Crime Scene Investigation Worksheet

1Crime Scene Investigation

Lab Worksheet

For this week's assignment, you will stage and document a crime scene using the methods described in the Crime Scene Investigation lecture.

Create a crime scene in your home/dorm for you to document using the methods discussed in the recorded lecture. Use an indoor, enclosed room with at least three pieces of furniture. The room should have at least one window and one door.

Include at least three (3) different pieces of evidence. One piece of evidence should be hair or fibers to be collected as part of the experiment. Place the evidence randomly within your chosen crime scene.

Be as creative as you want, but do not destroy anything of value, as we cannot reimburse you, your parents, or FIU for any damaged property.

Materials Needed

1. CSI Notes
2. CSI Worksheet
3. Camera (e.g., phone camera, GoPro, or other digital cameras)
4. Measuring device (tape measure, surveyor's wheel, laser range finder)
5. Pencil
6. Ruler
7. Square-shaped paper (origami paper or printer paper trimmed to size)
8. Tweezers

Notes (10 pts)

For the notes portion of your assignment, complete an incident report for the crime you created. As with all crime scene notes, the incident report should begin with the 9-1-1 call. Include the name of the investigating officer, the victim(s) if present, a description of the crime scene, and the arrival and departure time of all personnel on hand.

This portion of the assignment should be TYPED.

Click here to see an example crime scene report.

1. Ramirez, C. R.; Parish-Fisher, C. L., Crime Scene Processing and Investigation Workbook. Second ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2020.

Sketches (10 points)

You will need to draw a rough and final overview sketch of the crime scene described in your incident report. You may print the sketch grid in the CSI Notes document or complete your drawings on a separate paper/notebook. Insert a scan or photo of your completed sketches on a blank page after your crime scene report. Each sketch should be on its own page so your TA can read it.

For the rough sketch:

• The measurements of all four sides of the room, including doors and windows, must be included
• Describe the location of the evidence using one of the three location systems described in the lecture
• Include the required information on the sketch:
  1. Case Number
  2. Date/Time the sketch was made and the name of the person completing the sketch
  3. Location (address or GPS coordinates - you do not need to use your actual address) of the scene
  4. An arrow indicating the direction of north
  5. A legend
  6. The words "Not to Scale"

For the final sketch:

• The sketch may be drawn by hand using a ruler or using a computer program
• The final sketch should be drawn to scale
• Include the required information on the sketch:
  1. Case Number
  2. Date/Time the sketch was made and the name of the person completing the sketch
  3. Location (address or GPS coordinates - you do not need to use your actual address) of the scene
  4. An arrow indicating the direction of north
  5. A legend
  6. The scale used for the sketch

Photographs (20 points)

After your sketches are complete, take pictures of your crime scene. Include photos of all three pieces of evidence using all appropriate angles (overview, midrange, and close-up). Add your pictures to your document after the crime scene sketches. Additionally, record each photograph in the Photography Log along with the requested information.

• Start by going outside the building and taking a series of overview and establishment pictures to describe the scene through photographs. Remember: work your way from the outside of the building to the inside where the crime occurred.
• Take midrange photographs of the three pieces of evidence using fixed objects in the room. Remember - midrange pictures should help anyone not at the crime scene to determine the location of each piece of evidence.
• Take close-up images with and without scale. Remember to fill the frame with the item. Make sure the scale includes the case information.

Evidence Collection (10 points)

The final part of the exercise is to collect a piece of fiber or hair evidence. Follow the steps below to create an evidence bindle. Use a set of tweezers to collect the hair/fiber and seal it in the bindle. Take photos of your hair/fiber evidence within the bindle.

After you collect the hair/fiber evidence, describe how the other two pieces of evidence would be collected. Then complete the chain of custody form.

Making an Evidence BindleLinks to an external site.

Upload

Use the link below to upload your crime scene worksheet. Be sure you complete every section of the worksheet, as you can only upload once. If your upload fails due to file size, in Word, go to File >>> Reduce File Size, as shown below. After your file size is reduced, save your file as a PDF and upload your file again.