Why Using Gloves at a Crime Scene is Important for Investigators
Careful Approach of the Crime Scene
When first approaching a crime scene, investigators need to use careful, specific methods to save the original state of the area as it was found. This means, by carefully gathering evidence and clues, you should disturb the scene little, if any. You also need to take great care and implement careful bio-hazard methods if involvement of a body is to be done by you in the crime area.
The greatest care you take, should always be in reference to keeping the body and area as a whole free from tampering and contamination. Being able to piece together what may have happened, why it happened and the perpetrator is based on all these important preservation methods.
The Importance of Latex Gloves
The most important tool you can have when approaching the crime area, will be latex gloves. These gloves will aid you in several ways. They help to keep the crime area free from contamination, keeps out non-involved party prints on the evidence and they serve to protect you from any bodily fluids or harmful substances you may encounter. Therefore, using latex gloves will serve all purposes in handling evidence and scene processing while protecting yourself as well.
How To Use Latex Gloves
You now know the importance of wearing latex gloves while examining a crime scene and evidence and many fields in crime scene investigation are becoming more and more advanced in how to preserve a crime scene. These gloves are used mainly to keep CSI persons from leaving their own prints. Most investigators feel gloves simply are not enough to keep crime scenes from being preserved fully. Today, many investigators are instructed and required to use two layers of gloves. Importance of this step is emphasized when you are working a crime scene.
There is also a heavy requirement in using an approved glove for gathering evidence. The most common and required use of latex gloves are the most accepted, but many use gloves of the rubber type and are made a certain way. There are also gloves that are available of the vinyl and nitrile types.
Discussing Crime Scene Processing Outcomes
Improvement of handling crime scene evidence and such, have many in crime scene investigation always on the lookout for improved and better ways of working towards solved outcomes in crime scene cases. Clues, items and other helpful information found are always being preserved by using newer and better methods. The use of gloves all help with these methods of preservation. The truth is, that the use of these gloves are important, but can also still leave behind prints and indentations on evidence found at the scene of a crime.
Test and studies on the ideal gloves to wear for crime scenes are being done all the time. While gloves of the latex nature often leave less prints and marks, other gloves such as nitrile, left marks but no visible print indentations. Gloves of the vinyl type, are excellent for prevention of prints made by the palm of the hand.
A crime scene will rest a great part of its preservation on the use of gloves and their use of minimal tampering of the scene. The use of gloves and types of gloves are always being perfected and looked at closely to see how well they perform in non-contamination of evidence by leading CSI team members
