Crime Scene TAL

I knew that a lot went into handeling a crime scene, but I didn't realize how complex it would be. There are many rules and regulations for dealing with a crime scene. It goes to show you that many TV shows that display crime scenes in their episodes aren't entirely accurate. There is a huge responsibility to each and every member apart of dealing with the victims, witnesses and suspects, along with their surroundings. I feel that this would be somewhat difficult to get done all at once, right away. Some of it though, was common sense. Following regulations to keep the people responding to the scene was a given. I feel that enough credit is not given to the members of the law enforcement when it comes to handeling this complex situations. There's many things to consider while responding, and one small mistake can hinder the evidence that the crime scene provides. Being thorough is a key essential to making sure that they are giving their 100% at their job. With this handbook I realized how it could be easy to piece together the parts of the crime using fingerprints, DNA, blood samples, etc. Overall, this handbook was by far the most interesting thing we've read about in class and holds many facts on exactly how to deal with a crime scene.

The Crime Scene Investigation Guide provided information on what the general procedures should be when investigating a crime scene. It begins with how someone should enter the crime scene and respond. I liked that I mentioned that the guide includes the rationale for following it, the policy to the investigator, the procedures to be used, and the justification behind the procedures. The guide is very specific in the protocol to be followed. However, it mentions that this is a guide and that each department may have different specific rules. The guide was specific but still broad enough that it allowed for the differences in departments and situations. The guide includes not only how the situations should be handled but what should be recorded as well along with who should do what.

The part of the assignment that I enjoyed the most was the This American Life recording. The prologue gave us an idea of how important the details are. The gentleman mentioned that at first the case seems like an open and shut suicide. However, the marks and holes in the woman’s tongue indicate that it may have been a homicide. Without that careful investigation, the perpetrator never would have been caught. The first act gives us a more of an idea of how important details are. I knew that blood spatter could be used to determine the location of the body when they received the blow. It was interesting to learn that a higher velocity impact with a low angle will give you a definite teardrop shape.

Act two discussed a gentleman that makes a living cleaning up bodies and related messes. It was something you don’t traditionally think about when watching crime scene shows. It makes sense that it is a specific job because of all of the regulations that go along with disposing of a body like the gentleman mentioned. However, I didn’t realize that it was frequent enough that someone could make a full-time job, let alone a franchise, out of it. It is interesting that so many of his cases are bodies that have been decomposing. It makes sense because if someone lives at home on their own it would take a while for someone to realize that they may be dead and then for them to find the body. I would think that it would be a disturbing sight, though, to see a human body that decomposed that there are thousands of maggots.

Act three was about a gentleman that returned to the site of his crimes after being released from prison. T.V. shows usually mention that perpetrators usually return to the scene of the crime. However, this mentioned that there are no statistics to support that. It makes me wonder what percentage actually do return to the scene of the crime. This gentleman did return to the neighborhood so that he could do some good. I have a lot of respect for a man that can turn himself around the way that he did and work with children. Hopefully he is still making that sort of impact on them. The final act was a story about a man that could sense where missing items were located. It was an interesting story to read. However, none of it was factual so it is hard to discuss. It is sad to think about the fact that so many cases like the missing boy go unsolved because no person has that capability. Since the boy was missing, it just made me think about the missing Evansdale girls or the case of the missing girl in Charles City from when I was growing up.

The part that I would consider the most surprising was the second act of the broadcast. After learning about the gentleman’s job as cleaning up bodies, it makes perfect sense that it is a necessary job. However, it is something I have never considered before. It was just surprising to learn that he made a franchise out of it and that he just cleaned everything like a normal spill with just stronger chemicals.

The aspect of psychology that applies that first came to mind was the mental functions of investigators in the usage of the Crime Scene Investigation Guide. It is really easy to read that and say that you will always follow that. However, if it is towards the end of your shift or late at night, it becomes really easy to just do whatever is necessary to get it done as quickly as possible. This would be psychology and would be important to consider when determining the correct perpetrator. Act three of the broadcast would bring up questions of social psychology in how the environment of the neighborhood is, the people’s reactions, and those impacts on a previous criminal that returns. Act two could raise questions about the psychological impact of cleaning up dead bodies on a person after a period of time. That has the potential to just impact someone’s outlook on life or potentially increase depression and the risk of suicide.

Terms Used: Crime Scene, Investigation, Investigator, Suicide, Homicide, Perpetrator, Psychology, and Social Psychology

Listening The American Life talk show was very intriguing. I love watching crime shows such as CSI so learning more about how real individuals solve crimes was fascinating. In the show the host interviewed Dr. Dragovic who examines dead bodies for the police. In his interview Dr. Dragovic described a crime in which a woman supposedly shot herself, committing suicide. Other officers displayed confirmation basis in which they had an inclination to search out evidence that confirmed their belief as a suicide. They also ignored other evidence that may suggest otherwise. Dr. Dragovic however was not convinced. There was no trace evidence of a suicide note and no diagnosis of depression. Evidence also showed that the woman's tongue was pushed against the gun as if in resistance. Thanks to Dr. Dragovic the suicide was later classified as a murder with the woman's boyfriend as the perpetrator.

The talk show also described a case of forensic identification. This occurred when a burglar decided to eat a piece of cheese as he robbed a house. The trace evidence was discovered with the perpetrator's bite marks in the cheese. The police were then able to match the bite marks with the criminal. I found this incident rather funny. Funny in which the burglar was stupid enough to leave behind evidence containing both DNA and his teeth imprints. I was also impressed to discover how a simple piece of evidence such as a slice of cheese can lead to solving an investigation.

The other stories the show told were not very intriguing to me. The American Life talk show interviewed a man who made a living by running a crime scene clean up business. The man did not sound very compassionate during his interview and talked mostly about the gore and some of his business tactics. I believe it would have been more interesting had he told more stories involving his job. I also may have liked him better if he was more compassionate when talking about the victims. The stories about the baseball team and the man that found things did not seem very relevant to me. Even though the story was admirable in which the coach was able to overcome his addictions to be able to coach baseball, I didn’t see how it pertained to our chapter. I felt that both the baseball story and the man that found things story did not have much relevance to what we are learning about.

I did enjoy reading the CSI handbook. The handbook contained explicit information on how to handle a crime scene. The handbook described step by step instructions on important topics such how to avoid contaminating the scene. I found the steps very informative and crazy that there are so many different steps and procedures that must be taken. An example is that everything must be documented. In shows and movies the job seems easy and only takes a few days. In reality however, the job workload appears immense and stressful. Finding the perpetrator may take well over a few days but in the end is satisfying.

Terms: forensic identification, confirmation basis, trace evidence, DNA, perpetrator

From reading the CSI Handbook, I learned that the process of evaluating a crime scene and doing an investigation takes a whole lot of work! The processes and steps that the initial responding officer and the investigator have to go through are extensive and very detail-oriented. It said over and over again how any obstruction of evidence could potentially ruin the investigation, so if you are on the scene you have to know that being careful in your surroundings is crucial. I also learned that documentation plays an enormous role in crime scene investigations, whether it is photo documentation, written documentation, video documentation, or more. The initial responding officer wants to take down as much information as they can before medical help and other investigators arrive so that they can brief them on the situation. I feel as though I would be very overwhelmed if I were in the position of the initial responding officer. There are so many things that have to happen in order for the rest of the investigation to run smoothly. It would be a lot of responsibility on your shoulders!

I also learned a lot from listening to the Crime Scene episode on This American Life. It started out with a medical examiner discussing how every crime scene is like a novel. He described how there could be more to a crime scene than meets the eye, so it is important to dig a little deeper to make sure you have correctly assessed the situation.

After that segment, it moved into a forensic criminologist speaking about evidence and how important of a role it plays in solving a crime. Something cool I learned about in this section was when the splattering of blood was discussed. It said that you could use the bloodstains and a little math to figure out exactly where the victim was standing when they were wounded or hurt. It also talked about the differences between the shape and size of blood splatters, and how you can sometimes figure out the weapon used and the velocity or force that the particular weapon was used out. I thought that was pretty interesting.

The program then moved on to discussing a man named Neal Smither who cleans up crime scenes for a living. Before hearing this segment, I did not realize that the property owner of wherever a crime scene occurs is responsible for cleaning up the mess after the investigation is over. I find that to be somewhat ridiculous, so I am very grateful for companies like the one that Smither runs, because I know that I could never personally clean up blood and gore from a brutal crime scene if it ever occurred in my home.

Next up was a story about a man who had a bad upbringing, started using drugs and alcohol, wound up in prison, and then returned to his hometown to coach little league baseball. It discussed the man’s struggles with how everyone in his hometown thought of him because of what he had done in the past, but it also talked about how he does not want to relapse and sees this coaching gig as a really helpful tool for him. He loves spending time with the boys, although they may not be the most talented baseball players or the nicest kids on the block. Yet, after spending so much time with the boys, Bobby (the ex-druggie) he felt very rewarded that he was able to do something like this and help turn his life around.

The final portion of the episode was a reading of a short story from a book called The Girl in the Flammable Skirt: Stories. I found this story to actually be pretty enjoyable. It was centered on a young man who was able to sense objects and find them if they were ever to go missing. People in town found out about this young man’s talent and were calling him up all the time to help them find their lost objects. Many people were believers, but there were always many skeptics as well. In the end of the story, a skeptic woman realizes that her son has been kidnapped, so she decides to call upon the young man to help her find him. He is able to find her son, but only because of what he was wearing. The young man divulges that if her son were not wearing anything, he would not have been able to find him.

The most surprising thing to me out of everything I learned is that the way in which a crime is looked at is definitely in the eye of the beholder. The Crime Scene episode on This American Life was able to touch on stories from the separate viewpoints of a medical examiner, a forensic criminologist, a crime scene cleaner, a criminal, and a fictional story regarding a crime. It was fascinating to me to hear the different places and backgrounds that each person was coming from, and the experiences that they have been through. It amazed me that Neal Smither was able to clean up blood and gore and not really think twice about it. I also shocked me that a criminal would ever want to come back to his hometown to make a different name for himself. That story actually really impressed me. I guess I just really liked hearing the different stories all combined into one big episode.

There are many aspects of psychology that relate to the segments of the Crime Scene episode on This American Life. For example, when it comes to investigating a crime scene, law enforcement must determine whether or not there are any witnesses, people who saw what happened, suspects, people who may be guilty of committing the crime, perpetrators, people who actually did commit the crime, or victims, people who were harmed by the crime, on the scene. They must be mentally alert and prepared to make sure that they are evaluating the scene in an appropriate manner. This also leads to the fact that they have to thoroughly assess the surrounding area of the crime scene to figure out what temperature it is, whether or not the windows are closed, if there are any odd sights or smells, and more. They have to be in a psychological frame of mind to assess everything going on around them.

Another thing that struck me as odd was the fact that Neal Smither is constantly cleaning up dead bodies and brutal murder scenes and seems to remain completely detached from his work. What kind of person does it take to do that job? How is he able to stay so cool, calm, and collected? I know that I would not be able to pull myself together and do that type of work on a daily basis. Neal Smither must have some different kind of thought process going on inside of his head.

A final psychological aspect that relates to the Crime Scene segments is the fact that Bobby (ex-druggie) makes up his mind and decides to come home to coach little league baseball and sort of make up for what he did in the past. That shows that there is definitely some psychological growth going on inside of him, and it was very impressive to hear about.

Terms: crime scene, investigation, investigator, evidence, documentation, initial responding officer, victim, witness, suspect, perpetrator

From watching shows such as Criminal Minds, CSI and Law and Order, I have gotten a good overview understanding of how a crime scene works however these shows don’t give a in depth perspective on how a crime scene should be handled. While reading the CSI handbook I was intrigued to learn all of the ins and outs of how a crime scene is approached, processed and documented. The handbook does a good job of detailing the specifics of each person’s job and how all the positions interconnect with one another, such as the responding officer, the crime scene investigators and detectives. From my experience from watching crime scene shows, the officer first on the scene are never showed as a vital character, besides filling in the investigators when they arrived, so I never realized how much the responding officer contributed to a case and how important their role is. The CSI handbook also does a good job of describing the specifics for each job according to protocol. Handling a crime scene is a very detail oriented job and in order to keep evidence from being contaminated, suspects from escaping, and witnesses from having a breakdown protocol needs to be followed to insure that chaos does not arise. The handbook outlines what the responsibility of each person on the scenes job is and how they are to approach their job appropriately. Lastly, I never realized how many tools were utilized when dealing with a crime scene. When reading over the list of what each person was required and recommended to have with them during a crime scene, I was perplexed by the amount that was required for each person; however I did enjoy trying to figure out what each tool would possibly be used for since some of the objects are unusual.

The American Life episode was also interesting, informative and entertaining. I enjoyed the fact that the broadcast showed different perspectives of a crime scene, such as the importance of evidence and the initial crime scene, how crime scenes are cleaned up and by whom, the mindset of some criminals after the crime and the things that police cannot do. The first act was interesting when the forensic criminologist described how someone could look at blood splatter and determine what type of crime it could have been and how long ago the crime could have happened. I also found it interesting that the criminologist determined who the perpetrator was based on a piece of cheese he found half eaten. The two things that I thought of while listening to this was that it was awesome that we have the technology now that having that one little piece of evidence could solve a case, and the second thing I thought about was the fact that someone was stupid enough to eat a half of piece of cheese and leave it at the crime scene.

The second act of The American Life segment was the most fascinating part of the whole broadcast to me. A couple years ago I saw a movie called Sunshine Cleaning, which is about two sisters who decide to create their own business cleaning up crime scenes, so when this segment started that was the first thing I thought of. After seeing that movie I questioned whether that was a real job because to me, I thought that law enforcement would deal with the cleanup of a crime scene, however after doing some research I realized that it was a real job. Although not a glamorous job, crime scene cleanup is a job that is sadly needed in our society. When listening to Neal talk about his job, I was enticed not only by the exoticness of his job but the passion that he had for it. Neal talked with such pride with his job and did not make it sound cookie cutter, but gave the gory details of his past experiences.

I believe that there are many different ways that psychology relates to all the aspects of a crime scene. Biopsychology and clinical psychology may relate to why a criminal committed the crime in the first place, are they mentally ill or do they have a genetic disposition to do what they did. When it comes to the law enforcement and dealing with a crime scene I would say that sensation, perception, and cognitive psychology would play a major role. Law enforcement must take in evidence whether it is physical or testimony and determine whether it is relevant to the case and could be important. The way that law enforcement perceives evidence can change the way a whole case is looked at. In the instance of the forensic criminologist, he takes in the site of the blood pool and cognitively manipulates the stimuli to determine what type of weapon was used based on his schemas from previous crime scenes.

Terms:crime scene, responding officer, crime scene investigators, detectives, evidence, suspects, witnesses, forensic criminologist,perpetrator, biopsychology, clinical psychology, sensation, perception, cognitive psychology, schemas

The CSI handbook is used for those involved both in the law, as well as, in forensics. The amount of detail that goes in to each task is quite extensive. I couldn't imagine being the initial investigator at the crime scene. It would be hard to assess everything without "contaminating" the scene. The fact that you aren't supposed to tamper with anything didn't surprise me. I have seen several crime shows that have shown people carefully moving around the evidence, not touching a thing.

It was also interesting to read how they had basic procedures even for collecting evidence. I didn't realize how much was put in to just doing that! First you have to make sure that you are done assessing it as a part of the whole crime scene. Once you are finished doing that you can take it to be tested for chemicals, fingerprints, or other such things. The fact that the handbook also gave an overview of the kinds of evidence typically collected was kind of nice. It also gave a clear outline of what investigators or detectives need on the scene, such as the right clothing and tools for collecting evidence.

The second part of this assignment was to listen to different crime related stories on This American Life. I actually didn't find these to be that interesting. The first couple of stories were probably the best. One of them the narrator, who is a forensic psychologist, was talking about blood stains. He went into detail about what high/low blood velocity means. If there is high blood velocity, the person was probably shot in the head, which I didn't know before. He can also tell what angle the person was shot at too, which I find to be incredible. I mean, it's terrible that someone was shot, but it is so amazing how people can figure things out like that.

The forensic psychologist also talked about evidence such as food left at the crime scene. I couldn't believe it when he was talking about how much evidence actually is present in that situation. He went on to talk about how if the food or anything else in the house smells bad, it can point to evidence. Smell was one thing I noticed in the CSI handbook too. I guess I never really thought about how much smell could have an impact on evidence.

The other two stories, to me, weren't very interesting. One of the stories talked about a man who came back to his town of residence to a kids' sports team. He recalls several places in town where he used to do drugs and make bad decisions. It is in his story, though, that I see most of the psychological stuff happening, such as memory. Memory is a large part of psychology because it can play in to what a person really doesn't remember, or a person's suppressed memories. The man in this story probably suppressed most of the bad memories he experienced in that certain town. The man also talks about how he doesn't want to go back to his old ways. His cognition changed from what he knew and did in his past, to what he wants to do now and in his future. Finally, the last story is about a boy who can locate just about anything that is lost. Again, I didn't find the last two stories to be very interesting.

Overall, however, I found this assignment to be very interesting. It really opened my eyes to what goes on at a crime scene and all of the detail it entails.

Terms: Psychology, CSI, forensic psychology, evidence, suppressed memories, cognition.

The CSI handbook stressed the importance of securing the crime scene in order to preserve important evidence. The handbook gave detailed instructions especially for the initial responding officer to protect the crime scene. Just like the handbook, the episode on This American Life implied the importance of protecting the crime scene. In the episode, they discussed how officers should take note of bloodstains, hair, fibers, smells, or basically every detail at the scene of the crime. The episode shared a story of how they cracked a burglary case just by examining a bite mark on a piece of cheese. I was fascinated that a piece of cheese in the fridge led officers to the perpetrator. It just goes to show that every little detail is important and could potentially solve a case. Cognitive psychology plays a huge role in the investigation of crime scenes. Investigator’s perception, memory, and mental reasoning can help solve a case or hinder it.
The episode went on to discuss a man named Neal Smithers who cleans up crime scenes. Neal shared stories about cleaning up decomposing corpses covered in maggots. Neal stated that his job “isn’t hard, just depressing”. Neal must be a psychologically strong man in order to clean up after the gruesome crime scenes every day. Fortunately for him, he is becoming very successful and has a lot of business. I was surprised to learn that the owners of the house (or wherever the crime scene is located) are responsible for cleaning up the crime scene. The tricky part is that there are federal and state laws that regulate the handling of corpses. People have no other choice but to contact people like Neal Smithers to clean up the scene. I think personality psychology is an important aspect to Neal’s story. Neal‘s personality allows him to calmly react to situations that would normally stress people out. Neal’s personality enables him to be a good businessman as well.
The episode also discussed a recovering drug and alcohol addict named Bobby. Bobby wanted to turn his life around after being in the penitentiary. In order to give his life some meaning, he decided to coach baseball for little boys in his old, troubled neighborhood. At first, Bobby was having a hard time disciplining his team. As time went on, the boys learned to respect him and depended on him. It was touching to hear that the boys gave meaning to Bobby’s life and he gave meaning to theirs.
The episode finished off by telling a story about an orphan teenager who has the ability to detect where missing items are. The teenager was able to locate a little boy who was held hostage. The teenager claimed that he felt a pull towards the little boy’s shirt and other missing objects. This segment fascinated me the most because it somewhat seems like the teenager has abnormal psychological abilities. Overall, the segments in the episode were extremely fascinating and contained a lot of elements of psychology.

Terms used: cognitive psychology, perpetrator, personality psychology, perception, mental reasoning, initial responding officer

I never doubted how much time and energy went into investigating a crime scene. TV shows are what make people think it can be so simple. I enjoyed how the medical examiner described how every crime scene is its own story.
In act one how they describe what blood spatters etc can tell you in crazy. Yes once again I have seen this done many times in TV shows but if people didn't know how to do this many clues (evidence) may not be found. When they discuss that it becomes the owners responsibility to clean the property I find it very unfortunate. It bothers me because I have a personal story and I can't imagine that family having the responsibility to clean up their own home. Once act 3 starts and Neal is discussing cleaning a crime scene my mouth dropped. I cant even imagine having to clean up those kind of scenes. I also agree with the Nancy saying how interesting this kind of stuff is. Yes, like she says, its gross, but this kind of stuff intrigues me and I doubt don't it doesn't do the same to others.
I was surprised to hear that meth labs and kitty houses place a huge part in his "cliental." They mentioned that murders are high up on the list but suicides and attempts are. I enjoyed the comment Neal makes when he says "I see how people have died, but more importantly I have seen how people live." It really makes you think how be were raised, what they have or don't have, and how cleanliness just may not be important to that individual at all.
I think it was neat to hear Bobby's story and how he returned to his "stomping grounds" to help out kids who are just like he used to be. A lot of criminals after being released don't know how to survive in the "real world" outside of bars and end up back in prison. I feel like Bobby is really trying to make a difference and eventually you learn that the kids begin to respect him.
The last chapter didn't do much for me. The biggest thing I took from it is how crimes just aren't always solved. There sometimes just isn't an answer. I can't imagine being a family member or friend and not having an answer to the investigation of a loved one's death. It would be very unsettling.

Terms: crime scene, investigating, medical examiner, evidence, murder, suicide, attempted suicide

I really enjoyed looking through the CSI Handbook. It really helped to spell out when and what should be done when entering or being around a crime scene. It requires a lot of detailed notes and descriptions to help record the events upon arrival and the condition of the crime scene. It was slightly astonishing at how many responsibilities every person involved in CSI have. From the initial responder to the detectives that take over the process involves a thorough process of communicating what all has happened. The Handbook also helps point out exactly how easily one can contaminate a crime scene, in turn ruining evidence, which is why so many precautions are taken.

The TAL stories helped to talk about different aspects of a crime scene. I found the second story to be the most interesting. It amazed me that law enforcement doesn't handle the cleaning of a crime scene. The fact that certain procedures have to be met and followed also means that most people cannot properly clean up a crime scene even if it is in their own house. This would naturally lead to somebody creating a business to do what the general public can't. I just feel that taking that job would bring a slight amount of social stigma because it is a fairly gruesome profession.

Terms: CSI, evidence, crime scene, detective

Before doing this assignment, I was unaware how in depth crime scene investigation truly is and how thorough investigators have to be. The CSI Handbook helped me to realize how investigators have to be so aware of the crime scene because of how easily it can be contaminated. Also, I have learned that they need to use all of their senses to help them gain a better understanding of the scene, and be able to pay attention to small details that could lead to a break in the case.
The ‘This American Life” segment also open my eyes to the hard work crime scene investigation is. It starts out with an interview with Dr. Dragovic stating that every crime scene is different and has its own personal story. Act One explains that every piece of evidence explains part of the crime such as the kind of bloodstain, or the angle and splatter of the blood left. Act Two is an interview with Neil Smither, a crime scene investigator and own franchises in several states. He discusses what he does, harshly and gruesomely, except when it comes to his sales calls. It becomes very clear that the interviewer states the grotesqueness of the crimes, but how interesting they are. Most of his jobs are body decompositions or suicides, not murders. It was surprising that if a crime scene takes place in your home you are the one responsible for the clean up, I do not know if I would be able to handle that. Act Three discusses the myth that criminals return to the scene of the crime. Though this is not completely out of the question, some do such as arsonists, but it was interesting that some criminals also return to clean up a part of their crime scene. Katie Davis’ neighbor, Bobby, comes back to the scene of his crime where he robbed people to have money to buy heroine to coach a little league team. He had a long history of alcohol and drug abuse to cope with his problems. He gets made fun of by the kids, and when the kids are giving each other a hard time he finds it difficult to cope. But as time goes on the kids begin to behave better and call Bobby ‘coach’. He says that being back at the scene of the crime is a ‘rollercoaster of emotions’. I respected his courage for being able to be around the people he conned, and for being able to get his life together. Act Four discusses what police cannot due. I think that when we watch television cop shows we assume that almost every murder is solved, however that is not the case. The story talks about a young man who finds lost things, it says he could sense an object’s presence. A boy named Leonard got kidnapped one day on his way home from school, his mother calls the young man to help. The young man used his senses to feel where Leonard was, he found him. The mother was so thankful, she offered the young man the green star, her most prized possession. He goes to sleep later that night without feeling another tug.
There are many aspects of psychology, which include the cognitive state of the investigators as well as perception, which deals with the sense of the investigators. Social psychology would also play a part in how an investigator would view a scene or what they would be looking for.
Terms: crime scene, evidence, bloodstain, crimes, murder, cognitive psychology, perception, social psychology

In the CSI Handbook, it describes what officers are to do exactly when they arrive at a scene. They break it down into five sections, each containing detailed information on how to accurately process and document the crime scene. I enjoyed reading the actual processes they are taught. Although I cannot relate to them directly, I can kind of get a sense for them from the TV shows. I also noticed that some of the procedures vary quite a bit from TV to the real life and that was interesting to contrast as well.

As far as the TAL stories go, they were interesting but were hard to keep my attention. It didn't have anything to read along with or something to watch with it and I need that to follow.
Like I said, I liked the stories. They are true stories, without any discretion, which I enjoy. I found them sad, especially the first story with Neal. I can't imagine seeing so many horrible scenes like what he has.
The second story I found interesting as well. Bobby would come back to the scene probably to relive the emotions, maybe try to take them back. He comes back to coach a little league team.
The last story was about what police can't do. I thought this was intriguing as well. I think this kid that could find missing things was odd. I'm not sure how much I can believe this one, but either way it was interesting.
I think almost all areas of psychology can apply to these stories in some sense.

The CSI handbook was a very detailed guide for crime scene investigation. When reading this handbook all that I could think about was how it varies so much depending on who does these things. One person has different life experiences than the other and therefore how they react and think about things are affected. This handbook gives step by step guide to follow physically but not mentally. Every crime scene holds a story, a vey important story at that. The complexity and training that goes into crime scene investigation interests me. I would love to observe at a psychological standpoint the people who do this field of work. So many aspects are affected and they are all extremely important.

After listening to the recoding many things came into consideration that we have previously learn about. Everything about a crime scene can be analyzed. I was very surprised about how much detail you can find out just by a crime scene and small aspects of it. The person who enters a crime scene has to be very open minded and specialized. The second act about Neal interested me, I enjoyed learning about the type of people who work in this field. I found it interesting that the person who owns the property is responsible for clean up. Neal's entire persona was very interesting and can be psychologically analyzed. He used every aspect to manipulate peoples mind. His marketing strategy is completely built up to gain business. He is so weird. However, psychologically people have to defiantly be different than the average to work in this field. I also liked how they gave a background on the third character. This showed how important personal experience is to how a person functions. When investigating a crime scene it is best to think as if you are the person or victim. Thinking outside of the original is what makes a great crime scene investigator. Although, the foundational facts is also important. Common sense is a necessity for this field as well. The final act was very thought provoking. It made me think do people really have these skills naturally? Based on this recording crime scene investigation is so dimensional. There is so much to learn and think about.

Key Terms: Crime scene, investigation, evidence, CSI, psychological

the csi handbook explains in detail what happens and how things are done when in come's down to making sure that solving a crime is done right. A lot of us have watch the csi shows on tv and it's nice to be able to read from the handbook and see what is the same as in the show and what's different. From all of the tv shows i have seen it seems that even the tv shows try and do everything by the book to try and make it as real as possible. at one point they talk about eye witness and we know that can be a aspect of psychology. people often times think they see one person but its not them.

The recording has a lot of interesting stories on it. its interesting to hear about the clean up crew. it sounds like the property owner has to pay for the clean up. Im a little surprised that its not part of the government. The job needs to be done properly so it seems like it would be done by the government. even though the csi has a unit like they talk about the home owners sill pay.

The first few shorts of the TAL recording was about the smaller details. The position of the tongue, the concentration of splatter. A bitemark in a piece of cheese was the strangest bit of evidence presented in the recording. A unique enough bite mark is one thing, but who during a robbery would be foolish enough to steal food and leave it behind. It just strikes me as weird.

The section about the bio-disposal worker. The casual way he addressed decomposed people as humming or kneading hamburger when they were filled with maggots and insects. That is about the most disgusting imagery I've come across in a while.

Just cleaning up spilt milk was another good line. The jading effect of repeated exposure to trauma, even as a professional who cleans scenes of death was interesting. He has a very strange perspective on death and life. The preference for a slow death even if it was painful opposed to a quick death is the opposite of what most other people want.

As I started looking at the CSI handbook, I was pretty amazed on all they do to investigate a crime scene. This book is very resourceful if you are thinking about being in law enforcement. It talks about a lot of components on what to do at a crime scene. It first starts off by arriving at the scene, then preliminary documentation and evolution, after that it is processing the scene, then completing and recording of the scene, and finally crime scene equipment. Each section is divided into principle, policy, procedure, and at last summary.
There are many different things I have learned after reading this book. One would be that the officer that approaches the crime scene has to be observant of his surroundings. Another thing I found very interesting would be all the equipment each person that goes to the crime scene needs. All of the things I read reminded me of the shows Criminal Minds and Law and Order: SVU. These are my absolute favorite shows.

I learned a lot when I heard The American Life. I found this very interesting. It consisted of four acts. Act one was How do we know. How do we know there was a crime. There was a medical examiner that mentioned various things. One thing that I found surprising was again how he expressed that it was very important of whom ever the first officer is that they have to be very observant. They have to pay attention on what they saw, what they feel, and even what they smell.
Act Two was Grime Scene. This act was mainly about the guy who cleans up the messes after the crime scene is investigated. I also thought he was very blunt on what he said. I couldn't imagine everything he has seen and all the messes he has had to clean up. The third act was on how a criminal returns to the scene of the act. This act was about a man who had been in trouble most of the time and how he was sent to prison and returned back to his hometown to coach a little league baseball team. He loved spending time with the boys because in a way they kept him in check. The boys were also very trouble and he saw himself in one of them. I guess by coaching he felt that he was doing something to help these boys stay out of trouble.
Lastly the final act was about what police cannot do. This was about a fictional short story about a orphan who could find almost anything. When a boy was kidnapped in his neighborhood, he was able to use his gift to bring him home. Eventually the young boy was found safely when the orphan thought on finding the blue shirt that the boy was wearing. I think this radio show was one of the most interesting thing to hear. I was really caught up in it.
There are many aspects of psychology in these two subjects. I think the biggest one would be cognitive, especially for the clean up guy and Bobby. Even the investigators have to think through things and analyze many things at the crime scene. I also think sensation and perception plays a big role in a crime scene. For the fact that the police has to bring information from the outside world into his brain and also has to select and organize all the information of his senses into consideration. I guess a lot of aspects of psychology can really play important parts in a crime scene, but I found that cognitive, sensation, and perception were the most important ones.

I had a little tiny understanding of what happened at analyzing a crime from watching all the CSI shows but most of that stuff is really just the bare basics on doing things, but I did not think so much went into the process of getting important information from a crime scene. There has to be so many different types of documentations of evidence, and if it was not done correctly or tampered with that had the potential to destroy all the work that went into processing the crime. The CSI handbook describes a lot on how certain people are supposed to have certain jobs like all the things that the initial responding officer has to do. It also has many of the tools that are required the all the people who are going to analyze the crime scene.

Personally I did not like listening to This American Life because it is a little hard to remember what the narrator was saying since it is quite long. When listening to This American Life at the very beginning L.J. Dragovic tells of how every crime scene is a story or like a novel. Dragovic thinks the very first case with the woman who killed herself was actually a homicide because of the bullet holes in her tongue. In the next story Enrico Togneri goes in a lot of detail on how many different blood stains are made. Continuing with Togneri I did like the story on how a criminal was caught from just a little tiny bite mark in a piece of cheese. One thing I did not like is that the property owner has to deal with cleaning up after the crime scene has been processed.

Neal Smither in the next story describes his role in cleaning up the dead bodies. I would not be able to handle some of the things that Neal described especially with the maggots that would make me really sick. I also do not know how Neal could even come up with the idea to clean up all the body fluids, parts, and just everything else. He even just goes through the motion when cleaning up the scene without when most people will be sick to their stomach.

For the rest of the stories it goes into how criminals return to crime scenes to fix it. Also the last one of what police cannot do was very hard to understand compared to everything else because Matt Malloy what reading a part of a book I would of preferred just reading it myself.

Terms: analyze, documentation, crime scene, and blood stains