The First Officer on the scene

When I became a homicide detective with the City of Miami Police Department, one of the first lessons I learned was that the investigation does not start when the detective arrives. It starts with the first officer on the scene. That officer saw the scene before anyone else did, heard the first statements, and made the first decisions. Anything I learn later rests on what happened in those first few minutes.

For that reason, the first thing I did when I arrived at a scene was look for that officer. I always shook his or her hand and asked, "Are you in charge of this scene?" Then I identified myself. The officer may not have known me, and I never assumed that he or she did. It was a simple courtesy, but it made clear who was responsible for the scene at that moment, and it showed respect for the work the officer had already done. In my experience, an officer who feels respected is more willing to tell you everything he or she knows, including the mistakes.

I then interviewed the officer, and I treated that interview the same way I would treat an interview with any important witness. I took meticulous notes. I wanted to know when the officer arrived, what he or she saw, who was present, who had left, what was touched or moved and why, and what statements had been made and by whom. I paid particular attention to two areas: the "be on the lookout" bulletin, commonly known as a BOLO, and the security of the scene. I needed to know exactly what information the BOLO was based on, and I needed to know whether anyone had entered or left the scene before it was secured. Both issues can decide the outcome of a case, and I will write about each of them in more detail in a future article.

Before I finished with the officer, I always explained one more thing: the importance of taking his or her own notes on everything he or she did at the scene. The time of arrival, what was observed, who was spoken to, what was said, and every action taken. Many young officers did not understand why this mattered. A case may not reach trial for a year or more, and by then the officer will have handled hundreds of other calls. When the officer takes the witness stand, the defense attorney will ask about details that the officer can no longer remember.

I learned that lesson early in my career. In 1982, while working midnight patrol, I recorded a victim's statements verbatim in my notebook after his house was shot up. Four years later, those notes became important in a federal case against two Miami police officers. I still had them, and I was prepared to testify from them. An officer never knows which call will end up in a courtroom years later.

The first officer on the scene is one of the most important witnesses in any investigation. Detectives should treat that officer as a partner, interview him or her thoroughly, and make sure that he or she is prepared for the day when the case goes to court.

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