The Influence of New Technologies on the Visual Attention of CSIs Performing a Crime Scene Investigation

Currently, a series of promising new tools are under development that will enable crime scene investigators (CSIs) to analyze traces in situ during the crime scene investigation or enable them to detect blood and provide information on the age of blood. An experiment is conducted with thirty CSIs investigating a violent robbery at a mock crime scene to study the influence of such technologies on the perception and interpretation of traces during the first phase of the investigation. Results show that in their search for traces, CSIs are not directed by the availability of technologies, which is a reassuring finding. Qualitative findings suggest that CSIs are generally more focused on analyzing perpetrator traces than on reconstructing the event. A focus on perpetrator traces might become a risk when other crime‐related traces are overlooked, and when analyzed traces are in fact not crime‐related and in consequence lead to the identification of innocent suspects.     

The making of an expert detective: the role of experience in English and Norwegian police officers’ investigative decision-making

Biased decision-making in criminal investigations can impede or arrest the progress of justice. Previous research has not systematically addressed the effects of professional experience on the quality of detectives’ decision-making. Using a quasi-experimental design, this study compared the quality of investigative decisions made by experienced detectives and novice police officers in two countries with markedly different models for the development of investigative expertise (England and Norway). Participants (N?=?124) were presented with two semi-fictitious cases and were asked to report all relevant investigative hypotheses and necessary investigative actions in each case. The quality of participants’ responses was gauged against a gold standard established by a panel of senior homicide experts. In the English sample, experienced detectives vastly outperformed novice police officers in the number of reported gold-standard investigative hypotheses and actions. In the Norwegian sample, however, experienced detectives did not perform any better than novices. We argue that English (vs. Norwegian) detectives may benefit more from professional experience due to their Professionalising Investigation Programme and a nationwide accreditation program, requiring them to engage in extensive standardized training, systematic evaluation and synchronized development. In contrast, Norway lacks such requirements. Methodological limitations and implications for police training and accreditation policies are discussed.     

The forensic examination of structural fires in Victoria,Australia: Decision-making processes and impact on judicial outcomes

There is a body of published research that has evaluated the contribution of forensic science to the criminal justice system, but many disciplines of forensic science remain unexplored in this regard. The aim of this study was to examine the contribution that forensic fire examination services provide to criminal investigations and court processes in arson cases. Forensic fire examination services differ in a number of ways to the disciplines covered in previous research on the impact of forensic evidence on justice outcomes. Forensic fire examinations involve a combination of scene examination and laboratory analyses, and the results can provide critical evidence of whether an incident that has occurred is a criminal offence (i.e. whether a fire has occurred as the result of an act of arson). Forensic fire examination is also a discipline that has faced challenges and undergone development in recent decades regarding its scientific basis and the issue of contextual bias. In this study, data were collated for 273 structural fires that were examined by the forensic fire services in Victoria, Australia. In this jurisdiction, scene and laboratory forensic services are delivered within short time frames with a focus on providing impartial scientific and investigative services to assist criminal investigations conducted by police. The current dataset was highly skewed in terms of criminal justice outcomes and was not suitable for conducting the planned statistical analyses. Nonetheless, the pattern of findings obtained suggested that the inclusion of forensic evidence which supported the prosecution of arson may be associated with an increased likelihood of suspects being charged and defendants found guilty. Examination of the decision-making process of the forensic fire examiners has provided insight into the variety of evidence that is considered by forensic experts in reaching the important conclusion about the origin and cause of structural fires.     

控制下交付国际准则研究

《联合国禁止非法贩运麻醉药品和精神药物公约》《联合国打击跨国有组织犯罪公约》与《联合国反腐败公约》对控制下交付国际准则作了明确的规定,具体包括适当使用原则、逐案判断原则、安全原则、同意原则、国家主权原则等五项基本准则,并在区域性国际公约、国际协议和国内法中得到广泛体认和贯彻。基于"条约必须信守"的原则,我国也必须体现和遵循控制下交付国际准则,然而由于国际公约对控制下交付国际准则并没有作出详细规定,所以我国在通过制定国内法严格遵守、履行控制下交付国际准则的同时,还必须对如何贯彻控制下交付国际准则做进一步的精细化制度设计。     

A broken system? Examining the perilous state of quality assurance in crime scene practice

Quality assurance in crime scene practice is an underdeveloped and underexamined field despite the cruciality attributed to scene work in achieving criminal justice goals. Formulation of robust strategies has been a shortcoming of oversight bodies, with a marked history of failure to address scene-specific requirements. This paper explores quality assurance mechanisms in the United Kingdom (UK) in order to uncover the longstanding status quo, and sustained challenges facing quality control regimes both on an organisational and personal level. Recommendations on a change in policy, implementation and philosophy are examined to assist with the formulation of effective quality assurance schemes in crime scene practice and align it closer to its laboratory counterparts.     

The effects of the (fentanyl-fueled) drug overdose epidemic on medicolegal death investigation in the United States

The evolving opioid epidemic in the United States, fueled by illicit fentanyl, has greatly increased deaths from illicit drug use. These nonnatural deaths require formal death investigation. The National Association of Medical Examiners states in its Forensic Autopsy Performance Standards that autopsy remains a necessary component for proper investigation of suspected acute overdose deaths. If a death investigation office lacks adequate resources to investigate all deaths under its jurisdiction while meeting expected standards, then that office may be forced to consider altering its protocols for investigation by changing the types of deaths investigated or the extent of its investigations. Drug death investigations take longer to complete because novel illicit drugs and mixtures of drugs complicate toxicological analyses, prolonging a family's wait for completion of a death certificate and autopsy report. Public health agencies must also wait for results, but some agencies have developed mechanisms for rapid notification of preliminary results to allow timely deployment of public health resources. The increased deaths have strained the resources of medicolegal death investigation systems throughout the United States. Given the significant workforce shortage of forensic pathologists, newly trained forensic pathologists are too few to meet the demand. Nevertheless, forensic pathologists (and all pathologists) must make time to present their work and themselves to medical students and pathology trainees to encourage an understanding of the importance of quality medicolegal death investigation and autopsy pathology and to provide a model that can encourage interest in a career in forensic pathology.     

Wrongful convictions and claims of false or misleading forensic evidence

The results are reported of a study to examine case factors associated with 732 wrongful convictions classified by the National Registry of Exonerations as being associated with “False or Misleading Forensic Evidence.” A forensic error typology has been developed to provide a structure for the categorization and coding of factors relating to misstatements in forensic science reports; errors of individualization or classification; testimony errors; issues relating to trials and officers of the court; and evidence handling and reporting issues. This study, which included the analysis of 1391 forensic examinations, demonstrates that most errors related to forensic evidence are not identification or classification errors by forensic scientists. When such errors are made, they are frequently associated with incompetent or fraudulent examiners, disciplines with an inadequate scientific foundation, or organizational deficiencies in training, management, governance, or resources. More often, forensic reports or testimony miscommunicate results, do not conform to established standards, or fail to provide appropriate limiting information. Just as importantly, actors within the broader criminal justice system—but not under the purview of any forensic science organization—may contribute to errors that may be related to the forensic evidence. System issues include reliance on presumptive tests without confirmation by a forensic laboratory, use of independent experts outside the administrative control of public laboratories, inadequate defense, and suppression or misrepresentation of forensic evidence by investigators or prosecutors. In approximately half of wrongful convictions analyzed, improved technology, testimony standards, or practice standards may have prevented a wrongful conviction at the time of trial.     

大众传媒与刑事侦查互动关系分析

刑事侦查工作直接关系到公众的个人权利,在信息化社会的今天,公众越来越注重利用大众传媒保护自身的权利,大众传媒也从不同角度深入社会各个方面去寻找吸引观众注意力的新闻,这样就势必与刑事侦查工作产生矛盾,大众传媒信息公开与侦查工作保密原则是相互矛盾的,但也是可协调的,二者是既和谐又矛盾的关系,大众传媒对刑事侦查既有积极作用也有消极作用,应采取积极对策实现大众传媒扣刑事侦查和谐共赢。     

关于佘祥林案件的几点分析与思考

余祥林案件是2005年发现的一起重大错案,为社会各界所高度关注。这一错案暴露了当地司法机关在执法理念、业务素质、工作作风等方面存在的一系列问题,教训极其深刻。为此,公安司法机关必须摒弃陈旧落后的执法理念,树立执法为民的思想,坚持科学的办案方法;必须坚决杜绝任何形式的刑讯逼供和引供诱供,克服华而不实的漂浮作风;必须克服分散主义、放任自流的倾向,始终加强对执法活动的组织领导和监督制约。