Intelligence databases
*The police use many databases to help them store and access information to help in the fight against crime.
E.g. the UK National
... [Show More] DNA Database and Police National Computer or PNC, which holds extensive information on people, vehicles, crimes and property. It stores details of over 12 million people's arrests, convictions and police cautions, with links to biometric databases for fingerprints on the national DNA database.
*Vehicle registration data and information on 48 million people who hold a driving licence, and those who are disqualified.
*The PNC also holds information on missing and wanted persons.
*The police national database contains intelligence about suspected criminal activity as well as the data on the PNC.
*It holds over 3.5 billion searchable records and is itself made up of 220 linked databases.
*Criminit, run by the Metropolitan Police Service of Greater London, stores information on criminals, suspected criminals, and protesters. Also, there are databases that contain information from witnesses, informants and agents.
*International databases - UK police can also access databases that share information between police forces in different countries.
Forensics
*Forensics today is very different from 100 years ago. In the past, when police had to attend a crime scene, they would be alone until a doctor arrived to confirm death and to carry out a very quick review of the body. In today's world of forensic science;
}The police are accompanied by a range of forensic experts to help in the investigations.
}The police discuss actions and usefulness of various forms of evidence with the experts.
}There is limited access to a crime scene, protective clothing is required to be worn, to avoid contamination.
}The police recover evidence scientifically, which is then considered by a range of experts in many different fields.
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Crime watch - How they caught: Brian Keating's killers
1. What type of crime were the police investigating? A gang style killing.
2. Where was the body? What did this indicate to the police? Dumped in a church yard in Leeds. He was propped up in the gravestones looking at the police.
3. How is Brian Keating described in the clip? He was no angel; he had been on the wrong side of the law but was a loving family man.
4. Briefly describe the events of 15th October 2002. The gang broke into Brian's house and took Brian with them into their car. A silent gunman held his wife and children at gunpoint.
5. How were the police able to identify the suspects? Brian's wife knew the silent gunman who had two brothers who had served prison sentences.
6. What evidence did the police use to trace the movements of the suspects? The contact between the brothers.
7. What had happened to the car used in the crime? It was abandoned in a car park in Leeds where they torched it.
8. What evidence was lea in the car? The sledgehammer which had Brian's blood on it.
9. How did the police trace the sledgehammer? They went to the store footage of where the sledgehammer was bought and saw the brothers on CCTV buying sledgehammers.
10. How did this help to build evidence in the case? It showed Jaspal Khosa, and Jetinder Khosa buying the sledgehammers that were used to kill Brian.
11. What evidence was on Brian Keating's body and face? Dog hairs but he did not have a dog.
12. What evidence was found in the van? More dog hairs.
13. What was the problem with the DNA analysis of the evidence? They could develop the DNA from the dog hairs but could not give any statistical evidence between the dog and Brian.
14. Where did the samples get analysed? California
15. What was the chance of the DNA being from another dog? 1 in 484 million.
16. Why was the evidence from the dog so vital? The dog got the jury to convict the killers.
17. Write a brief summary of the range of evidence used to prove the case. The evidence used was dog hairs, Rudolph Berkeley's dog that were all over the van and Brian. The sledgehammer used to kill Brian which had Brian's blood on it and a witness testimony from Brian's wife.
DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid
The chemical that carries genetic information and is contained in chromosome found in the nucleus of most cells. Sometimes called our genetic code as it determines all are characteristics.
Case study - first ever forensic use of DNA profiling
*DNA profiling was developed by the scientist Alec Jeffreys in 1985 and it was first used to investigate the rape and murder of 2 girls in Leicestershire in 1983 and in 1986.
*Using the new technique, Jefferies established that semen left in both cases came from the same man hold up police then took blood samples from all 4583 men in the area and eventually found a match with Colin Pitchfork, who was convicted of both murders.
*The test also exonerated Robert Buckland, a 17 year old with learning difficulties who had admitted to the 1983 killing hold up Buckland became the first person ever to be cleared of a crime using DNA analysis.
*However, Pitchfork was in fact only caught when a Co-worker revealed to work mates that he had taken the blood test masquerading as Pitchfork, because Pitchfork told him he had already given a sample while pretending to be a friend he wanted to avoid being harassed by police because of a previous conviction.
*A woman over heard the conversation and reported it to the police.
*The DNA analysis confirmed pitchfork's guilt but it was the witness evidence that enable police to catch him.
*The forensic evidence was not the only factor.
Strengths of DNA Evidence
•It is found in virtually every cell in the human body.
•everybody is DNA's unique, which allows for very high reliability. - except for who?
•It gives the chance to solve old murders.
•it can help prove innocence as well as guilt.
•it can help identify victims when other methods do not work.
•DNA from closely related relatives, such as siblings, have many similarities in common. (Example, Collete Aram)
Weaknesses of DNA evidence
•Cross-contamination of evidence is possible.
•To secure a match with a sample from a crime scene the perpetrator must be on the national DNA database.
•Such a technique may infringe civil liberties, especially when DNA profiles are stored from people who are innocent.
•It is possible that trace amounts of DNA come falsely implicate a person. (example, David Butler)
•the financial cost of DNA testing .
Colette Aram
*Colette Was raped and murdered in 1983 by Paul Hutchinson - before DNA profiling existed.
*However, by 2008 police were able to develop a profile of her killer due to advances in DNA technology.
Hutchinson's son had been arrested for a motoring events and a routine DNA sample was taken which partially matched DNA taken from the crime scene. His father was arrested and convicted of the murder.
*Because blood relatives share similar DNA profiles, the method has also been used to identify deceased victims of homicides, suicides and accidents.
David Butler
*David Butler was charged with the murder of a prostitute, Anne Marie Foy, as a result of a partial DNA match.
*His DNA was found under the victim's fingernails.
*His DNA sample was on record after he had willingly given it to them as part of an investigation into a burglary at his mother's home some years earlier.
*The DNA sample was only a partial match, of poor quality, and experts at the time said they could neither say that he was guilty nor rule him out.
*However, he remained in prison - despite other CCTV evidence allegedly placing Mr Butler in the area where the murder took place being disproved. Mr Butler has a rare skin condition, which means he sheds flakes of skin, leaving behind much larger traces of DNA than the average person.
*He worked as a taxi driver, and so it was possible for his DNA to be transferred from his taxi via money or another person, onto the murder victim.
The victim was also wearing a glitter nail polish, which proved particularly attractive to dirt - and DNA. The case eventually went to trial and Mr Butler was acquitted and finally released after spending eight months on remand.
*Ms Foy's killer has never been caught and the case remains open. Mr Butler was acquitted as he didn't do the murder.
Surveillance
*Keeping a close watch over something or someone.
*The use of CCTV is a major tool in police investigations in todays society.
*It is often the first thing that an investigating officer will ask for during a police investigation.
*CCTV allows the police to obtain permanent images of the crime taking place and pictures of offenders.
*In today's society CCTV is a huge part in our everyday lives.
*There are cameras on the streets, business premises, public buildings, inside shops and outside peoples homes, State-of-the-art technology can trace a suspects movements and be used to both incriminate someone or show their innocence.
CCTV evidence can be particularly useful in cases involving street crime, such as robbery, as all busy areas of a city are nowadays covered by cameras. Also, thefts from commercial premises are likely to be filmed on CCTV.
*The police also use covert surveillance.
*Covert human intelligence sources (CHISs) applies to information obtained by a person who establishes or maintains a personal or other relationship with the person for the covert purpose of using it to obtain or provide access to any information.
*This covers use of informants and undercover officers.
Due to possible infringements of civil liberties there are strict rules that govern undercover police work. However, this technique can be useful in combating serious crimes such as terrorism and major drug dealings.
covert surveillance
Undercover or not obvious monitoring.
London riots 2011 CCTV
*A series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011, when thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting, arson, and mass deployment of police, and resulted in the deaths of five people.
*Marcus Knox-Hooke was at the heart of the 2011 riots sparked by the death of his friend Mark Duggan in a police shooting.
*The CCTV shows footage of the riots and looting in London of bricks thrown at police, a moped rider pulled off his machine when he strayed onto a street of rioters, one of many youths in hoods setting fire to a building through a broken window, youths sliding under a broken shop shutter to steal what they could lay their hands and 4000 arrests have been done due to CCTV. [Show Less]