Collecting evidence from crime scenes is a crucial aspect of solving crimes. Before evidence can be seized, there must be a court order approving the search of the crime scene and the seizure of evidence found at the scene. Standard protocol for officers is to always use latex gloves, avoid plastic bags, double wrap small items, package each item separately and collect as much evidence as possible. It is better to have too much evidence than not enough. There is countless evidence that can be found at the crime scene. Bloodstains are a type of evidence that can be found at a crime scene. Blood still in liquid form must be collected on gauze. Once completely dried, the blood should be refrigerated and sent to the Laboratory (Andrus et al., n.d., para. 1). If the blood stain is found dried on the clothing, the officer must wrap the item of clothing in clean paper and place it in a sealed and labeled container. An object with dried blood stains should be sent to the Laboratory if it is small enough. If the item is too large to ship, use a clean knife to scrape the stain onto a clean piece of paper, which can then be folded and placed in an envelope (Andrus et al., n.d., para. 2). When collecting blood samples for autopsy, the officer should request that the pathologist take the sample directly from the heart and place it in a vacutainer with a yellow or purple cap. If the victim is still alive but in serious need of a blood transfusion, then the pre-transfusion blood sample must be obtained promptly before the hospital discards it (Andrus et al., n.d., para. 4). It is important that the Laboratory receives all blood samples within 48 hours...... half of the paper... to be less likely to stain fingerprints. Large objects should be secured with twine to wood or heavy cardboard (Andrus et al., n.d., par 53). Documents and documents must be placed individually in a cellophane or manila envelope which must be sandwiched between two sheets of cardboard. It can then be placed in a box for shipping. The amount of evidence can help you win or lose a case. Every crime scene has evidence available for officers to collect. It is important that they know what the standard protocol for collecting evidence is and how to collect it correctly without contamination. Works Cited Andrus, R., Bailey, J., Sprague, T., Springer, F., Tulleners, F., Wiersema, S., et al. (n.d.). Crime Scene Investigator Network: Guidelines for Evidence Collection. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/collect.html#1