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At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Effects of limiting handgun purchases on interstate transfer of firearms.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of limiting handgun purchases to 1 per month on the illegal movement of firearms across state lines. DESIGN: Data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms firearms trace database were obtained for traces requested for firearms recovered in connection with criminal investigations. The analysis incorporates data on date and location of purchase for 14606 firearms purchased prior to (September 1989 through June 1993) and after (July 1993 through March 1995) enactment of a Virginia law limiting handgun purchases to 1 per month. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Odds of tracing a firearm acquired prior to implementation of the law to Virginia vs another state in the Southeast compared with the odds for firearms acquired after the law took effect. RESULTS: For firearms recovered anywhere in the United States, 3201 (27%) of 11 876 acquired prior to the implementation of the law and 519 (19%) of 2730 purchased after the law was enacted were traced to Virginia (odds ratio [OR], 0.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58-0.71). For traces initiated in the northeast corridor (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts), 1103 (34.8%) of 3169 of the firearms acquired before the 1-gun-a-month law took effect and 142 (15.5%) of 919 firearms purchased after implementation were traced to Virginia (OR, 0.34; CI, 0.28-0.41). CONCLUSION: Gun control policies involving licensing, registration, and restricting the number of purchases represent efforts to limit the supply of guns available in the illegal market. This study provides evidence that restricting handgun purchases to 1 per month is an effective means of disrupting the illegal interstate transfer of firearms.

Commerce↗
PubMed1997

An assessment of DNA contamination risks in New York City Medical Examiner facilities.

DNA evidence holds an important position in criminal investigations and proceedings. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is often utilized to amplify polymorphic regions of DNA which are subsequently typed to produce distinct genotypes. The sensitivity of PCR-based techniques provides a major advantage over other DNA or conventional serological typing systems. Samples containing quantities of DNA in the picogram range are often typed. However, the unprecedented sensitivity of PCR is often cited as a criticism. One concern is that the interpretation of PCR typing can be affected by DNA contaminants from foreign sources. In this report, the level of DNA contamination in New York City Medical Examiner facilities and its potential affects on HLA-DQA1 typing were assessed. Two related studies conducted over a five week period measured and typed HLA-DQA1 from accumulated DNA on autopsy room and Forensic DNA Laboratory structures. The potential for DNA contamination from airborne sources was also evaluated in the autopsy suites. This study demonstrated the presence of small amounts of DNA on structural surfaces, but little evidence of airborne DNA contamination.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Fatalities caused by exposure to heat].

Between 1978 and 1987 52 cases of death by burning or in connection with fire (13 females and 39 males) were examined at the Institute of Legal Medicine of the Medical School of Hannover. The causes were fires in flats (25), cars (15) and buildings(4), clothes set on fire (3) and explosions (3). In two cases death was caused by scalding. These cases could be divided into accidents (30), over 1/3 caused by smoking (11)), suicides (9) and homicides (6). The other seven cases could not be clarified definitively. Evidence of CO-elevation (38), soot inhalation (33), petechiae (11) and "crow's feet" (6) were noted. However, isolated findings cannot lead to a satisfactory assessment after death by burning. The reconstruction of events requires a comprehensive evaluation of the case history, the scene of death and the autopsy as well as complementary analyses. Therefore intensive cooperation between criminal investigators and forensic physicians is absolutely necessary.

Accidents↗
PubMed1998

Three case studies in forensic entomology from southern Italy.

Three cases of forensic interest regarding the estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) by entomological data are presented. The three cases concerning criminal investigations were performed in Southern Italy by the Entomological Laboratory of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Bari. For each case the authors present a detailed description of the remains as observed at the crime scene and a description of the arthropods collected from the remains. The PMI estimation was based on comparison of data from autopsy reports (rate of decay), local environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, rainfall) and development times for the immature stages of each species of local arthropod and succession patterns. The collection of insects was performed at the discovery site and during autopsy procedures. In the first case a PMI of 5 to 8 days was established based on the presence of adult specimens of Saprinus aeneus (family Histeridae), and mature larvae of Chrysomya albiceps and Sarcophaga carnaria (3rd instar). In the second case, on the charred remains of a corpse, larvae of Sarcophaga haemorrhoidalis (3rd instar) and Protophormia terraenovae (2nd instar) were observed in different developmental stages, as indicated, giving a PMI of 3 to 4 days based on entomological data. In the third case a PMI of 36 to 48 hours was defined from the evidence of Calliphora vicina 2nd instar on the two burnt bodies. In all cases the entomological evidence alone led to conclusions on PMI.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Securing evidence after sexual offences is an important task for physicians. Increasing severity of crimes and use of DNA analyses necessitate higher quality standards].

Forensic DNA analysis of biological specimens such as blood and semen often yields vital evidence in contemporary criminal investigations. Appropriate, correctly performed physical examination in cases of sexual offences is of crucial importance in providing the forensic analyst with genital and extra-genital samples, for example. Despite the availability of standard guidelines for procedures to be followed by the examining physician during sampling, many cases submitted to the National Laboratory of Forensic Science at Linköping lack adequate material for forensic analysis. A recently modernised 'sexual offence kit' is now available, containing the equipment and instructions needed to facilitate standard forensic sampling for the general physician.

Blood Specimen Collection↗
PubMed2001

Investigation of the criminal and conditional release profiles of Canadian federal offenders as a function of psychopathy and age.

Using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 1991) diagnostic cut-off score of 30, the complete criminal career and community release profiles of 317 Canadian federal offenders (224 low scorers and 93 scoring within the psychopathic range) were investigated. Adult crimes were coded according to age at commission as well as either violent, nonviolent, or nonsexually violent. Changes in performance following release into the community also were examined. Results indicated that offenders scoring within the psychopathic range consistently committed more violent and nonviolent crimes than their counterparts for about three decades, spanning their late adolescence to their late 40s. Numbers of nonviolent criminal offenses committed by high PCL-R scorers declined considerably after age 30 relative to violent offenses, which declined and then rebounded in the late 30s before a major reduction was evidenced. Throughout adulthood, high PCL-R scorers failed during community release significantly faster than did low scorers. Importantly, from a risk management perspective, the release performance of low PCL-R scorers improved with age, whereas the opposite was seen for high scorers. Further, offenders scoring high on the PCL-R did not show a lower charge to conviction ratio with age, suggesting that they may not have been getting better at manipulating the legal system.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

[Expertise in the context of criminal law].

The procedures of expert investigations in criminal law are different from those in civil law. Being an expert in criminal law investigations assumes thorough knowledge of dentistry, forensic investigations and of rules and procedures to follow. Adequate training and continuous education are mandatory.

Belgium↗
PubMed1988

An investigation into the relationship between hostility and criminality in schizophrenia.

The possible relationship between hostility and criminality was investigated in a sample of 134 schizophrenic patients at the public psychiatric hospital in Athens. The sample consisted of two groups of patients (n = 67 each); an offenders groups and a non-offenders group. No significant differences in hostility were found between the groups. Moreover, degree of hostility bore no relationship to severity of criminal offence.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Believing is seeing? Investigating the perceived accuracy of criminal psychological profiles.

This study investigated whether perceptions of criminal psychological profiles are influenced by the identity of the profile's author. Police officers were given a profile they were told was written by either a professional profiler or by an unspecified author. When judged in relation to the actual perpetrator of the crime, police officers tended to perceive greater accuracy in a profile when it was labeled as authored by a professional profiler independent of the actual content of the profile. But officers' judgments of the usefulness of the profile were not affected by knowledge of who wrote the profile. Explanations for this result focus on the ambiguous nature of criminal profiles and how this ambiguity enhances the likelihood that beliefs about the validity of profiling can color perceptions of the content of the profile.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Risk-taking behaviour and criminal offending: an investigation of sensation seeking and the Eysenck personality questionnaire.

This study investigated relationships between hostility, Zuckerman's sensation seeking, and Eysenck and Eysenck's personality scales within a prison population, to explore whether they could be conceptualized in terms of two socialized and unsocialized sensation seeking factors. Participants included 79 incarcerated adult male offenders (age range = 18-62). Findings support the distinction between socialized and unsocialized sensation seeking and suggest that these factors represent more overarching personality factors. Psychoticism was a clear marker of the more broad impulsive, unsocialized sensation seeking factor, rather than representing a supertrait in its own right. This factor was also represented by lie, disinhibition, and boredom susceptibility scales. Findings relating to hostility also supported such a reformulation, as unsocialized scales did cluster together to predict the unsocialized hostility factor, whereas unsocialized scales did not. The results demonstrate the need for a theoretical reformulation of the two given theories of personality.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Civil commitment and arrests. An investigation of the criminalization thesis.

This study examined one part of the criminalization thesis, which holds that the dangerousness standard of reform civil commitment law has led to the frequent arrest of mentally ill persons. It followed a large statewide sample of civil commitment candidates for 6 months through arrest records to observe their number and type of arrests. It found that: ex-candidates were seldom arrested; over half of arrests were accounted for by a few with multiple arrests; the nonviolent and those released were no more likely to be arrested than the violent and those committed; and charges were more often for the less serious offenses, but not predominantly for nuisance offenses [corrected].

Adult↗