Crime, also called the offense or criminal offense, is an act harmful not only to you or some individual but also to the community or the state. Such actions are forbidden and punishable by law. In the simplest term, crime represents a prohibited or illegal act punishable by a state.
What is a crime scene?
A crime scene can be defined as any area where a crime has taken place or any location in the close vicinity that may provide potential evidenceEvidence is any form of proof, such as objects, materials, or scientific findings, presented to establish or disprove a fact in a legal proceeding. It is used to reconstruct events and link or exclude individuals Read Full Definition to an investigator. It can be a person’s body, building, vehicles, places (outdoor and indoor), or objects found within such locations.
Generally, some crime scenes can be easily discovered due to witnessed or inferred violence from some fact or evidence found. For Example, a crime of violence involves struggle, a break, weapons, and the element of unpredictability. In homicide, assaults, and burglary, the criminal is in contact with the physical surroundings strongly.
However, some kinds of crime do not have a physical “scene” in the sense of an area where traces are usually found. For Example, offenses such as forgery and embezzlement require no vigorous or exceptional physical activity in their commission. Others go undiscovered for lack of apparent signs or traces, either due to offender precaution or the crime itself’s lack of violence.
However, crime does not always limit itself to a single location, as its definition might imply. Its often found that it contains multiple crime scenes related to the same crime. Thus, a comprehensive investigation to establish a timeline of events necessitates that the investigator conceives a given case consisting of numerous connected scenes where different events and activities might have occurred related to victims and suspects.
One of the essential considerations of crime scene investigation, reconstruction, and analysis is determining the type of crime scene discovered.