Crime scene management skills are an extremely important component of an investigation because evidence that originates at the crime scene will provide a picture of events for the court to consider in its deliberations. Locard’s exchange principle argues that during the commission of a crime, evidence transfer occurs between the victim, suspect, and scene. In this paper, you will identify the key elements of crime scene management, the function served by each, as well as repercussions of allowing a scene to become contaminated or not establishing a solid chain of custody. Support your paper with examples from this week’s required material(s) and/or a minimum of three other scholarly or credible resources and properly cite any references.

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, please review the following:

• From the text:
  • Chapter 3: Digital Forensics
  • Chapter 6: Trace and Materials Evidence
• From the free, downloadable resource at the web page Crime Scene Investigation Guide (Links to an external site.): Section C: Processing the Scene
• From the free PDF copy at the web page Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward (2009) (Links to an external site.): Chapter 5: Descriptions of Some Forensic Science Disciplines
• The video Evidence and Forensics: Due Process
• From the video Forensic Science in Action: From Crime Scene to Courtroom:
  • Segment 1. Discovery of a Crime Scene 03:45
  • Segment 2. Crime Scene: Evidence Collection 03:03
  • Segment 3. Gathering and Documenting Evidence at the Crime Scene 01:47

You are also strongly encouraged to review the recommended resources, as they will help you explore the different types of evidence, as well as proper packaging and processing.

In your paper, address the following:

• Explain why it is important to secure the crime scene and provide examples.
• Identify possible ways that evidence might be contaminated.
• Identify different methods that might be necessary to document evidence at a crime scene.
• Identify different collection methods that might be used at a crime scene.
• Explain chain of custody and why it is important.
• Identify the repercussions of failure to protect evidence or establish chain of custody.
• Explain how an investigator or forensic expert differentiates between what is or is not evidence.

The Crime Scene Management paper

• Must be 750 words in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).
• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.
• Must use at least three scholarly and/or credible sources in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
  • To assist you in completing the research required for this assignment, view this Ashford University Library Quick ‘n’ Dirty (Links to an external site.) tutorial, which introduces the Ashford University Library and the research process, and provides some library search tips.
• Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.

Consider using Q for your library research and to access writing supports, and tutoring services available to you. See the Guide to Installing and Using Q (Links to an external site.) for more information.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.