Transcript Forensics Class_ Lecture 4 Crime Scene Dangers 140410

Forensic Science
Lecture 4
Crime Scene Dangers
Donald J. Ross, M.D.
The Scene
• Usually bad weather
• Holidays when others are enjoying
life (4th, New Years, Labor, Memor)
• Very dangerous environments
• Nighttime
• Wet and cold
Needles
• Narcotics Overdose
• Searching pockets & socks is
necessary (OB case, roof case)
• Needle stick is a real danger
• Hepatitis (effects)
• HIV AIDS
Electrocution
• When people die in a bathtub the water
keeps running. SB CASE
• If they are not found and decomposition
sets in, the drain will become clogged and
water will pour from the tub.
• As the residence becomes soaked
electrical wiring may create an
electrocution risk.
Dogs, Cats and other Pets
• When inside a residence some dogs
will remain quite, not barking
• Opening closed doors
• Attacked by frightened animal
• Cats in Trailer, eating
• Rats
Highways
• Out on highways late at night
• Tired motorists
• Dark
• Reflective vest
Hand Grenades
• Inordinate number of cases with
hand grenades under dead bodies
BOTH CASES
• Suicides with a booby trap
• Horse Trailer resident was a
farmhand and alcoholic
Narcotics
• Touching narcotics (SKIN)
• OPIODS
• Blowing a drug screen
• Wear gloves
Falls
• Ladders
–TWO IN ONE NIGHT
•
•
•
•
Make-shift bridges
Railroad bridges, BACK
Basements, ALWAYS
Climbing over objects
Hornets, Roaches, Spiders & Coffin Flies
• Hornets on bodies which arrive to eat
larvae, others drink serum AGGESSIVE
• Hornets nests as a booby trap (Ms. Pearl
Case)
• Roach Lady
• Coffin Flies WHOLE CASE and other
flies
Driving while Tired
• Cases are worked on a nontraditional timeline
• Generally once the call comes in you will work
nonstop until you are done
• Most cases begin at night or early morning on
a weekend, Friday or Saturday 1 - 3 am
• Alcohol and drug related
• Cases generally go on for 36 hours
• MVAs sunny days after multiple rainy days
Trains
• Train cases involve body parts scattered
over a large area
• Major disruption to transit system
• Documentation
• Overlapping Agencies
Falling Through Floors
• Abandon buildings
• One Investigator fell through the
floor twice on two separate
occasions
• Lots of occupational hazards
Smell
• Overwhelming smell of rotting
fresh leading to vomiting
• Bathtubs
Loaded Guns on Bodies
• Suicides
• Deceased still holding a loaded weapon
beneath body
• You can’t see the gun or where it is
pointing BLIND
• Decease may have finger on trigger
Gang Members
• Dealing with gang members
• KINGS