For the first time in its history, the Karnataka State Police will induct 206 ‘scene of crime’ officers to inspect and gather crucial evidence from crime spots in the state. The state government has opened up 206 posts and will be starting the recruitment process for this soon.
But what is the job of an SOC officer? TNM spoke to a senior official in the Karnataka State Home Department who explained that a ‘scene of crime’ officer will be trained to become the first responders after a crime happens. They will be trained investigators and the recruits will be trained in the Forensic Science Laboratory. Their job role will include visiting scenes of crimes, gathering minute and crucial material and forensic evidence from these crime scenes, sending this evidence for forensic tests and helping police officers in evidence collection.
“They are special police officers who will be the first to visit the scene of major crimes for examination. Right now, this is done by local policemen. Going forward, these Scene of Crime Officers trained in forensics will be the first responders of sorts,” the official explained.
The motive, according to the official, is to make investigations better by getting trained officials to inspect crime scenes. This is a practice in trained countries including the USA, where ‘coroners’ will conduct an inquest into the cause of death. A coroner is a government official or judicial official who has the legal authority to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. If a crime happens under the coroner’s jurisdiction, he or she has the power to probe and confirm the identity of the deceased person.
In the UK for example, Scene of crime officers also known as crime scene investigators or CSIs are trained to take photographs at crime scene, identify evidence and traces left, avoid contamination at crime scene, take fingerprints and collect forensic evidence etc.
Initially, the 206 newly appointed SOC officers in Karnataka will only be used to investigate serious crimes. However, at a later stage, more officers will be recruited and will be used for all investigations of a varied nature.
On Tuesday, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa handed over the orders to Director General and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Praveen Sood during an event at Vidhana Soudha. He also handed over service medals to police, fire and emergency staff and home guards.