Crime Scene Investigation Online Activity

Welcome to the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Do you have an interest in why people commit crimes and how society should deal with crime? Do you want to learn how to investigate forensic evidence of crimes? 

Criminology is the study of crime and criminals, while criminal justice relates to the agencies involved in the justice and penal systems – such as police, prisons, probation – and their responses to crime. Forensic Studies looks at types of evidence and how to analyse it for use in criminal investigations.

Test your knowledge of criminal justice

How much do you know about the criminal justice system? Take this short quiz to test your knowledge!

What is criminology?

An Introduction to Forensic Investigation

A key step in many criminal investigations is Forensic Investigation to gather any evidence of the crime, for use in the criminal trial. One of the things our students do to learn about this, is to work on a mockup of a real crime scene.

There are two scenarios for you to work through below, both involving a mock crime scene that needs to be investigated.

Scenario 1: Assault at Old Portsmouth

You’re a Forensic Investigator and you’ve been sent to the scene of an assault located on the beach in Old Portsmouth. Your task is to identify all evidence and set the scene for the Crime Scene Photographer.

Your task:

• Take a look around this 360 image of the crime scene.
• What evidence can you find?
• Write down everything you find and why it might be significant.

Check if you missed any evidence by reviewing the same 360 image that now contains scene markers for photography. There are 14 different types of evidence in this scene - did you find them all?

Scenario 2: Hotel assault

You are the Crime Scene Manager and Lead Investigator on an assault that has taken place in one of the rooms at a hotel. You’re responsible for leading the investigation and your task is to identify the steps that need to be taken for the investigation, including the examination of the evidence at the scene.

The Offender Journey Game

So, the criminal justice system is responsible for detecting a crime, prosecuting a crime, deciding on a verdict and, if guilty, sentencing an individual to an appropriate punishment. For many in the UK, this will be a prison sentence that will vary in length depending on the crime committed. Once in prison, it is then the role of the criminal justice system to rehabilitate and reintegrate a person back with society.

The offender journey from prison, to release and rehabilitation is often obstacle strewn and sometimes those obstacles are very difficult to control or influence. Work your way through our Offender Journey Game and see if you can highlight these obstacles while playing. You can play on your own against the computer, or play with other people!

Find out more about Criminology and related courses