Okuzeka
Criminal Law & Justice vocabulary · Evidence & Forensics

Crime scene

Meaning in criminal law & justice, with examples

/ˈkraɪm siːn/nounCore term

In criminal law & justice, crime scene means: The place where a crime happened, where police and forensic experts look for evidence before anything is moved.

In Turkish: olay yeri, suç mahalli

How it is used

Police 'secure', 'seal off' or 'examine' a crime scene and put up tape to keep people out. 'Crime scene investigators' (US) or 'scenes of crime officers' (UK) collect evidence there. If the scene is disturbed, evidence may become useless in court.

Example sentences

  1. Nobody was allowed to enter the crime scene until the forensic team arrived.

  2. Officers found a glove about fifty metres from the crime scene.

  3. The defence questioned how the crime scene had been handled.

Common collocations

  • secure the crime scene
  • crime scene investigator
  • crime scene tape
  • at the crime scene
  • forensicUsing scientific methods to investigate crimes and produce evidence for courts, such as analysing blood, fibres or digital data.
  • evidenceInformation, objects, documents or testimony that a court can use to decide whether something is true, for example whether the defendant committed the crime.
  • fingerprintThe pattern of lines on the end of a finger, or the mark it leaves on a surface, which police use to identify people.
  • DNA evidenceEvidence based on the genetic material in body cells, such as hair, skin or saliva, which can link a person to a place or object with a high degree of certainty.
  • investigationThe process in which police or prosecutors collect facts and evidence to find out whether a crime was committed and who committed it.

More terms: Evidence & Forensics

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not legal advice.