Solve
a crime or let it go cold.
What
are you going to do?
Meagan McLachlan
The charred remains of the motor vehicle smelt strongly of
accelerant;
yet the
James* could not locate its source. Working four hours on
all fours, with a constant assault on his senses, was backbreaking
(literally). All the effort was finally rewarded when the
accelerant was discovered.
"It had a distinct petrol smell, and I collected it in
an arson tin, which I sealed and labelled."
From here a sample of the accelarant will go onto the Division
of Analytical Laboratories (DAL) where it will under go tests
to ascertain exactly what it is. The court will then use the
results to prove what it is. In law, testing is vital to solving
crime and accidents. Everything must be accounted for.
In Jame's game, experience is everything. Not only do they
rely on experience but also the exact process of science.
To be a crime scene investigator, one has to complete a Diploma
of Applied Science (Forensic Investigation) and
numerous other police courses in fires, photography, blood
splatter interpretation, and chemical targeting.
"As a crime
scene examiner, my job is to attend and examine
suspicious scenes of fire, death, motor vehicle accidents,
aircraft crashes, bomb scenes, suicides, etc. The more jobs
I attend, the more experience I gain in this field, which
not only helps me in a job interview later on, but also when
giving evidence at Court.
A lot of the evidence we, as crime scene examiners, give at
Court is based on experience and expertise. It adds more ‘weight’
to my evidence when, say for giving evidence into vehicle
fires, I can say that I have attended and examined 150 fires
of this type. As opposed to saying that I had only attended
3 fires of this type."
Related Links: Recruitment
and Education
*subject's real name is with held due to the required anonymity
of police investigations.
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