Durham, N.C., doubles its rate of solving homicides

The nation's most dramatic improvement, according to a Scripps study, was in Durham, N.C., where clearances averaged only 39 percent in the 1990s following a dramatic increase in drug-related crime. But the solution rate shot up to 78 percent for the city's 215 killings since 2000. Durham's department uses several practices espoused by criminologists and Justice Department researchers:

• Generous authorization of overtime for murder investigators during the critical first hours after a killing.
• More manpower at the murder scene, including up to eight detectives.
• Sharing electronic information between investigators and the intelligence and crime-analysis units.
• Sending forensic-science technicians to crime scenes, and expanding in-house lab procedures for fingerprint and ballistics analysis.

In addition, they developed a response unit to locate witnesses after a crime. "We'll get up to 100 officers knocking on doors," Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez. "It's civilians, police, even elected officials who come out so we can get more witnesses... witnesses we otherwise would never have gotten."

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Murder rate in England at its lowest in 20 years

Alan Travis, Home Affairs editor

Thursday 16 July 2009

Number of killings drops 17% in England and Wales as Home Office reports overall crime is stable despite recession.

The murder rate in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest in 20 years, with 648 homicides recorded in 2008/09 – 136 fewer than the year before.

The annual crime figures published today appear to show that the economic recession has had a limited impact, with a lower than expected 1% increase in domestic burglary.

The overall crime rate in England and Wales is officially declared to have been stable in the past year with an estimated 10.7m offences, according to the British Crime Survey (BCS). The separate measure of police-recorded crime said the rate fell by 5% last year.

• To read the complete Guardian article, please click here.
• To look at the UK Home Office "Crime in England and Wales 2008/2009" statistics, please click here.

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Alcohol and homicide in Australia

Jack Dearden and Jason Payne

Some research provides evidence to support the notion that alcohol consumption can affect behavioural change. Both Graham and Homel (2008) and Dingwall (2006) provide comprehensive reviews that outline various behavioural explanations described in the literature. These include the concept of alcohol myopia, or ‘alcohol short sightedness’, which suggests that alcohol causes people to focus only on proximal issues or the immediate situation, with limited regard to the consequences of their actions. This in turn creates a greater potential for violence. Other research on alcohol’s affect on the brain suggests alcohol makes it harder to appreciate other people’s perspectives, to problem solve and above all, makes drinkers more impulsive, emotional and introspective.

To read the complete AIC brief, click here.

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Gangs in the Caribbean

For those with gang problems with a Caribbean connection in your jurisdictions here is a recent article from the Harvard International Review.

A Problem with International Consequences by Bilyana Tsvetkova

June 2009

“The alarmingly rapid growth in homicide statistics is mainly attributed to the recent proliferation of gang violence in the region. Among the Caribbean states, Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago are the countries with the most severe gang problems. The police have recently reported the existence in Jamaica of about 200 gangs. In 2005, there were 66 known gangs in Trinidad and Tobago with approximately 500 members. Apart from their significant impact on homicide rates, gangs have seriously affected some Caribbean national economies and have emerged as an international problem through their involvement in drug and arms trafficking. Although the main problems are clear, finding the solution for them has been a complex task for the Caribbean and the international community.”

To read the full article, please click here.

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