The Impact of Forensic Evidence on Arrest and Prosecution (IFEAP), findings to date

• In Event: Police Intelligence and Forensics

Abstract

In January 2012, NIJ funded research into the use of forensic evidence in arrest and prosecution within the State of Connecticut began. The proposed research is examining a significant random sample of forensic analyses taken from the Connecticut State Crime Laboratory, through the relevant police agency and on to any resulting prosecution. The grant period for this project has been extended to June 2015, however some significant results already exist. The data collected to date will be presented with an eye toward possible improvements in prioritization, solvability, and prosecutorial objectives. In all, the use of forensic evidence has proven to be far from axiomatic in improving desired outcomes in the investigations of assault, burglary, robbery, rape and homicide within the State of Connecticut.

Author

• David Schroeder, University of New Haven