NCJ Number
210841
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 32 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2005 Pages: 120,122,124
Date Published
July 2005
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the need for and issues that should be addressed in ethical guidelines for a law enforcement professional's taking personal possession of items found at a crime scene.
Abstract
The American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the Canadian Society of Forensic Science have not developed guidelines for crime-scene ethics in general or the retention of items from former crime scenes. Tracy Rogers, a professor in the anthropology department at the University of Toronto, recently published a paper entitled, "Crime Scene Ethics: Souvenir, Teaching Materials, and Artifacts." He advises that guidelines that define acceptable behavior for the removing, keeping, or selling of artifacts, souvenirs, or teaching specimens from former crime scenes are necessary to prevent potential conflicts of interest and the appearance of impropriety. Rogers offers two remedies for crime scene ethical dilemmas. First, apply a blanket rule never to take objects that are found during the course of a search, recovery, or investigation, even if the object is of no forensic value, the scene has been released, and the objects are not on private property. Second, the retention of objects for agency training purposes, provided they are of no significance to the case, must be done only with agency permission and after the scene is released, there are no other legal concerns, and the item has no monetary value. Tom Adair, a senior criminalist with the Westminster Police Department (Colorado), also argues for ethical guidelines applicable to crime scenes and related items. He states that souvenirs or mementos should never be removed from crime scenes only because of their intrinsic value to the investigator. The removal of crime-scene items for personal use would not only be unethical, but in most cases it would also violate the law.