Operation Danube: Surrey Police thwarts the ‘perfect murder’
The killer left his DNA at the scene but knew his profile wasn’t on the
national database, even though he was on bail for murder. He had flown
into the country to commit cold-blooded and calculated murder, but was
undone by even greater attention to detail.
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Operation Larch
Re-examining West Mercia Police’s response to the Craig Hodson-Walker murder
In
January 2009, Craig Hodson-Walker was fatally wounded in an armed
robbery at Fairfield General Stores and Post Office in North
Worcestershire. West Mercia Police was commended for its work on the
case, but only when re-examining past robberies did the force realise
that the suspect was already wanted, as Alex Iszatt explains.
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Compensation for unlawful searches
Kent Police will pay compensation to three people unlawfully searched during the Kingsnorth ‘climate camp’ demonstration in 2008.

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The usual suspects
Preliminary research conducted by psychologists at the University of
Leicester, in partnership with Northamptonshire Police, has found that
criminals may be identified by analysis of their own distinctive ‘local
haunts’.


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‘Serious concerns’ over Scottish interview technique
New research should “raise serious concerns about the quality of
investigative interviewing in Scotland,” the first evaluation of
forensic interviews with children in Scotland has concluded.
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Geometric fingerprint analysis more effective
Scientists at Penn State University have adapted ‘conformal coating
applications’ to identify fingerprints using their physical properties,
making it possible for prints to be taken in cases where most chemical
methods would fail.
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New fingermark technique adds extra dimension
It is now possible to identify details such as the diet or medication
of a suspect from their fingermarks, following the development of a new
technique to analyse prints from crime scenes.
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New digital forensics degree
A degree in digital forensics is to be run by Abertay University to
teach students how to recover deleted files and unravel coded messages
on social networking sites.
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Avalanche blamed for phishing
A single Eastern European gang has been blamed for around two-thirds of
all phishing attempts conducted in the last six months of 2009.
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House and Holmes
Detectives should be more like doctors, scientists, or even comedians, argues David Carson.



David Carson is Reader in Law and Behavioural Sciences, University of
Portsmouth, and author of Professionals and the Courts (out of print)
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