ABSTRACT
No single group’s responsibility is as clearly dened or as o¨en described in crime scene references as that of the initial responding o”cer. e role of the initial responding o”cer is critical, and prior authors such as Geberth1 and Gri”n and Slack2 have e®ectively assisted in dening this role. Initial responding o”cers do not process scenes; the crime scene technician or investigator accomplishes processing. Nevertheless, the initial responding o”cer sets the stage for a successful processing of the crime scene by bringing control to what is generally a chaotic situation. Crime scenes are not abnormal circumstances for the responding patrol o”cer. e responding o”cer’s objectives at the crime scene are the same as they are in any critical incident: bring the site under control and coordinate resources.
