The First Successful Use of a Low Stringency Familial Match in a French Criminal Investigation

We describe how a very simple application of familial searching resolved a decade‐old, high‐profile rape/murder in France. This was the first use of familial searching in a criminal case using the French STR DNA database, which contains approximately 1,800,000 profiles. When an unknown forensic profile (18 loci) was searched against the French arrestee/offender database using CODIS configured for a low stringency search, a single low stringency match was identified. This profile was attributed to the father of the man suspected to be the source of the semen recovered from the murder victim Elodie Kulik. The identification was confirmed using Y‐chromosome DNA from the putative father, an STR profile from the mother, and finally a tissue sample from the exhumed body of the man who left the semen. Because of this identification, the investigators are now pursuing possible co‐conspirators.     

Incarceration among male veterans: relative risk of imprisonment and differences between veteran and nonveteran inmates

Using data from national surveys of jail and prison inmates conducted in 2002 and 2004, the authors found that male veterans in the age group that entered military service in the early years of the All Volunteer Force (AVF) were at greater risk of incarceration than nonveterans of similar age and ethnicity, whereas veterans who enlisted in later years of the AVF had less risk of incarceration than nonveterans. Although White veterans tend to have greater risk of incarceration than nonveteran Whites, Black and Hispanic veterans were at less risk than their nonveteran peers, although they are at greater risk than White veterans. These patterns are best explained by changes over time and in differential effects across racial/ethnic groups of recruiting practices, accession standards, and in civilian employment opportunities rather than combat trauma or other adverse experiences in the military. For example, reductions in the relative risk for incarceration of veterans during the AVF appear to generally result from increases in recruit qualifications and socioeconomic status due to greater military pay, improved skill in recruiting, and higher accession standards.     

Dextromethorphan abuse leading to assault, suicide, or homicide

Abstract: Dextromethorphan is a commonly encountered antitussive medication which has found additional therapeutic use in the treatment of pseudobulbar disorder and as an adjunct to opiate use in pain management. Dextromethorphan at high doses has phencyclidine‐like effects on the NMDA receptor system; recreational use of high doses has been found to cause mania and hallucinations. The toxicology and pharmacology of the drug in abuse are reviewed, and the historical literature of adverse psychiatric outcomes is assessed. Five new cases of dextromethorphan intoxication that resulted in assault, suicide, and homicide are reported, together with the corresponding toxicology results. Blood concentrations ranged from 300 to 19,000 μg/L. These results are compared with typical concentrations reported in therapeutic use and impaired driving cases. Based on these findings, dextromethorphan should be considered as a potential causative agent in subjects presenting with mania, psychosis, or hallucinations, and abusers are at risk for violent and self‐destructive acts.     

Examining context-specific perceptions of risk: exploring the utility of “human-in-the-loop” simulation models for criminology

Objectives  

To utilize a “human-in-the-loop” simulation methodology to examine the impact of high-risk environmental contexts on perceptions of victimization risk.     

Effect of emergency winter homeless shelters on property crime

Objective

To evaluate the effect of emergency winter homeless shelters on property crimes in the nearby communities.

Methods

Every winter between 2009 and 2016, the City of Vancouver, Canada opened shelters to protect the homeless from harsh winter conditions. The city opened 19 shelters, but only five to nine of them were open in any one winter. Using the variation in timing and placement of the shelters, we contrast crime rates in the surrounding areas when the shelters are open and closed.

Results

The presence of a shelter appears to cause property crime to increase by 56% within 100 m of that shelter, with thefts from vehicles, other thefts, and vandalism driving the increase. However, when a homeless shelter opened, rates of breaking and entering commercial establishments were 34% lower within 100 m of that shelter. The observed effects are concentrated close to shelters, within 400 m, and dissipate beyond 400 m. Consistent with a causal effect, we find a decreasing effect of shelters with increasing distance from the shelter.

Conclusions

While homeless shelters are a critical social service, in Vancouver, they appear to impact property crime in the surrounding community. Shelters may warrant greater security to control property crime, but the data suggest that any increase in security need not extend beyond 400 m, about two to three blocks, from the shelters.

     

Bail agents and bounty hunters: Adversaries or allies of the justice system?

Bounty hunters are employed by the bail industry to locate and apprehend criminal defendants who “skip” bail and, subsequently, fail to appear for court appointments. While some scholars have examined bounty hunters, this work is concerned primarily with the origins, history, and legal challenges to the industry and its practices. Popular literature on this subject has created the “myth” of the bounty hunter, but it has failed to provide an accurate portrayal of the activities these individuals perform. Through the use of field research methods, this study provides a better understanding of the role that bail agents and bounty hunters play in the criminal justice system.     

Time and Punishment: Delayed Consequences and Criminal Behavior

This article develops two distinct explanations for the failure of potential consequences to influence behavior. Discounting is the tendency to deliberatively devalue the future. In contrast, poor impulse control refers to the failure to consider the future. The implications of this distinction were investigated with data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. The study produced several findings. First, both forms of present-orientation independently predicted a range of problem outcomes among respondents. Second, high discounting was a better predictor of deliberative or future-related problem outcomes, whereas poor impulse control was a better predictor of urge driven behaviors or conduct involving little forethought. Third, only poor impulse control but not high discounting predicted violent offending among respondents. While both forms of present-orientation were associated with property offending, high discounting was a stronger and more consistent predictor. These three findings were far more evident for males than they were for females.