Name: Ayanda Candice

Surname: Cele

Student Number:
67939902

Module code: FOR2605

Unique Number: 527358

Assignment 01

Due: 16 August 2024

Second Semester
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUESTION 1- PAGE 1 & 2
QUESTION 2- PAGE 3 & 4
QUESTION 3- PAGE 5
QUESTION 4- PAGE 6
QUESTION 5 – PAGE 7 & 8
LIST OF SOURCES –
PAGE 9
Question One
1.1 Identification of Possible Witnesses: The investigator must understand that
everyone around the incident is a possible witness. This wide approach raises the
chances of collecting meaningful testimony.

1.2 Assistance in Locating Witnesses: The investigator is expected to seek help from
other officials in finding and locating witnesses. This coordination is critical to ensure
that no possible witness is ignored.

1.3 Handling Reluctant Witnesses: Understanding that witnesses may be hesitant to

speak up, the investigator must make the effort to find and locate them. This
proactive strategy is essential for acquiring key information.

1.4 Interviewing Technique: To find pertinent witnesses, Investigators must conduct

careful interviews and ask intelligent questions. The quality of the questions asked
has a considerable influence on the information gathered.

1.5 Witness Area Designation: The investigator should establish and set aside a
separate place for interviewing witnesses. This aids in scene management and
ensures that witnesses are interrogated in a timely and methodical way.

1.6 Separation of Witnesses: It is critical to separate witnesses to prevent them from

influencing one other's testimony. This practice contributes to the integrity of the
testimony.

1.7 Continuous Supervision of Witnesses: The investigator should ensure that

witnesses are not left alone and should record their complete information before they
depart. This prevents the loss of touch with critical witnesses.

1.8 Utilization of CCTV Footage: If CCTV cameras are present, the investigator
should use the film to identify witnesses. This can be a useful tool for verifying
witness testimony and discovering other witnesses.
1.9 Trauma Awareness: The investigator must be aware that witnesses and victims
may be traumatized and require further care. Using support systems intended to aid
traumatized persons is critical in treating them with compassion.

1.10 Timely Statement Collection: When a witness is in a decent condition, their

testimony should be obtained as quickly as feasible, preferably away from other
witnesses. This ensures the accuracy and reliability of the testimony
By taking these 10 factors into account, an investigator may successfully handle
witnesses and acquire critical evidence for the inquiry.
Question Two

The chain of custody, also known as the chain of possession, is one of the key and
important aspects of any investigation as it lays ground for the handling of the
physical evidence from the time it is retrieved until it presents itself in the court. This
comprises writing down the number of people who have touched the evidence, the
time they touched the evidence, the conditions under which the evidence was
touched and conditions of deterioration if any.

Documentary support of such nature can be considered as an important way to

confirm the validities and to ensure that none of them has been changed during the
investigation and accumulation process to prove in the courts what has been
collected and gathered at the primary stage. Investigators are required to secure,
identify, measure, document, safeguard and transport the evidence with no
insignificance or carelessness. This duty also applies to other documents of concern
such as notebooks and other records that may prove the viability of the continuous
possession.

Failure to produce documents can cause a serious problem, thus compromising both
the investigation phase and the subsequent legal processes. Every item of evidence
must be properly identified and where necessary witness details filled in when the
evidence is handled. Such aspects include the kind of evidence, origin, date and
time of sealing and photographs of the original sealer name and signature as well as
the case number. The use of sequential numbering is also necessary to keep track of
the unfolded sequence, and to guarantee the completeness of the record.

Labelling and signing brings about evidence chain where each signature points to
the next. Each person who encounters the label must sign it, indicating the time he
or she took the evidence into his or her possession and the time he or she handed it
over to the other person or deposited it in storage. The process does not only mirror
the activities made with the evidence but also offers a comprehensible unbroken
record of recognized individuals. At any later time, any of these individuals may be
asked to come to court and give testimony as to how they dealt with evidence and
secured their chain of custody while in possession.
In conclusion, the chain of custody is a critical element that helps in establishing the
reliability of physical evidence. By documenting each process of the evidence
collection up to the storage or disappearance of the substance in court, investigators
can be assured of the quality of the evidence they present before the court. This
linked and interconnected chain guarantees that the evidence has not been altered
and that its integrity is still intact, hence meeting the requirements of justice
Question Three

• Outdoor Crime Scenes: Found in open spaces like streets, parks, or fields,
these scenes pose unique challenges. Weather conditions, potential
contamination, and the need to secure large areas all make handling outdoor
crime scenes particularly complex.
• Indoor Crime Scenes: These take place within enclosed environments such
as homes, offices, or factories. The specific challenges here can vary
depending on the location's layout, accessibility, and the types of evidence
that might be present.
• Mass Disaster Crime Scenes: Encompassing large-scale incidents like natural
disasters, terrorist attacks, or major accidents, these scenes require extensive
coordination among various agencies. Specialized methods are often
necessary to effectively manage the overwhelming amount of evidence, and
the large number of victims involved.
• Dangerous and hazardous scenes: Explosives have been instrumental in
achieving impressive engineering accomplishments, yet they also play a role
in criminal activities. Investigations of bomb scenes, often linked to arson and
terrorism, are considered a specialized field. While certain aspects of these
investigations differ from standard crime scenes, the foundational principles
largely remain consistent.
• Fire scenes: Investigating a fire scene is best left to experts, with the
investigator's role being to provide support. However, there are critical aspects
to keep in mind regarding fire scenes. These scenes can be particularly
challenging, as fires may be deliberately set to commit murder, destroy
property, or to obscure other crimes. Such acts might be motivated by a
desire for financial gain or psychological satisfaction.
Question Four

Common mistakes made by investigators include:

• Touching sharp objects, moving things in the scene including the furniture,
electronics, or even documents that were unnecessary to be moved.
• Jumping around, stepping on areas where there might be good impressions of
footprints, vehicle prints, dropping cigarette butts and matches on the scene.
• Touching or otherwise disturbing the scene, for example, by grooming and
thereby depositing new physical evidence such as hair.
• Consumption of food, water or any drinks at the scene of the incident or
requesting for basins, toilets, or towels at the scene of the incident.
• switching on or off seemingly unimportant electronic equipment: such as
computers, cellphones, iPods, cameras, fax machines, photocopiers,
scanners and laptops - even the investigator's own cellphone.
Question Five

• The strip method – This method can be equally well applied outdoors and
indoors. It may refer to the situation whereby the searcher commences on a
certain side of the scene in question before moving steadily to the other side.
Here the searcher moves in the opposite direction but parallel to the line when
the strip has been completed, in this way, there will be no chance of the same
area being searched again. This approach breaks the scene into strips or
lanes across the breadth which are more often one meter in width.
Consequently, the degree of search undertaken increases, the narrower the
lanes being explored.
Advantages – The advantages are simple application and efficiency; the
method is more effective in searching for small items such as cartridges,
middle sized items and footprints found on the shoes. This may be done by
one or more investigators and is thus suitable and feasible for use in several
settings. The method implies a detailed study of the scene, simplicity and
provides maximum time to find essential pieces of evidence.

• The spiral method - The spiral search method is applicable to both indoor and
outdoor scenes. The search begins at the outer edges of the scene and
progresses in a circular, spiral pattern towards the centre. This method is
particularly effective for a single searcher working in a small indoor area, such
as a room.
Advantages – This method is preferably done on outdoor scenes as the space
of the areas is mostly limited. It reduces the prospects of contaminating the
scene and it does not need many people. A good point that benefits from this
method is in collecting evidential value closer to the middle of the given scene
and especially in cases with several ‘’entrances’’ and ‘’exits’’. It also can be
used together with the zone and wheel methods to increase the efficiency of
the search.
• The wheel method – Method starts at the middle and moves outside
Advantages – The wheel method is effective for locating information that is
farther from the scene, as it extends the search outward to cover the
surrounding area. This method helps define clear boundaries and can prevent
tunnel vision by encouraging broader inquiries near the scene. Additionally, it
requires less manpower, making it efficient for larger searches.

• The zone method - The zone search method, also called the sector search
method, involves dividing the scene into equally sized sections, with each
section typically assigned to a different searcher. Once a section is
completed, searchers rotate to the next section, ensuring that all sections are
thoroughly searched by multiple individuals.
Advantages - The zone method is particularly effective for outdoor scenes and
large indoor spaces like warehouses or multi-story apartments. Rotating
investigators within each section increases thoroughness. It can be combined
with other methods, such as the grid method, and is useful for documenting
the locations and relationships of evidence like bloodstain patterns, firearm
projectiles, and trajectories, where understanding the interrelationship of
components is crucial.

• The grid method - This method, a variation of the strip search method, is most
effective outdoors. For added thoroughness, the scene is divided into cross-
sections. Investigators first search along one axis, east to west, then cover the
same area on a north-to-south axis, moving against the grain of the previous
lanes.
Advantages - The grid method works well both indoors and outdoors, serving
as a double-check of the search area. It is especially useful in uneven terrain
where bullets and cartridge cases are hard to spot, as well as in large, open
spaces. This method is valuable for finding small items of evidence, and one
or more investigators can conduct the search, with each section being
checked multiple times.
Reference List:
Crime scene investigation (Hendrik Lochner & Rudolph Zinn,2015:27-28)

Crime scene investigation (Hendrik Lochner & Rudolph Zinn,2015:106-107)

Crime scene investigation (Hendrik Lochner & Rudolph Zinn,2015:117-118)

Crime scene investigation (Hendrik Lochner & Rudolph Zinn,2015:119-120,121)

Crime scene investigation (Hendrik Lochner & Rudolph Zinn,2015:103)

Crime scene investigation (Hendrik Lochner & Rudolph Zinn,2015:108-109)

Crime scene investigation (Hendrik Lochner & Rudolph Zinn,2015:110-111,112)

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NAME: ………………………………………………………………….
Ayanda Candice Cele

SIGNATURE: ………………………………………………………….

STUDENTNUMBER: …………………………………………………
67939902

MODULE CODE: ……………………………………………………..

FOR2605 Assignment 1

DATE: ………………………………………………………………….
15 August 2024