Sexual homicide and the forensic process: The decision-making process of collecting and analyzing traces and its implication for crime solving.

The focus of the current study is to examine the collection and analysis of traces that are related to crime scene behaviors in sexual homicide cases as well as the factors influencing the solving of these crimes. Using 230 sexual homicide cases from the SHielD database, we computed two neural network models based on the multi-layer perceptron algorithm. First, we determined whether certain crime scene characteristics predicted the collection and analysis of traces (dependent variable for Model 1).

Forensic case coordination in Europe - Their role within 5 European institutes.

Forensic science faces a range of new challenges this past decades, including a change in definition of the scope of the roles of the actors in the criminal justice process. A decentralisation process has been occurring, leading to non-specialists using forensic capabilities. This shift in responsibility has led to a lack of global view of the case which has been remedied by some forensic science laboratories by the creation of a (new) role, that of forensic case coordinator (i.

The influence of Forensic Advisors on the use of forensic science in the Belgian criminal justice system.

Forensic Advisors, at the Belgian National Institute for Criminalistics and Criminology, occupy a centralising role in regards to analytical information and forensic questions in the judicial cases. Magistrates can request their advice but remain formally responsible for all decisions regarding trace processing. Nevertheless, magistrates' decisions are guided by the fact that a trace is recommended for analysis by a Forensic Advisor in all three types of cases studied (homicide, robbery, burglary).

The introduction of forensic advisors in Belgium and their role in the criminal justice system.

Forensic advisors (FA) at the National Institute for Criminalistics and Criminology (NICC), generalists in forensic science, act as an advising body to the magistrate to improve communication between the various parties involved in the investigation: magistrate, police and crime scene investigators, and forensic experts. Their role is manifold, but their main objectives are to optimise trace processing by selecting the most pertinent traces in the context of the case and by advising magistrates on the feasibility of forensic analyses in particular circumstances in regards to the latest technical advances. Despite the absence of a legal framework governing their role and involvement in judicial cases, the demand for their services has increased over the years.

Factors leading to the involvement of Forensic Advisors in the Belgian criminal justice system.

Forensic Advisors at the National Institute for Criminalistics and Criminology in Brussels act as advising body to the magistrate regarding analytical possibilities and the usefulness of trace analysis in a case. Initially, their function was devised to assist in complex murder cases with unknown offender. However, in a previous study, the increasing diversity of the cases they are requested for has been observed (Bitzer et al.

To analyse a trace or not? Evaluating the decision-making process in the criminal investigation.

In order to broaden our knowledge and understanding of the decision steps in the criminal investigation process, we started by evaluating the decision to analyse a trace and the factors involved in this decision step. This decision step is embedded in the complete criminal investigation process, involving multiple decision and triaging steps. Considering robbery cases occurring in a geographic region during a 2-year-period, we have studied the factors influencing the decision to submit biological traces, directly sampled on the scene of the robbery or on collected objects, for analysis.

Utility of the clue - From assessing the investigative contribution of forensic science to supporting the decision to use traces.

In an attempt to grasp the effectiveness of forensic science in the criminal justice process, a number of studies introduced some form of performance indicator. However, most of these indicators suffer from different weaknesses, from the definition of forensic science itself to problems of reliability and validity. We suggest the introduction of the concept of utility of the clue as an internal evaluation indicator of forensic science in the investigation.