Patrol & First Responders Assessment of the Homicide & Suspicious Death Scene

Course objective is to train the patrol supervisor, officer, and other first responders how to approach and manage a homicide or suspicious death scene prior to the arrival of scene investigators. This level of management or stage is called assessment and many times most mistakes are made during this period. Many patrol officers lack the training, experience and basic understanding of managing the scene of a homicide and avoiding too much traffic and cross contamination awareness, while at the same time establishing safe boundaries that will encompass all the circumstantial evidence. Crime scene management begins with the arrival of the first officer on scene and continues through both scene and homicide investigators. We all have certain responsibilities at various levels of homicide investigation as it applies to the scene. The most important and often overlooked are the responsibilities of patrol. Know what to do before critical errors and possibly the loss of vital evidence takes place. It’s always been a simple rule in homicide investigation; how the initial scene is handled by patrol has a profound effect on the entire investigation. This one-day class is designed to benefit those in patrol so they may understand what role they play not only in the initial securing of a homicide scene but also provides them with a good understanding of circumstantial evidence recognition, preservation and documentation. Because patrol officers cannot often have days off for training resulting from manpower restrictions, this course has been condensed to 8 hours to make it easier for them to attend. The instructor for this course is Inv. David Newman (Ret.) from the Norfolk Police Department in Virginia.