Reviewing Murder Investigations

Abstract:

In attempting to improve the investigative quality of murder enquiries, the police service of England and Wales has conducted reviews of investigations. The reviews aim to identify and develop investigative opportunities to progress the investigation; act as a form of quality assurance in relation to both the content and process of an investigation; and identify, develop and disseminate good investigative practice. This paper presents findings drawn from a study of investigative issues raised in reviews of unsolved homicide investigations and focuses on identified investigative weaknesses and good practice. Twenty-eight day review documents of 34 unsolved murder investigations were obtained from 6 forces and analyzed using content analysis in order to identify areas of good practice and investigative weakness. The study highlighted a range of frequently recurring themes within murder review documents, as well as other important issues about the review process and how they are conducted. Key findings from the study included: (1) review documents...