Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
How effective is forensic science?
Malcolm Graham
Detective Chief SuperintendentLothian and Borders Police
“The police were part of a process that made cities less violent, crime ridden and disorderly during the nineteenth century. The police’s precise contribution to this, compared with more general processes of social pacification is hard to pinpoint, but it is probable they were a significant factor”
How effective are the police?
“…received positive in-house evaluations, but these are usually by partisans, and suffer from the ‘foregone conclusions’ syndrome of predictably happy endings.”
Reiner (2000)
How effective are the police?
“Unsettled social conditions and a wide range of new offences…must clearly be expected to last for a considerable period. New legislation continues to put new burdens on to the police; and the steady improvement of transport and communications, by increasing the mobility of the criminal and the volume of road traffic, cannot but involve a corresponding increase in the complexity and range of police duties. The future therefore offers little prospect of any diminution of these problems.”
How effective are the police?
Changing Mission
• National vs Local
• Prevention…
• …through detection?
How effective is forensic science?
• So called ‘volume crime’
• Serious or major crime investigations
• Performance Management
How effective is forensic science?
• So called ‘volume crime’
How effective is forensic science?
• So called ‘volume crime’
• Serious or major crime investigations
How effective is forensic science?
• So called ‘volume crime’
• Serious or major crime investigations
• Performance Management
How effective is forensic science?
D N A
0100200300400500
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May Jun Ju
lAu
gSe
p Oct
Nov
Dec Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May Jun Ju
lAu
g
2007 2008
PCR
Strategic approach to use of forensic Science
• To use forensic science where it matters most
• Achieving greater efficiency and best value
• Raising the awareness and capability of our staff
• Greater co-ordination and understanding of shared objectives
• Development of innovative approaches and solutions
• Development of a performance management and information system
Some barriers
• Variance in policy and practice
• Capacity
• Activity focus
• Back logs!!
The future
• Progress to date
• Opportunities from SPSA
• Training and competence
• Innovation
• Performance analysis
“Unsettled social conditions and a wide range of new offences…must clearly be expected to last for a considerable period. New legislation continues to put new burdens on to the police; and the steady improvement of transport and communications, by increasing the mobility of the criminal and the volume of road traffic, cannot but involve a corresponding increase in the complexity and range of police duties. The future therefore offers little prospect of any diminution of these problems.”
The future
Report of the 2nd Police Post-war Committee, 1947
Questions?
