The Retrospective Detective. Cognitive Bias and the Cold Case Homicide Investigator

Current research on police psychology in criminal investigations assumes investigative decision-making in cold case (undetected) homicides to be the same as that of live/current homicide investigations, therefore not warranting exploration in its own right. In contrast, the present article suggests that significantly different psychological and contextual factors exist which can facilitate bias in investigator decision-making in cold case (undetected) homicides. These include the biasing effect of inheriting a chain of decisions often made by many previous investigators and the negative framing effect that the term ‘cold case’ can have on investigator confidence and on their subsequent investigative decision-making. Although the idea that cold case homicide investigation necessitates a different ‘investigative mindset’ to live cases is only suggested here, a possible agenda for a bespoke research project on cold case investigator decisionmaking is tentatively suggested

Editorial

Editorial for Issue 1 of Crime, Security and Societ

Advanced Conducting Project

1. Winter Dances by Brian Balmages -- 2. Ye Banks and Braes O\u27 Bonnie Doon by Percy Grainger -- 3. Praises by Francis McBeth -- 4. Portrait of a Clown by Frank Ticheli -- 5. Flourish for Wind Band by Ralph Vaughn Williams

Advanced Conducting Project

1. Winter Dances by Brian Balmages -- 2. Ye Banks and Braes O\u27 Bonnie Doon by Percy Grainger -- 3. Praises by Francis McBeth -- 4. Portrait of a Clown by Frank Ticheli -- 5. Flourish for Wind Band by Ralph Vaughn Williams

Self-Selection Policing: Theory, Research and Practice

Self-Selection Policing introduces and explores an approach for crime control which seeks to identify active, serious offenders by attending to the minor offences they commit. A foundation of theory and evidence is first supplied for the assertion that ‘those who do big bad things also do little bad things’. Original research presented in the book includes a study of offending by visitors to a prison, and the concurrent criminality of those committing common driving offences and failure to produce driving documents as required. It illustrates how self-selection can complement other police methods of identifying active, serious criminals by focusing on what offenders do rather than who they are and what they have done in the past. Concentrating on the ‘usual suspects’ in the conventional way is often criticised as harassment and self-selection policing largely bypasses the issue of fairness this raises. The book concludes with a call for the consideration, development and wider adoption of the self-selection approach, and particularly the identification of other common minor offences which flag concurrent active criminality. The authors make important suggestions for the progression of SSP research and practice, including the identification of barriers to the implementation of the approach in wider police thinking, practice and policy. Practical guidance is also provided for those thinking of developing, testing and implementing the approach. In doing so, the book will be of particular interest for policing practitioners, as well as students and scholars of policing and crime control

Advanced Gun System (AGS) Backfit

U.S. Navy, Naval Sea Systems Command and Program Executive Office SHIPS, PMS 500 DD X Progra

DNA evidence and police investigations: a health warning

Much has been made of recent advances in DNA science and technology with particular emphasis placed on its bewildering implications for policing and the detection of serious offenders. Operation Phoenix for example, conducted by Northumbria Police in conjunction with the Forensic Science Service (FSS), has seen a total of 42 named DNA matches obtained against the National DNA Database (NDNAD) for more than 400 unsolved sexual offences over a 14 year period, resulting in 14 convictions up to 2005 (Forensic Science Service Annual Report 2004-05). Both technical advances in DNA serology and the infrastructure of analysis and retention bring forensic DNA analysis into the mainstream of detection, with accompanying public interest. For example the development of Low Copy Number techniques (LCN) now render very small samples usable. The size of the National DNA Database (well over three million by early 2006) aspires to cover the active criminal population

Holding the line: The sustainability of police involvement in crime prevention

The opening lines of the handbook issued by Sir Robert Peel to all officers of the Metropolitan Police in 1829, were these: ‘It should be understood at the outset that the object to be attained is the prevention of crime. To this great end every effort of the police is to be directed. The security of person and property, the preservation of the public tranquility, and all the other objects of a police establishment will thus be better effected than by the detection and punishment of the offender after he has succeeded in committing the crime.’ Quoted in Reith (1948:62). Mayne, one of the first two Commissioners, added this principle: ‘To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military force and severity of legal punishment.’ Quoted in Boyd (2012). What exactly they meant by prevention is open to interpretation, and whether this was just a ruse to help convince a suspicious public that in England ‘continental’ methods of repression would not be adopted is not clear. But by the late 19th Century the reactive approach of catching criminals or ‘feeling collars’ had come to predominate; and in the 20th, the politically-significant rhetoric of ‘fighting crime’ achieved consensual hegemony, delivered huge resources to policing over the years and of course powerfully shaped the policing organisation. It was not until the 1960s that the first signs of resurgence of an explicit, practical, preventive role were seen

Mental Health Malingering and the Fraudulent Motor Insurance Claimant

Malingering is the intentional production of false or grossly exaggerated symptoms in order to obtain an advantage. Although it has been estimated that over 800,000 claims for personal injury in Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) were filed in the UK in 2012, no approximation exists forhow many involved malingering. This study attempts to understand what influences a psychiatrist to conclude that a claimant’s symptoms are not caused by an RTA and thus suggests the claimant is malingering. This article describes a study of Personality Assessment Inventory scores alongside collateral forms of evidence for 100 RTA claimants; all individuals seeking compensation for damages to their mental health. The results suggest that up to 40% of these claims could be cate-gorised as not being the result of the RTA. Significant differences emerged between those claimants diagnosed as having a mental disorder as a result of the RTA and those claimants who were classified as not having a mental disorder as a result of the RTA in regards to: employment status, level of injuries and scores on the paranoia scales of the PAI.The study emphasises how the assessment process is idiosyncratic and in need of further researc