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Understanding crime and fostering security using forensic science: The example of turning false identity documents into forensic intelligence

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Abstract

Detecting and understanding organised forms of crime involved in the manufacture, diffusion and/or use of false identity and travel documents is a complex challenge. It is postulated that a monitoring approach rooted in the systematic examination and profiling of counterfeit and forged documents using forensic science methods shall provide novel, relevant and useful crime intelligence. A method has been developed to process, manage and compare systematically features of false identity documents. The method enables the detection and monitoring of patterns, trends and links between cases. Their interpretation through different forms of analysis points to potential crime groups, prolific offenders and prominent modus operandi. This article highlights how such forensic intelligence may support the elicitation of hypotheses and contribute to the understanding of crime markets and criminal networks. Such a systematic and scientific processing of any forensic science data can foster a more phenomenological and traceological approach to crime and security.

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Notes

  1. The word clique is used here in the sense put forward by graph theory, that is, a group of nodes or entities in which every two nodes or entities are connected by a link (Rossy, 2011).

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Institut de Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale (IRCGN) in France, to the Swiss cantonal police departments of Aargau, Bern, Fribourg, Genève, Neuchâtel, Ticino, Valais, Vaud and Zürich, and to the Swiss Federal Office of Police for providing data and for their collaboration to this research work. They would also like to thank Benjamin Talbot-Wright for proofreading the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminal Sciences, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland

    Simon Baechler & Pierre Margot

  2. Forensic Service, Criminal Police of the Neuchâtel Police Departement, Neuchâtel, CH-2006, Switzerland

    Simon Baechler

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  1. Simon Baechler
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Correspondence to Simon Baechler.

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Baechler, S., Margot, P. Understanding crime and fostering security using forensic science: The example of turning false identity documents into forensic intelligence. Secur J 29, 618–639 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2015.26

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