Understanding the factors that may impact the transfer, persistence, prevalence and recovery of DNA (DNA-TPPR), and the availability of data to assign probabilities to DNA quantities and profile types being obtained given particular scenarios and circumstances, is paramount when performing, and giving guidance on, evaluations of DNA findings given activity level propositions (activity level evaluations). In late 2018 and early 2019, three major reviews were published on aspects of DNA-TPPR, with each advocating the need for further research and other actions to support the conduct of DNA-related activity level evaluations. Here, we look at how challenges are being met, primarily by providing a synopsis of DNA-TPPR-related articles published since the conduct of these reviews and briefly exploring some of the actions taken by industry stakeholders towards addressing identified gaps. Much has been carried out in recent years, and efforts continue, to meet the challenges to continually improve the capacity of forensic experts to provide the guidance sought by the judiciary with respect to the transfer of DNA.
Doelstellingen De mate van betrokkenheid van jonge gebruikers bij wervingsadvertenties voor geldezels op Instagram onderzoeken. Methoden Drie advertenties die de belangrijkste mechanismen voor betrokkenheid bij cybercriminaliteit weerspiegelen en gericht waren op Nederlandse gebruikersclusters werden op twee Instagram-plaatsingen geplaatst. Door middel van dit quasi-experimentele 3 × 2 factorial design konden we het bereik en de weergaven van de advertenties, de doorklikratio's, het geslacht van de deelnemers en de temporele verdelingen van de gebruikersbetrokkenheid analyseren. Resultaten De analyse toont aan dat tot 3% van de jonge gebruikers zich bezighield met de advertenties, vooral met advertenties die een luxe levensstijl promoten en neutralisatietechnieken gebruiken. Mannen waren vaker betrokken en 's nachts werd er meer geklikt. Conclusies Sommige jonge Instagram-gebruikers lijken geneigd om geld te verdienen via hun bankpas en lopen het risico om online betrokken te raken bij cybercriminaliteit. We moedigen toekomstig onderzoek aan om het gebruik van sociale media in criminologische studies verder te onderzoeken. ENGLISH Objectives Examine the level of engagement of young users with money mule recruitment ads on Instagram. Methods Three ads reflecting key cybercrime involvement mechanisms and targeting Dutch user clusters were run on two Instagram placements. By means of this quasi-experimental 3 × 2 factorial design, we were able to analyze the reach and views of the ads, click-through rates, gender of the participants, and temporal distributions of user engagement. Results Mimicking actual recruitment environments, analysis shows that up to 3% of young users engaged with the ads, especially those promoting a luxury lifestyle and using neutralization techniques. Men were more likely to engage, and click-through rates were higher at night. Conclusions Some young Instagram users seem prone to making money through their bank cards and risk becoming involved in cybercrime online. We encourage future research to explore further the use of social media in criminological studies. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Journal of Experimental Criminology. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11292-022-09537-7
The findings from a bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA) may assist in formulating or falsifying scenarios that are considered in the investigative stages of a criminal investigation. When a case proceeds to trial the bloodstain pattern expert may be asked about the relevance of their findings given scenarios that are proposed by the prosecution and defense counsel. Such opinions provided by an expert are highly relevant to police investigation or legal proceedings, but the reasoning behind the opinion or implicit assumptions made by the expert may not be transparent.A proper framework for the evaluation of forensic findings has been developed since the late twentieth century, based on the hierarchy of propositions, Bayesian reasoning and a model for case assessment and interpretation. This framework, when implemented in casework, mitigates some of the risks of cognitive biases, and makes the reasoning and scientific basis for the opinion transparent. This framework is broadly used across forensic science disciplines. In this paper we describe its application to the field of BPA using a case example from the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI).
