Topic > Criminology Reflection - 970

Over the years I have been a faithful fan of all things crime; the anatomy of a crime, from the crime itself, to the investigation, and finally to the court for trial and sentencing. I enjoyed the process. The internet became an interesting tool for me to learn all the different things I wanted to know about the topic of crime. I would see something in the media or on television, but I would maintain a neutral view on the technology used in a program. Logically speaking, if a crime could be solved in 47 minutes and DNA results took weeks or months, not minutes to process, it wouldn't make sense that real-life crimes would be solved much more quickly in the name of speedy justice. This is why I like learning about different aspects of criminology in a real environment. I will admit that I felt like I had a good basic understanding of what forensic science is, but this course helped me put some missing pieces into place. There were several areas that piqued my interest and made me want to learn more, such as ethics and, more importantly, the need to be ethical in the collection of evidence, its treatment and the testimony given during the process. The need to be ethical should be expected as part of a person's character, especially when something arises that could prove guilt or innocence, no matter how naive it may seem. However, we live in the real world and someone's ethical behavior can be questioned. For example, a first responder who took photos of a wrecked car and a dead body and suddenly they went viral, perhaps even profiting from the photo or video (in this case it was just for sick humor). Dayna Kempson-Schacht had been in a fatal car accident, and a local firefighter had captured video of the victim, which eventually ended up on the Internet, going viral, for all the world to see. Eventually the parents saw the video of their daughter's last moments. The firefighter was heard saying, "Look at that piece of skull right there on the console." This type of behavior is unacceptable in the field of public safety (Hayes, 2010). This extends to all aspects of criminal justice. Even cases like OJ Simpson (cliché, I know) have raised questions about ethical crime scene behavior as evidence was collected and processed, not to mention possible racial bias and planting of evidence as a direct result.