Forensic Science in a “Receiving” Case
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X5202500110 |
| Date | 01 January 1952 |
| Author | Thomas Shepherd |
| Published date | 01 January 1952 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
FORENSIC
SCIENCE
IN
A
"RECEIVING"
CASE 41
large beats watching the clock for another reason. These bored men,
if utilised before boredom leads to resignation, are ready and willing
to give of their best.
The
first stirrings in the hitherto inflexible minds of authority
are to be found in the experiments of team policing being carried out in
some Forces.
Just
how effective team policing may be remains to be
proved,
but
the mere experimentation is a welcome change from
complacency.
In
some forces certain beats have remained unaltered for years.
Men
patrol them because men have done so since the beat boundaries
were first laid down. No matter where the crimes are being committed
the inflexible system must not be tampered with. Crime may be
rampant in one district
but
constables are obliged to play Micawber
in another.
The
successful general does not disperse his forces over the whole
of the battlefield. He deploys the main forces where they will be most
effective according to the immediate need and he does
not
hesitate
to re-deploy as circumstances demand.
The
senior police officers are
the generals and the criminals are the enemy. Perhaps we can learn
something else from the Army besides adapting
War
Office Selection
Board technique as the basic idea in our National Police College?
Forensic Science in a
II
Receiving" Case
By
DETECTIVE-SERGEANT
THOMAS
SHEPHERD
Metropolitan
Police
THE object of this article is to attempt to show how forensic science
was able to assist in the successful investigation of a complicated
case of '
receiving';
and to give some idea of the effective way in
which this evidence was produced, and how it was accepted by the court.
The
success of all scientific aids in crime detection rests entirely
on the enthusiasm of the officers concerned, for, no matter how
willing the scientist may be to assist the police officer, he can do nothing
until he has the material on which to work. Moreover, it is seldom
that the scientist is able to visit the scene of crime and to collect there
the material or exhibits which he thinks will repay examination.
As a rule he can only examine that which is brought to him by the
officer in charge of the case.
It
is clear, therefore, that it is generally
the police officer who has to decide, when he is making an examination
at the scene of a crime, whether there is anything there that might
yield useful evidence if taken to a laboratory for examination.
During the latter
part
of 1949 and the early months of 1950,
numerous thefts of motor cycles were reported from all over the home
counties.
The
thieves were never caught,
but
the method by which
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