Procedures to Investigate a Homicide

A homicide or a murder is a punishable offence and the perpetrator is bound to be punishable by law when convicted and should the charges against him be proved. Hence, it is the duty and responsibility to trace and convict the offender and produce him before the judicial system of the country. Proper investigation is of utmost importance to provide justice to the victim and to his family members and at the same time, it should also be kept in mind that no innocent is falsely accused.

• Role of the First Arriving Officer: Before the case is assigned to any investigative Officer and he arrives on the scene, all responsibilities lies with the officer who is first notified of the homicide and is the first to arrive at the scene. Usually, he is the presiding or working officer of the local police station. It is up to him to gather all the primary evidences, clear the scene of any loiterers, hold back possible suspects, go through the documents at the scene and primarily to identify the victim and to see to the proper dispatch of the body for post-mortem. It is also his responsibility to neutralize any other hazardous or potentially dangerous objects like bombs or even sharp weapons, if any. He should also make absolutely sure that nothing on the scene is touched or removed until the investigating officer arrives.
• Role of the Investigative Officer: His first task would be to gather the necessary background information from the first arriving officer and record the exact time, location, lighting and weather conditions at the time of murder. Next, he should interrogate the suspects held back by the first officer and have them documented along with their contact details in case they are let off for the moment but have to be contacted later. Interrogate eye-witnesses if any. Next, he should be double checking and going through every documents and evidences that has been gathered from the scene.
• Re-Assessing the Situation: After the initial evidences have been looked into, the time comes for elimination. It is up to the Investigative Officer to eliminate the evidences not affecting the investigation and zero in on the culprit. The first step in this is to re-interrogate the possible suspects one by one. Of course, the job requires acute intelligence and observation and deduction abilities. Along with top fitness level and courage because the job can take him to any place that is dangerous in pursuit of the criminal. He should also have quick decision taking abilities, because things can change direction in a matter a seconds and they have to be handled accordingly.