Speaking to the First Attending Officer

Speaking to the First attending officer...

Within all cases Scenes of crime officer should speak to the FAO within the investigation. This procedure is put in place in order for the SOCO’s to gain sufficient knowledge and an understanding of what has allegedly happened within the scene. With this information the SOCO’s can the go on to proceed to take all the necessary and important evidence that is located within the crime scene. This procedure within the investigation is vital as it gives the SOCO’s important information as to what evidence they should be collecting surrounding the type of crime that has been committed. For example within a murder investigation any evidence located within the scene would be vital as it could contain the suspects DNA which may lead to an arrest. Evidence throughout the scene can also tell a story allowing officers and SOCO’s to understand what occurred prior to the incident.

Speaking to the First attending officer within the OJ Simpson case…

Upon the arrival of the Scenes of crime officers team the first attending officer was not on site. This was because the delayed call for the SOCO’s to attend the scene meant that Robert Riske’s (FAO) shift had ended and another detective attended the scene for his replacement. However this meant that vital pieces of information were not supplied to the SOCO’s upon their arrival. As this procedure was not followed correctly the SOCO’s may have taken irrelevant evidence as the sufficient information was not supplied to them by the FAO due to his absence on site. Riske’s replacement was Detective Philip Vannatter. Vannatter shortly briefed the SOCO’s on what had occurred within the scene however as he had shortly just arrived himself he lacked the sufficient knowledge and understanding of what occurred within the crime scene, allowing key points and evidence to be left out. This detective was one of the first detectives on site however key information was not passed onto Vannatter because at the time Robert Riske was the lead detective.

Detective Philip Vannatter