Meet Crime Scene Investigator Pennie, as she forensically examined a vehicle as part of day of action

A Crime Scene Invistogator's white suit is used on many occasions, ranging from murders, through to burglaries and vehicle crimes and assaults – it simply stops them contaminating the scene they are investigating.

We spoke to Pennie, one of GMP’s Crime Scene Investigators, on the burglary crime day of action whilst she forensically examined a vehicle.

Pennie explained that the vehicle had been used to flee the scene of a burglary a few nights earlier, and after she viewed the CCTV footage that officers had sent over, Pennie and other CSI experts then made a strategy around the forensic recovery of evidence and analysis.

It will take Pennie almost 4 hours to completely examine a stolen vehicle that comes into the garage, working her way through a number of stages to assess, examine, recover, and record any potential evidence from the car. Alongside the vehicle she was dealing with, there were other vehicles in the garage ranging from those involved in road traffic collisions to those involved in incidents such as serious assaults– all waiting patiently to be examined by Crime Scene Investigators.

Pennie decides the forensic strategy which is determined on factors such as circumstances of the offence, the suspect arrest, seizure of clothing or other items, and recovery of tools.

Starting with two clean and sterile work benches, Pennie separates her tools onto a ‘contaminated’ work bench consisting of her own laptop and camera, and a ‘clean’ work bench, free from any DNA and evidence so she can put the evidence collected from the car into bags to be sent off for analysis.

When working between the benches Pennie uses medical grade wipes to decontaminate between the two, to ensure everything is kept sterile from the pens she uses to write on the evidence labels to her gloves when she has touched her own laptop and camera equipment.

Pennie first took pictures of the interior and exterior of the car to showcase where items were placed before she started to take evidence using a number of techniques.

Whilst she was forensically examining the vehicle in one of GMP’s vehicle garages, Pennie spoke to us about her career in forensics.

When asked what the best part of her job was, Pennie said: “I like how we can help detectives to understand where the investigation is going by using science.

“No matter what, there will always be a trace, and it is so satisfying when we find fingerprints and DNA which can then place somebody to a scene.

“The first step in solving a case lies with what we recover. It’s imperative that we get it right so officers have a watertight case to take to court.”

Once she had finished taking pictures, she moved to look inside the vehicle, looking for anything she could see that may leave a suspect’s trace.

After this, Pennie recovered a puffer jacket coat from the vehicle, laying it out on sterile brown paper before taking pictures and putting it in an evidence bag to be sent off to the forensic labs for further examination.

The windows were then dusted down with powder to highlight any fingerprints so Pennie can lift them as evidence to place a suspect in the car.

Pennie also said: “We are trained to expect the unexpected, and every environment we attend is different. Sometimes we aren’t in the most glamorous of situations, but we have a job to do, which can ultimately result in criminals facing justice for their crimes.

“I enjoy the decision-making that comes with the role and deciding how I approach a new scene never gets old.

“Our work can often be the missing part of the puzzle; it can help investigating officers connect the dots to determine a timeline of events prior to the car being stolen to assist them in catching those responsible."

Crime Scene Investigators are key in tackling vehicle crime and neighbourhood crime in general, and they can often be a forgotten part of the fight, but their work is vital in solving crime and catching criminals.