Skip to content
Logo Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences - link to home page
Research result

CSI-CSI

Publication - January 2024

Crime scene investigations are highly complex environments that require the CSI to engage in complex decision-making. The following exploratory research project is comparing several investigative approaches toward crime scene improvement. It is a first step at comparing how crime scene investigations of violent robberies are conducted between 25 crime scene investigators from 9 countries across the world.

Identifying Differences During CSI

CSIs must rely on personal experience, context information, and scientific knowledge about the fundamental principles of forensic science to both find and correctly interpret ambiguous traces and accurately reconstruct a scene. Differences in CSI decision making can arise in multiple stages of a crime scene investigation.

Given its crucial role in forensic investigation, CSI decision-making must be further studied to understand how differences may arise during the stages of a crime scene investigation. This research project is a first attempt to do just that.

Variety Of Investigation Approaches

Through a mock crime scene and semi-structured interview, we observed that CSIs have adopted a variety of investigation approaches. The results show that CSIs have different working strategies and make different decisions when it comes to the construction of relevant hypotheses, their search strategy, and the collection of traces. These different decisions may, amongst other factors, be due to the use of prior information, a CSI’s knowledge and experience, and the perceived goal of their investigation.

Developing practical guidelines

We suggest the development of more practical guidelines to aid CSIs through a hypothetico-deductive reasoning process, where:

  • CSIs are supported in the correct use of contextual information,
  • outside knowledge and expertise are integrated into this process, and
  • CSIs are guided in the evaluation of the utility of their traces.
View publication
(opens in new window)

Authors

Forensic Science research group

From DNA testing to chemical analysis: modern techniques enable examination, in minute detail, of crime-scene materials. However, success and fairness depend on correct interpretation and evaluation. The Forensic Science research group is making an important contribution via its work with the police and other parties in the criminal justice chain.