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This week I am interested in looking up the history of crime scene investigators. I found that the earliest forms of investigations date back to prehistoric times. For example archaeologists uncovered drawings of detailed patterns of hand almost like figure prints.  They would also press hands and fingers into clay or rock. Forensic science continued to evolve in 700 B.C. when the Chinese began to record thumbprints for documents. Later on an ancient Greek physician created the first lie detector test by noting pulse rates. In 1100s with more technology, doctors were able to distinguish between drowning from strangulation.  The text time period of crime scene investigators made  huge advancements with bullet comparisons and developed tissue tests. It wasn’t until the late 1800s and 1900s though was when doctors included technologies like body temperature to determine time of death and fingerprinting for identification. Also in the early 1900s there were portable polygraph machine, voiceprint identification, and DNA analysis.  

            It was surprisingly very easy to find the history of the crime scene investigations. There were many different sources but all of them said about the same thing. I found it very interesting that evidence of forensic science dates back all the way back to prehistoric times. I want to do further research though on what the early people of prehistoric times would do with the fingerprints they collected. I enjoyed researching and being able to see the whole development of crime scene investigations. 

Gray, Leanne. "History of Crime Scene Investigation and Forensics (UK)." History of Crime Scene Investigation and Forensics (UK). National Institue of Justice, 2010. Web.

Exploring Community

The student run organization that I found that was related to my field of study is called the Future Forensic Scientists of Michigan State. This new group has only recently become affiliated. Their main goal is to create opportunities for students to network with students and professionals in the field to further their careers. To get a better feel of what they meant by this, this week I attended one of their meetings. The community of the students and professionals were very open to new students. Although they were very open to me I did feel somewhat of an outcast because I was new to their community. Since most of the members of the community have been to all the meetings before that, they all had shared common practices and language. For example, their discourse that the professionals had I would only understand if I had a deeper understanding of specific terms and procedures. Each of the speakers also had a professional tone when they were talking about their specialization of forensic science. Also from going to the meeting I was able to reinforce some of the cultural assumptions that I had going into the meeting. Some of these include commitment and the want for knowledge. Every student was willing to put a lot of their own time into the club and spent a lot of their time finding speakers and organizations to help out the club. Also the members of the club knew that there was also something more that they could learn and research. I enjoyed going to the forensic science club meeting and hope to get to go to more meetings!

Open Blog

      Mr. Allen has recently met with me to answers my interview questions.

1.     What kinds of writing documents do you have to do in your job?

      Currently I am working on police procedures foor the most part. Along with processing investigation evidence. Sometimes I write write performance appraisals and acknowledgements.

2.     Are most of the documents you have to write up now electronically?

      Most of the documents are done electronically through email documents.

3.     Has your writing process changed over the years?

      Not really, the process has been the same sense there hasn't been any new changes to recording evidence. 

4.     How is your style in reports? Do you pay attention to who your audience is?

      When I have to write evidence reports I am very detailed and must be very formal. Along with the performance and appraisals I have to be more proper because I am writing to someone who is above me in the rankings.

5.     Are there some reports you are less formal? And if so explain why.

     Sometimes when I need a quick answer or want to know who is all on duty I will send text messages to my team. 

6.     Is there a revision process in your formal writings?

      The revision process is quite shorts. Normally I just review my notes, go back and make sure I clarify what I want to say is in detail, and even have other officers look over to see if I didn't leave out anything.

7.     Do you find that writing reports are difficult or tedious?

      Some of the reports can be tedious because we have to be so thorough but it is part of our job.

8.     Are there deadlines for your writings that you have to keep in mind?

      There is no exact deadline but the faster we get reports done there is not back up at the station and by getting them done faster we can get evidence off to the prosecutors. 

      I was surprised about how much double checking that Mr. Allen has to do to make sure his reports are formal and detailed enough to be used in court. But I also thought that it was different that in this century he is able to just send a quick text message to his team to get a quick response. I personally liked being able to interview someone in my field because I got to get his real life perspective of the job.His perspective of the job was much like that I researched before. 

Allen, Joel. "Writing Process." Personal interview. 18 Feb. 2013.

Exploring Writing Process

        To get a better grasp of what a real life crime scene investigator does I decided to have an interview with a forensic science professional who also teaches an introductory course at Michigan State for criminology and forensic science. Mr. Allen is a sheriff for the Macomb County Police Department for many years. During his classes he would elaborate on some of his different experiences he has had while on the job. I was very excited to interview him because he would be a great primary source for what actually goes on at a crime scene.  Unfortunately, he was unable to meet this week but I plan on having an interview next week after my class with him. These are some of the questions I planned on asking him.

           

1.     What kinds of writing documents do you have to do in your job?

2.     Are most of the documents you have to write up now electronically?

3.     Has your writing process changed over the years?

4.     How is your style in reports? Do you pay attention to who your audience is?

5.     Are there some reports you are less formal? And if so explain why.

6.     Is there a revision process in your formal writings?

7.     Do you find that writing reports are difficult or tedious?

8.     Are there deadlines for your writings that you have to keep in mind?

Allen, Joel. "Writing Process." Personal interview. 13 Feb. 2013.

Open Blog

            Doesn’t being a crime scene investigator seem fascinating and intriguing? Being able to use modern technology to figure out who committed a crime, what exactly happened, or us to bring justice to offenders sounded like an awesome job to me. Until I began to research the true meaning of what it is to be a crime scene investigator.

            The life of a crime scene investigator is much more complex than one may think. First you are always on call. Whenever a crime breaks out and further investigation of a scene is needed, a crime scene investigator must drop whatever they were doing to report to the scene. A crime scene investigator also has to have a thick skin because they have to see countless numbers of dead bodies gruesome or not, adult or child, they have to put their sadness behind them and do their jobs. Learning and researching this type of job has really got me thinking if it is right for me. I don’t know if I could put my feelings aside and not feel any sort of depression after seeing the bodies. I am afraid that if I did choose this path that death would become unrealistic to me. But at the same time I believe that I could put repress my feelings because I want to help the families of the victims find out what happened to their loved ones.

            This research has put different emotions in my mind. I am glad that I researched this before deciding to for sure go down this path. I saw all the advantages of being a crime scene investigator but now I get a clearer picture that the job has its downfalls. 

"Crime Scene Investigation: Crime and the Media." CSI Exhibit. National Museum of Crime & Punishmen, 2004. Web.