The Scientific Policeman

Vollmer, August

doi:10.2307/1147252

Cited by 17 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…This creates an obvious gap between those who analyse traces and those who are concerned with the study of crime. After all, Paul L Kirk was a professor in the prestigious criminology school of University of California (UC) Berkeley, first developed by August Vollmer (1876-1955), who introduced significant reforms in bridging scientific approaches with policing (Vollmer 1930). Together with Locard, who kept himself very informed about criminology, they embody the whole territory that forensics has moved away from, up to the point where it has now lost its object of study.…”

Section: Edmond Locard's Exchange Principlementioning

confidence: 99%

From Forensics to Forensic Science

Roux

Crispino

Ribaux

2012

Current Issues in Criminal Justice

123

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The dominant conception of forensic science as a patchwork of disciplines primarily assisting the criminal justice system (defined as 'forensics' in this article) is in crisis, or at least shows a series of anomalies and serious limitations. While the symptoms have been largely discussed previously, we argue that many of the commonly suggested solutions may not solve the fundamental problem. As a solution, we propose the forensic science community revive the forensic science perspective from its historical roots that is, the study of crime and its traces. This will lead to the development of holistic models to provide a strategy to integrate technologies, and to help scientists develop their potential to engage in a more significant way in policing, crime investigation and, more generally, in criminology, instead of further compartmentalising the various forensic fields.

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Section: Edmond Locard's Exchange Principlementioning

confidence: 99%

From Forensics to Forensic Science

Roux

Crispino

Ribaux

2012

Current Issues in Criminal Justice

123

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“…Along with greater federal involvement, the development of the idea of “scientific policing” in the early twentieth century was also an important influence in the processes of professionalization of institutions and practices of law enforcement [Deflem 1997, Walker 1997]. Scientific policing as an organizational ideal entailed the adoption of a professional managerial outlook to the business of law enforcement along with the utilization of scientific techniques and principles in police work [Fosdick 1915; Merriam 1929; Vollmer 1922, 1930]. The emphasis on a “scientific” outlook to police work entailed a more rational understanding of the problem of crime, and thereby collection of accurate crime statistics became an operational imperative.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“The Whole Extent of the Evil”: Origin of Crime Statistics in the United States, 1880–1930

Ghatak¹

2008

J Historical Sociology

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This article traces the origin and the development of crime statistics in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Due to the federal nature of the polity and decentralization of state power, the historical process of "governmentalization" of the state in the US differed markedly from other Western European nations. The path to the establishment of a national archive of crime statistics in the US was especially tortuous, and its trajectory was shaped by strategic alliances as well as conflicts between various institutional actors involved in the process.

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“…In what follows, I focus on the American school of scientific detective fiction, rather than its counterpart in Britain, because American crime science was woefully behind its European counterparts in the early 20th century (Goddard, 1930;Vollmer, 1930) and it was scientific detective fiction that promoted the advancement and application of science to crimes and courts (Littlefield, 2011). This was, however, an uphill battle: ASDF was set against a cultural backdrop in which the police and courts were stubbornly resistant to either science or the expert witness-both threatened to wrest power from police officers and lawyers alike (Blumenthal, 2002).…”

Section: The Long View: American Scientific Detective Fictionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historicizing CSI and its Effect(s): The Real and the Representational in American Scientific Detective Fiction and Print News Media, 1902–1935

Littlefield¹

2011

Crime, Media, Culture

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Over the past decade, CBS's hit television show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has been characterized as novel and innovative, as one of the first times forensic science was made palatable to a popular audience. Because of its subject matter and its popularity, the show has also sparked debates about the effects of scientific representations. In this essay, I contend that both CSI and its potential effects would be better understood as part of a longer genealogy, one that accounts for debates concerning the real and the representational in American scientific detective fiction. Using a mixed methods approach from literature and science studies, I contextualize CSI via several other cultural 'texts': American scientific detective fiction (1909)(1910)(1911)(1912)(1913)(1914)(1915)(1916)(1917)(1918)(1919) and a historical newspaper archive concerning anxieties about fictional portrayals of scientific detective work . By triangulating CSI and its effects with earlier representations of scientific detective work and their uptake in print news media, I draw attention to similarities between historical and contemporary debates: the relative worth of the real and the representational, the role of the media in identifying and/or constructing American anxiety about forensic science and detective work, the relative authority of (forensic) science and the police, and the differing standards of judgment for science and law. KeywordsCSI effect, forensic science, literature and science, scientific detective fiction 'The real detective story is the interesting one' (Porter, 1911: 17) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a one-hour TV drama that centers on the work of a team of crime scene investigators-those men and women who collect and process evidence from crime Crime Media Culture 7(2) 133 -148

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The Scientific Policeman

Cited by 17 publications

References 0 publications

From Forensics to Forensic Science

From Forensics to Forensic Science

“The Whole Extent of the Evil”: Origin of Crime Statistics in the United States, 1880–1930

Historicizing CSI and its Effect(s): The Real and the Representational in American Scientific Detective Fiction and Print News Media, 1902–1935

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