Crime Scene Investigator

by Paul Millen

  The rewards for working with dedicated detectives and expert scientists on complex and long cases were great. Our resources were finite, but they were used well and for a period certain types of armed robbery actually stopped. In reality all those committing the crime were behind bars and the crimes would not start up again until some were released, many years later. It seemed that armed robbery was a career for some violent men even if it were interrupted with terms of imprisonment, which they seemed to accept as an occupational hazard.

  Sometimes it was a family business. At one time three brothers from the same family had been arrested in separate investigations. A fourth brother who undertook legitimate work as a market stall holder made sure he had a prominent pitch outside a busy London underground station. Whether it was intentional or not, it provided him with a constant and reliable alibi. Perhaps rather unkindly, one of the Flying Squad teams was considering sending the boys’ unfortunate mother a rather small turkey for Christmas. Detectives often display a warped sense of humour, it helps keep them in the real world, but I don’t think even they would have seen this heartless deed through.

  Being part of the investigative team was a drug. The combination of forensic evidence and good detective work produced a focus and team spirit which was hard to match.

  Guile and cunning are useful traits, provided they are ethically used. Following a long surveillance operation, the Squad pounced on a team of robbers just as they got out of their cars and began to enter a jeweller’s. Although armed, they were overpowered by the police and arrested on a charge of conspiracy to rob. It would be necessary to prove association of all the suspects and the false-plated getaway vehicle at the scene and change-over cars scattered at other locations. The forensic evidence would be used to corroborate the surveillance testimony offered by detectives. The arrest went off without any shots being fired and so there was no priority for me to examine any suspects. The recovery of clothing was dealt with by detectives I had trained and instructed along with police surgeons. One suspect was sitting in a change-over car bearing false number plates, a few streets away. He realised something was up and simply got out and walked away from the car. He was arrested fifty yards away but denied any involvement. The vehicle was in the street and I went to give it a screening search so that it could be brought in for full examination later. The screening would ensure that there was nothing in the vehicle, like weapons or masks, which the detectives should know about before they conducted any interview. On the driver’s seat I found a pack of branded cigarettes and a lighter. This I removed and packaged so the vehicle could be taken away by a tow truck. I went to the police station to enter the items I had found on the custody sheet of the arrested man. As I was doing so I overheard a detective who was about to interview the suspect say that the suspect was asking for a cigarette. Showing the detective the sealed exhibit bag, I suggested that the suspect might sign for the ones I had found in the vehicle. If he did he would unwittingly associate himself with the vehicle. I had sealed the item with a view to fingerprinting them later. If the suspect signed for them he would save me the trouble of associating them with him. Although probably well handled, there was no guarantee that I would find his fingerprint so I opened the bag and gave the contents to the detective. Within a minute the suspect had signed for them and the job was done. He was later to plead guilty to conspiracy to rob.

  Being an expert in a particular field within a diverse team comes with its responsibilities. There were times when I needed to say something that was uncomfortable. On one occasion, whilst covering the south-east London Squad office, I was called to assist them when they arrested a team of robbers as they committed an robbery. I noticed that one overzealous officer new to the Squad had arrested one of the suspects away from the scene but went back to the scene later and recovered an item. There was a potential risk of contamination of the evidence we were seeking. In a crowded briefing, I told the senior investigator, a detective inspector. There was silence, it was an awkward moment. It was not the news he or any of the officers present wanted to hear. Nothing could be done to undo the problem. There was one small crumb of comfort though, and I offered that. Although there was a risk of contamination from the suspect to the scene, there was none from the scene to the suspect as the officer had only gone one way. So, although a two-way transfer of evidence was unsafe, a one-way transfer was still worthy of investigation. The detective inspector accepted the advice. The scientist who undertook the laboratory examination was given the full facts and this was also disclosed to the defence. It rather deflated any of the usual allegations of planting of evidence which were often made by the defence. In any event, the suspect later pleaded guilty.

  I was fortunate to receive commendations from the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and his deputies on a number of occasions. I have received kind comments and congratulations from the best of detectives with whom I have worked. To me they worked as motivators, and gave me comfort that I was doing my job well. It was, however, some words spoken by a young detective, one who did not know me, of which I am proudest. I had received a call to an armed robbery at a bank in Romford in Essex. Shots had been fired and I was only a mile or so away when the call came out. I responded to the call and informed the control room that I would make my way there. When I arrived at the scene a local detective was already there. I showed my identification and told him I was from the Flying Squad, but he must have assumed that I was a detective (if a short one), or perhaps I didn’t make my introduction clear. Looking at the scene, he told me how the armed robber had threatened the bank staff as they ducked behind the counter. He said that the suspect had fired a long-barrelled pistol and the officer pointed at the screen to indicate where it had struck. I looked at the mark on the screen and then in front of it on the floor I saw a piece of plastic wadding (which he had not seen) hidden on the patterned carpet. Both indicated to me that the weapon was a shotgun type weapon and not a pistol. I told the young detective that the weapon was more likely a smallgauge shotgun and indicated the glass damage and wadding. ‘Oh that’s great,’ he said. ‘I’m glad we sorted that out before your SOCO got here. He’s on his way. I’ve heard that he’s shit hot and that would have been embarrassing.’ On the inside I felt my chest rise and I pulled myself to my full five feet seven inch stature. I quietly and proudly told him, ‘I am the Flying Squad SOCO.’

  9. The Robber Who Bit Off More than he Could Chew

  The crime scene is thought by many to be the most productive area for finding forensic evidence. That is not always the case. Often other locations associated with the crime are much more useful. Arriving at the getaway car, this was going to be one of these occasions.

  The crime scene itself was unremarkable. Two armed men had threatened a security guard as he was transferring a wages bag between his security van and a small factory. There was no struggle and nothing had been dropped at the scene. There were no shoe marks on the ground to indicate anyone’s presence, criminal or otherwise.

  The suspect had jumped into a small saloon car popular at the time and driven off at speed. The guards gave chase in the security vehicle and, having caught up, they were threatened with a gun for a second time. Naturally, the suspects escaped.

  The car was found, engine running, doors open, a mile or so away, near some garages and an alleyway leading to an open area of waste ground and dwellings beyond.

  I picked up the call on the police radio channel. Central 857 a Flying Squad car crewed by Dick Kirby and his driver Tony Freeman (‘Freeburg’ as Dick often referred to him) also answered and they beat me to the scene.

  Dick and Tony were all that epitomised the professional Flying Squad. Dick was the tenacious maverick detective, Tony was the expert driver who would get Dick into and out of situations with calm professionalism.

  Tony could make even the smallest car sing. With the right tool, and on the Squad he had the right tool, he was at his professional best. One of my earliest investigation
s on the Squad was when I was asked by Kevin Shapland (who I was later to realise was the most complete detective I would ever work with) to drive from the office in east London to Heathrow Airport to examine a car. Like most SOCOs at that time I had previously covered only a small geographical area. At first I thought it was a wind up. Heathrow was well outside the East End of London which my Flying Squad office covered. Kevin and Tony were going to meet me there. It took me well over an hour to get there through the traffic. I knew that Tony was still at the office some thirty minutes after I left as he had been called back to the office radio set as he was leaving to receive another message. This increased my fears of being the brunt of a practical joke.

  To my amazement, as I arrived at Heathrow, Tony and Kevin arrived too. I confirmed that the drive, which had taken me well over an hour through the central London traffic, had taken Tony precisely thirty-five minutes. Much later, when travelling in the car with him, I realised that he quickly and safely got his crew to where it mattered without fuss and in a condition where they could quickly get on with their job.

  Back at our robbery scene, a quick examination revealed that there was little for me to do at the robbery location itself so I jumped back into my car and went to where the getaway vehicle had been found.

  A police officer protected the car. It was my intention to undertake a preliminary examination of the vehicle so that it could be removed for a comprehensive and much longer examination back in the privacy of a police station. I would also search the alleyway down which a witness had seen the two suspects run.

  My first thoughts were to secure any evidence around the vehicle, perhaps a shoe mark in the mud or item dropped. I would then search the vehicle for large items which it would be important to know about immediately, perhaps the stolen money bag or a loaded firearm. I would then examine the driver’s area for fibres and then any other areas (gear stick, hand brake) which would have to be touched to allow the removal by tow truck to the police station.

  The engine was still running when the vehicle had been abandoned and there was a key in the ignition. On closer examination it was not the original manufacturer’s key. It was a new key, that was obvious from its clean undamaged appearance. At one end (the end which one would attach to a key ring) was a plastic covering that contained the inscription ‘Curtis’, which was a replacement car key brand. In my initial observation of the car I had also noticed that the boot lock was missing. Things were coming together. From examining many similar vehicles I had realised something that the criminals also knew. On this particular model of this particular car the specific number to the ignition key was marked on the boot lock barrel. So it was common in such cases for thieves to remove the barrel from the parked car, go to a local replacement key supplier, give the number and get a key. They would then return to the vehicle and steal it. I am glad to say that such an opportunity was removed in later designs.

  I also saw on the key, before thinking of how to remove it, some scratches. They looked like the indentations made when someone bit a semi-hard plastic. Which in fact, they were. They were teeth marks.

  It was the scratches which particularly intrigued me. They were only small but I had on many occasions used evidence resulting from when a screwdriver or similar implement is used to force open a metal cash box or the like. The screwdriver leaves scratches or striations which are unique to the tool which made them. Even a new screwdriver can leave striations from the milled or ground edge and these will show up under a microscope. When a tool is damaged from regular use, the resulting pitting leaves a wave of striations which makes the evidence all the more obvious. So although I was sure that the marks looked like bite marks, it was the striations from the damaged end of the donor’s teeth that immediately struck me as evidential.

  I also had to consider the possibility that as these were teeth marks I could assume the presence of saliva. This was before the days of DNA but saliva could in some case reveal the blood group of the donor. Although not totally specific it was a useful investigative tool. It could include or certainly eliminate a suspect. There was also a smooth area which was worthy of fingerprinting, although I decided not to at this early stage for fear of damaging the saliva and the bite-mark evidence.

  The vehicle, duly preserved, was removed to the local police station for my full examination later. That would take at least another four hours and I still had the alleyway to examine.

  The alleyway led directly from the open door of the getaway vehicle behind some garages to an open waste area and dwellings beyond. The usual amount of litter and vegetation could be found and would make the examination complex. What made things a little easier were the presence of a few items of clothing left almost in sequence along the path. I recorded the location of each before making a very delicate examination and then placing each item in separate exhibit bags. I would normally have completed a more in-depth inspection of each, before packaging and sealing the item there and then at the scene, but these items needed more attention and careful search. I was unwilling to do this in an open space where fibres and other evidence would be lost. Once they were sealed, I would be unwilling to disturb the items before their submission to the laboratory without a very good reason; such is the proper concept of integrity.

  I placed each item in separately labelled bags and secured the closure to prevent any contamination. The items I found included two black motor-cycle type gloves, one bearing the handwritten number 558 on an inside label, and a denim jacket bearing the manufacturer’s label ‘Manto’.

  Having recovered all the items from the alleyway I stood at the point where it opened out on to the waste ground behind and the dwellings beyond. Much, much later I was to find out from Dick that the suspects had dropped the bag of stolen money in a waste bin a few hundred yards away. They returned later that night to claim their booty. To me the choice of where to go at the end of the alley was too large, the ground opened out in all directions and for me the trail ended there. The search area was getting too large and the trail weak. It still pains me to think there was a prize clue still within my grasp. It had always been my practice to look, as without looking you won’t find, but this was one step too far, even for me.

  Mind you, looking does sometimes have its downside. My first investigation with Dick had been on my very first day on the Flying Squad. A robbery had taken place in the very high street of the area where I lived. The suspect, having left the bank he had just robbed, ran around the corner to his getaway vehicle. I traced his route and noticed a litter bin attached to a lamp post. Checking to see if he had dumped the gun (always an incriminating piece of evidence if found on you), I gingerly lifted the uppermost contents and had a good look. I then noticed one of my neighbours standing in front of me, an elderly lady from my street. She had a horrified and quizzical look on her face, which quickly turned to pity as I turned red with embarrassment. ‘Poor dear, what has this come to?’ she must have thought before marching off clutching her bag whilst turning her head to look back at me. She had no idea what I did for a living and I had no time to explain. The situation wasn’t helped by the fact that all the Squad officers were in plain clothes and drove unmarked vehicles. For many years she gave me a wide berth whenever I saw her.

  Having completed the lengthy examination of the car, which revealed a large number of potential pieces of evidence (including fibres and finger marks), I returned all the items I had collected to my office.

  I then carefully opened, searched and examined the items I had recovered from the alleyway, making more detailed notes about them.

  Looking once again at the key, I was convinced that it contained a bite mark. I also prepared a note to Dick to make sure that he knew that he should investigate which shop had supplied the ‘Curtis’ key, in case that might lead to a suspect.

  The gloves were indeed heavy duty but revealed nothing further. The jacket was much more interesting. It was a bomber-style denim jacket with outside waist pockets. In one pock
et I found two smoked cigarette ends, in the other I found a Yale-type front door key. I documented both before packaging them separately.

  In the days that followed, Dick pursued every line of enquiry he could. Dick was a consummate and complete detective. A small wiry guy, he just about made the five foot ten inch height requirement to join the force. He was sometimes referred to by his colleagues as Nipper. This reflected his tenacious nature but was also in honour of his Flying Squad hero Leonard ‘Nipper’ Read from the 1960s. He was thorough, skilled and hard working. He oozed commitment and a sense of justice, rough justice in some cases. He knew how to deal with criminals in a way they would understand. He never cut corners and always took advice once he knew that you were just as committed as he. Dick has gone on to become a successful writer. When I read Rough Justice and The Real Sweeney, both written by him, I hear his voice and feel the pace of my heart quicken, such was the joy of working with him. He was amongst a handful of the best detectives I ever worked with. I always felt our combined efforts ensured a professional and complete investigation.

  Dick decided he wanted to put the items I had found on the Police Five TV programme on the Independent Television network, ITV. It was a weekly five-minute show where the police appealed for witnesses to crimes in the London area.

  This presented me with a problem. The opening and display of these items on TV would jeopardise any fragile evidence, such as fibres, which they might contain. It would be very difficult to supervise the viewing of such items and still maintain their evidential integrity. A defence lawyer would rightly ask some difficult questions if any evidence was later presented. Although I had undertaken an examination of the gloves, keys (car and Yale) and the jacket, I was mindful that further examination and comparison for fibres on the recovered gloves and jacket with clothing from a suspect at a later date might prove an evidential link.