Module 9: Crime Detection

Question 1

define: criminalistics

Answer 1

the application of scientific methods/techniques to the detection and evaluation of criminal evidence

Question 2

define: forensics

Answer 2

-crime fighting techniques law enforcement officers use to detect and evaluate criminal evidence

Question 3

define: computer-age image

Answer 3

• a form of forensics
• can update appearance of images of missing people to what they can be expected to look like today, ex. missing children

Question 4

define: forensic pathology

Answer 4

• a form of forensics

- performed by a coroner/physician, examines the remains of death bodies to determine the cause of death

Question 5

define: forensic linguistics

Answer 5

• a form of forensics
• a technique which examines the spoken and written words in an attempt to assist criminal investigators
• ex. to assess the language in suicide notes to determine whether the notes are fake or genuine, to assess the voice of a victim/suspect over the phone or video

Question 6

define/explain: use of fingerprints (forensics)

Answer 6

• Chinese used this method for the identification of criminals about 1000 years ago
• in 1901 fingerprinting was adopted by Scotland Yard in London, England, for identifying criminals
• in Canada, fingerprinting was adopted in 1911
• remains the best type of evidence for placing a criminal at a crime scene
• once the fingerprints are lifted, the information can be entered in the National Automated Fingerprint System (AFS) in Ottawa

Question 7

define: odontology

Answer 7

• a form of forensics
• the study of bite marks
• used to detect bite marks, ex. burglars who eat food and left it at crime scene, teeth used as weapons

Question 8

What are the 5 Techniques used in collecting micro traces? forensics

Answer 8

1. Hand Picking
2. Using Cellophane to lift traces of small particles
3. Vacuum Cleaners
4. Washing, loosing particles from sink, bathtubs etc.
5. Scraping, ex. blood, semen etc. from surfaces

Question 9

explain: DNA forensics

Answer 9

• used of biological residue/remainders found at a crime scene, for the genetic identification of a suspect by comparison
• invented in 1985, used for assaults, homicides, sexual assaults etc.
• problems: lab mistakes can lead to conviction of people who are innocent

Question 10

define: forensic anthropology

Answer 10

• used to reconstruct the likeness of a decomposed body

- reconstruct plaster/polymer tire tracks, footprints

Question 11

define: ballistics

Answer 11

• a form of forensics

- the scientific study of bullets/slugs and their tell-tale markings

Question 12

define: criminal/socio-psychological profiling

Answer 12

• technique for identifying the major psychological characteristics of a criminal based on the crime they committed
• used to track down child molesters, child abductors, serial killers

Question 13

define: Demographic and Psychological Profiling (Criminal Profiling)

Answer 13

• used only to narrow down list of suspects

- a form of criminalistics

Question 14

define/explain: Psychological Autopsy

Answer 14

• used in the US in the 1950s in LA Suicide Prevention Center
• procedure is done following a person’s death, to determine whether their death was accidental (ex. overdose, fall), suicide (how it was committed, investigator talks to family/peers/teachers etc., what factors contributed [health problems, financial problems, divorce, rejection by a lover, loss of a job, academic stress, bullying]), homicide (how was it committed, who did it, what are the reasons for it), or health related (ex. heart attack)

Question 15

Personality/Behavior Characteristics and Demographic Profile of Serial Killers:

Answer 15

• above average intelligence
• psychopaths (impulsive, ruthless, no guilt/remorse for suffering of others)
• sexually dysfunctional behavior
• loners
• egocentric, selfish
• attracted to law enforcement (many have been security guards, people who have served in army/army reserve, fascination with law enforcement, hang around in police departments)
• dominant reason for their behavior is to have the power/control over a person’s life, satisfied by the suffering of the victim
• demographic profile: 90% are white, 80% are male, relatively young approx. 35 years, have poor academic performance, poor employment history, have no extensive juvenile criminal records which makes detection more difficult

Question 16

define: Geo-Profiling (Geographic Profiling)

Answer 16

• the analysis of human behavior patterns in relation to physical location patterns
• ex. violent crimes are committed closer to the home than property crimes
• to generate a geographic profile you need information on where the crime was committed, data on the victim, and other data on the crime
• used to generate compute maps to indicate the most likely area where an offender might reside, his/her place of work, course of travel, social venues etc.

Question 17

Skillful Interrogation (approaches to criminal interrogation):

Answer 17

1. Direct Approach
   -used where the suspect’s guilt is reasonably certain
   -interrogator should assume an air of confidence in regard to the suspect’s guilt
   -by the interrogator’s manner and attitude, he rules out any possibility that the suspect could be innocent
   -interrogator calmly and matter-of-factly points out the evidence
2. Indirect Approach
   -used to the best advantage in situations where the degree of guilt is uncertain
   -allow the suspect to tell his side of the story in detail, and if he is lying, the discrepancies, distortions and omissions will surface
   -interrogator attempts to give the suspect the impression that telling the truth before
   it gets worse, is the best course of action
3. Sympathetic Approach
   -an excellent all-around approach
   -usually used with the emotional type offender
   -interrogator should drop his voice, talk in a low tone and have an expression of understanding
   -some physical contact at the right moment is very effective
   -empathize with the suspect
4. Too great a temptation approach

Question 18

Define/explain: Racial Profiling, consequences, why it happens

Answer 18

• police initiated action that relies on the race of the individual rather than on the individual’s criminal record
• ex. police officers may stop and search members of racial minorities for suspected violations more often than Whites
• consequences of racial profiling: if racial minorities are subjected to much greater levels of police surveillance/interrogation, they will be more likely to be caught when they break the law than White people who engage in the same criminal activity, there is racial bias in the structure of police departments
• why: this practice seems to be based on the crime control model of law enforcement which suggest being tough on crime in order to reduce the number of criminals on the street
• do some police departments expect police officers to stop and search racial minorities? If yes, then the officers will stop and search minorities more often
• do police officers perceive racial minorities as more likely to commit crimes and that is why the police officers stop them?

Question 19

Other Crime Fighting Techniques/Methods that Help Police to Solve Crimes

Answer 19

1. Mug shots
   - pictures of the face to enable positive identification of the suspects, ex. in cases of robbery, rape, homicide, injurious assault
   - very common
2. Modus operandi (MO)
   - “the method of operation”
   - when the police match the method of committing the criminal act with previous recorded methods found in police departments, because criminals have the tendency to use the same techniques to commit their crimes
3. Sting operations by undercover officers
   - ex. trying to purchase stolen property, drugs, guns, explosives from thieves, suspected terrorists, drug dealers etc.
   - videotaping the process of selling to use for evidence
4. Stupid mistakes made by criminals
   - help the police to solve crimes
5. Offenders crime scene behaviors and background characteristics (FBI)

Question 20

Factors that contribute to stupid mistakes made by criminals:

Answer 20

• when criminals lack professional experience
• low intelligence
• anxiety level at the time of committing the criminal act (could lead to confusion/stupid mistakes)
• drug/alcohol use at time of criminal act
• guilty feelings that lead to conscious/unconscious mistakes leading them to get caught which then neutralizes their guilty feelings
• lack of planning

Question 21

Organized vs. Disorganized Behaviors of Serial Killers

Answer 21

1. planned vs spontaneous
2. restraints vs. no restraints on victim
3. sexual assault before vs after death of victim
4. use of vehicle vs. no use of vehicle in the crime
5. no post-mortem mutilation vs. post-mortem mutilation
6. corpse not taken vs. corpse taken
7. little evidence left behind vs. evidence left at the scene

Question 22

Organized vs, Disorganized Characteristics of Serial Killers

Answer 22

1. high vs low intelligence
2. skilled vs. unskilled occupation
3. sexually adequate vs. sexually inadequate
4. lives with partner vs lives alone
5. geographically mobile vs. geographically stable
6. lives/works far away from crime vs lives/works close to crime
7. follows of crimes in media vs little interest I the media
8. maintains residence and vehicle vs doesn’t maintain residence or vehicle