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Using administrative data on the universe of police recorded crime linked to judicial outcomes for England and Wales from January 2013 to December 2018, we document—for the first time—large and persistent spatial inequalities in the proportion of solved and unsolved crimes across small neighborhoods covering a whole country. We find substantial differences across neighborhoods in the same municipality or police force. Fixed effects decompositions suggest that neighborhoods have different clearance rates across different crimes and that high‐crime neighborhoods also have high clearance rates, but with substantial heterogeneity across offences. Clearance rates correlate systematically with neighborhood composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines Sexual Homicide (SH) cases, analyzing the transition to cold cases through a non‐discretionary lens. Utilizing the SH International Database, it explores the interplay between offender behavior, victim characteristics, and crime context. Advanced methodologies, including sequential logistic regression and Artificial Neural Networks, identify key predictors of case resolution. Results highlight the critical influence of victim intoxication, high‐risk activities, and the location of the victim's body on case solvability. The study also reveals the significant role of offender forensic awareness and the complexity of crime scenes in hindering case resolution. These findings underline the multifaceted nature of SH cases, emphasizing the importance of understanding the nuanced interplay between victim, offender, and contextual factors in solving these challenging cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is a book review of "California Gothic: The Dark Side of the Dream" by Charles L. Crow. The author explores the contrasting narratives of California as a paradise and the dark, haunting history that lies beneath the surface. Crow analyzes literature, popular media, and history to expose the gothic underbelly of the state and its culture. The book is organized into six chapters that discuss different aspects of "California gothic," including colonization, violence, alternative communities, environmental devastation, and film noir. It is recommended for those interested in California, American Gothic, western studies, popular literature, and popular history of the western U.S. [Extracted from the article]

The purpose of this study is to explore cases of missing persons suspected of being criminal. Specifically, this research aims to empirically describe the circumstances surrounding criminal disappearances and examine whether there are different subcategories within these cases using a victimological framework. The data used in this study come from an operational police database. The sample includes 155 unsolved missing person cases whose thorough investigation by the police concluded that a criminal motive remained the most likely hypothesis. These cases occurred on the entire territory of metropolitan France and overseas. Multidimensional scale analysis was used to explore the context of disappearance according to missing person characteristics, lifestyle, everyday activities, and situational exposure at the time of the disappearance. Results show that the distribution of variables in a two‐dimensional space reveals four distinct different categories related to lifestyle and situational exposure: riskier lifestyle, riskier situation, safer situation, and safer lifestyle. This study is the first to empirically explore unsolved missing person cases suspected of a criminal outcome. Moreover, the framework used in this study demonstrates the importance of victimology in an investigative context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) are victims of pervasive violence that began centuries ago, one that has gone unrecognized by governments, institutions, and society as a whole. To fight this silencing, Native communities have come together to decolonize the narrative, advocate for MMIWG, and honor the lost lives of their daughters, sisters, and matriarchs. We provide an overview of the history of MMIWG, the lack of response by the US government, and the decolonial action and advocacy by Native communities. However, we also go far beyond the typical academic article, in that we present both the factual information behind MMIWG and the emotional weight that each of the authors and those we know carry. We have incorporated stories, pictures, art, and the names of MMIWG to illustrate the ongoing reality of the attempted genocide of Native women and girls. We pray that this article aids in the honoring of our lost sisters and their families while bringing awareness of this tragedy to the eyes of those who can join us in fighting the silence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical Information System (GIS) is underutilized within the forensic discipline, especially concerning the discovery of clandestine graves. GIS, viewshed analysis, and probability maps are being introduced into desk‐based research both for archaeology and forensic purposes. This study aims to investigate how useful GIS can be to narrow down large search areas when locating clandestine graves. Combining GIS, viewshed analysis, and probability maps allows for the exploration of potential areas of concealment and diggability on Saddleworth Moor to find the remaining missing Moors victim, Keith Bennett. Methods included viewshed analysis consisting of what is visible and not visible from a certain location while the probability map registers the likelihood of penetrability across the Moors landscape. Using two GIS software programs, QGIS and ArcGIS Pro, maps were constructed examining the A635 on Saddleworth Moor and the potential location of Keith Bennett. This takes into consideration the geology, terrain, water networks, and road systems. Analysis of the GIS maps demonstrated that two possible areas were likely to be able to conceal Keith Bennett's body. It then aids to identify areas for further investigation. This study also indicates that GIS data analysis has the potential to aid in criminal and civil investigations and helps narrow down search areas to manageable sizes. Not only does it aid in cold case criminal investigations but it can also be utilized within everyday desk‐based research on recent investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Re-investigation of previously unidentified remains from the Korean War has yielded 55 new identifications, each with corresponding records of prior anthropological analyses. This study compares biological assessments for age at death, stature, and ancestry across (i) anthropological analyses from the 1950s, (ii) recent anthropological analyses of those same sets of remains, and (iii) the reported antemortem biological information for the identified individual. A comparison of long bone measurements from both the 1950s and during reanalysis is also presented. These comparisons demonstrate commonalities and continuing patterns of errors that are useful in refining both research on Korean War cold case records and forensic anthropological analyses performed using methods developed from the 1950s identifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold case squads have garnered much attention; however, they have yet to undergo significant empirical scrutiny. In the present study, the authors interviewed investigators and reviewed 189 solved and unsolved cold cases in Washington, D.C., to determine whether there are factors that can predict cold case solvability. In the interviews, new information from witnesses or information from new witnesses was cited as the most prevalent reason for case clearance. The case reviews determined that there were factors in each of the following domains that predicted whether cases would be solved during cold case investigations: Crime Context, Initial Investigation Results, Basis for Opening Cold Case, and Cold Case Investigator Actions. The results suggest that it is possible to prioritize cold case work based on the likelihood of investigations leading to clearances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1968, a child's cranium was recovered from the banks of a northern Canadian river and held in a trust until the 'cold case' was reopened in 2005. The cranium underwent reanalysis at the Centre for Forensic Research, Simon Fraser University, using recently developed anthropological analysis, 'bomb-pulse' radiocarbon analysis, and forensic DNA techniques. Craniometrics, skeletal ossification, and dental formation indicated an age-at-death of 4.4 ± 1 year. Radiocarbon analysis of enamel from two teeth indicated a year of birth between 1958 and 1962. Forensic DNA analysis indicated the child was a male, and the obtained mitochondrial profile matched a living maternal relative to the presumed missing child. These multidisciplinary analyses resulted in a legal identification 41 years after the discovery of the remains, highlighting the enormous potential of combining radiocarbon analysis with anthropological and mt DNA analyses in producing confident personal identifications for forensic cold cases dating to within the last 60 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article an empirically grounded study of the police practices used when conducting cold case reviews of unsolved homicides is used to illuminate the key features of what is termed ‘retroactive social control’. It is suggested that this mode of social control, that works by placing past events under new descriptions, is an increasingly important feature of how social control is being imagined and delivered, and is predicated upon the capacity to de-stabilize and re-write previous official definitions of a situation. Retroactive social control it is posited encompasses two inter-twined dimensions: the social control of collective memory, in terms of what is remembered and how; and social control through memory, wherein the shaping of the past influences the enactment of control in the present. The focus upon police cold case reviews suggests how forensic evidence and new investigative technologies have played an important role in shaping the development of these innovative aspects of contemporary policing. As such, the empirical focus illuminates a broader trend relating to how developments in science and technology are affording new possibilities in the ways that social control is conceptualized and conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State and federal courts are increasingly using videoconferencing to hold proceedings in criminal cases, including first appearances and arraignments. However, little systematic information is available about the extent of its use, the proceedings for which it is used, how it is implemented, and, most importantly, whether videoconferencing affects the behavior or perceptions of participants in a way that violates a defendant's fundamental rights. In this article we review the legal and empirical issues raised by the use of videoconferencing in criminal cases and describe empirical research that could and, we argue, should, inform policy decisions concerning its use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]