer the following questions I would be really appreciative :x

1. Would a detective normally respond to a murder or would it be someone else's job first?
2. Who collects evidence from the scene and who sends it off to be processed?
3. What are the people called who secure the scene and collect evidence? (I think they're CSUs, but I'm not 100% sure)
4. Would a crime scene investigator be involved at all and if so to what degree?
5. Where would the evidence be sent to get processed? (Would it be termed as general as a crime lab?)
6. Who would be the person in charge of the people collecting evidence?

At one point my detective has a brief encounter with a dispatcher, so I just had a couple of questions regarding them.

1. Is there a supervising dispatcher located with all of the other dispatchers or would there be a regular cop there to over see the dispatchers?
2. If a person made a call to a dispatcher, would there be some type of physical record indicative of that call? If so where would it be and who would have access to it?

I think that's it...if anyone could shed some light on one/all of these questions I'd really appreciate it :X


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## Terry D (Apr 11, 2012)

Here are some links to sites which might help your investigation;

HowStuffWorks "How Crime Scene Investigation Works"

What Happens when a Crime Scene is Discovered? - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Crime Scene Processing Protocol


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## Bloggsworth (Apr 11, 2012)

I am assuming that you are in the US, it would have been helpful to say, methods differ from country to country.


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## Terry D (Apr 11, 2012)

Bloggsworth said:


> I am assuming that you are in the US, it would have been helpful to say, methods differ from country to country.



Very good point.  My reply was made under that assumption.


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## Bloggsworth (Apr 11, 2012)

In France the investigation is controlled by a Judge D'Instruction, not the detectives on the case.


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## mr_smartiepants (Apr 11, 2012)

Ah right yeah. I am from the U.S., sorry for that one guys. I have a bunch of giant brain farts going on today.

Also, thanks for the fast reply!


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## PaulMcElligott (May 30, 2012)

The answer to most of your questions is "It depends on the jurisdiction." Every department has their own protocols and procedures. The best people to ask are probably the police in your town. Of course, if you live in a small town and your story takes place in the city, you would want to reach out to a big city department.

1. As a rule, the detective would respond only after the responding officers had reported in and someone determined that a crime worthy of their attention has taken place.
2. Generally speaking, there would be a "crime scene unit," consisting of technicians trained in evidence collection. Detectives would probably focus on witnesses. Based on eyewitnesses, they may direct the CSU what to look for.
3 & 4. The police officers secure the scene, while collecton would be done by "crime scene unit" of one or more crime scene investigators or crime scene technicians. If you are writing about a real place and a real police department, it would not hurt to check with them and see what the real job titles are.
5. This varies widely depending on the police department involved. Larger cities might have their own fully equipped crime labs, but small towns often have to bundle off evidence to a backlogged county or state lab, where results can take weeks or months to get back.
6. The crime scene unit would probably have a supervisor. This is another case of checking with the local police to get the names right.


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