The relationship between the detection of acquisitive crime by forensic science and drug-dependent offenders

Drug- and nondrug-related acquisitive crime offences such as burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft, were compared to assess whether drug abusers were more likely to be apprehended via forensic science techniques. Data were all acquisitive offences committed over a 6-year period within a police force area in England. Drug-dependent offenders committed a wider range of offence types than nondependent offenders, and they were significantly more likely to be detected via their DNA or fingerprints (p < 0.01). A logistic regression (n > 14,000) revealed a number of predictors that influence the detection of the crime by forensic techniques. The results indicate that a number of these predictors are of statistical significance; the most significant of these being drug use by the offender with sex, ethnicity, and employment status also being relevant. Age of the offender and number of offences committed were found not to be significant. Of the four hypotheses considered to explain this, the most likely was thought to be the physical and mental impact of drug use on crime scene behavior. Consideration is given to the disciplines of forensic science and forensic psychology working closely together to distinguish factors that influence crime scene behavior.     

法医现场勘查学初析

法医现场勘查是公安法医检案的一个组成部分,与痕迹现场勘查各有侧重。本文通过室内、野外、运动空间三类现场初步分析了法医现场勘查的要点。     

Deterring gun crime materially using forensic coatings

Surface coatings that can help deter and solve gun crime are described. These nanoengineered coatings have been applied and evaluated on brass cartridge cases, where they increase associative forensic evidence through nanotag donation to the handler and the retention of handler's DNA. In future we expect this approach to be used for other surfaces and conditions.     

The forensic entomologist in the context of the forensic pathologist's role.

An adequate death investigation requires the combined efforts and cooperation of experts in different disciplines: crime scene technicians, death investigators, forensic pathologists, anthropologists, entomologists, other medical and non-medical professionals. These front-line experts play a crucial role in every death investigation process. The forensic pathologist normally has the legal authority to take charge of the dead body at a death scene and his primary functions are the exterior and interior examination of the cadaver by analyzing the extent of antemortem injuries and the postmortem changes and the recovery of physical evidence. He is responsible for determining how, when and why of any death which is the result of violence, suspicious or unexplained circumstances or a death which is sudden or unattended, defending and explaining the reasons for making these diagnoses in a courtroom. The forensic entomologist can provide invaluable aid in death cases where human remains are colonized by insects and in the overall investigation. His principal role is to identify the arthropods associated with such cases and to analyze entomological data for interpreting insect evidence. He is responsible for determining the period of insect activity according to all the variables affecting insect invasion of remains and their development. The major goal of medico-criminal entomology is to contribute to the determination of the time, cause, manner and place of the investigated death (especially on badly decomposed corpses or skeletonized human remains) with the support of all the elements which can be inferred from the study of insects found on the cadaver or nearby. The application of techniques devised recently in forensic entomology can allow experts in the field to collect strong entomological evidence and provide useful information not only in a death investigation including movement or storage of the remains following death, time of dismemberment, postmortem artifacts on the body but also at the scene, and even more in child neglect, sexual molestation and identification of suspects. As the role of the forensic entomologist at the death scene, at the autopsy and in the laboratory is defined and well known, this paper focuses on the difficulties that could arise if forensic pathologists and entomologists are uncertain about the procedures that they have to follow, do not realize the value of objective findings or fail to evaluate them. Although every forensic case presents a slightly different set of circumstances and has to be tackled individually, the forensic pathologist should work with the forensic entomologist from the visual observations of the cadaver on the scene, through the collection of arthropods and temperature data at the death scene and at the autopsy, up to the final report with the interpretation of entomological and other biological evidence.     

犯罪现场勘验中法医的职业安全

因鉴定体制特点,国内法医除鉴定工作外,还需进行犯罪现场勘验工作。在此过程中,可能面对很多风险,受伤和中毒等事件时有发生。然而,国内对现场勘验工作的防护只有少量规定,且内容不够详尽。本文对法医在现场勘验中的职业健康现状进行了分析,并将危害因素分为人、物、环境和管理四类进行论述。最后,从组织和技术两方面提出了具体防范措施。     

The role of psychological testing in forensic assessment

Despite the apparent widespread use of psychological tests in evaluations performed by psychologists to assist legal decision makers, there has been little critical but balanced examination of the appropriate parameters for the forensic use of such tests. The following discussion examines the nature of legal decision making, and concludes that the primary legal criterion for the adminissibility of psychological testing isrelevance to the immediate legal issue or to some underlying psychological construct. Assuming thataccuracy is a more consistent concern for psychologists performing such evaluations, the criticisms of various commentators are discussed. Some criticisms appear appropriate and are incorporated into a set of proposed guidelines for the use of psychological tests in forensic contexts. Other criticisms appear misplaced, however, and the call for a whole sale ban on psychological testing in the forensic context is rejected.     

The role of counterintelligence in countering transnational organized crime

Summary TOC behaves like or assumes the structure and the operations of a secret orga-nization. Powerful TOC organizations grow in symbiosis with the security structures of their host countries. In recent years, the way in which criminals in organized groups think has made them very successful. They are serious about their ‘business,’ and those who would defeat them must understand this. Counterintelligence personnel are especially well-equipped for this task because they are trained to deal with secret structures. Therefore it is worthwhile and necessary to attempt to gain more and better knowledge of TOC by employing the approach and methods of counterintelligence. This approach has after all been quite successful in the past in countering hostile intelligence and security services.     

Mental disorder is a cause of crime: The cornerstone of forensic psychiatry

The assumption that mental disorder is a cause of crime is the foundation of forensic psychiatry, but conceptual, epistemological, and empirical analyses show that neither mental nor crime, or the causation implied, are clear-cut concepts. “Mental” denotes heterogeneous aspects of a person such as inner experiences, cognitive abilities, and behaviour patterns described in a non-physical vocabulary. In psychology and psychiatry, mental describes law-bound, caused aspects of human functioning that are predictable and generalizable. Problems defined as mental disorders are end-points of dimensional inter-individual differences rather than natural categories. Deficits in cognitive faculties, such as attention, verbal understanding, impulse control, and reality assessment, may be susceptibility factors that relate to behaviours (such as crimes) by increasing the probability (risk) for a negative behaviour or constitute causes in the sense of INUS conditions (Insufficient but Non-redundant parts of Unnecessary but Sufficient conditions). Attributing causes to complex behaviours such as crimes is not an unbiased process, and mental disorders will attract disproportionate attention when it comes to explanations of behaviours that we wish to distance ourselves from. Only by rigorous interpretation of what psychiatry actually can inform us about, using empirical analyses of quantified aggressive antisocial behaviours and their possible explanatory factors, can we gain a clearer notion of the relationship between mental disorder and crime.     

鉴侦分离机制研究

我国刑事司法实践中存在的"鉴侦合一"现象,违背了鉴定活动与司法活动分离的法定原则和科学鉴定的客观公正立场.鉴侦分离机制要求司法机关内部鉴定机构独立化,鉴定活动与司法活动的界限应予以明确,还应通过将侦查与鉴定工作任务、组织机构进行分离,纠正刑事诉讼法关于"鉴定"的立法表列来区分鉴定与鉴别的关系,进而构建鉴侦分离的机制.     

The future of forensic and crime scene science. Part II. A UK perspective on forensic science education

This paper builds on the views presented by the author at 'The Future of Forensic and Crime Scene Science Conference'. Forensic science has become an increasingly prominent area of science within the last 10 years. This increasing prominence together with popularity in the subject has seen the number of undergraduate students studying forensic science related courses at UK Universities increase rapidly in just 5 years and there are no short term signs of this trend reducing. In 2005, there were 450 courses with forensic in the title offered by higher education institutes. Although the forensic community has expressed its concern that job prospects for these students wishing to pursue careers as forensic scientists will be limited numbers of students undertaking science courses have still increased. The increase in students studying forensic science comes in an era of decreasing science numbers in higher education with the potential to produce high calibre science graduates with sought after skills in critical thinking, analysis, interpretation and communication. Technology has continued to advance at a similar pace providing those responsible for managing crime with a need and opportunity to identify and predict new and future applications of science and technology; not just in reducing and detecting crime but also in predicting how technology will be used by criminals in the future. There is therefore a need for forensic science users, providers and educators to identify the knowledge and skills required by forensic scientists and crime investigators of the future to ensure that technology continues to be used and applied to its full advantage. This provides universities an opportunity to contribute to the development of both the practice and practitioners of forensic science. This paper outlines the current issues facing universities in relation to forensic science and identifies their future role in providing high quality relevant courses for future forensic practitioners; developing current forensic practitioners through their participation in applied research, short courses, conferences and qualifications linked to professional practice; and supporting and developing the practice of forensic and crime scene science, through the identification, engagement and dissemination of pure and applied research.     

Biological factors and crime: implications for forensic psychiatry

To summarize, we can say that (1) Criminal behavior, especially chronic criminal behavior, seems to be partly genetically predisposed; (2) An important task at this point is to attempt to determine the biological factors which predispose people to crime; and (3) We have related some tentative initial steps being taken in the study of the autonomic nervous system as one possible heritable, biological basis for the failure of normal social learning forces in inhibiting criminal behavior. Early in this paper we discussed the tenability of asserting criminal responsibility on individuals whose criminal behavior has a partly genetic etiology. But this special consideration seems to set biological factors apart as being in some unique causal category. In fact, genetic, physiological, and biochemical factors are causal agents in the same sense as family, social class, or neighborhood factors. Of course, criminal behavior (like all other behavior) must be caused; one class of causal variables is the biological category. The legal doctrine of responsibility is not challenged by identifying biological factors as partially determining crime any more than it is by findings of social causation. Only in cases in which abnormal biological factors are exceptionally powerful influences might responsibility be challenged. Such cases will be quite rare.     

Nature and place of crime scene management within forensic sciences

This short paper presents the preliminary results of a recent study aimed at appreciating the relevant parameters required to qualify forensic science as a science through an epistemological analysis. The reader is invited to reflect upon references within a historical and logical framework which assert that forensic science is based upon two fundamental principles (those of Locard and Kirk). The basis of the assertion that forensic science is indeed a science should be appreciated not only on one epistemological criteria (as Popper's falsification raised by the Daubert hearing was), but also on the logical frameworks used by the individuals involved (investigator, expert witness and trier of fact) from the crime scene examination to the final interpretation of the evidence. Hence, it can be argued that the management of the crime scene should be integrated into the scientific way of thinking rather than remain as a technical discipline as recently suggested by Harrison.     

The future of forensic and crime scene science. Part I. A UK forensic science user and provider perspective

This paper presents an overview of the views expressed by UK forensic science users and providers during the Centre for Forensic Investigation's 1 day conference 'The Future of Forensic and Crime Scene Science' and is set in the context of the changing national agenda and likely advances in current and future technology. It begins by examining the success of the Home Office DNA Expansion Programme and future demands of the Criminal Justice System, highlighting the changing use of forensic science both at the crime scene and within the forensic process itself. In particular, the use of forensic science at the early stages of an investigation to provide intelligence and support the decision making process is discussed together with the need to adopt a partnership approach to tackling crime and its causes. Key system and technological drivers for performance improvement and change are identified and the likely timescales and implications of their introduction are discussed. Finally, the Home Office plans to build on the success of the DNA Expansion Programme, through the introduction of the proposed Home Office Forensic Integration Strategy, are explored and the paper concludes by highlighting the benefits, implications and issues arising from the changing and developing use of forensic science.     

测谎的发展历程及法医学应用前景

测谎技术越来越多地运用于协助侦查破案,成为打击和预防犯罪的重要手段之一。本文简述了它在古代的最初尝试以及近代心理-生理参数指标在测谎技术中的应用。尤其是现代多道生理记录仪的出现,使心理-生理参数指标更趋完善。随着人们对认知领域的深入探索,事件相关电位、脑功能核磁成像技术和事件相关-脑功能核磁成像技术在测谎领域的应用,使现代测谎技术的重心转移到对大脑活动的侦测方面,检测结果更为客观,更接近说谎的源头。本文介绍了从简单到复杂不同的测谎形式和各自的原理及目前发展最新动态,并分析了它在法医学应用的前景。     

The place of a forensic archaeologist at a crime scene involving a buried body

This paper examines the place that forensic archaeologists should hold at scenes of crime where a body has been buried. The forensic archaeologist is rapidly becoming a key player whose specialty should be explained, and role defined. A high level of interaction between the forensic archaeologist and other personnel implies good communications skills as well as a precarious mix of receiving orders, assistance and advice as well as giving directions to other staff. The extent to which each of these should be applied will be discussed as well as underlying the absolute need for forensic archaeologist to attend these types of scenes.     

The human ear: its role in forensic practice

The human ear has much to offer investigators in relation to many areas of forensic practice including forensic pathology, anthropology, identification and facial reconstruction and yet its full potential is often overlooked. This review paper explores current knowledge related to the human ear drawing attention to those situations where the ear could play a valuable role in a forensic investigation.