Arson

It seemed like I hadn't been to an arson scene for months, in fact it was only seventeen days.

I had spent two nights a few months ago with the local Fire and Rescue Investigation Team. When I say team, I mean one. We'll call him Barney McGrew. No, No, we'll call him Sam. Yes, Sam. There is a number of Investigators on the 'team' but they often work solo, passing at shift change. Unfortunately when I spent two nights with Sam, fourteen hours each night, we didn't get a single job.

I read every Fire Brigade issue magazine going. Twice.

I am lucky enough to be able to investigate suspicious fires and arsons within my force area as a CSI. If a fire is obviously arson, then I will be the only investigator who will attend. If the cause is unknown, but suspicious, then I will attend along with a member of the Fire Investigation Team.

The initial decision on the cause of the fire will often lie with the fire crew who attend. If there is accelerant used or there is more than one seat of fire, then it's clear. It's deliberate. I'll be going.

I like to have everything I may need at a scene so I've put together a toolbox for fire scenes. It contains different bits and pieces for sifting through debris, removing fixtures and fittings and assisting with recovery of evidence. I keep this in my van and I allow my van partner to use it. I made him promise that if it gets dirty, he cleans it and if he removes something, he replaces it!

I'd heard the job come over the radio when the control room despatched officers to the scene:

"Control to Sierra Sierra One One, over"

"Go 'Head"

"Immediate response to 12 Camberwick Green, fire, persons reported"

"En route, over"

Persons reported isn't something you want to hear. It means that people are trapped inside. We race to the scene, but often there isn't a lot we can do to get people out of burning houses. That's Trumpton's job and they're very good at it. A lot of the time the Fire Brigade arrive before the Police as they will be passed the emergency call first.

The job went on for an hour or so from the initial call. Luckily, everyone was out and not hurt. A couple of the family members were taken to hospital for smoke inhillation, but that's as serious as it got.

It turns out it was arson. Two seats of fire and an accellerant was used, which meant I would be riding solo on this one.

Because I was listening to the job as I was busying myself at burglaries, I knew that I was going to get called. The officers at the scene hadn't asked for me yet, but I knew that when supervision attended, it would be one of the first things they'd request.

Arsons can take a long time to investigate, some last days. I hadn't eaten during this shift yet so I popped back to the nick. I had four salami and ham sandwiches in the fridge. Cut diagonally and wrapped in tin foil. Brown bread.

I have a litre thermos flask too. I filled it with hot water whilst I ate my sandwiches.

Whilst I was in the office, I had a look at the arson incident on the computer. Its always nice to read as much into the incident before your attend. There may be things on the incident that officers at the scene may miss or forget to pass on.

Half way through my second sandwich:

"Control to CSI Guy, over?"

"Go ahead control"

"Officers are at a scene of an arson and requesting you, over"

"Is that 12 Camberwick Green, over?"

"Yes Yes CSI Guy"

"No problems, ETA fifteen minutes, over"

I made a coffee in the flask and grabbed my clipboard.

I put the address in the Sat Nav and off I went.

When I arrived, I could see two fire tenders. There were a few firemen standing around. I wanted to see what I had to deal with before I got kitted up. I grabbed my clipboard from the passenger seat and walked towards the property.

As I got out of the van, I could feel the cold. It was dark, with orange streetlighting here and there.

There were three fire hoses trailing towards the property.

I could hear the radio in the fire trucks, giving out mainly static and white noise, the truck's engines were running, it was a noisy scene.

There were trails of water running across the pavement, desperately trying to find the nearest drain.

There were people on the balconies of nearby flats, stood watching.

I spoke to the chief fire officer who nodded towards the flat as he said "That's the one up there, my guys are standing by"

The Fire Brigade wanted to gut the flat, taking away all of the burnt material. This prevents the fire starting again from anything that may be smouldering away.

It turns out that the ex partner may have started the fire deliberately as way of revenge for the split. The split was three years ago.

An old school CSI once told me "It'll boil down to one of two things son, sex or money." I guess if you think about it, most things can be attributed to both.

Come to think of it, Jeremy Clarkson once said "Money and rumpy-pumpy are the twin engines powering everything we do"

Its decided. They're both right.

I love fire scenes, absolutely love them. Each one sets a different challenge.

The fire had been extinguished at this job, there were Police Officers speaking to neighbours and taking statements nearby. Turns out the ex partner hadn't been at the property for a few weeks, though they were still in touch.

My job was to establish how and where the fire had started and identify any offenders. Regardless of what I know, I must remain open minded about who or how this had happened.

I put a white suit on and some boot protectors. This was more to protect my clothes from soot than anything else.

The first thing I do, as with most serious or major crime jobs, is to document the scene as I find it. I did this with photographs, long, mid and close up photos.

Arsons tend to be very dark, for two reasons. The first is, the walls and ceilings tend to be burnt and covered in soot, the second, the electricity is normally damaged and off, so no lights.

One seat of fire was in the living room, beside the sofa. The sofa had been reduced to a wire frame with a yellow and orange mess in the middle. There was a mark on the wall in the shape of a letter V, this is known as a plume pattern- the V shape forms above a fire. The closer the fire, the narrower the V shape is, so these patterns can sometimes look like a letter U.

There are other fire patterns that help identify the development and spread of a fire, which I noted down.

I placed some photo markers in various places to help identify areas of interest, they also help the viewer of photos to get an idea of the layout of the property. If I get a number six photo marker in one shot, and then the next, It shows how each view relates to the other.

I always use a tripod, it's fiddly but more than worth it. I know some CSIs would hand hold the camera, but I wouldn't. I like using a flash extension cord, this allows me to effectively direct the flash and avoid shadows.

I photographed what I determined to be the seat of the fire, where the fire started. I indicated an area much bigger than required, to ensure when I start excavating the debris, I don't miss anything. This is known as the radius of error.

Once I had taken general scene photographs, I made some thorough notes.

I went to the van to get my tool box. It was nice to get some fresh air, it gets so warm in fire scenes, the heat builds up in the building. I took the opportunity to get a cup of coffee from my flask. I run on coffee.

I stood at the back of my van, between the two open doors to give me a little shelter from the prying eyes. People often see me and know who I am. Not because they actually know me, but because they know I'm the CSI.

There were still neighbours watching from the balconies.

I put a new suit on and went back in. I excavated the seats of the fire and recovered a sample of debris for accelerant analysis. Anything with accelerant on needs to be packaged correctly, we use nylon bags as these prevent accelerant leaking through the bag. Normal polythene bags would let accelerant through.

The exhibit is double bagged in nylon bags and sealed.

Accelerant analysis can be completed on an offender's clothing also.

I also recovered a partially burned newspaper, that days newspaper. It didn't belong to the occupant, so it may have been left by the offender.

Excellent.

I packaged this into a rigid box to enable me to safely transport it back to the office, the paper was fragile, but may hold some fingerprints.

I spent just over two hours inside the property, the photography took half an hour alone.

It was a busy scene with lots to interpret, fire scenes hold lots of information and evidence. Most people think that fire destroys evidence- not true. A lot of the time, the nature of a fire can protect a lot of evidence.

Hanging

I've been busy over the past few months and have neglected this blog somewhat. I apologise.

We've all been busy with a variety of jobs, mostly serious jobs. There's been a strange increase in the number of dead people recently. We blamed it on the full moon at first, then the snow.

I'm going to share my experience of a suicide by hanging.

Most forces insist on CSIs attending all suicides. There's two reasons, the first is that we can ensure that it is suicide. The second is that the scene needs to be recorded for the coroner.

If an inquest is held into the death then the scene will be an important aspect, as it is in any criminal investigation.

We have a new van at work at the moment. Just the one. Its on trial. If we like it then we'll have some more. The van that I share with my colleague is on it's last legs so I took the new van out.

I had a list of burglaries to go to, we call them BDH's and BOB's. Burglary Dwelling House and Burglary Other Building. I had printed the logs out and was on the way to my first job.

I got a call over the radio to ask me to attend a hanging. This would be my first hanging on my own. I'm not sure if excited is the right word, but my professional curiosity was certainly peaked.
I happily accepted the job. I stopped the van and opened the back doors. It was a new van and I was unsure as to what kit was in the back. I had a good rummage and checked I had everything I needed for a suicide.

I changed the destination in my Sat Nav. Twenty three minutes. Driving through the City is a nightmare at anytime of the day. I like to watch other drivers and silently criticise their driving. Every now and then I'll inhale deeply and say "Ooo" whilst exhaling.

Brief details were given over the radio by attending officers. I knew that the deceased person was male and had been found by a relative.

The correct procedure for any incident of suicide is that officers should secure the scene and request attendance of CSI. Sometimes, CID will attend or at the very least, a supervisor from uniform will attend.

Its very important to go to any incident of suicide with an open mind. I will listen to the views and opinions of attending officers, but it's vital to interpret the scene myself. It would be a very embarrassing error to decide a death is a suicide to later find out it is a murder. It'd also probably mean the loss of a lot of evidence.


There was something in the news recently whereby someone has confessed to murdering his estranged wife and police officer partner some 20 years ago. It appears that the scene presented itself as a suicide by carbon monoxide in a car. The offender in fact gassed both victims, dressed them and transported them to the 'scene' in the boot of a car. Have a look here for more information.


As I approached the garden path I could see there was a police officer stood at the front door. The relative had been taken away to be spoken to further.

An Ambulance Crew had been to confirm the male was deceased. The term often used is 'Life Extinct'. I don't like this, I think it's cold. I try never to refer the deceased person as a 'body' either. If I know their name, I'll use it. Its polite and it's respectful.

As I walked onto the path, I could smell the distinct smell of decomposition. The front door was slightly ajar.

The police officer appeared to be on his own. He held a scene log in his hand. Officers in my force are pretty good at securing a scene when a body is found. They'll start a scene log too. This is where everything that happens at the scene is recorded. Who has gone in, who has gone out and more importantly why.

Some higher ranking officers have a liking in my force to believe a scene is theirs and they can come and go as often as they like, touching, sniffing and pondering. I have no idea why, especially the sniffing.

I did have a warmed (as opposed to a heated) discussion with a Police Inspector a few weeks back. It was also a suicide. There were a few unanswered questions about some injuries on the deceased's body. The scene had to be preserved in case there was foul play.

The Inspector wanted to go 'have a look'. I politely declined his offer. It wasn't an offer, it clearly wasn't an offer. He knew that, I knew that. He wanted to know why he couldn't go in. I explained he needed to wear a white suit. "I've got gloves on." he said. I passed him a suit and explained he wasn't going into the room unless he was wearing that. Ten minutes later he joined me inside, fully suited.

I digress.

I spoke to the Police Officer at the door who explained what had occurred at the property prior to my arrival. He gave me a run down whilst I put on a protective suit and overshoes. I wear two pairs of gloves at jobs with deceased bodies. An experienced CSI told me why. If I need to move or touch anything with bodily fluids on, and then go back to my camera, I can take the outer pair of gloves off and still have a pair on. It works well. Body bits don't mix with a Nikon.

A relative had found the deceased male after visiting him and getting no answer at the door. This is one of the common ways of suicides being found.

People who commit suicide can be very resourceful when they have an idea in their mind. I've seen some very inventive methods since this one. I've also been to some rather strange ones.

I gave my details to the Police Officer at the front door. The door had been opened from the inside by the Paramedics to allow easy entry. The deceased male was against the hallway door. It was difficult to get through from the back.

As soon as I approached the door, I could smell it. I hadn't smelt it like this before, it smelt like pickles. I like pickles.

No, I liked pickles.

I opened the door, looking at the lock and frame for any signs of damage or forced entry. None.

I could see personal possessions about the room. Mobile, wallet, watch and an amount of cash. This male hadn't been robbed.

This male had hung himself from the top of the living room door using a belt. The belt and buckle was around his neck at one end. The other end had a knot in it. The knotted end was passed over the top of the door and the door closed. The belt was thin enough to pass over the closed door, the knot stopping it from pulling through.

Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be off the ground to hang yourself. Partial hanging is just as common as complete hanging. Hanging is the constriction of the neck by a ligature, tightened by the weight of the body. This can be achieved in a number of ways.

One thing any investigator may note when attending the scene of a complete hanging is the victim's tongue may be protruding. Due to the weight of the body, and sometimes the force applied in the 'fall' of a hanging, the constriction around the neck can force the tongue out of the mouth. Once decomposition begins, and the tongue is exposed to the environment for a period of time, the tongue becomes discoloured. Often it is black.

This male's tongue was big and black and sticking out of his mouth.

After a thorough visual examination, I came to the conclusion that he had jumped from furniture (which was underneath him) with the belt around his neck. This provided to force to make the tongue stick out. Then over a matter of days, the weight on the belt and the door was enough to make it slip. The knot pulled through the top of the door.

The heating was on in the house and it was hot. I had my normal uniform on, plus a protective suit. The suit, by design, has no ventilation. I'm not unhealthy, but I was sweating. I had to wipe my forehead a few times.

I took photographs of the scene, showing every room in the house. There were tablet and prescriptions in one room. I took photos of these. At this stage I can't tell if the male had taken tablet prior to hanging himself. There weren't many missing however. There was a receipt from a local pharmacy, it was only four days old.

The male had decomposed quicker than normal. It's likely the heat in the house was the main contributing factor to this.

I had to ensure that the male had no injuries about his body. I also needed to check pockets for personal belongings.

I had to straighten him out slightly, he was in an awkward position. I took hold of his arms at his wrists. I tried to pull his torso towards me, almost into a sitting position. The skin on his arms moved, his arms didn't.

I was going to need assistance.

I opened the front door and the bobby looked at me, I said "Are you busy?" I caught him unaware, he looked around, desperately trying to find an excuse. He couldn't.

"Can you just give me a quick hand in here?"

"Uuu, erm, yea, sure"

This is my job, I 'enjoy' working out what has happened and how this male has ended up this way. It's not the bobby's job. He likes chasing bad guys and locking up criminals. I explained what I needed him to do, and asked if he was OK with it. I explained that if he wanted to stop at any point, then just say.

I gave him the key to the van and told him where to find the suits. He got to the van "Are there any extra larges?" He said. "Top shelf, in blue" I replied.

We straightened the deceased male out, rolled him onto his left side. The bobby held him there whilst I checked his pockets and lifted his clothing to check for injuries. None. Onto the other side and the same again. None.

The bobby stayed in the suit for a while, watching me whilst I finished with some close up photos. He asked a few questions. Decent questions, not "Do you do Weddings?"

I don't mind dead bodies. In the short time I've been a CSI, I have lost count already as to how many I have encountered. I will try to recall each and see if I can come up with a number, another time. I don't mind the smell of most things; decomp, blood, urine or faeces. I have however found that I'm not too fond of vomit.

I was looking at some Journals the other day at work, and discovered interestingly that the UK has a low Suicide rate. The most recent figures I could source were from the Office of National Statistics and were dated 2008. Per 100,000 of population, The UK had a suicide rate of 6.1, Lithuania had a rate of 28.4 (the highest) and Cyprus had a rate of 2.2 (the lowest).



Now, back to that list of BDHs and BOBs I had at the start of the shift.

Murder

I came on duty at 0640 on a Sunday morning, booked on duty and sat at my desk.

I opened my emails, I had a few to get through. I had been off for four days. I often get email requests for statements, usually for volume scenes I had attended whereby an offender had been identified (an 'Ident') from the evidence I recovered.

I recently reached fifty Idents since February. Fifty separate offenders identified from the evidence I collected at scenes. I love it. I don't remember all of their names, but I hope some of them remember mine when my statement is read to them.

I was the first one in that morning. I had put coffee in the cafetiere and it was brewing on my desk. I like the smell of coffee in the morning. Another CSI came in just before 0700.

I was working my way through my emails, deleting some and flagging others to deal with later, when the phone rang. It was another CSI office, where a supervisor was. CSI Man answered the phone, he is a Crime Scene Manager (CSM)

CSMs manage major scenes, attend strategy meetings and coordinate multiple scenes. They make all the big decisions, which makes major scenes easier for normal CSIs as all the decisions have already been made.

The phone call was to ask CSI Man to attend a murder scene and take me along to assist.

We had to go straight out. CSI Man asked me to get a few things together that we'd probably need at the scene.

The incident had happened in the early hours and another CSM had originally attended the scene to secure fragile evidence, take initial photographs and give advice on how to preserve and secure the rest of the evidence. This CSM was one of the on call CSMs and was probably now at home in bed.

I'm glad I had breakfast before I got to work because today was likely to be a long day.

I didn't have time to read the log in regards to the incident and typically such an incident will have so many pages, it'd take a while to actually read it.

I went to the equipment store downstairs and got together a supply of various plastic bags, paper bags, swabs, water modules, hazard tape and knife tubes.

We got in the van and CSI Man drove as he knew where the incident was. He gave me a brief run down of what had happened whilst we drove there.

When we arrived there were two marked police vans and a marked car. The cordon was clearly visible and was around the complete outside of a small tower block of residential flats.

We got to the scene at approximately 0800. The sun was out and the sky was clear, it was warm already.

There had been officers at the scene all night. The scene needs to be secured and the evidence preserved. No one can enter the scene as it could be claimed evidence has been spoiled or contaminated.

There was a Police Sergeant from the dog section waiting for us. The flat where the incident had taken place had two dogs locked in one of the rooms. One of the dogs was believed to be a Pit Bull terrier and it was in a fighting mood.

I don't fight with dogs. They tend to win.

CSI Man asked me to go to the flat and prepare the hallway so that the dogs could be taken out without any footwear evidence being damaged in the hall.

I took a white suit from the back of the van, extra large. I'm not a large guy, honest. For some reason the suits are made in sizes that don't seem to make sense. The first time I put a suit on I chose a medium. No chance. I only just got my arms in and the damned thing ripped from top to bottom along the back.

I also wore footwear protectors. This have the word 'POLICE' indented along the bottom so if my footwear impression was recovered, we would know it was from me. I put a pair of gloves and and took a mask too.

I gave my name and collar number to the Police Officer with the scene log. This is recorded and is disclosed as part of the investigation. It keeps track of who enters and leaves the scene at what time and why.

I went up a couple of flights of stairs. There was some blood to photograph in the hallway and swab. I'll get to that after the dogs are gone.

The hallway was similar to any other tower block in the City. Bare concrete walls and stairs with the odd red tile here and there. It smelt too. I don't think that was as a result of the incident either.

I won't explain how I prepared the hallway, it was unusual. It may make the incident recognisable. That's the last thing I want.

Stepping plates are usually used to avoid direct contact with the floor. I'm sure one could imagine how difficult it could be for a Police Officer to try stepping from plate to plate with an angry dog in tow. The stepping plates were removed from the equation.

Inside the flat was a deceased male. He was fully clothed. Which I was pleased at. This would be the first deceased body I have dealt with whereby he wasn't naked.

The place was a mess. I learnt quickly not to assume that the mess was due to what had happened.

I remember a burglary I went to just after Christmas. The occupant was showing me around and explaining what had happened.

I said "They've made a right mess in here, haven't they?"

She said "They've not been in this room"

Oops.

The Sergeant came up with a PC and they had some shields, a fire extinguisher and some dog catching poles. I'm sure they've probably got a real name. The dogs didn't really struggle and were out of the building within a few minutes. People quickly cleared a path outside when they got to the front.

It appeared the male had been murdered. There was an array of weapons laying around. The male had a number of wounds about his body.

It wasn't a pretty sight. Flies were already starting to settle on his face and hands.

There was blood everywhere. The floor, the walls, the sofa and the ceiling.

There is a lot to do at a scene like this and there is no rush (most of the time) to get it done. The scene examination needs to be methodical, structured and thorough.

CSI Man had decided what we would achieve today and we set about it.

He was going to video the scene. This would be used for briefing purposes. It can be showed to the Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) and the team of DCs investigating it. This prevents them having to enter the scene and increasing the risk of contamination and loss of evidence.

Whilst he did the video inside the flat, I photographed and swabbed the blood in the hallway I mentioned earlier. Each area was marked with an arrow sticker, the location photographed from a distance and up close. I used my macro lens for the close shot. Once this was done, each was swabbed. I used a wet swab then a dry swab. The blood had dried, so the wet swab helped to removed most of it. The dry swab then scooped up what was left.

I had finished this before CSI Man had finished the video so I went outside to get some fresh air and a drink. It gets very hot in that suit. I was sweating. Maybe I should go to the gym more often. A female PC gave me a tissue, she didn't tell me that it was an Olbas Oil one, I wiped my forehead with it. At least it smelt pleasant.

I went outside and took the suit off, folding it into itself as I did. This meant any nasties I had on the suit were out of harms way. I had a drink from the van.

As I stood there looking around the estate I could see lots of people watching. It's surprising how many people find things to do outside when a scene pops up. It's early on a Sunday morning and there's people pulling weeds, brushing footpaths, washing cars and windows. I'd imagine they want to have a look at what's going on. I bet some of those weeds have been there for years.

One gent approached me and said "Is you CSI?" I think he was asking if I was a CSI.

He asked if I wanted a drink. I have only ever had one drink at a scene and that was a school canteen. Maybe it's natural, maybe its training or maybe its just instinct. I don't trust people to give me a drink in a clean cup which is made with clean things and nothing 'extra' is put in the drink. In addition to that, I can't say I've ever had the desire to drink out of jam jars.

I have a reply lined up for every time I'm asked: "No I'm fine thanks, I've just had one before I came out and I'd only need to run to the loo all day!" Laugh a little and move on.

Then it came. The real reason he approached me.

"What's happened? Has someone been murdered, I won't tell anyone?"

I'm sure he won't.

"I can't tell you mate, I'm sure it'll be on the news later"

As he left, he double checked I didn't want a drink. I just gestured my water bottle to him.

CSI Man finished and after a drink, we suited up again and went back into the flat.

The most important thing was to process the deceased male so he could be taken to the mortuary for a Post Mortem.

There was a suspect in custody for the murder. It could be relevant to compare fibres and hairs on both the suspect's and the victim's clothing. CSI Man gave me the task of taking fibre tape lifts from the victim's clothing and face.

The most effective way to do this is to lay a fibre tape, which is in simple terms a large piece of sterile sticky tape, on the body and pull it off and cover it with acetate.

I had drawn a sketch of the male and on the sketch I indicated a number which related to each tape. I wrote the corresponding number on each lift and sealed each in a tamper evident evidence bag.

I did approximately fifteen or sixteen tape lifts. Some had some very obvious fibres in, some had bits of skin and blood that had fallen from injuries. The whole time I was doing this, I was knelt next to the male. The smell wasn't too bad. It wasn't nice either. Flies kept landing on him, and moving off again when I moved. As long as they don't land on me, I'll be happy.

When I was applying pressure to the tape to pick up as much as possible I could feel that the victim's ribs were bust in a couple of places. His torso felt unusual.

Once I had done this, we both checked the floor around the victim for other pieces of trace evidence. A couple of things were recovered, which turned out to be significant. I won't mention what they were.

I had blood on the outside of my suit where I had been kneeling.

Whilst I was doing the fibre tapes, CSI Man was taking photographs of everything in the flat, in every room.

It was now time to put the victim in a body bag for transport. It's good practise to cover hands and the head with bags to ensure any fragile evidence isn't lost in transit.

The same would be done if the feet were uncovered.

I know that the victim is deceased and has been for a number of hours, however, there is something that feels unnatural about putting a bag over someone's head. CSI Man lifted his head off the floor and I pulled the bag down and tied it. We did the same with each hand. The victim was cold to touch.

As I had managed to protect the hallway earlier, we could now use the hallway to lay the body bag in. We started with the inner body bag. This appeared to be a nice new style bag. It had reinforced handles at strategic points, a pouch for documents and large zippers.

I wonder who designs these things for a living? What is their job title?

CSI Man was happy to take the torso and asked me to take the legs. It was important to handle the victim in a way that we would damage or distort any of the wounds he had. I took hold of his trousers and used them like a sling on his legs. I walked backwards into the hall and CSI Man walked towards me with the torso suspended in the victim's jumper.

It was a good fit. The victim was just the right size for the bag. Making sure all limbs were inside the bag, we zipped it up and sealed it. The seal was photographed.

We now had to lift the victim and the inner body bag into the outer body bag. This was also sealed and photographed. The undertakers had been called and were en route.

Deceased bodies really are a dead weight. It's surprising.

We went outside to change suits, the one's we were in were bloodied a lot. It looked like we'd been in a fight. As we left the building I became immediately aware of a clicking sound. It was the press. They love the white suits. They took a few shots and asked a few questions. We directed them to the press office. The press office will release relevant details to the press in relation to major incidents. There were some film cameras there also.

The undertakers turned up about twenty minutes or so later. We took them inside and showed them where the victim was and helped them get him into a further bag. He was then taken down the stairs and put onto a trolley. Their van was just outside the door so not too many people caught a glimpse of this bit. We're good at standing in the way when this bit happens.

The undertakers were followed to the mortuary by a police officer. This allows the police officer to evidence that the victim went straight to the hospital and when they do the PM, the same officer will normally attend to say it is the same seal and person from the scene.

CSI Man and I went back inside, we took some photos of where the victim had been laying. This is to show the space underneath him.

There was lots more to do in the property but CSI Man had decided that it may be relevant to wait until the PM had been done and the suspect had been spoken to. If it turns out something comes to light that is useful, it could change how we would process the scene to a degree.

For example, the PM could indicate which weapons were used from the mess of tools on the floor.

The outside of the tower block and the hallway had been searched by a support group whilst we were inside. This meant we could reduce the cordon to just the flat. A police officer would be posted there until the scene could be released. It turned out this was a few days. The officers would swap every few hours.

Two other CSIs went to the PM later that evening.

CSI Man had to go to another strategy meeting with the SIO in regards to the scene. I stayed back in the office and got my report sorted. I left the office by about 1930, so not as late as I was expecting. I should have finished at 1500 though.

I made it on the local BBC news, coming out in my white scene suit. It was my first TV appearance so apparently I have to buy cakes for everyone in the office.

Can anyone smell Olbas Oil?

My first call out

Each CSI in my force is required to be on call a number of times a month. It works out that one of us is on call once a week for each office. An on call shift will almost always follow a late shift.

I had a particularly busy late shift and didn't get back in the office until 2200 hours. I had to then complete the reports for each job I had attended and sort the evidence I had recovered.

I should go home at 2200.

I was lucky enough to be joined on my late shift by another CSI in the same office, so at least I had someone to talk to whilst I worked. We had both been worked well that shift, so were both still in the office listening to Florence and The Machines on my iPhone whilst typing away.

The clock got to about 2345 when the phone rang on the desk between us.

We're not normally there at that time and the officers know that too.

It must be a supervisor, either calling to tell us to go home or, far more likely, asking us to go to a job.

We looked at each other briefly, I answered the phone.

The supervisor wanted one of us to go to a Section 18 Wounding scene which was outside just around the corner from the nick. She passed me the details which I wrote on a scrap of paper on the desk. CSI John was eagerly reading the note over my shoulder as I scribbled away.

Lots of "yep" "Uh Hu "OK"'s and I hung up.

CSI John had the gist of the scene but I explained it to him in the way the Supervisor had. The supervisor said she required one of us to go and didn't mind who it was. I really wanted to go but we decided to flip a coin, it was overtime after all.

Heads, CSI John won. Rubbish.

I packed up my kit and went home.

I got home and flicked the kettle on. I had a cup of tea and went to bed, pretty certain I wouldn't be called out.

The phone rang at 0342, it was my supervisor who wanted me to attend an outside scene.

It turns out one of the City's finest decided he was bored of sleep at 0300 hours and wanted to see if he could kick and punch the nearest passer by as hard as he could. The victim fought back but came off noticeably worse than the other and had a fractured skull.

The offender had left a substantial amount of blood at the scene. Bonus.

I live only about five minutes from the station. I jumped in the shower, cleaned my teeth and signed in at the office at 0410. I printed the log and put my cases in the van.

I stapled the four pages of the log together and put it on my clip board.

I called up on the radio:

"CSI Guy to control, over"

"Good morning CSI Guy, go ahead, over"

"Good morning to you! Can you let the officers at Any Street know I'll be with them in fifteen minutes please? Over"

"No problems"

I got in the van and started the engine. Tripod! I ran back up the stairs and fetched the tripod from under my desk. Night time photography is impossible without a tripod.

It didn't take long to get to the scene. It was on a different division to the one I normally work. I was greeted by the shift Sergeant who had a handful of swabs...

Hmm. Swabs...I thought? I've got my own.

They had blood on them. Not so good. It turns out the bobbies on the scene were under the impression I wasn't going to be turned out. They made the decision to recover the evidence themselves.

Luckily for me, and them, there was still enough blood on the pavement and road for me to spoon up.

I grabbed some yellow number triangles and began to place them down at points of interest, these were a number of spots of blood and a broken bottle. The markers help to identify each location in relation to the next in a series of photos. Also, when recovering an exhibit, I can identify it 'from next to marker 3' etc.

I took a photo up and down the road to show each side of the scene. I then took a general photo of marker one. I then put the macro lens on, I'm a geek like that, other's probably wouldn't. I want as much detail as possible in the image.

Whereas a photo taken during the day would probably only take a 125th of a second to record, at night it can be anything between 1-30 seconds and sometimes longer. The camera has to be completely still during this time, otherwise the image will appear to be blurry.

One of my CSI elders told me that if a job is important enough to be called out for, it's important enough to be photographed. I'll remember that one. We don't take photos at every job, there's no need.

Once the photos were complete, I put my camera in the van and grabbed my SOCO kit. We still call it SOCO kit. CSI kit doesn't suit it.

The first evidence bag contained three swabs. One was a control sample of the sterile water I was using, the second was a wet swab of the blood and the third was a dry swab of blood. A control swab should always be taken. Depending on the circumstances, surfaces and time elapsed etc, depends whether or not a wet and dry swab are taken.

Each swab is labelled with the exhibit number, time and date. These three swabs go in the same exhibit bag and have the same exhibit number. The exhibit number changes when the sample location changes.

I did this for the other location and recovered the broken bottle.

It doesn't seem a lot, but I was at the scene for just short of an hour. The photos take the longest amount of time.

When there is a CSI officer on duty at 0400 hours then you'd be surprised how popular you are. You are often the only one on duty for the force. I'm convinced there's secret messages sent between control rooms on divisions letting each of them know I'm on duty. Control rooms and supervisors will often try to get you to another job after the one you've done. I'd love to stay on, for two reasons, I'm already awake and more importantly; it's overtime. Unfortunately the overtime needs to be authorised by a CSI supervisor. There s always a CSI supervisor on call overnight to answer calls and refuse or authorise a call out.

The Inspector wanted me to go to the hospital and photograph the victim's injuries. I wasn't allowed. The injuries will still be there tomorrow, a CSI on normal time will be tasked with it.

I went back to the office and put the report together on the computer. I put the blood swabs in the freezer.

I signed out of the time book just after 0730 and stopped at MacDonald's on the way home for breakfast. In bed by eight and got the rest of that day off.

I checked the progress of the job Yesterday. It turns out the victim has decided not to pursue a complaint against the fool who almost killed him. It means the swabs are destined for the bin. I still get the overtime however.

I've been very busy recently and have so much I want to blog about but I need to wait until the cases are done and dusted.

I'll go back and see what I can blog about from a few months ago.

Speak soon.

CSI Guy

Armed Robbery

I was about an hour into my late shift. Lates almost always include being on call until 0700 the next day.

It was a warm day, I only had my force issue t-shirt on and combat style trousers. I don't like my uniform. I think it looks scruffy. I'd much rather wear a short sleeve shirt and trousers. We'll see what happens with that.

I do need new boots though. I must look on the internet for those.

I digress. It was about three o'clock when I was just leaving the station to go to my first job. My colleague had left moments before me to go to a different division. I suspect he was on the same airwave channel as me though.

The first transmission came "Any unit for an emergency response to 123 Mytown Jewellers, panic button activated"

Now sometimes these things go off and people have no idea. I've been one of many who have piled into a public house on the outskirts of town, to be stared at by five or six shocked onlookers. The manager didn't realise he had a panic button, let alone that he'd activated it!

The second call came, seconds after the first.

"We've had a second call now, armed robbery in progress at 123 Mytown Jewellers, firearms seen"

You can almost feel the buzz., the adrenaline running through the officers fingers as they respond to the radio call.

The force helicopter, lets call her '99, was up on a different job but it wasn't as important as this one. The transmission came from her crew. You know it's them before they tell you, you can hear that they're in a helicopter. They wanted a piece.

I was on my way to a burglary just around the corner from our station. I got my kit together and got in the van. I knew I'd have time to do the burglary first.

My colleague made a sharp exit from the station car park. He knew I'd have heard the job come in. Secretly I wanted to go to it anyway.

As I left the station, I could hear '99 getting closer. She makes such a racket when she's low. I like seeing her though. There's something reassuring about her presence.

I eagerly listened to updates from responding officers. The four masked men had made off with a substantial amount of very expensive jewellery. The description of the car was given, along with an index. The index was incorrect. It was likely to be on false plates.

I arrived at the address of the burglary. It was only four streets from the Jewellers. '99 was above me now.

I knocked on the door. No answer. I knocked again. No answer. I shouted through the letter box. When I opened it, at 300 decibels came Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. This could take a minute.

I got in eventually. I left about twenty minutes later with fingerprint lifts.

I pre-empted the request for CSI from responding officers and called up.

"Control from CSI Guy, over"

"Go ahead CSI Guy"

"ETA for 123 Mytown Jewellers, four minutes, over"

"Appreciated CSI Guy, we were about to call you"

You've got to keep the control room happy. The bobbies amongst you will understand that one.

I drove down the road approaching a police van with lights flashing, blocking the road. It took me a minute to wait for the other road users to perform three point turns and go back the way they came.

I have a laminated A4 card for the dashboard which has the force crest and Crime Scene Investigation on it. It helps when I park up at scenes in odd places, then all the tape and police cars move and my van looks odd. I took it from the glovebox and put it on the dash.

I drove towards the female officer stood in the road, my window down and waved at her. She shook her head and arms frantically. "You can't come in here sir......oh, sorry, I thought, uh, sorry..."

Makes me laugh everytime.

I could see the Jewellers. The front door was a mess. Glass everywhere. A Sergeant and a PC (who I'd met before) were stood outside with a scene log.

I drove the short distance from the road block to the Jewellers. As I drove down the road, other shopkeepers were stood in their doorways watching, watching everything. I could feel them looking at me and my van. It wasn't clear who I was. Why was I allowed through the block?

I got my kit, camera and my 'spare kit' bag and made my way over to them.

The Sarge gave me the run down. The PC told me that he'd been first on scene, he got the owners out and no one had been near it since.

I love it when that happens.

The immediate area outside the Jewellers was taped off, using parked cars as points to tie the tape to.

I set my case down behind one of the cars, inside the cordon. I needed to take photos, but I didn't want any of my kit in the shots.

I walked back out of the cordon, I took a photo up and down the street looking back at the Jewellers. I took a photo square on to the shop front, ensuring I wasn't in the reflection of the glass. I took a close up shot of the door that had been forced and made my way inside.

I wore footwear protectors to ensure that I didn't contaminate any footwear impressions I would later recover. It helps to be wary of where you step, however, I had to step somewhere. We have stepping plates which allow us to move through a scene without our footwear touching the surface any offender's footwear may have. I didn't require them in this case, as long as I was careful.

The inside of the shop was pretty small. It was hot. I was glad I only had my t-shirt on. I could feel the heat warming me up rapidly. I saw a fan and a stand alone air conditioning unit. The problem was, they were already on.

It was nice to get inside, shut the door and listen. Listen to the silence. There was so much going on outside. People were gathering on the pavement opposite the Jewellers. Now they were watching me.

I took a minute just to stand and look around. It helps me massively to look and plan in my head how I will process the scene.

Enough planning.

The glass cabinets had been smashed to pieces. There was broken glass everywhere. There were pieces of jewellery on the floor, mixed with glass. I'm not fond of jewellery. Probably because I don't understand it's value. Like flowers, I guess.

A whole pane of glass had come from the inner door when it was forced, and lay on the floor, complete but shattered. I powdered this, and it was covered in footwear impressions.

The footwear impressions are recovered using a black gelatin lifter. Its placed on top of the powdered (or unpowdered) impression and lifted and secured. It produces a replica of what can be seen on the treated surface.

Each footwear impression is recovered in turn, labelled and sealed into a tamper evident bag. All exhibits are written up and sealed at the scene.

It's not somewhere you'd normally find footwear impressions. Good find.

I recovered a bag left by the offenders. They had brought a number of bags with them, in order to carry the jewellery. The bag was probably purchased just for this job. It looked brand new.

I recovered a number of fingerprint lifts too.

When the offenders forced the door, they used a tool of some sort. The victims hadn't seen what this was. I was curious. The PC suggested the head of a sledge hammer, but I wasn't convinced. The shape seemed too clean and conforming. I took a gel lift of the impression it left.

I tidied up a little as I worked through the scene. I stacked jewellery I collected from the floor onto a unit. I placed larger pieces of glass into a pile also. I think it helps the victim clean up later if I make an effort as I go.

CID arrived. I was perched, powdering items on the floor. I could see them in the corner of my eye, I wanted to finish what I was doing before I got up and went back outside to talk to them.

I could do with stepping outside to get out of the heat.

I spoke to the DC. She was pleasant. I hadn't met her before. She explained what she knew, which was he same as the Sarge had told me. I told her what I had found so far. I went back inside a little cooler.

I was at the scene for around two hours. Once I had left, the cordon could be removed.

I still had the list of jobs I started the shift with. They still had to be completed. The robbery took up a fair stretch of my shift. I'd have to work my backside off to get the rest of the jobs done.

I did a couple more burglaries and then had to photograph the scene of an alledged rape.

Fire Investigation

I want to ensure that we are all on the same page here. Let me break it down James Brown style.

Places, People, Names and other specific information is deliberately made anonymous here to protect those very things. Some details are altered slightly to ensure that my anonymity and others' remains in place. This blog's purpose is to share my experiences and training for those who are interested. I will not use this blog as a platform for abuse of the Establishment or to reveal details of incidents that have occurred where I work.


Righty oh. We've cleared that up, so lets talk business.


I was lucky enough recently to undergo some further training. I spent a day at a Fire Training Centre. The aim of the day was to put into practise the theory we had learnt on the days before our practical. There were nine of us on the course. It was a scorching hot day and we travelled about an hour or so, behind a tractor, to the centre.

We were split into two groups, one of four and one of five. I was with the group of five.

I had only met one of the other CSIs previously. The centre was a fair size. It was home to the administration headquarters for the local fire service. There was a distinct smell of charred metal containers.

As we rounded the corner, there were ten or so firefighters stood in a semi circle, there appeared to be an instructor in the centre who was talking to them.

We were invited to watch the demonstration of a back draft.

In simple terms, this is a situation that can occur when a fire is starved of oxygen but the gases and fuel within the fire remain at a very high temperature. When oxygen is reintroduced, say by the opening of a door or smashing of a window, then combustion will restart. This normally occurs with an explosive effect, flames and smoke can often be seen to exit the room or house through the door or window, rapidly.

See this Youtube video for a visual demonstration

We watched the demonstration and we all stank of smoke.

We split off into our groups and were given our scenarios.

There had been a report that some masked offenders had stolen a car, a Volvo estate, colour green. They had used it as a getaway vehicle after an armed robbery at a local premises. The vehicle was then reported to be alight and the fire service have attended and extinguished the fire.

I was in a group with four CSI Girls, lucky me.

The car had been placed by a fork lift truck in a small area for us to work on it.

We found out afterwards that a small amount of white spirits had been used to accelerate the fire on the front seat. Items were placed in the vehicle so that we could recover them and observe how they were preserved.

It was my task to take the photographs of the vehicle and any exhibits we found during the excavation. I love photography, I have a real passion it for it. I was pleased that I had this opportunity.

We learnt during the theory input that burnt cars present a very real health and safety risk. Some forces have decided that CSIs will not examine vehicles due to the risk involved. The mix of plastics, metals and other components provide a risky cocktail for the examiner. Fluoroelastomers being one of the main risks which produce hydrofluoric acid when subjected to fire.

I have however read a report that suggests the risk from Fluoroelastomers and the subsequent hydrogen fluoride gas (which condenses to hydrofluoric acid) is minimal in motor vehicles.


We all suited up in Tyvek white suits. It was a scorching hot day. I wore normal rubber gloves to keep my hands and ultimately my camera clean. The CSI Girls wore thicker protective gloves.


I took photographs of the vehicle from each corner, using a 18-35mm lens. Photographs are taken to ensure that a true and accurate record is made of the vehicle before we disturb the scene.


Once I photographed each corner, ensuring that the registration was captured in each, I took a photograph from an elevated position to capture the roof. The roof had suffered a lot of fire damage, the sun roof had acted as a chimney and the glass had all but gone.

I then photographed in each door starting at the driver's door (front offside) and worked my way around. Photographing into a car can be problematic with the flashgun on the hotshoe as the flash usually casts shadows into the vehicle where the light catches the door frame. I took the flashgun off the hotshoe and used a cable. I could then position the flashgun in a suitable place to illuminate the interior sufficiently.


I took my gloves off, they were dripping with sweat. I could feel that my legs were wet with sweat also. Not cool. I made sure I drank lots of water. I hate drinking water, it's such a boring drink!

There was a distinct smell of charred items. The car's insides were black. This was a result of the interior burning and the deposition of soot from the fire and smoke.

Most of the windows were broken. We learnt how to tell if the window was broken before or during the fire. When firefighters extinguish a fire, water from their hoses cause the glass to cool rapidly and this can cause the glass to break, this is known as thermal shock. The glass looks like bubble wrap. When it breaks, the edges are smoother than a normal broken window.

Once the photos were taken of the vehicle as we found it, we began to excavate the debris. We used an assortment of tools. Most of the evidence was likely to be under the first layer of debris, as this top layer is likely to be bits that have fallen during the fire, parts of the roof, glass and fabric etc.


All of the material that was taken from the vehicle was transferred into a large bucket. This needed to be double checked, we had to ensure there were no items of evidential value within the debris. The debris was sieved into another bucket and a magnetic wand was also used to detect any items of importance.


Each of the CSI girls took a door each and began hacking away. With care, of course.


There were a number of items in the vehicle in various places and the practical assessment was aimed at us recovering all of the items.


On the back bench seat was a DVD player. The outer casing had melted and it was black. I turned it over and the underside was as it was when new. I was surprised. I could see the serial number and the model numbers on a sticker. I photographed the sticker using my macro lens.


I love my macro lens.


The front seats were reduced to the frames. You could see the springs where the cushions would normally be. The back seat was charred but generally had remained intact.


I swapped with one CSI Girl and started excavating the driver's seat and foot well.


I was convinced that we were going to find a firearm within the vehicle and looked everywhere.

When I was digging the debris from under the seat, I found a set of Volvo keys. The leather fob was in pristine condition. This was surprising as everything around it was burnt to a crisp. The way in which the bunch of keys were placed, protected the fob. It was covered in a dark yellow sticky substance, a product of the burnt interior I expect.


I soldiered on and used a very large knife to cut the carpet from the vehicle. The rubber floor mat had protected the floor very well. When I cut the carpet, I found what appeared to be a shotgun cartridge. It was surrounded by melted debris. I couldn't separate it from the debris but could very clearly see the bottom. I used my macro lens to photograph the base. The firing pin mark was clearly visible.


We worked on the vehicle for just over an hour and a half. We managed to recover cigarette ends (fully preserved!) keys, a bottle of accelerant, a DVD player, a Coke can, a spoon and a magazine which had preserved a CD within it.

We didn't find a firearm.

The car was in a bad way when we got hold of it and to say it was any better when we finished would be a lie. It was cleaner though. All of the debris had been stripped right out. Wind the clock back a few thousand miles and give it a polish and it'd be on the second hand car dealership forecourt in minutes for £975 with a free tank of petrol.


My force policy is not to examine vehicles that have been burnt out unless they are involved in a serious or major crime. I understand the reasoning behind it. I did however, enjoy ripping that poor little Volvo to pieces and collecting evidence.

It must be a guy thing, breaking and destroying things. I loved it.

If fingerprints were a requirement of the interior, then there is also a chemical treatment that allows soot to be removed from surfaces to allow for fingerprinting. Some of the items we recovered may have been subject to this once they reached the lab.

We had to package an item each, which had been recovered from the vehicle. The general rule is to package anything from a fire scene into nylon bags as any accelerant or fluid will not seep through the nylon as they would in a normal plastic bag. There is a method of securing the opening of the bag, known as a swan neck, which prevents leakage also.

We had a debrief and completed another exercise. We had lunch on the local fire service which was delicious and we headed back to watch the football.

Its been really busy at work recently. We have had a large number of major incidents and everyone has been rushed off their feet dealing with them. Its nice to work with a team that really pull together when the workload increases. I'm lucky to be where I am.


I would like to take the opportunity to wish PC David Rathband well and let him know that Police Officers and Staff across the country are thinking of him. Good luck.

Until next time.

CSI Guy

How do you do it?

Like on the TV? CSI? Do you see dead bodies? Do you go to murders?

Some common questions I'm asked when I speak to people about my job or even when I'm attending a not so violent scene.

My favourite one was:

"Ethel (can you tell I made that name up?) the guy from Forensics is here, you know, like off the TV, that program, VIS"

VIS? What is VIS?! Just smile and nod CSI guy.

I didn't grow up wanting to be a CSI. I thought of a career within the Police and worked a number of paid and voluntary roles within a Constabulary before I decided it was what I wanted to do.

I love my job. I get up at 0500am when I'm on earlies and I don't moan one bit (well, a little) It doesn't feel like I'm going to work! I'm sure in time, that may change, but I hope not.

In the time I have been with my current force, I have seen some gruesome things. The deceased male in the bath (see post) was one of them. I'd seen a deceased person before, when I worked for another force, but not as a CSI. If a week goes by without attending a scene where there isn't a deceased person, then it feels odd.

I've seen a lot of deceased people who have commited suicide. I've also seen deceased people who've been murdered. The strangest ones to attend are when someone has passed away without incident, without being involved in a fight or taking their own lives. We go to some incidents where people have passed away and the circumstances are unclear. Normally we'd attend to take photographs and confirm there had been no foul play. The photographs are taken on behalf of the coroner.

Friends and family ask me how I go to jobs and I don't get upset. It's not because I have no heart or I'm cold and have no feelings. I'm able to do it because I know that I have a job to do and I do it as professionally as possible. I think that if I'm one of the last to see that person before they are buried or cremated then I will do my best to ensure they are dealt with, with dignity and respect.

A lot of people say they couldn't do it.

I go home at the end of the day to my better half and I do normal things like everyone else. I might tell her I've had a stressful day so she makes the dinner though!

I enjoy going to any scene, but I enjoy going to major scenes more. I get a little buzz knowing that I'm one of only a few people that will attend that scene and will be able to help decipher what has happened and ultimately identify offenders.

As a CSI you should also expect some periods of inactivity. There is a lot of paperwork involved. You have to be meticulous in everything that you do. You have to be prepared to go to court and explain your actions and evidence to a Jury, some months later in some cases.

Depending where you are based in the Country will depend on the type of jobs and how often you attend those jobs. It's easy to make assumptions as to what incidents occur in what areas, but all sorts of crimes happen where you'd least expect it.

The benefit of my force, and it's the same in most others, is that a number of CSI's work from the same office. This means that everyone you see on a day to day basis goes through exactly the same as you do. Undoubtedly they've been to a scene before similar to the one you've just returned from. It's helpful to others to talk about what you experienced at a scene and what your thoughts were.

I'll be going on call as of July. I'm looking forward to it. I'll be sure to blog about my first call out.