NCJ Number
13144
Date Published
1973
Length
198 pages
Annotation
BASIC PROCEDURAL GUIDELINES OUTLINING NECESSARY AND EFFICIENT METHODS FOR THE RECOGNITION, COLLECTION, AND PRESERVATION OF EVIDENTIARY MATERIALS.
Abstract
THE NEED FOR THE PROPER RECOGNITION, COLLECTION, AND PRESERVATION OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY APPARENT TO ALL WHO ARE INVOLVED IN THE ANALYSIS OR UTILIZATION OF SUCH EVIDENCE. GREATER EMPHASIS THAN EVER IS BEING PLACED UPON PHYSICAL EVIDENCE. EVIDENCE, WHICH WOULD IN THE PAST HAVE BEEN UNCHALLENGED, IS NOW BEING CHALLENGED AND SOMETIMES REJECTED BECAUSE OF IMPROPER HANDLING. THIS HANDBOOK WAS WRITTEN BY THE STAFF OF THE WISCONSIN CRIME LABORATORY BUREAU TO DISSEMINATE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL BROAD AND DEFINITIVE INFORMATION REGARDING THE LEGAL AND LABORATORY REQUIREMENTS SURROUNDING THE COLLECTION, PRESERVATION, AND CUSTODY OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE. THE INFORMATION IN THIS HANDBOOK IS DIVIDED INTO CHAPTERS ACCORDING TO THE EVIDENCE INVOLVED. CHAPTERS ARE ARRANGED IN SUBJECT CATEGORIES, AND PHOTOGRAPHS, CHARTS, AND DRAWINGS ARE INCLUDED IN THE CHAPTERS TO SIMPLIFY EXPLANATIONS. VIRTUALLY EVERY TYPE OF EVIDENCE SITUATION IS DISCUSSED, INCLUDING BODY FLUIDS AND ORGANS, SEXUAL OFFENSES, ALCOHOL AND DRUGS, TOOL MARKS, SOILS AND SAND, FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION, DOCUMENTS, AND EXPLOSIVES. ALTHOUGH NOT INTENDED AS A COMPREHENSIVE TREATMENT OF ALL OF THE FACTORS INVOLVED IN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION, THE DOCUMENT OUTLINES GENERAL PROCEDURAL GUIDELINES WHICH WILL BE USEFUL IN THE PROCESSING OF OTHER TYPES OF EVIDENCE NOT SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED. (SNI ABSTRACT)