George Zimmerman's Failure To Secure A Crime Scene

1675 Words4 Pages

The first officer to respond to a crime scene has many responsibilities. Among these responsibilities are securing the crime scene, the preservation of evidence, and interviewing witnesses. An officer who fails in any of these duties could potentially put the entire case in jeopardy, allowing a perpetrator to go free.

One of the first things that an officer must do when arriving at a crime scene is to take all necessary measures to secure that scene. A perimeter should be established which includes the area directly around the incident, as well as a larger perimeter where additional evidence may be found. One example of a failure to secure a crime scene occurred in the JonBenet Ramsey case in 1996. Police were called to the Ramsey home when …show more content…

When officers responded to the scene, Zimmerman’s vehicle was not secured as part of the crime scene. Zimmerman’s wife moved the vehicle before police had a chance to examine it. “The vehicle was an important link in the fatal encounter because it was where Mr. Zimmerman called the police to report a suspicious teenager in a hooded sweatshirt roaming through the Retreat. Mr. Zimmerman also said he was walking back to the vehicle when he was confronted by Mr. Martin, who was unarmed, before shooting him.” (Kovaleski) Had the responding officers secured Zimmerman’s vehicle, they may have found pertinent evidence on it or inside it which could have clarified some of the details of what transpired that …show more content…

Upon discovering the horrific crime scenes of the Tate and LaBianca murders perpetrated by the followers of Charles Manson in 1969, responding officers made a series of critical mistakes regarding preservation of evidence. The first error occurred when Officer Jerry Joe DeRosa, while walking down the Tate’s driveway, noticed blood on a button that operated the gate to the driveway. "Officer DeRosa, who was charged with securing and protecting the scene until investigating officers arrived, now pressed the button himself, successfully opening the gate but also creating a superimposure that obliterated any print that may have been there.” (Bugliosi 14) By placing his own fingerprint over a fingerprint that may have already been on the button, DeRosa destroyed a key piece of evidence which could have led to a suspect and a

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