ABSTRACT
The first notification to the police department of an actual or suspected homicide or an incident that may develop into one is usually received by telephone. If the first notification is received in person by an officer on patrol, he or she should immediately note the time and the exact information. The person reporting it should be requested to accompany the officer, and this person should be returned to the vicinity of the crime scene and detained for the investigators. In almost all instances, the first officer to arrive at any homicide crime scene is the uniformed patrol officer. Rarely is the patrol officer a witness to the actual homicide. He usually arrives a short time after in response to a radio transmission or emergency call made by some citizen who has witnessed the crime or stumbled upon the homicide scene. The first officer who is confronted by the homicide crime scene has a very involved responsibility.
