joypath
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A Police Officer on duty would have absolutely no reason to take unofficial pictures and in fact it could be considered evidence since he was there in an official capacity. It is misconduct.
No police officer has a right to take private pictures of a crime scene in which he is acting in an official capacity. All pictures would become "evidence" and tampering or releasing evidence is a serious violation.
I'm not sure where the picture came from. But I would surely hope an officer on that scene did not release that picture.
http://www.kpho.com/story/17234629/inappropriate-taking-of-crime-scenes-not-uncommon
I understand and agree with your post, but want to ask, how would it be any better if there were a civilian a neighbor inside the crime scene taped area who was there taking snapshots of GZ and the crime scene up close with his phone. I don't know about Florida but here you are not allowed on any crime scene and in fact the Police keep everyone about 20 feet away from the taped off area and no one gets to be close to anyone in handcuffs...can you imagine if someone were to get hurt by a handcuffed and in custody person stuff would hit the fan quick...
I dunno why that crime scene was so sloppy and so many people were allowed in there. How can you tell rescue to stage until the scene is secure and still have other civilians in the area? This I have questioned since I saw the first photos. What if other people were also armed?
A Police Officer is sworn to uphold the law and to conduct him/herself with professional conduct. He doesn't get to be a renegade and save trophy pictures and distribute them. I really hope for Sanford Police Department's sake that this comment by Oliver is just a coincidence, and that this isn't a police officer's picture floated on the internet and news on the day of the bond hearing. It is possible this was a friend of GZ who did this.
WOW! :moo::moo::moo:
There are SO many points covered in the above posts that are "on the money" and I'd like to add another point of view (with documentation too!). IMHO, the rep.(s) from the OCME should have been yelling from the roof-tops that the death scene was compromised and "who the heck ARE all these people in MY jurisdiction?". Once EMS (be it a PD or FD) has finished with life-saving practices, STAY AWAY FROM the OCME evidence! (BTW: that evidence WILL/CAN become part of a criminal &/or civil process as chain of custody is maintained) UNLESS OCME permission is granted (yes, verbal authorization CAN/MIGHT be given to photograph specific situations and then collect ("bag") if there is a delay in arrival.
Point of fact, some jurisdictions TRAIN officers in medico-legal tasks and demand SOP familiarity & adherence.
From the website http://www.volusia.org/medicalexaminer/lawduties.htm of the responsible OCME in this case: Duties of law enforcement
Traumatic or suspicious deaths: It is the duty of the law enforcement officer assigned to and investigating the death to immediately establish and maintain liaison with the medical examiner during the investigation into the cause of death." and Obvious or suspected cases of homicide must be handled according to each law enforcement agency's departmental procedures. In such cases the deceased and/or any items on or around the deceased should not be touched or moved until a decision has been made by this office as to whether or not a doctor and investigator will respond to the scene.
:moo::moo: It has happened in the past (some 30+ years ago) that sometimes a representative of an OCME will lash out verbally at a member of LE when the rules of the jurisdiction are "overlooked".......that's called "meeting future DH over a dead body"! :what::what::what:
:rocker: I'm looking forward to some hardcore documents to clarify MANY questions regarding this case! :banghead::banghead::banghead: