The Police
In any case the police are involved as they state whether they believe there is a crime to be looked into or not. The police department consists of the first attending officer and police officers; the FAO is the first on the scene and can then be followed by the police if necessary. Police officers have a duty of maintaining law and order, they can help within the community to reassure them crime can be prevented within any given investigation police ensure the community that the crime can be solved. The police officers will help to assist the FAO once they have arrived at the scene; this will be dependent on how many jobs the FAO has already completed. The main job of the police officers is to secure the crime scene and collect any witness statements they can also collect there detail’s for further information. It is important that the scene is secured so that no evidence can be contaminated as well as no one will be able to enter the scene that is not needed to be there. The job of the police officers may vary depending on the case as the FAO may not always be present so they will be the first at the scene, police may also need to work with families in different cases providing them with comfort if they are distressed.
Roles of the Police within the Soham Murders
Within this case Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Humberside police joined forces due to this being a high profiled case, also due to the speculation that Cambridgeshire Constabulary were accused of not carrying out there investigation effectively. Humberside police believed this was true as only one Chief Officer was on duty throughout the investigation where two girls lives where at risks. The FAO is part of the police force, the FAO within this case arrived at the home of where the girls were last seen in order to take witness statements from both family and friends whom were at the barbecue when the children were noted as missing. After the FAO carried out the correct procedures they appointed a chief officer to put a search party together, the search party consisted of volunteers within Soham due to it being part of a large rural area. Due to this case including two missing children the best thing for the police to do was carry out a search part for the girls, this began at dawn the next day. The search carried on for an extended 13 days as the girls weren’t found, neither were any vital pieces of evidence. In a different case this wouldn’t be carried out unless it consisted of a missing individual/ individuals. Within a crime for instance a mugging the police would already know the victim and their whereabouts of the victim which means they won’t have to further search for this. The police’s next protocol in a mugging would be to gather all evidence of the crime, being CCTV, witness statements which will then allow them to follow out a line of enquiry.