16/07/2021
The primary crime scene is an area, place, or thing where the incident occurred or where the majority or a high concentration of physical evidence will be found, for example, where there has been a sudden suspicious death.
Every death scene is a potential crime scene. It is important to carefully examine the scene for evidence or unusual circumstances that may indicate the death of the person is other than by natural causes (Moldovan, 2008).
2. Crime scene & death scene
In some “incidents,” it may be readily apparent that a crime has indeed been committed and it is a “crime scene.”
The primary crime scene is an area, place, or thing where the incident occurred or where the majority or a high concentration of physical evidence will be found, for example, where there has been a sudden suspicious death.
Secondary crime scene(s) are areas, places, or things where physical evidence relating to the incident may be found. The potential physical evidence will usually be transported away from the primary crime scene.
Some examples include: The deceased, the get-away vehicle in crimes of armed robbery, the suspect, the suspect’s environment, the suspect’s vehicle, the weapon used in the crime (Horswell, 2005a). This classification does not infer any priority or importance to the scene, but is simply a designation of sequence of locations (Miller, 2003).
If a deceased person is at the scene we call it the death scene. One of the initial and primary tasks is to determine whether a crime has been committed at the death scene.
Every death scene is a potential crime scene. It is important to carefully examine the scene for evidence or unusual circumstances that may indicate the death of the person is other than by natural causes (Moldovan, 2008).
Investigative tools and equipment
The forensic medicine expert should always have appropriate equipment ready to take to a scene investigation at a moment's notice.