OCR AAQ Applied Science • F185 • Lesson 8 • Task 1 preparation

Preserve, Record and Search a Crime Scene

Before collecting anything: control access, protect integrity, document the scene and search systematically.

📖 Roles & Responsibilities at a Crime Scene📖 Securing the scene – College of Policing▶ Searching the Scene (8 min)▶ Crime Scene Search Methods (5 min)
By the end

You should be able to…

  • explain why a crime scene is restricted and access logged
  • describe suitable notes, photographs, sketches, video and evidence labels
  • compare quadrant, lane, grid, spiral and wheel search patterns
  • select and justify a search approach for a scene
What should happen before anyone starts picking up evidence?
Crime-scene planning

Preserve first, then document and search

Click each information panel. It opens straight to the information — no extra reveal.

🚧Restrict accessBoundaries, PPE, controlled entry and cordon logs.Click for information
📸Document the sceneNotes, photographs, sketches, video and evidence labels.Click for information
🔍Search systematicallyChoose a pattern suited to the scene.Click for information
🧤Protect integrityMinimise disturbance, contamination and loss.Click for information
QuadrantLaneGridSpiralWheel
Search patterns

Which pattern when?

Lane / grid

Useful for systematic coverage of open rectangular areas; grid adds a second-direction search.

Quadrant / zone

Useful when a scene can be divided into logical areas or rooms.

Spiral / wheel

Can suit particular open scenes but may be less practical around obstacles.

OCR misconception: search patterns are not rigid recipes. They can be adapted or combined to suit the scene.
Teacher model

Diagnose a badly preserved scene

A responder walks through a room without PPE, moves a chair for a photo, allows several people in without logging them and collects fibres before taking overall photographs.

Why do photographs not replace a sketch?
Guided practice

Choose the best preservation/search decision

Press start

Work through the cases one at a time.

These are parallel practice examples, not the live set assignment.

Independent consolidation

The Office Storeroom Scene

A rectangular storeroom contains shelves, a broken window and evidence scattered across four distinct shelving zones and the open floor.

  1. Write the first five preservation/documentation actions in order.
  2. Select a search pattern or combination and justify it.
  3. Describe the photographs you would take before recovery.
  4. State what should be included in a cordon/access log.

Review notes

  • Crime-scene preservation protects evidence integrity by limiting contamination, disturbance and loss.
  • Restriction can include barriers/tape, controlled access, PPE and a cordon log.
  • Document before disturbing evidence: notes, overall/mid-range/close photos, sketches, video where appropriate and evidence labels.
  • OCR search patterns include quadrant, lane, grid, spiral and wheel.
  • Choose a pattern for scene shape, obstacles and evidence distribution; patterns may be adapted or combined.
  • Photographs and sketches provide different information.

Glossary

Why this matters for Task 1

P2 explicitly requires site restriction, notes/visual evidence and a suitable search pattern. M1 requires students to explain why their chosen preservation approach is appropriate.

Final checkpoint

Lesson 8 quiz