Sense and Sensibility - Intuition vs Algorithms in Homicide Investigations

• In Event: Police Decision-Making

Abstract

In popular culture homicide detectives often tend to solve hard cases, known as whodunnits, by using their intuition, luck or even supernatural powers such as for example clairvoyant visions. On the other end of that fiction spectrum is the idea of detectives having Star Trek alike equipment allowing them to secure and process the scene in couple of minutes without missing any trace and after googling in special data bases identify the perpetrator(s).
The reality of meticulous detective work consisting of hours spend on canvassing, interviewing, paper work, forensic examinations would be very hard to sell. But the question remains what is the most effective way to solve the homicide case, and if there is any silver bullet that could address the complicated social reality.
The paper will present and discuss the results of the parallel studies on homicide investigations that took place in United States (2014-2016) and in Poland (2012-2016).

Author

• Pawel Waszkiewicz, University of Warsaw