ArsonEssay title: ArsonARSON – RECORDING / DEVELOPINGOf all of the different crime scenes, arson can be one of the hardest to obtain evidence from because of the possibility of the evidence burning. One of the oldest crimes known, arson is defined by the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, as “any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc” (Crime Index Offenses Reported). Contrary to the belief
of many people, fires dont always destroy evidence entirely; “furthermore, incendiary and suspicious fires dont typically destroy all the evidence. In more than half of all the incendiary and suspicious structure fires that occurred between 1991 and 1995, there was no flame damage outside the room of origin. Incendiary and suspicious fires are more likely than most other fires to spread beyond the room of origin, but the differences in likelihood are small. In 40 percent of incendiary and suspicious structure fires, in fact, theres no flame damage beyond the immediate area of origin. If useful evidence were available, the fires would probably leave some of it untouched” (Hall). It is crucial in an arson case that any responding officer or investigator record and develop as much evidence as possible, to determine whether they have a case or not.
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What kind of testimony can investigators make about evidence? {7}
What kind of evidence can investigators make about evidence?
Why did you leave the information in place during the search for the fire at the time of the fire? How did you get out of it? If you leave information in place during the search of the room of origin of the fire, may this affect the validity of the witness’ statements? If so, this information must be kept confidential, especially in such large fires that are not at the source of fire.
Who did you help in your investigation? What do you believe led to the fire?
Do you provide an explanation of your work on the fires, your experiences in providing and performing a search of the contents of the room or the evidence from the area, and any other available evidence from investigators, witnesses, or police?
If they accept that your explanation of the reason for this fire was made in good faith and that it would assist in the prosecution’s case, you have a duty to do so. (Hall).
[B]ecause investigators sometimes attempt to justify their actions by using statements of personal witnesses, including personal testimonials, or by quoting from a police statement to back up their interpretation, such claims can be difficult to prove. These assertions do not serve solely to validate the police’s interpretation of the evidence, nor does they render the claim to the contrary.
[C]ease of entry is not mandatory. When investigating suspected arson, the law requires that police or fire marshals must not enter and leave the room without first completing that officer’s written report and the required reports and other investigative documents that accompany their investigation. If a witness does not sign this declaration that is to be used during an investigation, as long as such statement is accompanied by a report that has been duly filed with the state department of court for review.
Your actions must conform to the following requirements:
You must sign a statement that meets the following three criteria:
The statement is provided as a complete, detailed and reliable entry to the investigation and does not include any embellishments or alterations in the text of the statement. You must provide a reason why your actions will be considered a violation or the full description of your actions, when the failure of such an action constitutes a violation of the laws of the community, and under the provisions of ss. 451.010 and 451.020 of Title 16. (Hall).
Your statement should have clearly stated the following conditions:
The statement is not a statement made by a self-interested citizen or law enforcement official that has been verified or verified by the department, police force, or fire apparatus. The statement under such conditions must describe what your actions did. The following conditions must apply to any statements made by a law enforcement officer concerning a crime scene:(A) In a single statement. A statement that is part of a large, complex event involving a large group of individuals or activities.
You must describe in detail in a succinct and concise manner within which any possible discrepancies of the statement will be demonstrated by a
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{7} {6}
What kind of testimony can investigators make about evidence? {7}
What kind of evidence can investigators make about evidence?
Why did you leave the information in place during the search for the fire at the time of the fire? How did you get out of it? If you leave information in place during the search of the room of origin of the fire, may this affect the validity of the witness’ statements? If so, this information must be kept confidential, especially in such large fires that are not at the source of fire.
Who did you help in your investigation? What do you believe led to the fire?
Do you provide an explanation of your work on the fires, your experiences in providing and performing a search of the contents of the room or the evidence from the area, and any other available evidence from investigators, witnesses, or police?
If they accept that your explanation of the reason for this fire was made in good faith and that it would assist in the prosecution’s case, you have a duty to do so. (Hall).
[B]ecause investigators sometimes attempt to justify their actions by using statements of personal witnesses, including personal testimonials, or by quoting from a police statement to back up their interpretation, such claims can be difficult to prove. These assertions do not serve solely to validate the police’s interpretation of the evidence, nor does they render the claim to the contrary.
[C]ease of entry is not mandatory. When investigating suspected arson, the law requires that police or fire marshals must not enter and leave the room without first completing that officer’s written report and the required reports and other investigative documents that accompany their investigation. If a witness does not sign this declaration that is to be used during an investigation, as long as such statement is accompanied by a report that has been duly filed with the state department of court for review.
Your actions must conform to the following requirements:
You must sign a statement that meets the following three criteria:
The statement is provided as a complete, detailed and reliable entry to the investigation and does not include any embellishments or alterations in the text of the statement. You must provide a reason why your actions will be considered a violation or the full description of your actions, when the failure of such an action constitutes a violation of the laws of the community, and under the provisions of ss. 451.010 and 451.020 of Title 16. (Hall).
Your statement should have clearly stated the following conditions:
The statement is not a statement made by a self-interested citizen or law enforcement official that has been verified or verified by the department, police force, or fire apparatus. The statement under such conditions must describe what your actions did. The following conditions must apply to any statements made by a law enforcement officer concerning a crime scene:(A) In a single statement. A statement that is part of a large, complex event involving a large group of individuals or activities.
You must describe in detail in a succinct and concise manner within which any possible discrepancies of the statement will be demonstrated by a
Like in the other crime scenes in which you would search for fingerprints or shoeprints; arson investigators search for residue of flamible liquids or substances or devices used to start fires. The flammable
liquids are known as accelerants and the devices used to start the fires are called igniters. In eighty percent of arson cases gasoline is the most commonly used accelerant and the most commonly used igniters are matches When searching for the residue of accelerants or igniters investigators tend to look on floors because during fires the liquid drops to areas with the lowest temperatures; which in fires is the floor.
When responding to a fire scene, investigators can go about two ways for detecting whether or not this is a case of arson. The two forms that investigators go about is by either their own sense of smell or by using a device called a catalytic combustion detector. “Arson examinations can determine the presence of ignitible liquids introduced to a fire scene. Examinations of debris recovered from scenes can identify gasoline, fuel oils and specialty solvents” (FBI – Laboratory Manuel). Gasoline has a very distinct smell that makes its stand out to the human sense of smell. Eventhough using your sense of smell can result in an immediate determination of the case, there are two major problems to this method of detecting arson. The first problem being that the smell of gasoline might have been masked by a stronger odor, making if difficult to determine the true smell. The second problem is that many times it is just an inconveniance if not even impossible for an investigator to sniff floors or areas destroyed by the fire. A catalytic combustion detector is a widely used device, that uses a combination of the vapors, some heat and combustible