Final answer:
The two advantages of using crime scene sketches are aiding in evidence documentation by providing a clear visual record and helping in crime reconstruction by mapping out the sequence of events at a crime scene.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is asking to list two advantages of using crime scene sketches. Two advantages are:
- Aids in evidence documentation: Sketches serve as a visual record of the crime scene, capturing the spatial relationship between different pieces of evidence. Like a geologist uses sketches to focus on important details without distraction, a crime scene sketch allows investigators to remove extraneous details, add annotations, and use shading or colors to emphasize certain elements. This can be beneficial for jurors who rely heavily on visual aids to understand the specifics of a crime scene.
- Helps in crime reconstruction: Crime scene sketches can be an essential tool for reconstructing the events of a crime. They provide a base for analysis and can support or challenge eyewitness accounts, which, as research by Loftus and others have shown, are often suggestible and vulnerable to inaccuracies. By visualizing the physical layout and positioning of evidence, sketches can help deduce the sequence of events and the interaction between the victim and perpetrator.
While the other options, categorizing suspects (C) and enhancing public awareness (D), might be tangential benefits, they are not direct advantages of a crime scene sketch. Public perception of crime and how to address it, such as in geographic profiling, are influenced by many factors, not just sketches.