Crime Linkage

The increasing portrayal of forensic investigative techniques in the popular media CSI, for example, has resulted in criminals becoming "forensically aware" and more careful about leaving behind physical evidence at a crime scene. This presents law enforcement with a significant problem: how can they detect serial offenders if they cannot rely on p

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Criminal Psychology will be a modern, interdisciplinary resource aimed at students and professionals interested in the intersection of psychology (e.g., social, forensic, clinical), criminal justice, sociology, and criminology. The interdisciplinary study of human behavior in legal contexts includes numerous topics on criminal behavior, criminal justice policies and legal process, crime detection and prevention, eyewitness identification, prison life, offender assessment and rehabilitation, risk assessment and management, offender mental health, community reintegration, and juvenile offending. The study of these topics has been increasing continually since the late 1800s, with people trained in many legal professions such as policing, social work, law, academia, mental health, and corrections. This will be a comprehensive work that will provide the most current empirical information on those topics of greatest concern to students who desire to work in these fields. This encyclopedia is a unique reference work that looks at criminal behavior primarily through a scientific lens. With over 500 entries the book brings together top empirically driven researchers and clinicians across multiple fields—psychology, criminology, social work, and sociology—to explore the field.

The Routledge International Handbook of Legal and Investigative Psychology explores contemporary topics in psychological science, applying them to investigative and legal procedures. Written by recognized scholars from around the globe, this book brings together current research, emerging trends, and cutting-edge debates in a single comprehensive and authoritative volume. Drawing from both research and practice, this handbook highlights many important issues such as: how to investigate and prosecute rape; the value of emotional affect in homicide investigations; and factors affecting jurors’ and suspects’ decision making. By considering current research, the authors inform both legal and investigative professionals of findings that are of direct relevance to them, and the steps that can be taken to improve efficiency. This collection will inform investigative and legal professionals, advanced psychology students, academics, researchers, and policy makers. It will also be of great interest to researchers from other disciplines, including criminology, policing, and law.

It is startling to read how few sexual offenses are reported in a year; even more shocking to see how few reports lead to an arrest. Research on effective responses to sexual offenses is much needed and ongoing. This edited book presents the current state of research on investigative techniques used in sex crime investigations, and the operational challenges and issues that arise in these investigations. Including an international cohort of scholars from various academic backgrounds, it reviews current efforts in key areas, synthesizing the research to make recommendations for the improvement of investigative practices and the criminal justice system’s response to sexual offenses. Each chapter includes a brief introduction to the topic, a review of the research, and a discussion of the key points relevant to investigators and researchers as they move forward. The book is broken down into four themes: suspect prioritization and identification techniques, investigative interviewing, operational challenges and issues, and the investigation of specific types of sex crimes. With its broad coverage and international scope, this volume fills the gap in knowledge for investigators working on sex crimes cases. With its easy-to-read style and clear analysis of the research, this is the perfect volume for investigators and law enforcement officers, policy makers and researchers, and students in criminology and criminal justice, forensic psychology, and victim services.

Introduces forensic psychology to students and professionals who want to better understand psychology’s expanding influence on the study of law, crime and criminality Forensic psychology is a constantly growing discipline, both in terms of student interest and as a profession for graduates. This book highlights the often sizeable gap between media myths surrounding forensic practice and reality. Editors Graham Davies and Anthony Beech present an exciting and broad range of topics within the field, including detailed treatments of the causes of crime, investigative methods, the trial process, and interventions with different types of offenders and offences. Forensic Psychology: Crime, Justice, Law, Interventions, Third Edition covers every aspect of forensic psychology—from understanding criminal behaviour, to applying psychological theory to criminal investigation, analysing the legal process and the treatment of witnesses and offenders. Each chapter has been thoroughly revised and updated with the latest findings. The book also includes two entirely new chapters—one on psychopathy and crime, the other on female offenders. Drawing on a wealth of experience from leading researchers and practitioners, this new edition will interest and enthuse today’s generation of students. All chapters thoroughly revised and updated Features two brand new chapters Supplemented by additional online resource materials, including related links, multiple choice questions, and PowerPoint slides Authored by a wide-range of experienced forensic psychology professionals Forensic Psychology, Third Edition is essential reading for undergraduates’ first encounter with the subject area and is an excellent introduction for more specialised postgraduate courses.

This book introduces a novel approach to analysing and mapping criminal behaviours. Every crime occurs as a chain of behaviours and events, from inception and preparation through to commission and exit from the crime scene. These pathways in crime are complex, dynamic sequences that are by their very nature difficult to analyse. Keatley provides a clear and coherent introduction to Behaviour Sequence Analysis, and the chapters address a wide range of criminal offences, from deception in interrogations through to sexual assaults, serial homicide, and terrorism. Interesting additional similarities between Behaviour Sequence Analysis and other well-known methods, such as crime linkage, crime script analysis, and T-Pattern Analysis are also outlined in detail. Academic researchers in Forensic Psychology and Criminology, as well as applied practitioners and investigators will find this an invaluable book, and will gain clear insight and understanding into the method in order to apply it to their own cases.

The aim of this thesis was to conduct research into the practice of crime linkage. A literature review was conducted in Chapter 1, finding that the process of crime linkage has started to be explored, although there is scope for much more research in this area. Similarly, while work has been started into crime linkage efficacy and the effect of computerised tools on the process, further work is required. Chapter 2 responded to a 2009 evaluation by Professor Margot of the University of Lausanne about the use of the Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System (ViCLAS). It highlighted a number of issues with the evaluation, but also noted that evaluation of ViCLAS is necessary and requires further exploration. Chapter 3 addressed some of the research gaps highlighted in Chapter 1 by exploring the process of comparative case analysis (CCA), conducted by analysts at the Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS). The process was mapped, and the analysts' decision making processes were discussed in detail, including the behaviours they found useful when linking crimes, the types of searches they conducted, how they decided whether cases were linked, and whether there was any academic research which assisted them. Finally, Chapter 4 aimed to fill some of the research gaps identified in both Chapters 1 and 2 by investigating the interrater reliability coding of ViCLAS in Belgium. Despite improvements to coding uniformity compared to previous research, there is still room for improvement, and the reasons for the associated difficulties of coding was discussed.

Most approaches to crime analysis focus on geographical crime mapping, which is helpful in identifying crime clusters and allocating police resources, but does not explain why a particular crime took place. Applied Crime Analysis presents a model that brings statistical anchoring, behavioral psychopathology, and victimology from the social sciences together with physical and crime scene evidence to provide a complete picture of crime. This hands-on guide takes theoretical principles and demonstrates how they can be put into practice using real case examples. In addition to covering key topics such as staged crime scenes, false reports, and criminal motivations, the book’s includes a final chapter on report writing, showing readers how to use their findings to successfully advance to prosecution and succeed in court. Presents a model that takes social science concepts, including statistical anchoring, behavioral psychopathology, and victimology and connects them with crime scene evidence to examine and analyze crime Puts crime analysis theory into practice with real-world examples highlighting important concepts and best practice Includes a report writing chapter to demonstrate how this approach can strengthen criminal cases and succeed in court Instructor materials include a Test Bank, Powerpoint lecture slides, and Instructor's Guide for each chapter

This book offers a practical guide and resource for those in law enforcement who analyze crime. The target audience is those new to crime analysis, however many resources are presented that should be useful to more experienced crime analysts as well. Chapter 1 provides an introduction of crime analysis, including the challenges involved in defining crime analysis and the reasons for analyzing crimes. The basic types of crime analysis used in most local law enforcement agencies are described, and the authors point out that most agencies are moving toward tactical and strategic methods of crime analysis. Chapter 2 focuses on the tools of crime analysis. Computer skills are an important component of crime analysis, as demonstrated by the many Internet links provided as resources throughout the book. The importance of knowing the law, the investigative process, and modern policing strategies are also underscored in chapter 2. Linkage analysis, statistical analysis, profiling, and spatial analysis are also addressed in this chapter. Chapter 3 describes the stages of crime analysis: evidence collection, collation, analysis, dissemination, feedback, and evaluation. The Intelligence Cycle of crime analysis is also briefly presented. Chapter 4 turns to a discussion of geographic information systems analysis. Creating crime maps and mapping other data for crime analysis is reviewed and points on privacy issues are offered. Chapter 5 presents many of the crime analysis products available for purchase, including a description of the types of administrative crime analysis reports, intelligence analysis products, and a listing of resources for crime analysis products. Chapter 6 offers advice for the new crime analyst, while chapter 7 discusses the creation of a crime analysis unit. Policies and procedures for such a unit are reviewed and the marketing and funding of a crime analysis unit are discussed. The authors describe how to Measure the success of a crime analysis unit and share crime analysis success stories. Chapter 8 moves into a discussion of education and training resources, including training options for those in law enforcement and education and training offered by colleges and universities. Finally, chapter 9 presents resources for the new crime analyst, including agency resources, publications, and Internet sites.