Behavioural Investigative Advice: Assistance to Investigative Decision‐making in Difficult‐to‐detect Murder. Issue 3 (23rd July 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cole, Terri; Brown, Jennifer
• Is Part Of: Journal of investigative psychology and offender profiling. Volume 11:Issue 3(2014:Oct.)
• Page Start: 191
• Page End: 220
• Publication Date: 2013-07-23
• Subjects: Criminal psychology -- Periodicals; Criminal behavior, Prediction of -- Periodicals; 365.3
• DOI: 10.1002/jip.1396
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1544-4759

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>This paper considers the role of a Behavioural Investigative Adviser (BIA) in assisting with the decision‐making of a Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) in difficult‐to‐detect murder investigations. It outlines the need for transparent evidence‐based decision‐making from both the SIO and the BIA. The paper then details a piece of relevant, applied research that can assist in this end. The research utilised a pragmatic psychology approach to analyse 312 detected murder cases from the Serious Crime Analysis Section database. Some significant patterns relating what is known about the offence at different stages of an investigation and inferences regarding the offender were found, indicating that certain offence information can lead to some reliable predictions and these can be refined as more information becomes available. However, the findings also indicate that base rate frequencies and a 'best‐guess' methodology may be as, if not more, useful than more complex statistical techniques when providing advice to investigations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.</p> </abstract>