This thesis tackles the challenges presented by shoemark evidence assessment within forensic science as summarised in the recent (2010) "RvT" judgement [1]. Modern evidence types, such as DNA, have raised the bar for the use of transparent and objective computational frameworks within forensic evidence assessment. Initially a new dataset of temporal shoemark images is presented for use in shoe wear experiments, captured over a period of five months. Using this data two computational solutions are designed; first in the spatial-domain using SIFT, an approach previously proven in shoemark classification, and subsequently using a novel ridge detection algorithm within the frequency-domain. Finally, a high-level, conceptual framework is presented for integrating computational techniques with current academic and industry research in the area of forensic shoemark evidence assessment. Experiments with the SIFT-based algorithm showed that SIFT feature matching, although effective in shoe classification, is not adept at detecting corresponding wear features and the results were disappointing. However, the frequency-domain ridge detection algorithm produced more promising results, which were enhanced further with an additional image fusion stage applied when multiple source images were available. As they stand the results show that the algorithms do not yet enable wear estimates to be made reliably. Nevertheless, when coupled with the generalised, and novel, wear model the methodology provides a robust and extensible platform for further work in the field of computational forensics with respect to shoe sole wear.

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Despite the growing prevalence of interpreter-mediated police interviews, this area remains widely under-researched as the focus of research on legal interpreting has been the discourse of the courtroom. Scholars have challenged the myth of literalism and demonstrated interpreters’ lack of awareness of pragmatic aspects of language. Working with Goffman’s(1981) participation framework and Sperber & Wilson’s (1995) relevance-theoretic approach to pragmatics, this study builds on previous work on the use of discourse markers(DMs)by interpreters (e.g. Berk-Seligson, 1990; Hale, 1999, 2004)in order to investigate whether interpreters’ treatment of DMs effectively promotes or hinders direct contact between the parties. In particular, its aim is to show how interpreters convey implicatures triggered by a DM in the original utterance in order to match the intention of the speaker, analysing the impact that resulting “shifts in footing” (Wadensjö, 1998) may have on the different stages of the enhanced cognitive interview. My data consists of five police interviews involving four NRPSI-registered interpreters, two language combinations (English-Italian and Portuguese-Italian), and both suspects and a vulnerable victim. Findings show that not only are DMs often omitted, but they are also added in renditions of utterances which do not contain corresponding expressions. While some of these added DMs can be attributable to the interpreter, others must be treated as being attributed to the original speaker in the sense that they give rise to an interpretation of that speaker’s thoughts and thought processes. I show that in a relevance-theoretic framework such additions can be shown to be compatible with the requirement of an invisible nonparticipating interpreter set by Codes of Practice. Since the effectiveness of interrogation is affected by the extent to which interpreters and officers have an understanding of interpreters’ practice in this area, my research suggests the need for a more nuanced conceptualisation of Codes of Practice and extensive training for interpreters and interviewers in sociological and pragmatic aspects of interpreted encounters.

There are a variety of techniques that can be used for the development of latent friction ridge skin marks. Most of these techniques can only be used in a laboratory because of the requirement for specialist equipment, and health and safety implications. One exception is powder dusting, which is an established and very commonly used technique for the development of friction ridge skin marks on non-porous surfaces at scenes of crime. Cyanoacrylate fuming is another effective method for the development of friction ridge skin marks on non-porous surfaces. There have been a number of attempts to devise ‘in situ’ cyanoacrylate fuming methods, and recently Foster and Freeman Ltd. have introduced a portable cyanoacrylate fuming system, which can be used at the scene of the crime known as the SUPERfume. A comparison of the effectiveness of the SUPERfume with the powder dusting technique for the development of latent fingermarks was undertaken. This involved the use of several non-porous surfaces that are commonly encountered on immovable or large items at scenes of crime. A total of 13500 latent fingermarks were deposited onto these surfaces using a fingerprint sampler, which was a device manufactured specifically for this research project. The fingerprint sampler facilitated the reproducible deposition of the fingermarks under controlled conditions of force application, the angle of friction ridge to surface contact and the duration of friction ridge to surface contact. The latent fingermarks were stored in five temperature controlled environments for periods of up to fifty two weeks. They were then developed using the portable cyanoacrylate fuming device (SUPERfume), in a specially designed ‘SUPERfume room’, or using the aluminium powder dusting method. Of these 13500 fingermarks 5400 were assessed using a specially designed grading system, which was based upon the results of primary research with a number of leading fingerprint experts and research departments. A statistical analysis of the data using a variety of tests was conducted. The main findings from this research were that latent fingermarks deposited onto glass surfaces were generally of a higher quality than latent fingermarks deposited onto very smooth surfaces, such as enamelled metal paint and smooth plastic. Textured surfaces including textured plastic and varnished wood produced latent fingermarks of a relatively poor quality. Latent fingermarks deposited onto glass, enamelled metal paint and varnished wood were developed more effectively with aluminium powder than cyanoacrylate fuming using the SUPERfume. Cyanoacrylate fuming (SUPERfume) was more effective at developing latent fingermarks deposited onto smooth and textured plastic surfaces. Generally as the temperature of the storage temperature was increased the quality of the fingermarks decreased. This observation was more apparent for latent fingermarks developed using aluminium powder. In instances where latent fingermarks were stored in very warm environments (37°C) cyanoacrylate fuming using the SUPERfume was more effective at developing the marks than aluminium powder. Following storage temperatures between -10°C and 20°C aluminium powder developed latent fingermarks of a higher quality than cyanoacrylate fuming using the SUPERfume. There was some evidence to suggest that storage temperatures cooler than 0ºC were detrimental to latent fingermark quality, but only one temperature below 0ºC was considered. There was no difference in the quality of the fingermarks developed using aluminium powder or cyanoacrylate fuming (SUPERfume) for fingermarks stored at 20°C. As the length of storage time increased the quality of the latent fingermarks decreased. This was more noticeable for fingermarks developed using aluminium powder compared to cyanoacrylate fuming (SUPERfume). It was possible to develop usable fingermarks on most surfaces after fifty two weeks of storage, in all temperature environments, using both development techniques. In general aluminium powder was found to be more effective at developing latent fingermarks compared to the SUPERfume for fingermarks less than twenty weeks old. Following twenty four weeks and fifty two weeks of storage there was no difference in the effectiveness of aluminium powder or cyanoacrylate fuming (SUPERfume) for the development of latent fingermarks. Taking into account all surface types, storage temperatures and storage time periods aluminium powder produced fingermarks of a higher quality compared to the cyanoacrylate fuming technique using the SUPERfume.

There are several unresolved problems in forensic authorship profiling, including a lack of research focusing on the types of texts that are typically analysed in forensic linguistics (e.g. threatening letters, ransom demands) and a general disregard for the effect of register variation when testing linguistic variables for use in profiling. The aim of this dissertation is therefore to make a first step towards filling these gaps by testing whether established patterns of sociolinguistic variation appear in malicious forensic texts that are controlled for register. This dissertation begins with a literature review that highlights a series of correlations between language use and various social factors, including gender, age, level of education and social class. This dissertation then presents the primary data set used in this study, which consists of a corpus of 287 fabricated malicious texts from 3 different registers produced by 96 authors stratified across the 4 social factors listed above. Since this data set is fabricated, its validity was also tested through a comparison with another corpus consisting of 104 naturally occurring malicious texts, which showed that no important differences exist between the language of the fabricated malicious texts and the authentic malicious texts. The dissertation then reports the findings of the analysis of the corpus of fabricated malicious texts, which shows that the major patterns of sociolinguistic variation identified in previous research are valid for forensic malicious texts and that controlling register variation greatly improves the performance of profiling. In addition, it is shown that through regression analysis it is possible to use these patterns of linguistic variation to profile the demographic background of authors across the four social factors with an average accuracy of 70%. Overall, the present study therefore makes a first step towards developing a principled model of forensic authorship profiling.

In this short paper I begin by describing my contributions to psychological science in the forensic field. For completeness, I comment upon each of the joint publications listed in the attached publications. Broadly, where there are publications with my name and that of one other author I have undertook about a 50: 50 split of the work. Where more authors have been involved I have retrospectively described the extent of my contributions. I have tried to keep the detail to a minimum, although I remain happy to elaborate should any assessmenpt anel wish that I do so. Attached to this paper are hard copies of the papers and books referred to within this paper. I have not included a complete set of all the publications, those included have been selected for illustrative purposes, in that they reflect the thematic contributions that I outline below. The contributions to psychological science are in the forensic field. They have two key aspects. First, there is a sustained and significant contribution to the knowledge base. Second, I have ensured, both as a professional psychologist and Senior Civil Servant, that psychological models are embedded in some key areas of policy and practice, especially so in prisons. 1. Contributions to the knowledge base There are three chief areas of my contributions here; groupwork based psychological interventions designed to reducer e-offending, improving our understanding of prisoner suicides and having a pivotal role in the emergent development forensic psychology as an applied psychology specialism in the UK. I have also made contributions in the more general area of forensic practice concerned with risk assessment work with offenders. Groupwork Early on in my career working in prisons I began submitting a number of papers for publication which began to trace out some key areas of professional activity in working with offenders using the median of groupwork (see for example, 6.14 and 7.24). It became clear to me from my work and growing understanding of the field that two things were missing from the use of such psychologically based interventions with prisoners. First there was a lack of sound evaluation work (as evidenced from 7,12,7.13,7.15 and 7.17) and second, full advantage had by no means been taken of the potential of particularly structured cognitive behaviourally based groupwork interventions when attempting to reduce the risk of prisoners re-offending (see, for example 3.1). My involvement in evaluation work tended to be linked to expediting the process of ensuring that full evaluative arrangements were in place for some key interventions (for example, see 8.1). I was able to undertake some empirical evaluation work too (see for example, 6.13). In terms of the potential for cognitive behavioural nonintervention be effective in reducing the risk of prisoners offending, this was one of the main areas covered in my jointly authored (with Professor David Crighton) book entitled `The Handbook of Psychology for Forensic Practitioners' published by Routledge (3.1). In this book we correctly anticipated the growth of the use of the term `forensic' to describe the activities of psychologists working in prisons. The term `forensic' is now a routine epithet for such psychological staff. This was by no means the case a decade ago. Similarly it is now widely accepted that cognitive-behavioural approaches offer significant promise in terms of the efficacy of the approach, as part of an integrated programme to reduce re-offending. These developments have been captured in some of my publications (see 4.1,4.2,4.3, and 5.3). In sum, since the early 1990s I have been engaged in the development of the knowledge base in the key area of cognitive-behaviourally based groupwork. I would summarize my contribution as threefold. First, in contributing to improvements in evaluation practices.

Since its official introduction in England and Wales during 1985, the formal cautioning of adult offenders by police has grown to become a significant mechanism by which certain offenders are diverted from the criminal justice system. Currently some 30% of adult male offenders and 45% of adult female offenders arrested by the police are dealt with in this way. Cautioning is a procedural mechanism by which the police, contingent upon their adherence to the provisions of national guidelines, can elect to deal with certain criminal cases by means other than prosecution. Instead, they can choose to 'divert' the suspect from the court system by administering a formal caution; signed for by the suspect; often accompanied by verbal censure by a senior police officer; recordable on centralised police criminal indices; subject to the allocation of a CRO (criminal records office) number and citable in any subsequent court proceedings as a previous finding of guilt. The official rhetoric of cautioning espouses the virtues of benevolence through the provision of a second-chance for first time and petty offenders, allowing them to turn away from further offending, as well as efficiency through the speedy and timely management and disposal of cases not considered to be in the public interest to prosecute. But the burgeoning use of formal cautioning by the police has created problems of inconsistency, inequity and misapplication through repeat cautioning and its inappropriate use in cases of serious crime such as rape and murder. The fundamental principles of cautioning have also been criticised for eroding a suspect's due process rights such as the right to trial, the right to have prosecution evidence rigorously tested through an adversarial process that secures the right to legal counsel, a process that demands proof beyond reasonable doubt and which is subject to external review through an appeals process. These safeguards are almost completely absent with cautioning. Furthermore, the mechanisms by which police cautioning decisions are regulated have also been found wanting following research that suggests that the national guidelines are poorly defined, non-prioritised and provide for excessive latitude for police decision makers. This research project is an investigation into both the theory and practice of formal adult cautioning by the police. At its centre is a two-year covert participant observational study of the police work-world and of the ways in which cautioning, as intentional social action, draws meaning from and can be located within this occupational culture. Building upon a comprehensive review of available literature and consideration of the methodological and ethical issues created by the research, the thesis sets out to examine the true nature of the cautioning of adult offenders by the police in its natural setting - the custody office - and uses data drawn from officer and suspect interactions as the basis for a detailed analysis of how, why and by whom cautioning decisions actually come to be made. From this analysis conclusions have been drawn and recommendations made concerning how this disposal method might develop in the future and how existing problems might be overcome leading to a new, more consistent and equitable system of cautioning.

Crime Science claims to be a new approach, and whilst there has been some theoretical discussion of it in recent literature there has not been a lot, and little has been done to date on the implications it has for policy. In this thesis Crime Science is discussed under four main topics. Firstly, the development of Crime Science from a historical and intellectual perspective is discussed. The second chapter covers the boundaries of Crime Science, with particular reference to its defensiveness towards 'traditional criminology'. The third topic is how effective Crime Science has been to date, and what effectiveness should mean in policy terms and what this means for Crime Science. Fourthly the ambitions of Crime Science are discussed. In particular, the claims to be a novel, separate identifiable endeavour, the ambition to be multidisciplinary, the ambition to be successful and the ambition to be scientific are discussed. It is concluded that overall there are six main overlapping themes. Firstly, there is disillusionment with criminology that leads 10 a caricature called 'traditional criminology'. This caricature is used by Crime Science to further its own agenda as it can then portray itself as something that traditional criminology is not. The second theme is that Crime Science cannot remove itself from criminology despite its best efforts to do so. Criminological themes consistently reappear in Crime Science, and rather than breaking from the discipline of criminology, it seems to fit well with the direction of criminology over the last 30 years. Thirdly, Crime Science suffers from a lack of internal consistency, often making claims that are inconsistent with the practices of crime scientists. The fourth theme is one of intellectual isolation, which stems from the lack of concern with theory and rejection of a relationship with criminology, could prove as opportunities for gaining insights into practical crime prevention measures. The fifth theme is popularity. It is suggested that rhetoric is very important for this theme, as Crime Science plays heavily on uses of the word 'science', which also allows crime scientists to appear to be in a position of authority. The final theme represents many of Crime Science's ambitions as generally unrealised and unfeasible.

This study explores the impacts arising from the introduction of mobile technology (a Personal Digital Terminal or POT) as a way to introduce information disintermediation within policing. Using a case approach, the activities' and reactions of police officers performing a common task that of the Stop and Search was used as a means to understand this change. It was found that the intended audience, officers working alone, rejected the technology because usage encouraged engrossment on the POT leading to discontinuities in their aware of the passage of time (Temporal) and the surrounding environment and the people within it (Spatial). As an occupational group preoccupied with risk, this was seen as posing an unacceptable risk to their safety. However, this was overcome in an unanticipated usage scenario where officers collaborated to perform the Stop and Search. A three factor conceptual model built around the intersection of Spatial/temporal factors and the perception of risk is presented and common usage scenarios from the case study were mapped against it. The study argues that there is a need for those designing and implementing mobile technologies to consider more carefully not simply the organisational role that technology is provided for but the cultures that underpin them and informs the actions of individuals fulfilling such roles. In this case, the preoccupation with managing and minimising risk that Police officers develop due to a mixture of experience and occupational culture. In addition, the study has highlighted that our understanding of how individuals come together as groups for the purposes of information seeking when using technology designed to remove information intermediaries is rudimentary and more work must be done in this area to overcome the issues highlighted here.

In the era of the information age, computers have created new avenues for online and offline crimes. Consequently, they have also created an abundance of incriminating evidence that can be stored digitally. The widespread use of computers and digital devices has also led to searches of data stored on hard drives and other storage devices. This has also led to a new type of search and seizure that is known as the search and seizure of digital evidence. This research is an analytical study of the Malaysian legal system that addresses the criminal justice system and its response to dealing with the search and seizure of digital evidence in crimes. The Malaysian position in law and practice is the focus of this study. The position in England and Wales is also discussed where relevant for purposes of critique and potential reform. This research aims to review the legislation on search and seizure procedure of digital evidence primarily in Malaysia, with some comparison made with England and Wales. It will analyse the compatibility of laws governing the search and seizure of digital evidence. 'Compatibility' here refers to the existing regime of laws that governs search and seizure of digital evidence, as tested against various standards. The compatibility here may be understood to examine: insufficiency of legal powers under the existing regime of law; powers that are granted but that may be inappropriate in scope; and incompatibility with regard to the manner of enforcement when dealing with digital evidence. This research also argues that the values of fairness and effectiveness are relevant and important parameters within which the search and seizure of digital evidence procedures must be conducted.