Research

Peer Reviewed Essays

Current Research - PhD - 1st Phase

Understanding of Forensic Intelligence within Policing Forensics

This research will be based on the subject area of forensic intelligence, that of Criminalistic forensic intelligence has not been comprehensively studied, and therefore not convincingly explained in the literature available on policing and military intelligence. This research is designed to address these challenges and facilitate the initial conversations in academia.

The use of forensic evidence may not always be primarily concerned with proving guilt or innocence. The collection and use of forensic intelligence, both overt and covert, can help to fulfil the roles stated above, but also provide the valuable information required to assist in an investigation, plan tactics for future forensic operations, and even disrupt criminals before they commit a crime. “Yet while the concept of forensic intelligence has caught the attention of a number of policing agencies around the world, it has yet to become a mainstream undertaking. In part this is an artefact of a pragmatic policing culture that only institutes new practices based on demonstrable, research and practice-based effectiveness.” (2012)

While criminalistics forensic intelligence could be used to criminal suspects, it may be that the intelligence itself would not be admissible in a court due to its method of collection or that it would not be disclosed as it would divulge the techniques or sources used. In these cases, the author will argue, that criminalistics forensic intelligence should be used as a means to assist in identifying possible suspects, materials, locations and techniques used by terrorists; therefore, positively supporting investigators and allowing informed and directed investigations to be carried out using specific criteria.

This research intends to examine the following Hypothesis:

H1. Intelligence products are not readily available to individual forensic departments.

H2. Forensic Resources do not have the relevant intelligence available to them when attending scenes.

H3. The tasking of forensic resources is not driven by intelligence but by force strategy and policy.

H4. Forensic resources are not appropriately trained in intelligence products.

H5. Forensic intelligence is not appropriately integrated into crime intelligence processes.

H6. Forensic resources do not fully understand the requirements of forensic intelligence

Masters Dissertation - Criminalistics forensic intelligence (FORINT)

Criminalistics forensic intelligence (FORINT) has been slow in being adopted into UK Intelligence-Led Policing (ILP) as a proactive tool in the fight against terrorism. Why is this and how can it be tackled?

Abstract

This research investigates why criminalistics forensic intelligence (FORINT) has been slow in being adopted into UK Intelligence-Led Policing (ILP) as a proactive tool in the fight against terrorism.

This dissertation initially set out to research what proactive role criminalistics FORINT has in countering terrorism. Identifying research data on this unique question presented some challenges with few relevant research papers identified. It was, therefore, necessary to broaden the question to include the overarching intelligence model, ILP.

There is confusion around the labelling and function of FORINT, with a multitude of different labels, descriptions and practices in operation. This misunderstanding of FORINT may stem from the fact that both the police and security services have limited awareness of forensic processes, the realities and, more importantly, how forensic intelligence can be used proactively to combat crime and terrorism.

When researching the ILP model, several challenges within ILP presented difficulties that render FORINT ineffective. UK Police foster a culture of relying on 'traditional’ methods of investigation; traditional methods tend to view forensic science as a purely reactive resource within a legal framework. Much of this culture is centred on a 'need-to-know’ principle, which James (2011) suggests is often applied to a 'ridiculous extreme[s]’, resulting in intelligence being kept within intelligence cliques that prefer to exclude those without a 'need-to-know'.

When researching cases of terrorism where forensics was used, nearly all the FORINT was reactive to an event. It became apparent that many of the terrorists were involved in criminal activities before progressing to terrorism; this presented a different perspective to the research. Being involved in Illegal activity suggests that these individuals would have been the focus of police attention and therefore present an opportunity at this criminal stage for FORINT to be proactive and preventative; to identify suspects before they become terrorists.

From the author’s own experiences and extensive use of intelligence within the policing and military sectors, it is conjectured that FORINT does indeed play a part in identifying terrorists’ pre-event. However, due to the confidentiality and sensitivity surrounding the intelligence-gathering methods and outcomes, it would, in most situations, be challenging to uncover any evidence other than hearsay or anecdotal.

Arab Media reporting of ‘terrorist’ violence.

Arab Media in the Middle East: Framing and critical discourse analysis of the reporting of ‘terrorist’ violence by four multi-language digital Arabic media newspapers?

Abstract

When the news media compose articles with carefully selected narratives and poignant images of violence, they may be fashioning a ‘weapon’ to influence personal opinions, stimulate strong emotions and facilitate personal empowerment. Throughout the world stereotypes and archetypes exist, one example, unfortunately being frequent labelling of Muslims as fundamentalists, terrorists and extremists by western media. Terrorist-related articles habitually convey negative images portraying an Islamic crusade against Western culture and values. Western victims of terrorist events are often conversely referred to as innocent and Christian. Patrick (2014) suggests “the [western] media's framing of terrorism exacerbates an us [West] versus them [Islam] mentality”. This stereotyping, depending on audience cognizance, can generate destructive or equally constructive reactions from individuals. As Powell (2011) comments, “This could get people to rally behind the good turning people away from terrorism or, where sectarian violence is concerned, could push them towards the use of violence”.

The Arab Spring provided huge opportunities for powerful social media platforms to influence the people and politics. By creating suggestive and engaging frames the Arab news media has similar influences to those in social media, ones that can inspire some to political activism and others to extremes of violence.

With the modern Middle East witnessing a prolonged period of unrest and violence it is essential to understand what effect regional media framing is having on the native population to inform policies and counter-terrorism strategies. Research on Arab news media framing is sparse in comparison to the studies undertaken on western media. This research will therefore explore how the Digital News media in the Middle East reports on the growing number of terrorist related events, specifically if the reporting could be considered inflammatory or contain prejudicial religious bias. It will employ grounded theory methodology to examine the principal media frames used to present and organise the information and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to evaluate the narrative, specifically that relating to victims, attackers, event locations, and religious associations.

The Future of Teaching, Training and Learning in Forensic and Crime Science - Article for Science and Justice.

Evaluation of Accreditation in the training of Forensic and Crime Scene Practitioners

Williamson.A¹, Doyle, A¹, Huldie.C^1,Wood.E¹ and Youngman.M^1, and Brooks. A. J¹²,

1. Integritas Global Consultancy (IGC), Fareham Innovation Centre, Merlin House, Solent-On-Way

2. University of Leicester, University Road, LE1 7RH

Abstract

UKAS (2020), the United Kingdom’s national accreditation body, defines accreditation as the formal recognition that an organisation acquires to demonstrate their competency to perform specific processes, activities, or tasks in a reliable, credible, and accurate manner. An individual's ability to undertake specific tasks within a given discipline can often be demonstrated through formal or professional qualifications. These qualifications are undoubtedly beneficial for individuals, as they highlight to an employer that the individual has achieved an acceptable level of competence through training. However, the key factors that distinguish between accredited training and non-accredited training are predominately centred on quality – specifically the structure, delivery, and evaluation. The word 'quality within the context of forensic science and crime scene investigation (CSI) training can be referred to as 'assurance' – in other words, the affirmation that tasks, conducted by practitioners, are undertaken correctly, employing standard operating procedures (SOPs) as defined by the organisation, to an organised and professional manner. The ability to theorise and practise these SOPs as part of a cohesive and structured timetabled course and within a safe training environment, which allows for the documentation, storage, and assessment, enforces the foundation of a practitioner within the disciplines of a criminal investigation. Additionally, it can be argued that the requirement of accredited training is somewhat more vital in the current climate where; (1) the number of vacancies for crime scene / forensic science-related jobs are scarce, (2) delivery of education/subject matter is not considered to be the 'norm' (down to restrictions by the resultant CV-19 pandemic) and (3) financial restraints impacting the quality of training that they outsource.

This paper will explore what is meant by accredited training, the importance of it for the training of forensic science and crime scene investigation (CSI) practitioners and finally the exploration as to why there is a prominent absence of this given the implementation of two prominent international standards (ISO 17020 and ISO17025).