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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 3:59 am
Time: 3:59 am
Results for criminal justice investigation
1 results foundAuthor: Campbell, Bradley A. Title: Predictors of Police Decision Making in Sexual Assault Investigations Summary: Existing literature has identified several victim credibility and case characteristics that have been focal to practitioner decision making in sexual assault cases. Much of this research has assessed the impact of case and victim characteristics most important to decisions to arrest and charge in cases of sexual assault. Comparatively less research has examined the individual case and victim attributes that impact pre-arrest decisions made by police investigators. The current study analyzed data from 481 sexual assault cases, investigated by the Houston Police Department Sexual Assault Unit, to examine the impact of victim credibility and case attributes on police investigators' pre-arrest decision to present a case to the prosecutor for charges to be accepted. The study builds on findings from prior research by informing an understanding of early decisions made by police investigators, and by applying the focal concerns and downstream orientation frameworks to explain these decisions. Specifically, the study answered the research questions: (1) What are the focal concerns of the pre-arrest decision to present cases to prosecutors; (2) Which specific attributes of victim credibility are correlated with police decisions to seek charges in sexual assault investigations; (3) Does the impact of case characteristics, suspect characteristics, and victim characteristics and behavior change when the suspect has been identified; (4) Are the correlates of police decision making different in non-stranger cases; and (5) Are case, suspect, or victim characteristics more focal to police decisions in non-stranger cases? Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression models were conducted to examine the focal concerns of pre-arrest police decisions using the full sample of cases, as well as two subsamples of cases in which at least one suspect was identified, and non-stranger cases. Overall, findings across the three samples were consistent, and revealed that victim characteristics and credibility concerns were subordinate to case characteristics. Case characteristics, particularly victim cooperation, obtainment of a confession, and the presence of a witness were the primary focal concerns in investigators' decision to present cases to the prosecutor. Findings, policy implications and future research directions are discussed. Details: Houston, TX: Sam Houston State University, 2015. 130p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed November 21, 2017 at: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1696945275?pq-origsite=gscholar Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1696945275?pq-origsite=gscholar Shelf Number: 148284 Keywords: Criminal Justice InvestigationPolice Decision MakingSexual Assault |