Crime scene investigation

Crime scene investigation is the systematic documentation, examination, and collection of physical evidence at a location connected to a suspected crime. It preserves context and custody so findings can be assessed and presented reliably.

Crime scene preservation: Measures that protect a crime scene from contamination, alteration, or loss before and during examination. A controlled scene protects fragile traces while investigators establish who may enter.
Forensic science: The application of scientific methods and knowledge to questions arising in legal investigations. Scene examination draws on several forensic disciplines rather than one universal test.
Forensic laboratory: A laboratory that examines evidence using scientific methods for investigative or legal purposes. Collected items often need controlled testing unavailable at the scene.
Forensic intelligence: The use of forensic data to generate investigative leads and guide inquiries before or beyond courtroom proof. Scene findings can direct an investigation even when they cannot identify a source conclusively.
Wrongful conviction: A criminal conviction of a person who did not commit the offense or whose conviction is legally invalid. Miscollected or overstated forensic evidence can contribute to convictions later overturned.
Crime scene photography: The systematic photographic recording of a scene and its evidence before objects are moved. Images preserve spatial relationships that collection alone would destroy.
Locard's exchange principle: The principle that contact between people, objects, and places can transfer material between them. It motivates searches for transferred traces, while not proving when or how transfer occurred.
Forensic entomology: The use of insects and other arthropods in legal investigations, especially to estimate postmortem intervals. Insect evidence at a scene can inform timing when interpreted with environmental data.
Circumstantial evidence: Evidence from which a fact is inferred rather than directly observed. Physical traces commonly support inferences about contact or events instead of directly showing them.
Forensic evidence: Information derived from scientific examination of material relevant to a legal question. Scene-derived findings become one part of a broader evidentiary record.

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