A Novel Approach to Maximising the Detection of Volume Crime with DNA and Fingerprints

Abstract

Decisions concerning which volume crime scenes (such as burglary and autocrime) to examine for forensic material continue to have a significant impact on the detection of these crime types by forensic evidence such as DNA or fingerprints. Previous work has indicated that crime scene attendance by a crime scene examiner (CSE) should be influenced by the likely evidential value of any material recovered from the crime scene rather than focusing attendance on specific crime types. In this paper, we challenge that argument by assessing first the forensic detections obtained from volume crime types over a three-year period in a study police force in England. We then show how a realignment of CSE deployment to crime types that offer the highest potential to detect the crime forensically produced statistically significant increases in the percentage of recorded crime detected. We examine this realignment against the national picture for CSE attendance and forensic crime detection in England and Wales and show how other police forces might benefit from a similar realignment of CSE deployment. Finally, we consider the possible effect on the general public's fear of crime that such a realignment of CSE deployment might have.