Alternative fuels in fire debris analysis: biodiesel basics

Alternative fuels are becoming more prominent on the market today and, soon, fire debris analysts will start seeing them in liquid samples or in fire debris samples. Biodiesel fuel is one of the most common alternative fuels and is now readily available in many parts of the United States and around the world. This article introduces biodiesel to fire debris analysts. Biodiesel fuel is manufactured from vegetable oils and/or animal oils/fats. It is composed of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and is sold pure or as a blend with diesel fuel. When present in fire debris samples, it is recommended to extract the debris using passive headspace concentration on activated charcoal, possibly followed by a solvent extraction. The gas chromatographic analysis of the extract is first carried out with the same program as for regular ignitable liquid residues, and second with a program adapted to the analysis of FAMEs.     

Cleaning up your act: Forensic awareness as a detection avoidance strategy

Purpose

Although rational choice researchers has investigated how offenders successfully commit certain crimes, there is a lack of research looking at the factors explaining the use - or not - of certain detection avoidance strategies. This study introduces the concept of “forensic awareness” as a detection avoidance strategy, and proposes to examine the effect of disinhibitors, target selection behaviors, and acts that may potentially leave evidence at the crime scene on its use.

Methods

Factors influencing forensic awareness are tested using logistic regression models on a sample of 222 rape events collected from offenders incarcerated in Canada.

Results

Offenders exhibit less forensic awareness when under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. However, offenders who show some form of target selection are more likely to take forensic precautions. Finally, offenders who break and enter in the victim's residence, and undertake specific sexual acts during the crime are also more likely to exhibit forensic awareness.

Conclusion

Despite the increasing use and knowledge of forensic evidence by law enforcement, offenders are inconsistent in their forensic awareness and they direct most of their efforts toward protecting their identity, neglecting to either destroy or clean up DNA that could be recovered at the crime scene.     

Interracial contact and fear of crime

Despite a large literature on public views about crime, the racialization of crime, and the contact hypothesis, surprisingly little is known about how interracial friendships may influence Whites’ fear of crime. At the same time, and perhaps because no counterpart stereotype to that of “Blacks as criminals” exists, there has been little exploration of how such contact may influence Blacks’ fear of crime. To address these research gaps, this study built on prior theory and research and used data from an ABC News and Washington Post poll to test competing hypotheses about the effect of interracial contact on Whites’ and Blacks’ fear of crime, respectively. The analyses revealed that close interracial friendships are associated with increased fear of crime among Whites, decreased fear of crime among lower-income Blacks, and increased fear among higher-income Blacks. The implications for theory and research are discussed.     

Death penalty views in China, Japan and the U.S.: An empirical comparison

Many nations impose the death penalty, yet most of the literature on capital punishment has focused on Western nations, particularly the U.S. China and Japan are two retentionist nations. Based on the data collected in 2005, this study examined the level of death penalty support and views on capital punishment among college students from China, Japan, and the U.S. It was found that Chinese respondents reported the highest level of death penalty support, followed by Japanese and U.S. students. Respondents from China and Japan were more likely to believe in the deterrence value of capital punishment than their U.S. counterparts. Views on retribution differed among the respondents. U.S. students were most likely to feel that innocent people are sentenced to death. In multivariate analyses, deterrence was the strongest correlate of death penalty views among Chinese and Japanese respondents, followed closely by retribution. For both Chinese and Japanese students, the barbarity of government taking the life of a person was the strongest predictor for opposing the death penalty. For U.S. respondents, retribution was the strongest reason for supporting capital punishment and the barbarity of executions was the strongest reason for opposing the death penalty.     

The Association Between Work-Family Conflict and Job Burnout Among Correctional Staff: A Preliminary Study

Working in corrections can be a demanding career in which work-family conflict and job burnout are possible. This study examined the relationship of the different forms of work-family conflict (time-based conflict, strain-based conflict, behavior-based conflict, and family on work conflict) with job burnout. Multivariate analysis of survey results from 160 staff who worked at a private Midwestern correctional facility for youthful offenders indicated that strain-based conflict, behavior-based conflict, and family on work conflict all had positive associations with job burnout. Time-based conflict had a non-significant relationship with job burnout.     

“Flashburning” — Interpreting the presence of heat damage to a suspect's clothing and footwear in the investigation of fires

When volatile flammable vapours are released, they can mix with surrounding air and form a vapour cloud. Ignition of this fuel/air mixture will produce a flame front that will flash through the vapour. Items exposed to the flame front, including a suspect's clothing and footwear, may sustain superficial heat damage. At The Forensic Science Service Ltd this is referred to as flashburning. This paper describes the concept of flashburning, the laboratory methodology used to identify it and how an assessment on the overall distribution of that damage may allow a scientist to evaluate its evidential significance. Two anonymised casework examples are used to demonstrate how this information has been interpreted and used in evidence in United Kingdom courts of law.     

An Investigation into the Relationship between Human Cranial and Pelvic Sexual Dimorphism

When faced with commingled remains, it might be assumed that a more “masculine” pelvis is associated with a more “masculine” cranium, but this relationship has not been specifically tested. This study uses geometric morphometric analyses of pelvic and cranial landmarks to assess whether there is an intra‐individual relationship between the degrees of sexual expression in these two skeletal regions. Principal component and discriminant function scores were used to assess sexual dimorphism in 113 U.S. Black individuals. Correlation values and partial least squares regression (PLS) were used to evaluate intra‐individual relationships. Results indicate that the os coxae is more sexually dimorphic than the cranium, with element shape being more sexually dimorphic than size. PLS and correlation results suggest no significant intra‐individual relationship between pelvic and cranial sexual size or shape expression. Thus, in commingled situations, associations between these skeletal elements cannot be inferred based on degree of “masculinity.”     

The influence of job assignment on community engagement: bicycle patrol and community-oriented policing

The purpose of this study is to compare a specialized community-oriented policing (COP) unit to a reactive unit on officer perceptions of public contact and officer perceptions of job performance. We also compare bicycle patrol officers to motor vehicle patrol officers within these units. Using a static group comparison design, questionnaires were distributed to officers within the Toronto Police Service (n = 178). Bicycle patrol is associated with more contacts with the public and higher rates of proactive policing when compared to motor vehicle patrol and bicycle officers are more likely to rate higher on several measures of crime control. Officers with a COP mandate engage with the public for a wider variety of reasons compared to those with a reactive mandate, and are more likely to rate higher on perceptions of performing job duties in a procedurally just manner. This study demonstrates the value of a specialized COP unit that includes bicycle patrol in achieving tenets of COP. It contributes to the literature on COP and the use of bicycle patrol in law enforcement by presenting the perspective of the police officer.     

Cautioning jurors regarding co-witness discussion: the impact of judicial warnings

Abstract

The research seeks to identify the most common problem areas and associated treatment needs of incarcerated and recently released offenders, to determine the importance of prison-based treatment and to assess the motivation of offenders towards treatment. Interviews were scheduled with representatives of three participant categories: drug-involved incarcerated offenders (n=18), recently released prisoners (n=15) and treatment staff members (n=18), resulting in 1971 statements. Using the qualitative software package WinMAX98, these expressions were categorized in a tree structure, after a codification process of the raw material. The results suggest that there is a difference in opinion between offenders and service providers with regard to the most important problems related to incarceration and re-entry. The findings further indicate that released offenders struggle more often than incarcerated offenders with problems concerning their psychological status. Therefore, the need for continuous through-care and aftercare is apparent, as is the necessity to assess the participants’ support expectancies and their individual needs. Motivating offenders to take part in (prison-based) treatment initiatives and aftercare is a major challenge, which can be accomplished by cooperation and partnerships between the criminal justice system and community-based treatment providers.     

Interviewing women bereaved by homicide: assessing the impact of trauma-focused research

Abstract

The use of swearwords has hardly been investigated scientifically. Virtually nothing is known about the efficacy of swearing. The present studies set out to investigate whether the inclusion of swearwords in a testimony increases the believability of that statement. In study 1, respondents were simply asked whether they believed that using swearwords is a sign of credibility, a sign of deceit, or neither. In the second and third study, participants had to read fictitious testimonies of a suspect and a victim, respectively. Participants were exposed to testimonies with or without swearwords. The results suggested that people self-reported to find swearwords a sign of deceit (study 1), but when actually confronted with a statement, the opposite turned out to be the case (studies 2 and 3). That is, testimonies containing swearwords were perceived as more credible than swearword-free testimonies. Hence it is concluded that swearing increases believability of statements.