Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Mistakes To Avoid When Leading a Team of Professionals

Capt. Roger Watkins

When you are leading a team of professionals, you will have to focus on all the important things that will help you achieve the best outcome. Make sure that you are focusing on the things that will allow you to get the best outcome. There are various important things that you need to keep in mind so you can manage things in the perfect way. By focusing on the details that matter the most, you will be able to come up with a great solution. It is important for you to avoid all the common mistakes that most people make.

Make sure to focus on the details that will help you achieve the best results. It is important for you to lead your team in the best possible way. Here, we are going to discuss all the important things that will help you achieve the best outcome. Let’s have a look at all those mistakes that you should avoid.

Not providing feedback

If you are not providing timely feedback, then you will end up facing a lot of problems. It is important for you to provide feedback to your team so you can manage things in an efficient way. It is the perfect way to proceed so you can avoid all the problems that you are facing. Make sure to focus on the details that will allow you to get the best outcome. If you are not providing feedback in a proper way, then you will end up facing a lot of problems. Make sure to focus on the things that will help you achieve the best outcome.

Being too friendly

Being too friendly is also a mistake that you should avoid. If you are being too friendly with your team, then you will end up facing a lot of problems. It is important for you to maintain a professional environment and relationship so you can make things easier and better for yourself. It is the right way to proceed so you can achieve the best results.

Not making enough time for the team

If you are not taking out the time for your team, then you will end up facing multiple problems. Make sure that you are focusing on communicating with your team in a proper way so you can make things easier and better for yourself. These are the things that you need to keep in mind so you can manage things in the right way.
 

Monday, August 7, 2023

Most Frequent Mistakes Made In Death Investigations

Capt. Roger Watkins

Death investigations are a very challenging process that entails collaboration between police officers and experts from various forensic disciplines to solve a case. Due to rapid and violent death, many things can and will go wrong. Furthermore, there may very well be misunderstandings that lead to serious mistakes that affect the outcome of the case due to the diverse responsibilities of these people.

The crime scene is where everything starts, and this is also where most mistakes are made.

1. Poor Reaction to the Situation

First, officers might not react appropriately or secure the location and surrounding area. The uniformed officers could be reluctant to confront higher-ranking officers or unauthorized individuals who insist on entering the area. First Officers may fail to contact investigators when they arrive at the scene of the death; they may wait too long before doing so; they may believe the death was a suicide or a natural one, in which case a crime scene is not necessary; they may fail to detain everyone present at the scene, which may include the suspect; they may also fail to separate potential witnesses and obtain preliminary statements—failing to identify the crime scene's perimeter and failing to provide a large enough area of protection as a result.

Continued instances of improper action include failing to monitor and direct EMTs and paramedics properly. EMS workers frequently arrive on the scene before the police. Mistakes include failing to record observations at the site before detectives arrived and failing to follow any victims to the hospital for interviews.

2. Neglecting to Secure the Crime Scene

Contamination of crime scenes is a serious issue. The first official steps made by the first responders at the scene to isolate and safeguard the scene and the subsequent investigative reaction to prevent scene contamination and ensure the correct crime scene process are crucial to the investigation.

We run the danger of losing important microscopic evidence when the presence of extraneous people pollutes the crime scene. More importantly, the damage to crime scenes is frequently permanent after it has been done.

3. Not Treating Suspected Homicides as Such

Until the evidence indicates otherwise, all death inquiries should be handled as homicides, and the scene should be treated as a crime scene. Every case of an unattended death should have an investigator assigned to it. Assuming that these fatalities are typically not criminal situations and don't require detective inquiry, several agencies have made the error of allowing patrol personnel to perform basic death investigations.

On the contrary, these examples may involve homicides manufactured to look like suicides, accidents, or other unavoidable reasons. We see the possibility of significant mistakes in inquiries into ambiguous deaths. Because the scene was not handled as a homicide investigation, vital evidence would have been lost or tainted if the death were subsequently determined to be a homicide. The crucial interrogations, interviews, photos, and videos from the crime site are lost forever.

Additionally, how is the investigator intended to develop their skills in estimating the time of death and evaluating the morphologic postmortem changes that occur during the postmortem interval? When all death investigations are handled as homicide cases, the likelihood that a key piece of information would be overlooked because the scene was staged or manipulated to divert attention from the crime is reduced.

4. Giving an Answer Based on Preconceived Notions

Detectives must avoid approaching a death investigation with preconceived views about the case. Based on the initial report, most agencies will dispatch a call.

When a case is described as a "suicide," the responding police officer and the detectives will automatically handle it as such. To handle the call based on the initial report is a serious error in reasoning. The immediate issue is that you are subconsciously presuming that the death is a suicide case while, in reality, this is a straightforward death inquiry that may very well turn out to be a homicide.

In a professional death investigation, any predetermined beliefs or notions are risky. Other erroneous assumptions may include deaths that appear to be drug-related and the result of domestic violence, in addition to assumptions that the death was a "suicide" or a natural one. You must maintain an open mind and resist being swayed by the initial reports or the crime scene's staging.

A true professional requires a flexible attitude that is receptive to fresh proposals, ideas, and thoughts in these fluid investigations. The detective searches for both consistency and inconsistency and must be ready to adjust the investigation's focus if new evidence comes to light.
 

Mistakes To Avoid When Leading a Team of Professionals

When you are leading a team of professionals, you will have to focus on all the important things that will help you achieve the best outcom...