Photographing the Scene of the Crime: OSI Training

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class J.T. Armstrong
  • Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  
It was cold and rainy as I photographed the exterior of the building. I took another picture of the room number and entrance before being led into the building by an agent from the Office of Special Investigations.

The first room was dark. It was partially a living area, partially a dining room, full of investigators and their black Pelican cases of equipment. I adjusted my camera's settings for inside and documented the room.

An agent led me into a back room full of bright, yellow evidence placards with bold, black numbers labeling evidence. In the back corner of the room was a multicolored baby playpen. I inhaled slowly, a million thoughts of what it might contain racing through my head. I moved forward, peering over the edge. The playpen contained a deceased infant. On the desk, next to the playpen was placard number 31. "I don't know why I did it..," was sloppily scribbled on an Air Force Inns note pad.

The entire scenario was an elaborate mock crime scene set up earlier in the day by the Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 813, at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. 

OSI conducted the day of training to share their processes for documenting a crime scene.

The day started with a slideshow presentation in the Security Forces Squadron conference room. It covered topics such as what a crime scene is and preservation of evidence.

Members from the 5th Bomb Wing Judges Advocate, Public Affairs and many other units across the Wing attended the training on Oct. 22, 2015.  The presentation provided an opportunity for each unit in attendance to add valuable information from their own experiences to the training.

"When we start taking pictures, or just looking around to see what we can find, we start getting into problems because we don't have probable cause to go into other rooms," said Maj. Carlos De Dios, 5th BW deputy staff judges advocate. "If we don't have probable cause, what happens to that evidence - it gets thrown out."

Photojournalists from Public Affairs took notes as well as provided tips to OSI when it comes to photography. Many people do not know that photojournalists are on-call 24/7 to document crime scenes ranging from vehicle accidents and electrical fires, to domestic violence and sexual assault.

"We can get a call from Law Enforcement at any time, day or night, weekday or weekend," said Airman 1st Class Sahara Fales, 5th BW Public Affairs photojournalist. "When we arrive on scene, we are never really sure of what to expect, what we are going to see, smell or hear, so we have to be prepared for anything."

The second part of the training started with a mock crime scene, set up by OSI, in the Temporary Lodging Facility. Photojournalists worked their way through the scene with OSI agents documenting the location, evidence and victims.

The training concluded with a hot wash of the entire day and some dialogue about how units could better work together to accomplish their missions.

"I took away a lot of valuable information from the training," said Fales. "It's easy to forget the significance of our photographs, but they could mean the difference between getting a conviction or not."