Initial response to crime
The initial response to crime is how the police are informed of the crime, how and who the crime is reported by. This is how the police are made aware of the crime, once the police are aware of a crime they will then choose how to respond to the crime, such as send out police to the crime scene. Crimes can be reported in different ways such as a phone call from a witness or from the criminal themselves, by someone walking into a police station and reporting the crime face to face, by a passerby or by evidence being found and handed in to the police.
The sooner police are informed of a crime the better, as then there is less chance of evidence being contaminated.
In the Meredith Kercher case, Sollecito rang the carabinieri (Italy's national military police). Amanda Knox got Sollecito to go back to the cottage with her, there they noticed a broken window and as Meredith would not answer her bedroom door, Sollecito called the carabinieri.
