Crime scene management for successful prosecution of homicide cases in Ntungamo District

Abstract

Crime scene management dates back to the year 1975 when Henry Fielding started a small group of volunteers in the city of London. In the United States of America, following Supreme Court rulings in the 1980s in several landmark cases, the importance of evidence collected from a properly managed crime scene was laid bare and this eventually led to a catalyzed continual reliance on crime scene evidence and the use of forensic science in prosecuting homicide cases. Crime scene management in Uganda came on spotlight after the establishment of the Directorate of forensic services of the UPF in 2004 with a dedicated laboratory and trained human resource. Despite such effort, the number of homicide cases where suspects have been charged to courts and have not been successfully prosecuted remains high. This study therefore assesses how effective crime scene management can lead to successful prosecution of homicide cases in Ntungamo District. Working with Locard’s Exchange Principle as the guiding framework of the study, a relationship between the two variables, that is, crime scene management and prosecution of homicide cases was established. Literature was reviewed under themes that reflect specific research objectives and research variables to explore previous studies and information gaps. A cross-sectional design was adopted with a case study approach that used questionnaires as tools to support the quantitative study. A case study was adopted to not only support quantitative study, but also to hear the voices of police officers and prosecutors matters of crime scene management and investigations & prosecution of homicide cases in Ntungamo District. A total of 76 police officers (general duty and investigators) participated in the quantitative study, while 25 key informants participated in qualitative study. Through the application of statistical packages of social sciences; the thesis assessed the effectiveness of crime scene management and how it influences the investigation and prosecution of homicide cases. The study findings showed that there is a high influence of crime scene management on the quality of investigations and prosecution of homicide cases in Ntungamo district, and this finding was supported by the overall mean average of 3.66 and standard deviation of 0.952.In addition to Community education and awareness raising by police and prosecution on how to handle and respond to homicides, the study recommends that both police and prosecutors should have advanced joint trainings about the nature and elements of new homicide crimes in order to develop a shared understanding of the kind of evidence necessary for successful prosecutions.