MURDER AT PORTOBEACHOFFICE 15

OVERVIEW• The purpose of this report is to summarize the work

of Office 15 in its 5-week investigation of the murders in Porto Beach.

• It will give a week by week summary of the investigation and the key findings for each week.

• Each stage of the investigation will be covered: gathering intelligence, statistical analysis, community links and the press release.

• Finally each officer will give a reflective account of their own personal experiences of investigating crime in Porto Beach.

The Investigation Team Senior Investigating Officer – Hayley Howarth, Glasgow

Caledonian Univ. Public Information Officer – Shuma Mannan, Manchester

Metropolitan Univ. Public Information Coordinator – Megan Oldfield,

Manchester Metropolitan Univ. Public Information Researcher – Ciaron Wilkinson,

Manchester Metropolitan Univ. Evidence Disclosure Officer – Sophie Dodgson, Manchester

Metropolitan Univ. Statistical Analyst – Rabiah Kasim, Manchester Metropolitan

Univ. Geographical Information Analyst – Tom Schwingle,

University of West Florida

Investigation Week One – Gathering Intelligence

• Group introductions and bios were completed.• Team case studies were reviewed.• Investigation reveals gang-related or organized

crime involvement.• Decision made by group that organized crime and

gang-violence would be the theme of investigation.• Individual case studies played integral role in the

investigation process.

 

Key Findings – Week One• During this week the group displayed a number

of key skills: • Sourcing of relevant materials• Concisely summarizing the material • Strong analytical skills• Working to a schedule • The investigation in week 1 generated

the following findings:– Organized crime and gang violence was extremely

prevalent in Porto Beach and seemed to be the motive for the 5 murders,

– The victims were two known underworld figures, one prison inmate, one policeman, and one female.

Key Findings – Week Two• The statistical analysis of data found:• Murder Rates (based on 1 per 100,000 people): • Florida 6.21• PortoBeach 3.82• Scotland 2.13• England 1.37 • Conclusion: The murder rate in PortoBeach is high

compared to England and Scotland but Lower compared to Florida.

• Sources: www.wikipedia.org www.scotland.gov.uk

Key Findings – Week Two Cont’d

Conclusion:  The murder rate is increasing in PortoBeach.

HOMICIDES BY LOCATIONLOCATION OF MURDER NUMBER OF MURDERS

Public Transport Facilities 4

Outdoor/Public Place 49

Residential - Dwelling 3

Residential - Outside of Dwelling

1

Residential - Temporary Accommodation

2

Carpark 1

Law Enforcement, Courts, Prison etc.

1

Licensed Premises 2

Unknown 1TOTAL 64

Investigation Week Three – Community Links

Florida: • Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN)

(www.justice.gov/usao/fls/CBI/ProjectSafeNeighborhoods)• Florida Gang Investigators Association (www.fgia.com)Scotland:• Serious Organized Crime Taskforce

(www.octf.gov.uk)• Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV)

(www.scotland.gov.uk › ... › Tackling Violence)England:• Manchesters Multi-agency gang scheme (MAGS)• Crime Stoppers

(www.crimestopper-uk.org)

Key Findings

• Organized crime and gang crime is currently an issue both in the Great Britain and in America. Both countries are introducing new measures to try and tackle this issue.

• Vigilantism causes much debate over whether it is right or wrong.

• Vigilantism can have both positive and negative effects.

 

Key Findings Cont’d.

• Positive Example:    A man stopped a gang of youths in Manchester from seriously harming another boy. Although he broke one of the youths jaw and nose he was still let off by the judge. (http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1109029_vigilante_thug_jailed)

• Negative Example: Klu Klux Klan - This vigilante group attacked Blacks, Catholics and Jews in the 1960s in order to try and create their ideal world of white supremacy.

Investigation Week Four – Press Release

• Key points of press release:Discourage Vigilante Groups.

Relieve fear amongst general public.

Let public know police are actively pursuing the perpetrator.

CONCLUSION

• A SUSPECT HAS BEEN ARRESTED IN THE MURDERS AT PORTOBEACH.

• THE SUSPECT IS KNOWN TO HAVE TIES WITH AN ORGANIZED CRIME SYNDICATE DEALING IN DRUG TRAFFICKING.

• THERE HAVE BEEN NO MORE MURDERS IN PORTOBEACH SINCE THE SUSPECT’S ARREST.

Hayley HowarthSenior Investigating Office (SRO)

• Main Contributions:• Good work ethic – working on all aspects of the tasks and

making sure my parts were done well and on time.• Leadership – tried to make sure that everyone knew what

they had to do and helped the best I could if assistance was needed.

• Biggest Challenge:• Time management – the project was quite time consuming

and at times it was difficult to manage this work with other commitments.

• Trying to maintain a group work ethic when some members were not participating fully.

 

Hayley Howarth, SRO, Cont’d. • Acquired Skills:• I feel that working on this project with people I don’t know

and who I haven’t met before has gave me the ability to work with different kinds of people in a range of different circumstances which will be beneficial in the future.

• I have also learned to take an active role in group situations which will also be beneficial to me now and in the future.

• Additional Comments:• Working on this project has been extremely enjoyable.

Gaining different perspectives from people in different locations was extremely interesting and I feel that I took a lot from the project. Tom in particular was especially nice to work with and was a key member of the group.

Megan OldfieldPublic Information Coordinator (PIC)• Main Contributions• Work ethic - I tried to make sure all work was done correctly

and on time.• Biggest Challenge • Time management - was often difficult to keep up to work

on time as well as other commitments and deadlines• Group work - could be difficult working with people with

different standards and levels of knowledge.

Megan Oldfield, PIC, Cont’d.

• Acquired Skills• Time management - although it was a challenge I feel that I

improved as the weeks went on.• Learnt to work better as part of a large group. • Additional Comments • I often found it difficult working as part of a large group with

different levels of dedication towards the project and different time scales in which to complete it. Although I do acknowledge that some people did put more time and effort into it than others.

Tom SchwingleGeographical Information Analyst (GIA)

• Main Contributions:• Set up wiki pages for each week’s assignments.• Assisted the SIO in organizing and guiding team members in

submitting weekly tasks in time to meet deadlines.• Prepared this PowerPoint presentation based on input from

team members.• Biggest Challenge:• Time zone difference between U.S. and Europe.• Communicating with team members on a timely basis (see

additional comments).

Tom Schwingle, GIA, Cont’d.

• Acquired Skills:• Thinking skills that can be used in criminal investigations.• Communications skills that can be used with my

counterparts in other countries.• Gained a good working knowledge of how to use

PowerPoint Software.• Additional Comments:• I really enjoyed this project and would like to do something

like this in one of my classes in the future. Hayley made an excellent SIO and kept us on track. The only suggestion I would make would be to have a real time chat capability.

Sophie DodgsonEvidence Disclosure Officer (EDO)

• Main Contributions• Finding newspaper articles.• Aquired skills• Learning how to manage time better.• Additional Comments• I found it difficult to manage the group work with

so many other deadlines too but I must commend Hayley and Tom for their hard work and effort and prompt replies to my questions.

Shuma MannanPublic Information Officer

• Main Contributions• Work ethic - completed the tasks and tried my best

to get them done on time.• Biggest Challenge• Time management - the project was time

consuming, I found it difficult to keep up with, as I had other commitments.

• Group work - found it difficult working as a group, as some members did not fully participate.

Shuma MannanPublic Information Officer, Cont’d

• Acquired Skills• Time management - Was a challenge, but I learnt

how to work better in a group, as the project continued over the weeks.

• Additional Comments• Found this project challenging, as I was working in a

group with people who I have never met, and we were not communicating face to face, we were all communicating through the internet.