The Role of Evidence in the Detection of Cases in the UAE - Research Paper Example

The Role of Evidence in the detection of cases in the United Arab Emirates [Name] [Professor Name] [Course] [Date] Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction 3 Overview of evidence use in Crime Management in UAE 4 Crime scene attendance 6 Significance of physical evidence and the model of chain-of-custody 7 Retrieval of Evidence 8 Submitting and identifying evidence 10 Conversion of evidence to detection 11 Conviction 11 Strengths and Advantages of evidence in detection of crimes 12 The challenges of evidence in crime detection 14 Recommendations and Conclusion 17 References 19 Abstract: The use of forensic evidence has traditionally been centred on serious crimes such as homicide and rape. In UAE, evidence-based investigations are increasingly been applied routinely to assist in the investigation of crimes. This has led to decline in crime rate in the country. This paper presents an argument that evidence plays a significant and special role in the detection of crimes and hence contributing to low crime rates. The paper identifies the mechanisms by which evidence is applied in the detection of volume crimes in United Arab Emirates (UAE). Experiences encountered in the field during evidence collection and management in UAE with special focus on Tzlad state. Further, the strengths and challenges encountered are explored. The ways in which evidence contributes to effective detection and subsequent conviction of crime are as well examined. Recommendations are also given on how to improve the processes to assist future researchers and crime detection officers in the Tzlad State. Introduction United Arabs Emirates (UAE) is an Arab country situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf. The national has seven emirates, namely Ajman, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras al-Khaimah, Fujairah, Umm al-Quwain and Sharjah (Library of Congress 2007). Over the last five years, the country has reported a declining trend in crime rates. As a result, it has earned a reputation for having an effective system for evidence retrieval and detection of crimes globally (Carlifornia 2012; Crime and Society 2013). Several studies have been undertaken to prove the decline. According to the Dubai Security and Traffic Indicator, indicates crime rates decreased significantly in 2012, by 37.5 percent. Cases of physical assault crimes dropped by 13.9 percent, robberies and thefts by 45 percent and collar crimes by 44 percent, compared to 2011 (Al Sadafy 2011; Carlifornia 2012). Generally, in all investigate processes, evidence is construed broadly as anything that can be presented to support an allegation, assertion or claim. The support may be weak or strong. Strong evidence is that which presents direct proof of truth to support an allegation while weak evidence is that which is merely consistent with an allegation and hence does not exclude other conflicting assertion. Such evidence is merely circumstantial in nature. In UAE, the rule of evidence oversees the types of evidences that should be permissible in any legal proceeding in addition to the quantity and quality of evidence that are required to satisfy the legal burden of proof. In various jurisdictions such as UAE states, the types of evidence include documentary evidence, testimony and physical evidence (Katzuman 2013; Emirates247 2011). This paper is based on my experience as witnessed on how the police in the United Arab Emirates collect, preserve and handle evidence in detection of crime. The paper argues that indeed evidence plays a significant and special role in the detection of crimes and hence contributing to low crime rates. The paper identifies the mechanisms by which evidence is applied in the detection of volume crimes in United Arab Emirates (UAE). Experiences encountered in the field during evidence collection and management in UAE with special focus on Tzlad state. Further, the strengths and challenges encountered are explored. The ways in which evidence contributes to effective detection and subsequent conviction of crime are as well examined. Recommendations are also given on how to improve the processes to assist future researchers and crime detection officers in the Tzlad State. Overview of evidence use in Crime Management in UAE The role of evidence in detection of volume crimes in the UAE has in the past half a decade gained traction. This is because of the steady decline in crime rates. Although the proportion of the volume crime detected through the use of evidence has historically been low (at less than 10 percent of all detections), the growth of automated searching, forensic techniques such as fingerprint and DNA analysis as well as programs to improve attendance rates of the crime detection officers to collect crimes have started to increase the proportion of crimes detected using forensic evidence. In UAE, it is approximated that the main evidence directly securing detection of volume crimes is forensic in more than 25 percent of the cases (Al Sadafy 2011; Carlifornia 2012). The Department of Criminal Evidence and Criminology of the Dubai Police has been effective in collecting evidence for detection of crimes. The department’s major asset is the forensic laboratory that investigates a wide range of crimes across UAE. UAE police has been routinely called in cases involving international crimes. For instance, after the assassination of Mahmmoud Al Mabhouf, a former leader of the Hamas resistance group, the Dubai police was involved in high-profile investigation to collect evidences and identify the assassins (Al Jandaly 2012). The department currently has several sections that operate in tandem on various cases. Each unit plays a significant role in the investigative process. Forensic laboratory is the main section which plays a significant role in determining whether crime is involved in any incident or if it is suicide, homicide or attempted murder. The forensic laboratory is divided into several sections including chemical section (which deals with identifying the type of drugs, liquids, gas or poison), the biological investigations (which involves blood sample testing, toxins, alcohol, or blood tissues), the DNA section (for solving homicide, sexual assault and rape cases), fire incidents section, technical documents section and weapons and machines section (Bond & Phil 2007). The electronic evidence section on the other hand examines evidences that are related to computer and information systems analysis, communications network and databases. The department not only serves the Dubai emirate but also the other six UAE emirates (Al Jandaly 2012). From the assessment, forensic evidence has typically been used in UAE with the main purpose of corroborating evidence against identified offenders. However, forensic material such as DNA or fingerprint analysis has since 2006 been increasingly applied to identify unidentified offenders (Arafah 2006). Throughout the assessment period, it was observed that the presence of forensic material is significantly increasing the chances of detecting crimes where other types of evidences cannot be established. In all, evidence is playing a major role in contributing to detection of crimes in the UAE. Crime scene attendance From the assessment, the use of crime scene examiners investigators in the UAE, specifically in Tzlad State, is increasingly being embraced. The responsibility for collection of forensic evidence from the scenes of crime is generally shared among the police on patrol, investigators and crime scene examiners. Policies regarding deployment of crime scene examiners vary from blanket or extensive attendance, optional attendance depending on the information supplied to a call taker or the first attending officer (Bradbury & Fesit 2005). It was observed that dwelling attendance is generally high with a smaller proportion of vehicle crimes also attended. For certain offenses where attendance is optional, the decision to send the crime scene examiners is greatly influence by the potential to recover forensic material (for processing as evidence) and the alleged severity of the crime. Observation of the UAE police decision-making over scene attendance indicates potential weakness in the method of deploying crime scene examiners to attend to the scenes (Bradbury & Fesit 2005). Even in situations where discretionary policies are used, the pattern of attendance is far below what is expected specifically due to reluctance of patrol officers to be summoned to meet the obligatory instructions for crime scene examiners attendance and poor communication. Recurrent theme within this dimension of evidence collection activity is that the police officers vary in crime scene attendance rates, thus allowing for similar crime types to occur. Significance of physical evidence and the model of chain-of-custody In crime detection, physical evidence is considered to be anything from substantial or immense objects to microscopic ones that are generated as part of a crime and recovered from a crime scene or crime-related locations. Taking into account that all sources of information are available in crime investigation, physical evidence is seen as playing a major role in solving crimes in the UAE. Apart from physical evidence, other sources of investigative information were observed to suffer from limited reliability. On the other hand, situations where physical evidence is handled properly, it offered the best prospect for an objective and reliable information on a crime incident undergoing an investigation (Bond & Phil 2008). In any case, the significance of the most cautiously recovered and preserved can still be lost when the chain-of-custody is improperly maintained. Generally, UAE police recognize ‘chain-of-custody’ as a weak link in investigating crimes. Chain-of-custody can be described as systematic and chronological documentation of evidence to determine the connection of the alleged crime. This view is consistent with various studies that have established that from the start to the finish of an investigative process, it is vital to demonstrate every step assumed to guarantee ‘traceability’ and ‘continuity’ of evidence from the crime scene to eventual conviction (Crime and Society 2013). Retrieval of Evidence The significant role of evidence in detection of crimes in UAE is observed to be attributed to the efficiencies and effectiveness of retrieving of forensic material during investigation. During observation of what crime scene examiners do at the crime scenes and how they integrate themselves into the wider investigative process, several incidences were noted. First, the crime scene examiners are seen to be well-coordinated members of an investigated team who fitted comfortably into the rank-based framework f the mainstream police force. The work of the crime scene examiners is also seen to be of good quality. For instance, assessment of the investigation reports or the assessment tools used by individual crime seen examiners was found to be frequently reviewed (Bond & Phil 2008). The perception of the victims on the collection of evidence by the crime scene examiners and investigators was generally viewed to be positive. In some instances, the initial screening of the crime for forensic examination was viewed to make it difficult to determine the genuine base rates for the likelihood of retrieving trace evidence from the crime scenes. For instance, a section of the investigators complained that attendance by forensic specialists at some volume crime scenes (burglary and vehicle theft) messed with the scene as they left their fingermarks. Furthermore, the scenes were cleaned before the investigators attend to the scenes (Bradbury & Fesit 2005). This made it difficult to retrieve physical evidence. A survey of the police department investigations revealed that most of the forensic retrieval rates at volume crimes such as burglaries and vehicle theft constantly identified fingerprints as the frequently retrieved trace evidence while less of the residential burglary scenes attended resulted in retrieval of fingerprints. Data from the police department showed that DNA retrieval rates were effective in detection of sex crimes (Bond & Phil 2007). Comparatively high retrieval rates per attended crime scene generally associated with offences that are frequently subjected to discretionary crime scene examination such as vehicle crimes. However, retrieval rates for crimes that received high levels of attendance such as burglary or sex crimes were generally higher. Assessment of the factors that influence evidence retrieval rates over which the police investigator have influence included the resources available for retrieval of evidence, the demand for those resources, the quality of initial advice on preservation and interdepartmental policies on crime scene attendance. Although attempts to examine the statistical relationship between the crime scene attendance rates and the retrieval rates per scene were not successful, assessment of the police force attendances and retrieval rates of DNA per scene visited indicated a poor correlation (Bond & Phil 2007). In brief, observation of the crime scene examination by the Dubai police revealed that the effectiveness of the evidence retrieval processes determined the likelihood of the success of the physical evidence in conviction of crime. It was also clearly observed that high attendance rates do not guarantee high retrieval rates as in some incidence, the investigators messed with the evidence (Bradbury & Fesit 2005). A host of other factors such as policies for selection of crime scenes to visit, the proficiencies of individual crime scene examiners and investigators, the speed of responding to crime and the resources or communication efficiencies of the police influences the rates of evidence retrieval. Examination into the correlation of the resources and retrieval rates reveals that the greater resources do not inevitably guarantee higher retrieval rates on similar types of crime. This also indicates that factors such as the level of communication and integration between the police and the forensic scientists appear to be vital in determining evidence retrieval rates (Bradbury & Fesit 2005). Submitting and identifying evidence Submission and identification of trace evidence was observed to play a critical part in determining the role of evidence in detection of crime in UAE. Assessment of the police investigative processes revealed that a majority of fingerprints identification resulted from database searches requested by investigators against identified suspects. Cold searches such as those involving large scale manual searches of fingerprint files were infrequently undertaken. A fundamental factor seen as influencing effectiveness of evidence in detections included the inclination of detectives to ask for fingerprint database searchers. Under these circumstances, the automated searching techniques can be identified to be a serious challenge in crime detection. Indeed, the emerging use of cold searching techniques against fingerprint and DNA databases can increase chances of identifying offenders. A recent study of DNA hits indicates that it can identify the suspects instead of merely corroborate evidence in most volume crimes (Bradbury & Fesit 2005). This shows the extent in which the balance has shifted from corroborative to inceptive use of evidence. Conversion of evidence to detection The rate of effectiveness in which the police force converts the evidence into crime detection is a major factor influencing the role of evidence in detection of crime in UAE. From the assessment, identifications from fingerprint or DNA database do not imply automatic detections. Although an examination of forensic identification in UAE suggest that a large percentage of identifications or matches lead automatically to detections, this is not the case for lower conversion rates that rely on secondary analysis. According to the police statistics, an increase in criminal courts with crimes such as murder and rape has been on the rise. This has been heavily attributed to the role of evidence in conversion of crimes to detection (Mustafa 2011). Conviction With regard to the role of evidence in ensuring successful convictions, the conviction rates for cases that have been ascribes scientific evidence is high as much as those without. Great differences are however seen in cases where crime types are individually examined. For instance, use of forensic expertise in detecting burglary, murder and theft showed a great impact on the outcome of the cases at the law courts (Bradbury & Fesit 2005). Another finding on some police reports and court files showed that the presence of forensic evidence also determined the length of the sentences during convictions. Regarding the role of DNA evidence on the outcomes of homicide or sex crimes such as rape, the overall picture is that the presence of forensic evidence is more likely to lead to the chances of finalising a case at the law court. This also greatly increased the chances of a court’s decision to convict a criminal (Seelinger, Silverberg & Mejia 2011). Indeed, the presence of DNA is observed to be typically associated with longer sentences. Strengths and Advantages of evidence in detection of crimes The significance of forensic investigation process is of great importance as it helps forensic department reduce the burden of the police in criminal investigation. There are a broad spectrum of investigative processes that are useful in retrieval of evidence and its conversion to conviction. Forensic Evidences have significantly contributed to detection of crime, subsequent convictions and reduction of crime rates. According to the statistics by the UAE police, the number of homicide cases has been significantly low over the last five years (California 2012). In 2010, the number decreased to 23 from 34 in the preceding year. There was also a decline in the number of criminal cases involving bodily harm from 1,896 in 2009 to 1,959 in 2010 (Al Jandaly 2012). The number of suspicious death also decreased from 1,429 to 1,256. For instance, the police force in Dubai successfully fought serious crimes in the emirates through implementation of intensified police patrols ensuring high attendance of crime scenes and use of technology such as CCTV cameras to track crimes (Haine 2013). Other technologies include the development of forensic technology enhancing DNA-based tests and fingerprint analysis. In UAE, the overall cases that the Forensic laboratory dealt with in the first half of 2012 were around 8,820, while the number of the first half of 2011 were around 9,360. This shows a decline in the number of the cases (Al Jandaly 2012). The fingerprint section alone dealt with an estimated 2,580 cases in the first half of 2012, the section dealt with about 2,290 cases. Conversely, the forensic medicine section also reported decrease in number of cases. In the first half of 2012, it dealt with around 1,780 cases compared to some 1,990 cases in the first six months of the previous year (Al Jandaly 2012). The shift towards internet technology has promoted advances in the field of digital forensics in UAE. Application of DPI in cybercrime management and forensic investigations in UAE has helped in solving volume crimes carried over the internet will further be developed (O'Connel 2012). Through the use of improved technologies such as data packet inspection (DPI), it is possible to control cybercrime. The technology helped trace IP address to where the criminal accessed the internet. In 2009, UAE was identified as the most susceptible of the Gulf countries to cybercrime, second only to Saudi Arabia (Ajbaili 2009). The nation reported over 248,000 computers crash as a result of cyberattacks in 2009. This accounted to some 20 percent of the total crashes in the Gulf States (Ajbaili 2009). Institutional factors were seen as facilitating the strengths of use of evidence in crime detection. For instance, the creation of the Department of Criminal Evidence and Criminology is playing a significant role in detecting crimes in UAE. The DNA database is a product of DNA profiling done in 2006 to unify national DNA database containing genetic information of UAE nationals and expatriates. The facility facilitates crime detection and investigation (Arafah 2006; Al Sadafy 2010). The cases unravelled include counterfeiting official documents, murder, thefts, firearms use in assaults. They have also been effective in analyzing drugs, detecting and examining biological residues of dead bodies, drug abusers and injured persons. They have also been effective in detecting biological pollutants such as bones, teeth hair, saliva and blood. Indeed, UAE emirates such as Abu Dhabi were among the pioneers of using DNA tracking in solving crimes (Arafah 2006). The challenges of evidence in crime detection With regard to sex crimes, delays in contacting the police reduced the rate of retrieving the evidences, specifically in cases that involved children. A case in point is when a family reported a sex assault after two months making it impossible to retrieve the evidence. In another case, another family delayed for about nine months to report an assault on a four-year old girl on a school bus. In various jurisdictions such as Dubai, the delay in reporting sex crimes and the difficulty in retrieving evidences has led to the rise in cases of sex-related crimes in Dubai. For instance, sex-related crimes rose in Dubai to 504 in 2010 from 391 in the previous year. Various researchers however remarked that it is difficult to determine whether the increase indicated rise in such crime or the rise in detections (Mustafa 2011). According to findings by Zayed University, the traditional nature of the legal system has happened to dissuade victims from reporting crimes. In volume crimes such as rape, women in UAE have been reluctant to report sex crimes due to the nature of the Islamic Sharia laws. This creates a barrier for the police to collect and process evidence to detect the crimes. Under the Sharia Laws, women are viewed traditionally such that if they are raped then the law perceives that they did something to trigger the rape. This means that the woman is viewed as someone who had engaged in sex out of wedlock rather than as the victim (Mustafa 2011). From the assessment, it is clear that perceptions and memory limitations pose as serious challenge to collection of evidence, hence hindering effective detection of crimes in UAE. Some of the witnesses interviewed during investigation had memory lapses creating potential for error. In addition, what witnesses think they saw sometimes conflicted with findings of forensic science (Bradbury & Fesit 2005). Intuition also posed a serious challenge in evidence collection. Different crime scenarios require different human judgment. When the evidence collected is unreliable or incomplete intuitive decision making is preferred. However, human judgment may pose a serious challenge in evidence collection when it is subjective in nature. In most cases, collection of evidence serves to generate objective conviction of criminals (Rossomo 2009). There are also several organizational traps identified as capable of causing serious challenge to evidence generation and use in detection of crimes. Since investigators operate within an organizational structure that has its own specific dynamic, the policies within the police department plays a role in limiting the reliability of evidence. For instance, discretionary policies to visit or attend to crime scenes by the crime scene examiners is a serious challenge to retrieval of evidence of volume crimes such as vehicle theft. Additionally, inertia and momentum of the police force is a critical challenge to effective evidence generation and conversion. The police force is generally viewed to be conservative and often plagued by bureaucratic inertia – unwillingness to respond first. This slows the rate of responding to crimes before the evidence is interfered with. When the response ultimately occurs, it is often unreliable (Rossomo 2009). Assumptions are also a challenge to conversion of evidence to detect crimes in UAE. Investigators or crime scene examiners are often required to indicate their assumptions or conspiracy theories. However, if some assumptions are invalid, then the details must be reconsidered. However, failure to review the documented assumptions has often led to insufficiency of the evidence collected. Other challenges encountered included ego and fatigue. Both organizational and personal ego was viewed as capable of preventing effective retrieval and conversion of evidence into convictions. For instance, the investigative officers viewed as the best in the unit were often reluctant to admit mistakes. Fatigue, stress and overwork were also seen as the challenges to effective investigations. This was specifically so in high-profile crime investigations where the investigators were pressured to solve crimes. Naturally, fatigue lulled the lead investigators. At the same time, their critical assessment abilities dropped significantly reducing the chances of solving crimes (Roberts & Raymond 1992). With regard to coincidence, even though cynical detectives were constantly of the opinion that they do not believe in coincidences, such coincidences are inevitable when analyzing patterns within a large number of incidents, suspects or events. In any case, attempts to solve crimes by working backwards from the evidence, to the suspect to the crime rather than from the evidence, to the crime to the suspect are often vulnerable to errors. These types of errors limit the successful conversion of evidence into conviction of criminals (Rossomo 2009). Recommendations and Conclusion From the assessment, three rules of investigative failure are identified. First, one mistake or one coincidence can cause an investigative failure. Second, once one mistake is made, the chances of making additional mistakes increase. Third, the biggest challenge is refusal to acknowledge the original mistake. It is therefore critical that police force should be aware of the traps or challenges identified in this report. First, case conclusions should be delayed until adequate information is gathered. The investigators must also remain neutral as well as promote open inquiries, dissent or discussions. In addition, inference chains, assumptions and uncertainties should be recognized and documented. External help should be sought whenever necessary. The police force also needs to initiate organizational mechanism to mitigate the risks. In jurisdictions in UAE where reliance in Sharia Laws by the states have made it difficult for female victims of sexual crimes such as rape to report crimes, various strategies need to be upheld. For instance, since there is a general lack of confidence in the law enforcement, the victims of sexual crimes are likely to seek medical care than that of police after an assault. Consequently, the police should strengthen a link with the hospitals or clinics (Seelinger Silverberg & Mejia 2011). This way, the hospitals can inform the police of such crimes in time. Indeed, this linkage establishes an entry point between the police department and the system where the victims pursue a claim after they have sought medical attention. Such linkages will also help ensure that the case-related information is transferred appropriately from the medical to the investigative department. As a result, this will ensure that the evidences are preserved for eventual investigative purposes by the police (Seelinger Silverberg & Mejia 2011). The national DNA database set up should be updated frequently to keep up with UAE’s rising population and the inflow of expatriates and other foreigners into the country. The project can indeed be a quantum leap for the country with regard to maximizing security. From the discussion, it can be concluded that evidence plays a vital and special role in detection of crimes in the UAE where the country is governed by the rule of law. References Ajbaili, M 2009, Hackers aim to steal passwords & credit card numbers: Saudi & UAE at high risk to cyber-crime: report. 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