Police Service

The police service play a vital role in any legal form of investigation as they represent the Criminal Justice System and the Laws along with it. In the case of any investigation involving fires police will follow strict 'major crimes' investigation procedures to ensure that the fire wasn't arson, fraud or potential cover for a previous crime.

At a fire scene there's on occasion a first attending officer at the scene who will liaise with the first fire service teams to land so as to quickly alert the teams on the severity of the fire if its still burning, any potential threats to life; potentially trapped adults or children. Once the FAO has shared all his knowledge of the situation at hand he/she would coincide with other police officers so they can secure the area and keep people as far back from the fire as possible to ensure they're not in danger of the flames, falling debris or any other such hazards to ensure no further loss of life or injuries is possible as well as to ensure any potentially critical evidence isn't missed or contaminated by the public.

A senior investigation Officer (SIO) will ensure the procedures and practices of all officers involved is done to a high degree of precision and done swiftly as a fire scene will deteriorate and change rapidly over time so everything must be done efficiently to ensure all evidence is collected appropriately, safely, and without any form of contamination. It is also this senior officer that will facilitate a case conference with the other liaising agencies such as the Scenes of Crimes Officers (SOCO's) as well as agencies like the specialist dog units in order to establish the direction the fire investigation.

In a fire investigation as well as all the routine crime scene examination procedures being required to be carried out on some occasions during criminal investigations a detailed search may be required in order to search for the recovery of human remains and other such sensitive materials. In some more serious arson cases bodies are hidden within a property, or on property grounds, then the property burnt down in order to hide any evidence of the previous crime. In these cases the police would call in a Police Search Advisor (POLSA) to advise on the search parameters of an area as well as any notable places to search within a property. POLSA are usually the ones who work alongside the Senior Investigation Officer on the case in order to establish planning, organising, and managing a controlled search within a large crime scene such as a mill or factory.

Before setting out to search a fire scene police officers, where possible, are to consult with Health and Safety officials in order to ensure their well being by getting advice on whether areas of a property or area are safe to enter. This is so as to ensure that when looking for missing/injured persons in a fire scene police officers don't also become on of those missing/injured people.

Police will also begin to identify witnesses so they can perform interviews so as to ensure that any potential information that could aid the case is recorded and they may also be able to identify potential suspects from that information. By this point is is possible Fire and Rescue Services could be able to liaise with the Police in order to provide information upon which an investigative interview strategy can be based upon; for example finding distinctive clothing at the scene could lead police to ask about whether anyone saw someone and if so what clothing they were wearing. This would allow police to determine information on the suspect without creating a biased or false witness statement as some psychological theories state that by asking a question in a certain way it can cause witnesses to change what they recall from events that have transpired.

Once the scene is clear, secure and safe enough to enter the Scenes of Crimes Officers would be called to the scene in order to identify, collect and record potential evidence relevant to the case. This information would be shared with the police, the fire investigator, specialist dog units, the insurance loss adjuster, and the H.S.E.