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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 1:12 am
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Results for crime scene investigation
1 results foundAuthor: McEwen, Tom Title: Evaluation of the Phoenix Homicide Clearance Project. Volume 1 Summary: This report prepared by the Institute for Law and Justice, Inc. (ILJ) provides the results of an evaluation of the Homicide Clearance Project in the Phoenix, Arizona, Police Department. In 2004, the department received a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance providing support for the assignment of four crime scene specialists directly to the department's Homicide Unit. Responsibilities of the crime scene specialists were to collect evidence at homicide scenes, prepare scene reports, develop scene diagrams, and other supportive activities. Prior to the project, homicide investigators were responsible for evidence collection, which reduced the time they could devote to investigations. The primary objective of the Homicide Clearance Project was to improve homicide clearance rates by increasing investigative time through the addition of the four crime scene specialists. ILJ evaluated the Homicide Clearance Project under a grant provided by the National Institute of Justice. As described in this report, the evaluation consisted of process and impact assessments of the project. Because of the excellent cooperation of the Phoenix Police Department, ILJ expanded the evaluation to conduct research on several other aspects of homicide investigations, including an analysis of investigative procedures for closed cases, a summary of obstacles faced in solving open cases, a comparison of homicide characteristics in Phoenix with other research studies, a detailed breakdown of evidence collected at homicide scenes, and a review of the role of forensic evidence in homicide investigations and trials. Transfers of the four crime scene specialists were effective on July 1, 2004. The crime scene specialists were assigned to two of the four investigative squads within the homicide unit. They began on-the-job training immediately upon their transfers by accompanying investigators to scenes and observing the collection and storage of evidence. The training proceeded quickly because they were familiar with homicide scenes and because they generally knew departmental procedures from their years of experience in the crime laboratory. By September 2004, the crime scene specialists were able to handle homicide scenes with minimal supervision from investigators, and they had learned how to prepare scene reports documenting the evidence. Prior to the grant, the role of crime scene specialists was limited to photographs and latent prints. Investigators were responsible for evidence collection. Investigators marked each item of evidence, placed the evidence in appropriate evidence containers, transported the evidence to headquarters, and turned the evidence over to the property room. They later prepared scene reports that described the evidence collection process and provided details on each item of evidence collected (type of evidence, description, exact location, etc.). Assignment of crime scene specialists to the unit was seen as a way to relieve a considerable amount of workload from investigators. The decision to assign the four crime scene specialists to two of the four squads provided an opportunity to compare performance between the two pairs of squads. As with other investigative units, the primary performance measure was homicide clearance rates-the percentage of cases that homicide investigators solve. The hypothesis was that the squads with crime scene specialists would do better than the other squads compared against their performance prior to the grant project. In theory, investigators in the experimental squads would have more time for investigations, which in turn would lead to higher clearance rates. The comparison squads would continue to operate as in the past with investigators having responsibility for evidence collection and with crime scene specialists assigned to take photographs and dust for latent prints. With the Homicide Clearance Project, the Phoenix Police Department was also testing whether crime scene specialists could work effectively within the environment of the homicide unit. It was the department's first test for assigning civilian personnel from the crime laboratory to an investigative unit. The crime scene specialists reported to supervisory personnel who headed the experimental squads. The department also wanted to be sure that the four crime scene specialists were capable of preparing the same quality of scene reports that homicide investigators produced. The evaluation addressed both these objectives. Details: Alexandria, VA: Institute for Law and Justice, 2009. 105p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 16, 2015 at: http://www.ilj.org/publications/docs/EvalReport_Volume_I.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.ilj.org/publications/docs/EvalReport_Volume_I.pdf Shelf Number: 136776 Keywords: Clearance RatesCrime Scene InvestigationCriminal InvestigationsHomicidesPolice Investigations |