Behind The Crime: Moordzaak

Een geweldig voorbeeld van transparantie voor een opsporingsproces. De politie van West-Midlands heeft een moordzaak van bijna minuut tot minuut op een blog gezet, zodat burgers kunnen volgen hoe het nu in het echt gaat. Natuurlijk was het nog niet live te volgen, maar ging het om het relaas van een zaak uit het verleden, maar toch. Het geeft aan hoe een verhaal online verteld en gevolgd zou kunnen worden, iets wat we bij steeds meer zaken ook in live blogs zien gebeuren. Door social media gebruikers, de media en soms ook de politie.

Onderstaand blog werd in 2014 gepubliceerd en start vanaf de eerste melding. Het verhaal is in het Engels gelaten, om de ‘echtheid’ ervan niet aan te tasten…

---

WEDNESDAY 7:45

The investigation starts as soon as we receive the initial murder report which would come in to one of our contact centres. It’s taken by one of call handlers who dispatches officers to the scene on an immediate response.

WEDNESDAY 7:55 Listen to one of our 999 call operators, Emily Poste talk about how the job affects her

WEDNESDAY 7:55 Profile – Emily Poste

Name: Emily Poste

Role: Emergency Call Operator

Worked for West Midlands Police for 4 years. Before working for WMP Emily was an Auxiliary Nurse for Hampshire NHS.

Emily’s role is to take 999 calls from the public and calls from other agencies and she also works on the Traffic desks as a Resource Allocate and Dispatcher at Bournville Lane Force Control centre.

WEDNESDAY 8:12 Once the call is received, uniformed officers are immediately deployed. The scene of the crime will be cordoned off ready for the senior investigating officer (SIO) and the forensic crime scene coordinators.

WEDNESDAY 8:30 Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Marsh talks about the role of the Senior Investigating Officer

Deze video is niet meer beschikbaar. Origineel op YouTube

WEDNESDAY 8:49 Profile – Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Marsh

Name: Caroline Marsh

Role: Detective Chief Inspector

Senior Investigating Officer within Force CID for two years

WEDNESDAY 8:56 The forensic crime scene coordinators will also be on their way to the scene. WEDNESDAY 9:02 Once they arrive at the scene and speak to the uniformed officers, the Senior Investigating officer and crime scene coordinator agree a plan of action. WEDNESDAY 9:09 Once they have on the correct protective wear the SIO and crime scene coordinator will enter the scene together. WEDNESDAY 9:27 Profile – Tony Murphy

Name: Tony Murphy

Role: Crime Scene Co-ordinator

Worked for WMP for 22 years

WEDNESDAY 9:28 This video shows the amazing work the crime scene coordinators carry out on a daily basis.

Deze video is niet meer beschikbaar. Origineel op YouTube

WEDNESDAY 10:09 The local neighbourhood officers manage the cordon and deal with any enquiries at the scene

WEDNESDAY 10:23 Local CID officers conduct the door to door investigations in the area. WEDNESDAY 10:35 While officers are out at the scene, an incident room will have been set up and a team of police officers and staff will already be in place. WEDNESDAY 10:49 DCI Caroline Marsh walks us through an incident room and talks about all the different roles involved

Deze video is niet meer beschikbaar. Origineel op YouTube

WEDNESDAY 11:09 The incident room is the central place where all the information on the investigation is gathered. WEDNESDAY 11:50 CCTV is often a crucial aspect of a murder investigation. Officers will gather all CCTV from public and private sources and feed it back to the incident room

WEDNESDAY 12:08 The SIO will now head back to the incident room to hold the first briefing for staff around the murder WEDNESDAY 12:15 The family liaison officer (FLO) will be appointed at this point in the investigation. They will meet the family of the victim and support them through every aspect of the investigation. WEDNESDAY 12:20 Profile – Julie Yearsley

Name: Julie Yearsley

Rank: Detective Constable

Role: Family Liaison officer

Joined the force 19 years ago having previously been an auxiliary Nurse. She became a detective after 3 years in uniform and has been the force lead FLO for the last 12 months.

As an FLO, Julie’s role is to support the next of kin to deceased from the initial notification of death, formal identification, Coroners court, victimology and evidence gathering of family members and guide through all aspects of enquiry until court case.

WEDNESDAY 12:21 Video of one of our FLOs talking to the brother of a murder victim about the role of the FLO and how they work with victims’ families

Family Liaison officer Julie Yearsley talks to Johnson Nwakubo about the murder of his brother and how family liaison officers helped him through the ordeal.

Deze video is niet meer beschikbaar. Origineel op YouTube

WEDNESDAY 12:58 The FLO will now be on their way to meet the family of the victim. They will work with the family over the coming weeks as part of the investigation. WEDNESDAY 13:20 Once the crime scene coordinators have finished at the scene they will send all the evidence they gathered to the forensics lab for further investigation. WEDNESDAY 13:31 The crime scene coordinator meets with the SIO to discuss and review any evidence which has been gathered from the scene.

WEDNESDAY 13:36 This video shows you the process all evidence submitted to the forensics department goes through.

Deze video is niet meer beschikbaar. Origineel op YouTube

WEDNESDAY 14:17 Profile – Hazel Johnson

Name: Hazel Johnson

Role: Senior Forensic Scientist

Has worked for the force for 18 months. Before working for WMP, Hazel worked for the Forensic Science Service for 25 years as a forensic biologist.

Her role with WMP includes screening submitted items for the presence of blood and providing general forensic support to the force by attending scenes of crime or by providing advice on submissions to the forensic science provider.

WEDNESDAY 14:18 If the SIO feels it necessary, a Home Office pathologist will be called to help determine the cause of death at the scene. WEDNESDAY 14:26 The deceased will now be taken to a local mortuary for a forensic post mortem to establish a cause of death. WEDNESDAY 14:37 The SIO will be receiving updates from all the different teams throughout the course of the investigation. WEDNESDAY 14:46 The crime scene coordinator will have taken photographs of the scene, taken fibres, fingerprints and footwear prints and clothing. It is up to the SIO to decide what they feel is relevant.

WEDNESDAY 15:01 This video shows the inner workings of the force fingerprint bureau.

Deze video is niet meer beschikbaar. Origineel op YouTube

WEDNESDAY 15:18 If they need to conduct any covert activity, the SIO will need to get authority from the Head of Homicide. Detective Superintendent Mark Payne is the current Head of Homicide for the force WEDNESDAY 15:35 The Head of Homicide also sets the budget for the investigation WEDNESDAY 15:46 In some investigations, 24 hours after the initial incident, officers will visit the area and speak to the public to see if they were in the same area yesterday WEDNESDAY 16:00 At this point the SIO may decide to appeal to the public for further help. The force’s Corporate Communications department will have been briefed about the incident by the SIO and will have prepared a communications strategy.

WEDNESDAY 16:15 The communications strategy will be developed with the SIO. The media activity can range from a statement confirming basic facts about the incident to a press conference with the family appealing for information. We also use a range of social media to contact possible witnesses. WEDNESDAY 16:27 Head of News Keiley Gartland talks about the importance of communications in an investigation

Deze video is niet meer beschikbaar. Origineel op YouTube

WEDNESDAY 16:38 Any information that is the result of the press appeal will be fed back into the investigation room. WEDNESDAY 16:43 Profile – Keiley Gartland

Name: Keiley Gartland

Role: Head of News – Corporate Communications

Worked for the force for 10 years. Her role as Head of News involves working with local and national media, managing the force’s social media and supporting investigations and major operations.

WEDNESDAY 16:51 If an arrest has been made, an interview strategy will now be agreed with the SIO. Specially trained detective constables and detective sergeants carry out the interviews.

WEDNESDAY 17:08 An interview can run across several days. Detectives are initially able to hold a suspect for 24 hours. If they require longer they have to apply to a Superintendent for an extension which can be up to 36 hours.

WEDNESDAY 17:19 The interviewers will be regularly in touch with the SIO who is still gathering information throughout the process. WEDNESDAY 17:54 Following on from an arrest, searches will be taking place at all locations linked to the crime. WEDNESDAY 18:09 The SIO will work with local neighbourhood officers looking at how the incident affects the local community and how they can minimise any negative impact.

WEDNESDAY 18:17 The SIO will also make sure that they are keeping the senior command team and the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) informed of any developments as they happen. WEDNESDAY 18:37 We’ve reached the end of our updates. After a 48 hour period any suspects would either have been charged or released on bail. In certain circumstances officers will have applied to a magistrate for a further extension for questioning. Source: Behind The Crime West Midlands Police