SIO Decision Considerations
This is just an example of a simple decision that an SIO will have to make in a real murder investigation. You will be asked to do the same throughout this immersive game.
The pro's and con's are what any leader of an investigation has to go through prior to making any decision.
Their rationale is recorded in a decision log, often many books are completed on each investigation, for review at a later stage by any interested party.
Not all decisions will turn out to be correct with hindsight but as long as the rationale is recorded with what they knew at that time then every decision is explained.
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You have been given four choices and must choose one. You may wish to consider the following information before making your decision.
Positives For Calling The Team In
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Your team can immediately take control on the enquiry and prevent evidence being lost
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You and your senior management team will not require briefings in the morning and thus save valuable time
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You can review the cordons and crime scene to prevent any evidence loss at the earliest opportunity
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Any potential witnesses will still be at the scene and available for your officers to deal with them
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Easier for your team to travel into work due to less traffic
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The more officers available to deal with any issues that arise the better
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If a suspect is identified then your team will be able to conduct the man hunt
Real Life In This Scenario
In this scenario it is unlikely the team would be called in to work during the middle of the night.
London officer's live in locations quite often a long way from work. We had officers in our team who lived in Brighton and St Neots. To wake everyone and call them in would not be practicable and would burn them out unnecessary early in the investigation.
Negatives For Calling The Team In
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The team could burn out if brought in early and not be fresh to deal with issues during the following day/evening
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Due to the locations of where your staff live they may not be able to get in for a number of hours and thus you will lose the gains in calling them in early
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As local officers are already dealing with any relevant witnesses your staff may be unable to take over certain enquiries immediately
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Limited local enquiries could be conducted due to lateness of hour such as CCTV or House to House
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Local staff could be redeployed and you would lose their assistance earlier than you would like putting more pressure on your team
What Would The Decision Be?
The most likely decision in a case such as this is that as long as you; the SIO was satisfied with what the DS has put in place and have confidence in their abilities then you would leave them to it. You would get into work early probably before 7am to have a full update and to prepare to brief your whole team and allocate roles and actions for them to conduct that day.
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If you thought the case was more complex or had complications that would require a more experienced or senior person to be present then you would most probably send one of your DI's to the scene to take charge until the morning.
