Failed Evidence Why Law Enforcement Resists Science
Failed Evidence: Why Law Enforcement Resists Science

With the popularity of crime dramas like CSI focusing on forensic science, and increasing numbers of police and prosecutors making wide-spread use of DNA, high-tech science seems to have become the handmaiden of law enforcement. But this is a myth,asserts law professor and nationally known expert on...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Harris, David A. (Author)
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: New York, NY New York University Press [2012]
Subjects:
LAW / General
Criminal investigation > United States
Criminal justice, Administration of > United States
Evidence, Criminal > United States
Forensic sciences > United States
Law enforcement > United States
Science > United States > United States
Science > United States
Strafjustiz
Polizei
Forensik
USA
Online Access:DE-1046
DE-859
DE-860
DE-739
DE-473
DE-1043
DE-858
Volltext
Summary:With the popularity of crime dramas like CSI focusing on forensic science, and increasing numbers of police and prosecutors making wide-spread use of DNA, high-tech science seems to have become the handmaiden of law enforcement. But this is a myth,asserts law professor and nationally known expert on police profiling David A. Harris. In fact, most of law enforcement does not embrace science—it rejects it instead, resisting it vigorously. The question at the heart of this book is why.»» Eyewitness identifications procedures using simultaneous lineups—showing the witness six persons together,as police have traditionally done—produces a significant number of incorrect identifications.»» Interrogations that include threats of harsh penalties and untruths about the existence of evidence proving the suspect’s guilt significantly increase the prospect of an innocent person confessing falsely.»» Fingerprint matching does not use probability calculations based on collected and standardized data to generate conclusions, but rather human interpretation and judgment.Examiners generally claim a zero rate of error – an untenable claim in the face of publicly known errors by the best examiners in the U.S.Failed Evidence explores the real reasons that police and prosecutors resist scientific change, and it lays out a concrete plan to bring law enforcement into the scientific present. Written in a crisp and engaging style, free of legal and scientific jargon, Failed Evidence will explain to police and prosecutors, political leaders and policy makers, as well as other experts and anyone else who cares about how law enforcement does its job, where we should go from here. Because only if we understand why law enforcement resists science will we be able to break through this resistance and convince police and prosecutors to rely on the best that science has to offer. Justice demands no less.Visit the author's blog here
Item Description:Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Jun 2020)
Physical Description:1 online resource
ISBN:9780814790564

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