Karnataka Police to have specialised ‘scene of crime officers – Burning Issues

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‘scene of crime officers’

The criminal justice system comprises primarily the police, which is the investigating agency and is also responsible for maintenance of law and order.
Then there is the prosecution branch. It was earlier supervised by the Police Department but on the directions of the judiciary, the supervision is now vested in the District Magistrate.
Third is the judiciary, which of course is independent of the executive. The prosecution branch is literally unsupervised because the DM does not have enough time
Earlier the SHO (Station House Officer) and the prosecutors used to examine cases jointly, assess the evidence and the witnesses and prepare chargesheets. Today, there has been a great fall in the conviction rate of criminal cases. The police investigation has become shoddy. Lack of coordination has resulted in poor prosecution of cases and the attitude of the judiciary has changed.

Karnataka State Police will now have specialised ‘scene of crime officers’ (SoC officers), who will be responsible for gathering crucial evidence from crime scenes.
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa gave the sanction to recruit 206 SoC officers across the state.
the recruitment process will commence soon.
The SoC officers will specialise in forensic science as well in identification, collection and preservation of evidence at the scene of the crime. They have to identify, record and collect evidence at the crime scene.”
The SoC officers will assist investigation officers by providing crucial evidence material. Early evidence will also help in early arrest of the accused.
this is the first time in the country that dedicated officials will be deployed for evidence collection, a system that exists in advanced countries.
Scene of Crime officers will have a rank equivalent to police sub-inspector and will be part of the Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratories.
These officers will be trained investigators, who will undergo training at National Forensic Sciences University in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, and Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad.
“So far, the local police are doing this job. It is only in major cases that forensic experts from the FSL visit the scene of the crime