MCOLES Crime Scene Investigation 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When collecting digital evidence such as a smartphone at a crime scene, what is the officer's first priority?
- Immediately access the device to view contents
- Place it in airplane mode or a Faraday bag to prevent remote wiping (Correct answer)
- Photograph the screen and then power it off
- Submit it directly to the digital forensics lab without packaging
Correct answer: Place it in airplane mode or a Faraday bag to prevent remote wiping
Placing a device in airplane mode or a Faraday bag prevents remote access and wipe commands that could destroy evidence before forensic extraction.
Question 2: What is the purpose of using alternate light sources (ALS) at a crime scene?
- To illuminate the entire scene for general photography
- To detect biological fluids, fibers, and trace evidence not visible under normal light (Correct answer)
- To examine documents for forgery
- To verify the color accuracy of evidence photographs
Correct answer: To detect biological fluids, fibers, and trace evidence not visible under normal light
Alternate light sources cause many biological fluids, fibers, and latent prints to fluoresce, revealing evidence that is invisible under standard white light.
Question 3: An officer secures a crime scene and then leaves for a court hearing without transferring responsibility. Another officer later processes the scene. What problem does this create?
- No problem, as the scene was already secured
- A break in the chain of custody and potential scene integrity issues (Correct answer)
- The evidence will be inadmissible only in federal court
- The second officer must re-photograph but can still collect evidence normally
Correct answer: A break in the chain of custody and potential scene integrity issues
An unaccounted gap in scene security creates chain-of-custody issues and raises questions about whether the scene was altered during the unmonitored period.
Question 4: In a suspected arson investigation, where should an investigator look first for the origin of the fire?
- At the highest point of char damage on the walls
- At the lowest and most deeply charred area of the fire scene (Correct answer)
- Near the electrical panel regardless of burn patterns
- At the point of forced entry into the building
Correct answer: At the lowest and most deeply charred area of the fire scene
Fire burns upward and outward from its origin, so the lowest and most deeply charred area typically indicates where the fire started.
Question 5: Which document formally records every transfer of a piece of physical evidence from collection through court presentation?
- The crime scene log
- The evidence chain-of-custody form (Correct answer)
- The supplemental incident report
- The evidence property receipt issued to the victim
Correct answer: The evidence chain-of-custody form
The chain-of-custody form records each person who handles evidence and when, ensuring an unbroken documented record from collection to courtroom.
Question 6: A detective wants to compare a suspect's shoe to a print found at the scene. What is the scientific term for this type of comparison?
- Forensic anthropology analysis
- Impression evidence comparison (Correct answer)
- Friction ridge analysis
- Trace element matching
Correct answer: Impression evidence comparison
Shoe print and tire track comparisons fall under impression evidence analysis, which examines patterns left by objects pressing into or onto surfaces.
Question 7: At a homicide scene, officers find the body outside in cold weather. How does ambient temperature affect time-of-death estimates based on body temperature?
- Cold temperatures have no effect on postmortem cooling rates
- Cold temperatures slow postmortem cooling, making the victim appear more recently deceased
- Cold temperatures accelerate postmortem cooling, making the death appear more recent (Correct answer)
- Only rigor mortis, not temperature, is used in outdoor death investigations
Correct answer: Cold temperatures accelerate postmortem cooling, making the death appear more recent
Cold ambient temperatures accelerate body cooling (algor mortis), which can cause investigators to underestimate the time since death if not accounted for.
MCOLES Crime Scene Investigation 5
When collecting digital evidence such as a smartphone at a crime scene, what is the officer's first priority?