• Crime Scene Management: Scene Specific Methods.

      Sutton, Raul; Trueman, Keith J. (Wiley, 2009)
      Crime Scene Management: Scene Specific Methods is an accessible introduction to the common forms of evidence that may be encountered at a scene of crime and the techniques used for recovery of that evidence. The book is clearly focused on the techniques for handling crime scenes from the role of the first officer attending through the to the specialist personnel who may be called to deal with specific evidence types. Clearly structured to enhance student understanding, methods covered include, dna-rich samples, fingerprints, toolmarks and impressions. Later chapters move on to consider common scenes such as burglary, fire and vehicle crime. Included with the book is an interactive CDROM that highlights many of the methodologies covered in the book with video footage of the evidence gathering technique in action. The book can be used as a stand-alone but the material included on the CD will enhance student understanding of the subject. Key features: • First UK focused textbook on Crime Scene Management • Includes interactive CDROM with demonstration of key methods employed at the scene and video footage • Supplementary website to include figures from the book and further references • Chapters are written by a team consisting of experts and academics to ensure the text is an accessible and well-informed academic text. • Focuses on the crime scene and on the science underpinning the gathering of evidence at the scene.
    • Cyberstalking: Investigating formal intervention and the role of corporate social responsibility

      al-Khateeb, Haider; Epiphaniou, Gregory; Alhaboby, Zhraa; Barnes, James; Short, Emma (Elsevier, 2016-08-31)
      Context: Online harassment and stalking have been identified with growing accordance as anti-social behaviours, potentially with extreme consequences including indirect or direct physical injury, emotional distress and/or financial loss. Objective: As part of our ongoing work to research and establish better understanding of cyberstalking, this study aims to investigate the role of Police, Mobile Operators, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and owners/administrators of online platforms (e.g. websites, chatrooms) in terms of intervention in response to offences. We ask to what different authorities do people report incidents of cyberstalking? Do these authorities provide satisfactory responses or interventions? And how can this be improved? Furthermore, we discuss the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to encourage the implementation of cyberstalking-aware schemes by service providers to support victims. In addition, CSR can be used as a means to measure the effects of externality factor in dictating the relationship between the impact of a given individuals’ privacy loss and strategic decisions on investment to security controls in an organisational context. Method: A mixed method design has been used in this study. Data collection took place by means of an online survey made available for three years to record both qualitative and quantitative data. Overall, 305 participants responded from which 274 identified themselves as victims of online harassment. Result: Our results suggest that most offences were communicated through private channels such as emails and/or mobile texts/calls. A significant number of victims did not report this to their service provider because they did not know they could. While Police were recognised as the first-point-of-contact in such cases, 41.6% of our sample did not contact the Police due to reasons such as fear of escalation, guilt/sympathy and self-blaming. Experiences from those who have reported offences to service providers demonstrate that no or very little support was offered. Overall, the majority of participants shared the view that third-party intervention is required on their behalf in order to mitigate risks associated with cyberstalking. An independent specialist anti-stalking organisation was a popular choice to act on their behalf followed by the Police and network providers. Conclusion: Incidents are taking place on channels owned and controlled by large, cross-border international companies providing mobile services, webmail and social networking. The lack of support offered to victims in many cases of cyberstalking can be identified as Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSI). We anticipate that awareness should be raised as regarding service providers’ liability and social responsibility towards adopting better strategies.
    • In Proportion

      Waddington, P. A. J.; Stenson, Kevin; Don, David (Oxford University Press, 2004)
      This article examines the view, expressed authoritatively in the Macpherson report (1999), that racial disproportionality in police stop and search is attributable to officers selectively targeting minority groups. The research on which this article is based replicates Home Office research (Miller and MVA 2000) that profiled the population ‘available’ in public places to be stopped and searched. Using a combination of data sources, this article extends that research in two directions: first, by exploring the issue of visibility and how it has an impact upon decisions to stop and search; and, secondly, by investigating whether disproportionality might arise indirectly from the way in which police direct their efforts in relation to time, place and types of motor vehicle. Finally, we discuss the implications of this research for the concept of ‘institutional racism’.
    • Integration of multimedia technology into the curriculum of forensic science courses using crime scene investigations.

      Sutton, Raul; Hammerton, Matthew; Trueman, Keith J. (2007)
      Virtual reality technology is a powerful tool for the development of experimental learning in practical situations. Creation of software packages with some element of virtual learning allows educators to broaden the available experience of students beyond the scope that a standard curriculum provides. This teaching methodology is widely used in the delivery of medical education with many surgical techniques being practised via virtual reality technologies (see Engum et al., 2003). Use has been made of this technology for a wide range of teaching applications such as virtual field trials for an environmental science course (Ramasundaram et al., 2005), and community nursing visiting education scenarios (Nelson et al., 2005) for example. Nelson et al. (2005) imaged three-dimensional representations of patient living accommodation incorporating views of patient medication in order to deliver care modules via a problem-based learning approach. The use of virtual reality in the teaching of crime scene science was pioneered by the National Institute of Forensic Science in Australia as part of their Science Proficiency Advisory Committee testing programme. A number of scenarios were created using CDROM interfacing, allowing as near as possible normal procedures to be adopted. This package included proficiency testing integrated into the package and serves as a paradigm for the creation of virtual reality crime scene scenarios (Horswell, 2000). The package is commercially available on CD-ROM as part of the series ‘After the Fact’ (http://www.nfis.com.au). The CD-ROM package is geared to proficiency training of serving scenes of crime officers and thus contains details that may not be needed in the education of other parties with a need for forensic awareness. These include undergraduate students studying towards forensic science degree programmes in the UK as well as serving Police Officers. These groups may need virtual reality crime scene material geared to their specific knowledge requirements. In addition, Prof J Fraser, President of the Forensic Science Society and a former police Scientific Support Manager, speaking to the United Kingdom, House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee in its report ‘Forensic Science on Trial’ (2005) states: ‘The documented evidence in relation to police knowledge of forensic science, in terms of making the best use of forensic science, is consistently clear, that their knowledge needs to improve and therefore their training needs to improve’. This clearly identifies a need for further training of serving police officers in forensic science. It was with this in mind that staff at the University collaborated with the West Midlands Police Service. The aim was to create a virtual reality CD-ROM that could serve as part of the continuing professional development of serving police officers in the area of scene management. Adaptation of the CD-ROM could allow some introductory materials to help undergraduate students of forensic science.
    • Integration of virtual reality technology into the curriculum of forensic science courses using crime scene investigations

      Sutton, Raul; Hammerton, Matthew; Trueman, Keith J. (University of Wolverhampton, 2005)
      Discusses a collaborative project between researchers at the University of Wolverhampton and the West Midlands Police Service to create a virtual reality CD-ROM that could serve as part of the continuing professional development of serving police officers in the area of crime scence management. Adaptation of the CD-ROM could allow some introductory materials to help undergraduate students of forensic science.
    • Latent fingermark pore area reproducibility.

      Gupta, Abhishek; Buckley, Kevan; Sutton, Raul (Elsevier, 2008)
      The study of the reproducibility of friction ridge pore detail in fingermarks is a measure of their usefulness in personal identification. Pore area in latent prints developed using cyanoacrylate and ninhydrin were examined and measured by photomicrography using appropriate software tools. The data were analysed statistically and the results showed that pore area is not reproducible in developed latent prints, using either of the development techniques. The results add further support to the lack of reliability of pore area in personal identification.
    • Paramilitaries, Ordinary Decent Criminals and the Development of Organised Crime following the Belfast Agreement

      Moran, Jonathan (Elsevier, 2004)
      This paper analyses the changing nature of organised and serious crime following the peace process in Northern Ireland which officially commenced in 1998. The paper examines those social and situational factors which have led to a rise in crimes perpetrated by both paramilitary Republican and Loyalist organisations, and by the so-called ‘ordinary decent criminals’ (ODCs) unrelated to paramilitary groups. These social and situational factors include political, security and economic variables. As such, Northern Ireland is an important case study of the political context of crime. Whilst the peace process is a positive development, the political transition has had associated unintended effects. The fact that rising crime has resulted from political change should not be taken as an argument against the peace process. Serious crime is defined as indictable offences which by their nature attracts substantial terms of imprisonment. Organised crime is defined in accordance with the National Criminal Intelligence Service as three or more individuals engaging in long-term profit-driven criminal activity (NCIS, 2001). Thus organised crime may include serious offences and other offences (forgery, theft) if they occur as part of organised criminality. The problems surrounding this definition will also be addressed later in the paper.
    • Police officers’ perceptions of their role in a mental health Magistrates’ court pathway

      Wesson, Caroline; Chadwick, Darren (Springer Nature, 2019-06-28)
      Although common in the USA, Mental Health Courts are relatively new to the UK and their effectiveness here is not yet fully understood. Referral to these courts is largely reliant upon early identification of mental health problems, a task commonly undertaken by police in the custody suite. Little is known about police perceptions of their role in working with offenders with mental health system in the UK. This exploratory study therefore investigates police views of a pilot Mental Health Courts and their role within the pathway to these. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six members of a large police force involved in a pilot Mental Health Court. Data-led thematic analysis was used to identify the recurrent themes emerging. Three main themes were identified: ‘Benefits of a Mental Health Court’, ‘Police as Gatekeepers’ and ‘Barriers to Identification’. The introduction of Mental Health Courts in the UK was viewed as being reflective of changes in approaches to criminal justice. Whilst feeling responsibility for referrals to the Mental Health Court, time, training and multiagency working were seen as hindering this. The findings suggest the success of Mental Health Courts is dependent upon ‘getting it right’ from the start of the pathway; recommendations are provided.
    • Policing public order and political contention

      Waddington, P. A. J. (Cullompton: Willan Publishing, 2003)
      This is one of the most ambitious books on policing ever written. It aims to provide a comprehensive but highly readable overview of policing in the UK, reflecting the transformations that have taken place in recent years and the increasing professionalisation of one of the country's most important services. It will be an essential text for anybody involved in the study of policing as a subject in its own right or as part of a broader criminal justice or criminology course, and a key source of reference for the police themselves -- it is by far the most comprehensive and authoritative book to have been written on the subject, combining the expertise of leading academic experts on policing and policing practitioners themselves. It will become an essential point of reference at a time of rapid change for the police, and constant debate about their role and function. (Willan)
    • The Crime Scene Context.

      Sutton, Raul (Wiley, 2009)
      Crime Scene Management: Scene Specific Methods is an accessible introduction to the common forms of evidence that may be encountered at a scene of crime and the techniques used for recovery of that evidence. Chapter 1 - The Crime Scene is written by Raul Sutton. Context: Introduction - What is a Crime? - The Nature of the UK Legal System - The Legal System in England and Wales - The Courts - The Judicial System in Northern Ireland - The Scottish Legal System - Judicial Processes that Deal with Causes of Death - What Constitutes Evidence? - The Chain Events in Evidence Gathering - The Relationships between Evidence Gatherers and Analysts - Health and Safety Considerations - Suggested Further Reading.
    • The Crime Scene: how forensic science works.

      Sutton, Raul (Oxford Journals (OUP), 2009)
      Book review
    • The Stasi: Myth and Reality; themes in modern German history

      Dennis, Mike; Laporte, Norman (London: Longman/Pearson, 2003)
      The Stasi were a central institution of the GDR, and this book illuminates the nature and operation of the entire East German regime, addressing one of the most important topics in modern German history. Its emphasis is primarily on the key years under Erich Honecker, who was Head of State from 1976 and ousted in 1989.The book looks at all aspects of the control, operation and impact of the security police - their methods, targets, structure, accountability, and in particular the crucial question of how far they were an arm of the ruling communist party or were themselves a virtually autonomous political actor.