Crime Site Research Articles

Soil: forensic interpretation some cases study

While investigating a crime scene related to murder, hit-and-run accidents, road accident analysis, vehicles collisions, rapes and burglaries, forensic soil examination is used for linking the suspect or an object to the crime scene. Comparison of soil provide information about location and place where from picked up by an automobile tire (location) with the soil sample taken from the crime site may help to prove that the suspect automobile may have been used in crime (place of happening). Similarly, soil or mud found adhering to clothing or shoes of a person may provide the clue that can link a suspect to a particular crime site. In the present study we reported the importance of soil and their interpretation as forensic evinces. The study has been reported with the help of cases study to provide exemplary explanation.

The Impact of the Communities that Care Approach in Reducing Violence and Crime Within an Urban, High-Burden Community.

Community violence and crime are significant public health problems with serious and lasting effects on young people, families, and communities. This violence and crime have significant ripple effects, affecting not just those who are directly physically injured, but also those who witness violent episodes, those who have friends or loved ones killed or injured, and those who must everyday navigate streets that they know have been frequent sites of serious violence and crime. The current study presents evidence of the impact that a data-driven, collective impact approach - the Communities that Care prevention system - can have on violence and crime outcomes within a large urban, high-burden community. Established as one of the national Youth Violence Prevention Centers (YVPC) funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Chicago Center for Youth Violence Prevention is among the first to implement the CTC approach in a large, urban community. The current study's findings show reductions in violence (i.e., aggravated assaults and robberies) in the Bronzeville community, compared to similar communities in Chicago.

Aptamer-controlled gold nanozyme sensor for fluorescent and colorimetric dual-channel detection of methamphetamine

Methamphetamine (METH) is the second abused drug which affects abusers’ health and induces social crimes, developing novel methods with high sensitivity and selectivity for METH detecting is still challenging. In this paper, a colorimetric and fluorescent dual-channel sensor for METH has been constructed. We combine the enzyme-mimic catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) with high target specificity of METH aptamer to create a nanosensor (Apt-GNP), in the presence of METH, the absorption of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (OxTMB) at 650 nm enhanced with METH concentration increasing, while the absorption characteristic peak of GNPs at 530 nm remained almost unchanged. The ratio of A650nm/A530nm and METH concentration had a good linear relationship when METH concentration was in the range of 5–50 μM, and the corresponding linear equation is A650nm/A530nm = 0.00727CMETH (μM) + 0.783 with R2 = 0.997 and LOD = 0.40 μM (LOD = 3σ/s, n = 11). Interestingly, the fluorescence emission of Rhodamine B (RB) overlaps with the absorption spectrum of OxTMB which represents the content of METH and the fluorescence signal of RB can be quenched through internal filtering effect (IEF). Hence, when RB was doped to the detection system, the decay of RB fluorescence can reflect the concentrations change of METH. Accordingly, the linear equation is F/FR = –0.00751CMETH (μM) + 0.895 with R2 = 0.993 and LOD = 0.40 μM, where F was the fluorescence of the analytical solution at 580 nm with METH and FR was fluorescence of RB control solution. The dual-channel sensor can measure METH in serum and artificial urine successfully which is potential to be applied in drug-using crime sites and provide direct evidence to law enforcement officials.

Latent fingerprint imaging using irradiated novel mixed metal oxides (MXOY, M=Ba, Zn, Al, Ce) nanophosphor.

Latent fingerprint developed at the site of crime is considered as crucial physical evidence in forensic investigation. The mixed metal oxides (MXOY, M=Ba, Zn, Al, Ce) nanophosphor was synthesised by irradiating the precursor solution with 60Co gamma radiation followed by solution combustion method. The structural, morphological, optical characteristics and fingerprint imaging were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy and powder dusting method, respectively. The XRD results revealed that the average crystallite size is found to be 30nm with the estimated bandgap of 3.18eV. The broadband UV exited luminescence of the phosphors was observed at λMax=330nm. The PL spectrum shows three emission bands at 432, 444 and 460nm that corresponds to blue regions, suggesting that the synthesised nanophosphor is a potential luminous material for latent fingerprinting and luminescent devices.

Gender Identification by Fingerprint Pattern and Salivary Blood Group Antigen Expression: A Forensic Approach.

Introduction Fingerprints found at the crime scene are important and valuable evidence, as they are unique to every individual. Determining the blood group from the blood samples obtained at the site of the crime helps in identifying a person. However, where blood stains are not available, saliva obtained at the crime site can be used to identify the victim. Since fingerprint patterns and blood groups are unique to every individual and remain unchanged throughout life, the correlation between dermatoglyphics and blood groups can be of use in victim identification. Objectives The present study is conducted with the objective of finding out if there is any association between the distribution of fingerprint patterns and blood groups and if this association is of use in gender identification. Materials and method Fingerprint patterns were determined in 200 (females: n = 152, males: n = 48) dental undergraduate students in the age range of 18 to 24 years. ABO blood grouping was done on saliva by using the absorption-elution method. To determine the accuracy of ABO blood group determination using saliva, it was correlated with the ABO blood grouping in blood. Observations and result The most common fingerprint pattern was found to be loops (87, 43.50%), followed by whorls (81, 40.50%) and arches (32, 16.00%). The most common blood group was B (68, 34%), followed by O (46, 23%) and A (42, 21%), and the least common was AB (12, 6%). A higher percentage of secretors in saliva was observed in females (130, 86%) than males (38, 79%). The correlation of gender with blood group and fingerprint pattern showed that in males, the most common blood group was B (20, 42%), and the most common fingerprint pattern was whorls (21, 44%). In females, the most common blood group was B (48, 32%), while the most common fingerprint pattern was loop (68, 45%). Conclusion Present study reports an association between blood group and dermatoglyphics, which may help in gender identification. Saliva can be used as a helpful tool in victim identification in cases where blood stains are not available.

Forensic dentistry- A deep dive in the drop

Teeth can be put to a lot more use than just understanding and evolving dentistry. Teeth can withstand tremendous pressure and extreme conditions providing for an incomparable piece of evidence. The comparison of the ante-mortem and the post-mortem evidences can be used to establish an identity of the required personnel. The oral cavity provides an excellent field to work on when it comes to human identification, age estimation and sex determination. The Bichat’s fat pad, lips, maxillary bones and the teeth protect the palatal rugae hence making them resistant to decomposition and incineration. The palatal rugae are characteristic to every individual. Just like the fingerprints, lip prints are permanent and constant for every individual. Bite marks can be found either on the attacker or the perpetrator. Both lip prints and bite marks account for important evidence for human identification found at the site of crime in the cases of sexual abuse. As the oral cavity serves as a useful source of DNA, latter can be extracted from saliva, the oral mucosal cells and the teeth. This DNA is used for PCR analysis. Dental structures can prove as useful indictors in determining the individual’s chronological age by analysing the tooth development. The sexual dimorphism elicited by various teeth of the human dentition play a major role in sex determination of the individual. The various recent advances like- facial reconstruction, dental identification methods, tongue prints, ameloglyphics make forensic dentistry a convenient and an effective tool in human identification. Forensic dentistry should not only be restricted to the dentists but various team involved in investigations and justice should also be exposed to this arena to avoid any biased and negligent decision making.

Facial Recognition for Criminal Identification using Convolutional Neural Network

The process of identifying and recognising the criminal is the time consuming and difficult task. There are several ways to identify culprits at the crime site, including fingerprinting, DNA matching, and eyewitness testimony. The criminal face identification system will be built on a existing criminal database. The method for identifying a human face using features extrapolated from an image is presented in this study. The technique for identifying a human face using characteristics extrapolated from a picture is presented in this research. It is quite difficult to develop a computer model for recognizing the human face since it is a complicated multidimensional visual representation. The video captured by the camera will be translated into frames as part of the suggested process. To increase detection accuracy, this suggested a Binary Gradient Alignment (BGA) algorithm a description texture classification technique. When a facial feature is detected in an image frame, it undergoes pre-processing to eliminate unnecessary data and reduce unwanted distortions. The real- time processed image is compared to the trained images that have previously been saved in the database. The technology will send an automatic email notice to the police officials if the surveillance camera detects a criminal.

Handheld UV spectrophotometer device for detection of methamphetamine hydrochloride based on supramolecular sensing platform

The realization of drug detection in drug-using crime sites can provide law enforcement officials with direct evidence. This research has developed and demonstrated an easy-to-use handheld sensor that can quickly detect methamphetamine (MA) in the field. The core of the handheld UV spectrophotometer device (HUVSD) is the STM32F103 series of single-chip micro-controller, which has a 32-bit microcontroller and two embedded 12-bit high-precision analog-to-digital converter (ADC) modules. Through Bluetooth-wireless transmission protocol, the spectral information can be displayed in the cell phone's app, and it is possible to visually determine whether the test sample contains methamphetamine hydrochloride substances based on the characteristic peak at 410 nm. The readily available and inexpensive inducible compound 3A and the phosphate pillar[5]arene@silver nanoparticle (PP5@AgNPs) colloidal solution were used as the reactants. The PP5@AgNPs colloidal solution and 3A were mixed and reacted at room temperature, and the color changed to gray-black. The color change was caused by the aggregation of AgNPs induced by the molecular recognition between the induction compound 3A and PP5 on the AgNPs surface. After continuing to add the drug MA, the color of the colloidal solution turned yellow again. This is due to the occurrence of competitive molecular recognition, and the interaction between PP5 and 3A/MA was investigated by molecular docking simulations. The HUVSD has high sensitivity, simple equipment, time-saving, color change visualization and suitable for on-site deployment. It only needs a Pasteur pipette, which has great potential to realize rapid on-site detection.

Особенности осмотра места происшествия по уголовным делам о мошенничествах в сфере компьютерной информации

The article reviews some tactical problems and solutions related to crime site examination in criminal cases on cyber fraud caused by specifics of the reviewed crime. The authors also analyze a number of difficulties arising in the investigator’s work and related to identification, withdrawal and recording of traces including material ones.

Impact of Crime Site Image on Risk Assessment and Fear of Crime

Impact of Crime Site Image on Risk Assessment and Fear of Crime

Following the dogs of Prishtina: landscape as living memorial

This paper offers autoethnographic storytelling and analysis, considering what multispecies framing can offer post-war memorialisation discourse and practice. During 2019, I undertook initial scoping and consultation around the potential of a new museum or memorial site for post-war Kosova. The aim for this new site is to encourage reflection, peace building, and action around human rights. In Kosova there are multiple and conflicting memorialisation practices enacted by war veterans, politicians, mourning widows and mothers, activists, and survivors. These all take different forms from statues to protests, oral histories and curatorial interventions. As in all wars, the physical landscape of Kosova is the site of crime and resistance, mythologising and denial. Amidst the human memorial activity live the stray dogs of Prishtina. The dogs activated my attentiveness to the potential of a living landscape as a site of multispecies enquiry for rethinking processes of memorialisation and heritage-making.

Analyzing the Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Violent Crime

Existing research suggests that COVID-19 lockdowns tend to contribute to a decrease in overall urban crime rates. Most studies have compared pre-lockdown and post-lockdown periods to lockdown periods in Western cities. Few have touched on the fine variations during lockdowns. Equally rare are intracity studies conducted in China. This study tested the relationship between violent crime and COVID-19 lockdown policies in ZG City in southern China. The distance from the isolation location to the nearest violent crime site, called "the nearest crime distance", is a key variable in this study. Kernel density mapping and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test are used to compare the pre-lockdown and post-lockdown periods to the lockdown period. Panel logistic regression is used to test the fine variations among different stages during the lockdown. The result found an overall decline in violent crime during the lockdown and a bounce-back post-lockdown. Violent crime moved away from the isolation location during the lockdown. This outward spread continued for the first two months after the lifting of the lockdown, suggesting a lasting effect of the lockdown policy. During the lockdown, weekly changes in COVID-19 risk ratings at the district level in ZG City also affected changes in the nearest crime distance. In particular, an increase in the risk rating increased that distance, and a drop in the risk rating decreased that distance. These findings add new results to the literature and could have policy implications for joint crime and pandemic prevention and control.

Exploring the impact of population density on journey‐to‐crime in cases of stranger sexual assault and stranger homicide

AbstractThe purpose of this research is to further understanding of how environmental factors impact on the distance an offender travels from their home to their crime scene ‐ the so called ‘journey‐to‐crime’ (JTC.). Currently, Geographic Profilers rely on relatively generic JTC research to form inferences about the likely distance travelled by an offender, and may be missing the opportunity to make a more bespoke assessment which takes these factors into account. 1186 cases of female stranger sexual assault (Study 1) and 124 cases of stranger homicide (Study 2) were analysed. Euclidean measurement of distance was provided from the offender's recorded home to 3 crime site locations: (1) the initial contact with victim, (2) the assault/murder, and (3) the victim release/body disposal. Each crime site location was coded according to: (a) population density and (b) urban or rural. Initial analysis examined the median distance travelled from an offender's residence to the three different crime site locations. Significant findings for stranger sexual assaults indicated that the initial contact location was significantly further from an offender's residence compared to the sexual assault and victim release location. This was not replicated for stranger homicide offences. Both sexual assault and homicide cases revealed that the distance travelled to the ‘initial approach’ location did not differ according to population density, or whether the location was urban or rural. Regarding ‘sexual assault’ locations, offenders were found to travel significantly further from their home to attack their victim in low population density and rural areas. Results showed that both sexual assault and homicide offenders travelled significantly further from their home to the ‘victim release/body disposal’ site in low population density areas and rural areas. These findings have important, practical applications for investigations, allowing Geographic Profilers to provide more bespoke inferences about an offender's journey to crime.

Bayesian Geographic Profiling: A Fundamental Limitation

Geographic profiling is a criminal investigative technique that analyzes the locations of a crime series to determine the most probable area of offender residence. Police agencies employ the methodology for suspect prioritization and information management purposes in serial crime cases. Geoprofiles are probability maps generated by an algorithm that integrates distance decay functions originating from the point pattern of the connected crime sites. A more recent approach, known as empirical Bayes journey-to-crime estimation (or Bayesian geographic profiling), seeks to supplement these models with area-based historical offender and crime data. Spatial information from previous crime trips is used to calibrate analyses following the assumption that the unknown offender likely resides in the same neighborhood as past criminals who offended in the location of the new crime series. Inferring individual suspect rankings from historical area rankings, however, creates an ecological fallacy, and the greater the congruence between past offenders and future suspects, the more tautological the analysis. Although Bayesian models cannot be used to inform suspect prioritization—the main function of geographic profiling—the approach could have applicability for police strategies based on area prioritization. Surprisingly, this major limitation of the Bayes approach to geoprofiling has been ignored in the literature.

Forensic entomology: A novel approach in crime investigation

Forensic entomology is an application of studies related to insects and other arthropods in legal matters. Depth knowledge and experience of the biodiversity, biology, ecology, and behavior of forensic insects found on a human corpse or at a crime site, can provide information about time since death, location of the crime, and in some cases cause of death. Although forensic insects are used in crime investigation for three to four decades, it aroused recently as a very popular and independent branch of forensic science in crime investigation. While observing and examining insects on a corpse, knowledge of regional insects’ assemblages and their population dynamics play an important role in medico-legal entomology for an efficient criminal investigation. Forensic entomology has three components, named as urban, stored products, and medico-legal. As different groups of insects are attracted to different stages of decay, forensic insects invade the corpse in a typical sequence. The type of insects’ colonization found on corpses provides important information about the decomposition stage. Calliphoridae provides valuable evidences, particularly in determining time since death in criminal matters, where the time since death is prolonged and use of other conventional methods for estimation of time since death is limited. Two well-established ways used for estimation of post mortem interval are based on maggot’s development and succession waves of entomofauna. The latest scientific and technological developments in the field, such as its combined approach with forensic toxicology, forensic palynology, DNA based molecular identification of insect species, and other various methods to estimate post mortem interval, are many emerging fields under this periphery and forensic entomology lately became very popular among criminal investigators and forensic entomologists.

Finding Needle in the Haystack: “Kasur’s Bogeyman” Brought to Justice by Geographic Profiling and Mass DNA Screening

This article describes the application of the concept of geographic profiling in hunting a serial child rapist in Kasur, Pakistan. It also discusses, how DNA became the prime witness against the serial rapist in the court of law. In January 2018, the blind rape and murder case of Zainab Amin hit the headlines. Following autopsy and the subsequent forensic examination, the only piece of evidence, the agencies had, was the DNA profile of the perpetrator and the information that the source of DNA profile is a serial child rapist, involved in at least seven more cases. The analysis of all crime sites and the distance between them strongly suggested that the offender most likely was a local resident. Mass DNA screening in the target region was conducted by CSI teams of Punjab forensic science agency. The DNA matched with suspect number 814 who later confessed all his crimes. In Polygraph examination, the offender revealed his modus operandi which was in line with the hypotheses made during the geographic profiling of the crime scenes. Thus, geographic profiling proved to be a very useful investigative tool in predicting the probable location of the criminal involved in a series of crimes.

Human teeth as a reliable age marker: A study on migrant labour population

Age is one among the factors which is supposed to be identified in establishing identity of an unknown or deceased person. It is found to be more reliable and accurate to determine the age of a person. The determination of age can be achieved from various physical markers present in body, this includes teeth, bones, and skull. There is certain age where the long bones tend to complete their growth, the growth of skull is well marked by the time of order of their suture closures. A well-developed cranial bone depicts that it is intersected with a suture. besides the bone and skull another reliable physical marker is the human teeth, teeth is considered to be the hardest tissue in humans which is not affected by the factors such as heat, temperature, moisture etc. it is an effective identifier in cases of mass disaster where it is practically impossible to determine the identity of the person through the bones available from the crime site. Teeth is a very important factor to determine the age in disputed cases. Since the age can be estimated even from skeletal remains, teeth are preferred for estimation in certain cases as it is considered to be one among the hardest tissues of the human body. Teeth has got a very unique feature as it cannot be destroyed by heat or any thermal factors or other environmental factors. This property of the teeth has to be effectively utilized for age estimation. The following study was conducted on migrant workers working on a peeling company, the purpose behind the study is to determine whether all the workers have 18 years of age and to ensure that no or none of them are working below the age of 18. There are certain cases reporting that some of these workers have found committing impersonating forgery claiming to be above 18 years of age. The study is specifically to find the age of workers by examining the teeth and also to find if any forgery is done or not. This study was also done to check whether labor laws has been violated or not in accordance with the Constitution of India, no child below the age fourteen years of age shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment, therefore employment of a child under the age of 14 years is punishable by law (child labor prohibition and regulation act of 2012). The need of the study arises from this very fact that the proof of age is not an authenticated document. With repeated reports of forgery regarding the proof of age, submitting ration card as proof of age. And in the wake of current scenarios to ensure that no child is exploited in any kind of ways. The study was done on migrant labor population working in a factory and the estimation is carried out using the Demirjian method along with Acharya’s India specific value and the probable age of the respondents are calculated.

Intelligent automated public transportation systems with enhanced security

A significant population of our country is folks with an average income who depend on public transportation to go about. But this method of transport has become one of the most chaotic and also has a high percentage of crime sites for numerous incidents. Hence this method has the most insecure position for the public and also pollution generating state. Out of the full population of India as of 2017, around 5.5 percent of the total GDP goes by road dependent on public transit. The aim of this work is to develop a Smart automatic Public transport System with improved security to provide convenience to passengers who are unaware of the complete information about the buses such as availability of seats, journey time, distance traveled, and to make sure they experience the same comfort as their personal vehicles.

The Spatial Pattern Changes of Pyramid Selling Crime Sites in Wuhan City and the Factors Influencing the Built Environment

The Spatial Pattern Changes of Pyramid Selling Crime Sites in Wuhan City and the Factors Influencing the Built Environment

Mapping matters: geoprofiling application in South African serial rape investigation

Generally, the application of geographic profiling (also known as geoprofiling) is under-researched and its scientific and theoretical foundations, as well as the existing research evidence of its effectiveness, claimed to be inadequate and questionable. Notwithstanding, the present study explored the role of geographic profiling, in the context of the South African serial rapist, by scrutinising, amongst others, the locations of their crime sites. The basic theoretical assumptions underlying geographic profiling, their empirical validity, methods of constructing geographic profiles, and geographic profiling’s accuracy were also probed. Findings presented pioneering criminological insights on how serial rapists navigated to and from their crime sites, which could potentially assist national and international crime investigators with the prediction of subsequent offence locales.