NCJ Number
198054
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 29 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2002 Pages: 32-37
Date Published
November 2002
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article is about searching trash at crime scenes for valuable evidence.
Abstract
The author introduces the reader to Karen Hare, President of the Texas Division of the International Association for Identification, and to Tony Barrett, Midland Police Department identification specialist. Hare and Barrett share their experiences of searching through trash at crime scenes to find valuable evidence linking suspects to crimes. They discuss that students of investigation techniques rarely look far enough when it comes to searching through trash, however, according to Hare and Barrett, trash can tell the whole story of a crime. Commonly, investigators will search through trash to locate evidence such as documents, weapons, and items containing possible DNA samples like cigarette butts. The two experts share stories of particular crimes and how they helped solve them by linking crime scene evidence to the suspect, such as when the presence of diapers in a dumpster led to the arrest of a woman who had killed her newborn baby. Hare and Barrett caution officers to use protection when sifting through trash because all trash should be considered dangerous and contaminated. Also, proper search warrants should be obtained before sifting through trash on private property.