What technique might be ineffective if proper chain of custody is not maintained in an arson investigation?

Presenting evidence in court is highly dependent on the integrity and reliability of the evidence collected during the investigation. If the chain of custody is not properly maintained, it raises questions about the authenticity and validity of the evidence, making it difficult to establish its credibility in a legal setting. Evidence presented in court must be shown to have been securely handled from the moment it was collected until it is displayed in court. When the chain of custody is compromised, it can result in the evidence being deemed inadmissible, which undermines the entire investigation's findings.

In contrast, collecting photographs, gathering witness statements, and documenting fire patterns do not directly face the same challenges regarding chain of custody because they are often not physical items that can be altered or tampered with in the same manner as physical evidence. Nonetheless, while these methods are important for an arson investigation, they do not operate under the same legal scrutiny as the physical evidence that requires a documented chain of custody for courtroom proceedings.