Chapter 15 Arson Flashcards
Legal categories of Arson (2)
Aggravated arson - deliberate burning of property while creating imminent danger to human life or risking bodily harm.
Simple arson - leader offense - burning of property that does not result in a risk to human life.
The police and fire relationship in arsons
Fire fighters - 1. Extinguish 2. Investigate origin of fire 3. Detect possibility of arson but not to investigation
When fire investigation becomes who committed the crime the matter becomes police investigation
Preliminary investigation for arson
Arson does not have immediate corpus delicti - investigators role to prove that a fire did occur and deliberately.
Circumstantial and direct can be used to show fire ignited but may not reveal the MO of arsonist
First step in arson investigation?
- Identify point of origin.
- Most critical phase because includes ruling out accidental or natural causes.
- materials used in setting fire, type of material being burned, may show distinct burn pattern
- most physical evident may be found at point of origin
Finding accelerants in arson investigations
Accelerants at fire scene prove it was set intentionally
Accelerants = chemical fuels that cause fires to burn hotter , quickly , make difficult to extinguish
Accelerants may still be in charred debris
- sniffer dogs can find accelerants *
Headspace gas chromatography
- one of Mose advanced techniques for detecting accelerants in fire debris
- separating mixtures of gases into their individual components based on different boiling points of their hydrocarbons
- Each gas in the mixture can then be identified
If accelerant is used, a small amount will likely still be present in charred debris.
Observe span of fire
Determining span of fire can be beneficial
Physical characteristics of smoke , direction, flames and distances traveled are important
Debris from the fire should be tested for accelerants
Photograph the scene
Photographs of strict should be taken to preserve scene
Pictures of other evidence should also be taken
Identify plants or trailers
Plants : preparations used to set the fire including newspapers rags or other flammable waste material
Trailers : materials used in spreading the fire. These include gunpowder
Alligatoring
Pattern of crevices formed by the burning of a wooden structure.
Resembling the skin of an alligator this pattern reveals minimum amount of charring, with alligatoring in large segments when a fire is extinguished rapidly.
As fire continues to burn the alligatoring becomes smaller with charting becoming deeper
Other clues unifications dire of suspicious origin is arson
- flames - color of flame (ex: blue orange represents burning alcohol)
- smoke - black smoke petroleum base , white smoke indicates straw or hay (vegetable matter )
- size of the fire - ex: engulfed in flames in short period of time arson
Odor- “investigators should try to detect orders by using their own OLFACTORY SENSES
Arson for profit
50% of fire related property damage
Includes business owners setting fire for insurance
Arson for revenge
Jealousy spite
People targeting both individuals and property
After revenge has been identified as possible motive the list of suspects can be narrowed
Arson for vandalism
Almost always by a juvenile 95% time
Can include children experimenting with fire
Some theories suggest children set fires to call for help
Arson for crime concealment
It is common to cover up crime using fire
Murder burglaries and other crimes have been concealed through fire
Investigators must consider this as an alternative motive for all fires
Pyromania
Compulsive fire starter
Impulsive , their acts seldom planned and the perp gets some sort of gratification from starting the fires
Investigators revealed PYROs have sordid last which includes being abused as a child bed wetting and cruelty to animals
Serial fire starters
Classified as : (3)
Mass arsonist : set three of life fires at same location.
Spree Arsonist : sets fires at three or more separate locations with no cooling off period in between
Serial arsonist : sets three or more separate fires with a definite cooling off period in between them , this period could be days weeks or months
Fire triangle
Heat, fuel, oxygen - without the fire triangle there can be no fire
Reasons why prosecution of arson crimes may never occur
1 there is nobody qualified or trained to conduct investigation
2 the time required for a thorough arson investigation by police of fire is not available
3 prosecuting attorneys are reluctant to file and pursue prosecution - this is the most prevalent reason because arson cases are difficult to prosecute
Bomb searching techniques (3)
First room searching sweep
Second room searching sweep
Third room searching sweep
Fourth time searching sweep
1- divide area and select a search height
2- start from bottom work up
3- start back to bCk and work toward eachother
4- go around the walls and proceed toward center of room
Four primary elements of terrorism
Premeditated
Politically motivated
Violent
Committee against non-combatant targets
Domestic vs international terrorism
Domestic - unlawful use of threatened use of force by a group or individual - based and operating entirely within the US WITHOUT foreign direction , against people or property to intimidate or coerce a government population for social or political objectives
International - violent acts that are danger to human life that are violation of the law of the US or any state - assassination, kidnapping - outside of US and national boundaries
