At a crime scene, investigators should secure all digital information, including answering machine tapes, cell phones, surveillance video tapes and desktop and laptop computers according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This information can later be used as evidence against a suspect during a crime scene investigation. Investigators will take this digital information and analyze it at a police station. This information is also useful for finding accomplishes to a crime.
Computers can also be used during a crime scene investigation in order to map crimes. Investigators enter crime data into a computer database in order to find patterns of crime. These patterns help law enforcement officers target an area that is high in crime. Law enforcement can then create programs to target crime in that area. The FBI also uses pattern mapping in order to track serial killers. Computer software can be used to analyze data and estimate behavioral patterns in criminals. This data can also be used to compare criminal behavior so that law enforcement can compare the crime scene data to other criminal acts to predict a serial killer's next move.
Computers can be used to analyze bodily fluid present at a crime scene. Rape kits help investigators collect semen samples in the event of a rape. This DNA evidence goes through a computer system; investigators then compare it to the DNA of a suspect in custody. Blood samples may also be taken from a crime scene, which can be run through a DNA computer database to find out if the suspect has committed a crime in the past. All types of bodily fluid analysis can help police track down or convict a suspect.
The Virginia State Police use Live Scan, which is a handheld computer system that scans the fingerprints of arrested individuals at a crime scene. Fingerprints may also be scanned if they have been left at a crime scene. Investigators send these prints to a central police hub, so they can be run through a central computer database. Fingerprint information can then be run through state, FBI and local databases to determine if the suspect has an outstanding warrant for other crimes or if he is a repeat offender. Digital scans of fingerprints are less prone to being lost by a law enforcement officer.