Speaking to the First Attending Officer

When Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) arrive at the crime scene, firstly they need to report to the First Attending Officer (FAO). As the FAO is first to arrive at the crime scene, SOCO’s will be briefed by the officer and will than have more knowledge about the events that have occurred. By SOCO's speaking to the FAO they will be able to understand what type of crime has occurred in order to look for particular evidence that will aid the investigation. For example if a murder has taken place, by the SOCO's communicating with the FAO officer before they start to collect evidence from the crime scene, they will be briefed on the events that have occurred and informed on what evidence such as a weapon, to look for at the scene.

The O.J. Simpson Case

Within the murder investigation of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman, the First Attending Officers at the crime scene to discover the bodies of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman were Robert Riske and Mark Fuhrman. However when SOCO’s arrived at the scene, Robert Riske and Mark Fuhrman were relieved from their duty. This left Detective Philip Vannatter in charge of the crime scene. Detective Vannetter briefed the Scene of Crime Officers about the events that had occurred at the crime scene before they began to collect evidence, however as Detectice Vannatter was not the First Attending Officer at the scene not all information was shared between the detective and the SOCO’s. Although Riske did brief Vannatter before being relieved from his duty, it was not the First Attending Officer who informed the SOCO's.