At the Crime Scene
This is the very first thing police must do when arriving at a crime scene to keep people out and protect evidence.
What is tape it off / secure the scene?
The three basic types of fingerprint patterns found on human hands
What are loops, whorls, and arches?
The specific Amendment that stops the police from searching your backpack or house without a good reason.
What is the Fourth Amendment?
A specialist (like a DNA doctor or a weapons expert) who talks in court to explain evidence to a jury.
What is an expert witness?
You find a wet, bloody shirt at a crime scene. You should never put it in plastic because it will grow this.
What is mold?
The golden rule of CSI that says a criminal always leaves something behind and takes something with them.
What is Locard's Exchange Principle?
The unique biological "blueprint" found in hair, blood, or saliva that can perfectly identify a suspect.
What is DNA?
The famous warning police must read to a suspect before questioning them about a crime ("You have the right to remain silent...").
What are Miranda Rights?
The difference between an interview and an interrogation is that an interrogation is done to a ________.
What is a suspect?
The medical term for when a dead body becomes completely stiff a few hours after death.
What is rigor mortis?
The list or paperwork that tracks exactly who has touched a piece of evidence from the crime scene to the courtroom.
What is the Chain of Custody?
Any physical object—like a weapon, a footprint, or a bullet—left at a crime scene.
What is physical evidence?
In a criminal trial, the jury must be 100% sure the person is guilty. This standard is called "beyond a reasonable ________."
What is doubt?
An alibi is evidence or proof that a suspect was ________ when the crime happened.
What is somewhere else?
If an officer pulls a car over and sees an open container of alcohol or a weapon sitting in plain view on the seat, they do not need this to grab it.
What is a warrant?
True or False: It is okay to pick up and move a piece of evidence before taking photos of it.
What is False?
The national computer database that police use to match fingerprints from a crime scene to a suspect.
What is AFIS?
If police find evidence by breaking the law (like searching without a warrant), the court will do this to that evidence.
What is throw it out / exclude it?
A sketch artist draws a picture of a suspect based entirely on descriptions from this type of person.
What is an eyewitness?
To save and copy a footprint left in soft mud, investigators pour this material into the footprint to make a mold.
What is plaster / dental stone?
The type of grid or pattern investigators walk in when looking for evidence in a large, open outdoor area.
What is a search pattern?
Bugs found on a body can help a forensic scientist figure out this important piece of information.
What is time of death?
A piece of paper signed by a judge that gives police legal permission to search a house.
What is a search warrant?
The machine often called a "lie detector" that measures a person's heart rate and breathing while they answer questions.
What is a polygraph?
The difference between a "class" characteristic and an "individual" characteristic is that individual characteristics can be linked back to exactly ________ source.
What is one?