Stephen Lawrence workshop report free essay sample

This report will critically overview and analyse the initial police response of the 1993 Stephen Lawrence murder investigation, covering all aspects of an investigation and how it’s meant to be pursued. It will highlight key steps that were not meet by the initial response in the Lawrence investigation including the ‘five building blocks’, the ‘Golden hour(s)’, appointment of an Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) and then these key principles will be critically compared to that of the Lawrence investigation and using relevant academic sources. The MacPherson Report (1999) will be looked at in relation to these key principles as this report was the main inquest into the failings of the police in the Stephen Lawrence Murder investigation. Also whether the incident was meant to be classed as a critical incident or not will be discussed as this can affect the initial response of the police and their investigation. Five Building Blocks The first officers that attend the scene of a crime can have a monumental impact on the investigation especially when dealing with the forensics side of things as was found in the Stephen Lawrence investigation (Solomos, J. We will write a custom essay sample on Stephen Lawrence workshop report or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page (1999)), the first officer’s contamination through transfer of materials and destruction of vital evidence, some of these were evident in the case of Stephen Lawrence. On the other hand there may be several demands competing for attention such as violent confrontations, public disorder, injuries, distressed victims or witnesses (Beaufort-Moore, D. (2009)) However, the first officers on scene of Lawrence had the ‘five building blocks’ for any investigation to consider (O’Bryne, M. (2000)), first of which is to preserve life which should have been apparent in the Lawrence case as Stephen Lawrence lay victim so a stabbing but more importantly when police arrived on scene he was still alive, therefore the initial response of the police was unforgiving as they could have saved Stephen Lawrence’s life on first contact at the scene (Murder Investigation Manual (2006)). The ‘Golden Hour(s) The five buildings blocks also link to what is known as the ‘golden hour(s)’ which is associated with getting the best out of initial forensics and evidence collecting that the police must do when abiding by the five building blocks of an investigation. This ‘golden hour(s)’ in the Stephen Lawrence case was not adhered to, in the case it took eleven days for the police to do an E-fit of the suspects and also witnesses confirmed the identities of the suspects 48 hours after the murder which was never followed up by the police’s initial response (Cook, T. and Tattersall, A. (2010)). Innes (2003) argues that ‘The quantity and quality of knowledge available to detectives at an early stage of an enquiry is crucial in terms of how quickly they will begin to progress the investigation’ Innes (2003) states that this period directly after and the next 48 – 72 hours are crucial to the investigation progressing. This rule of the golden hour(s) is essential in any investigation and especially in the initial response, MacPherson Report (1999) criticised the initial response â€Å"We were astonished at the lack of direction and organisation during the vital first hours after the murder.† and therefore for this to be missing this is the stand out criticism of the initial response, which also led to the McPherson report (1999) to conclude that â€Å"The investigation was marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership by senior officers† (Anthias, F. (1999)).This conclusion by the report was heavily critical of the police and their initial response and rightly so (Cottle, S. (ed.) (2000)). In analysis the police could have not seen the crime as a critical incident which could have had the severe consequences caused by the initial response, this could ever so slightly could justify the police’s response to this crime and the scene, however J. Grieve, J. Crego B. Griffiths (2007) define a critical incident as ‘Any event where the effectiveness of the policing response is likely to have a significant impact on the confidence of the victim, their family, or the community.’ The police’s initial response shows that they saw this crime and not matching of the criteria of a critical incident, even though the brutal murder of a young black youth at 10:30pm wasn’t deemed as critical is also a big criticism of the initial response of the police and their investigation (Alison, L. and Crego, J. (Eds) (2007)). What was also heavily criticized by the MacPherson report was the lack of direction and allocation of a senior investigating officer, Mullins, Alison Crego (2008)) informs us that murder investigations appoint a SIO that will act as key-decision maker, with overall responsibility for every aspect of the investigation and invariably involve liaisons with family of victim and any witnesses, as well as with a range of different community groups, local organisations and the media. As seen in the case and highlighted in the MacPherson report (1999) these were not apparent in the tragic case of Stephen Lawrence, where lack of direction and family support was greatly missing in the investigation and was rightly criticised by the MacPherson report. Conclusion In conclusion the initial response of the police can be seen to be fully lacking in most areas, from first contact and the breaking of the first if the five building blocks, to the last process of the investigation. The breaking of the golden hour(s) deadline has to be, however, by far the biggest criticism of the initial response. Which led to the MacPherson Report (1999) outlining the investigation as infamously institutionally racist because of the lack of effort in the initial response to the murder. Cook, T. and Tattersall, A. (2010) stated that the police in their initial response was lacking of any intent to follow up any leads especially with the eye witness accounts of the murderers. The MacPherson Report critically discusses the lack of direction and the unwillingness of the police to investigate under proper guidance from any Senior Investigating Officer, this therefore shows us that the police and their initial response was lacking in all key areas. Therefore from this report and mainly other academic sources it is clear that the police’s initial response the murder of Stephen Lawrence was not at all satisfactory and showed a clear lack of enthusiasm, training and leadership. Which clearly shows that the five building blocks of an investigation and the Golden hour(s) of an investigation are vital, for any investigation of a critical incident to progress in order to finding those responsible for the crime.