Forensic evidence and the police, 1976-1980

About this book

The focus of this collection is on adult cases in the serious crime categories of homicide (and related death investigations), rape, robbery, aggravated assault/battery, burglary, and arson. Data for four cities are included in this dataset. The collection uses three sources: police, court, and laboratory records. The primary source is police case files. These files consist of all reports submitted by police personnel during an investigation of a suspected criminal offense. Prosecutor or court files were reviewed for information regarding the dispositions of suspects who were arrested and formally charged. Crime laboratory reports include information concerning the evidence submitted and the examiner's work sheets, notes, and final results. Each of the four cities has one file for cases with physical evidence and one file for cases where physical evidence was not collected or examined. The number of cases in each file varies.