Very interesting and detailed Home Office report on the scale and nature of fraud.

A short and interesting presentation on fingerprint patterns.

A Home Office murder investigation review document from 2004 detailing an analysis of progress reviews from six police forces. 

A detailed and interesting document produced by the Royal Gibralter Police in relation to basic cyber security. Includes information about different scam types.

Take Five is a national campaign that offers straight-forward and impartial advice to help everyone protect themselves from preventable financial fraud. This includes email deception and phone-based scams as well as online fraud – particularly where criminals impersonate trusted organisations.

Consulting Cops October Newsletter published.

If you want to know about blood pattern analysis then read this article.

A very interesting and informative article by the BBC on Polygraphs and whether they work and if we should use them in the UK.

The Fraud Investigation Model (FIM) is a framework, or route map, that gives the investigator a structure to follow when responding to allegations of fraud. It was developed using data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) to determine the complexity and seriousness of fraud investigations.

Beverley worked for Lincolnshire Police for over 12 years as a CSI. She has experience of infield investigation of crime scenes including volume crime and major & serious crime.

CrimeCon UK launches today and Consulting Cops will be there. Visit the site, book your ticket and don't forget to use the Consulting Cops discount code CCOPS for your 10% discount.

Topical and packed with information this College of Policing Officer Safety Review document is an interesting read.

The College of Policing are currently migrating over to a new site. This is an easier to navigate location where information about the police can more easily be obtained.

Being a Police Search Advisor (PolSA) is a vital part of modern policing as they are often tasked with the most important of roles within investigations be it terrorism, murder or other serious crime. Find the College of Policing role specifications for this position with this link.   

An old but interesting and informative article on the team work needed to obtain evidence. The example here is in relation to the serial killer; John Sweeney.

How CSI really works website article giving plenty of relevant advice.

Consulting Cops September Newsletter published.

Lots of articles and information relating to USA Law Enforcement. This website is wel worth the visit.

I, Lyndon Smith founder and owner of Consulting Cops, am writing a book on policing from 2010 onwards. I need people who have served or are serving in the criminal justice system to supply me with accounts to be included in the end product. No names will be disclosed in the book. Visit this page for more details. 

This site can help you determine if filing a FOIA request is the best option for you and help you create your request when you’re ready.

As there have been many guides and forms referred to on this news page over the last number of weeks they have all been collated and placed onto one single page for ease of reference.

This report was producted by an Interpol Working Group. The scope of this review specifically concentrates on the experiences and learning of responders and advisers to the Tsunami events within South East Asia. The period of the review extends from the initial incident on the 26th December 2004 through to the agreed withdrawal of international teams from Thailand on the 28 February 2006. Additionally, this review is not exclusive to the experiences of Thailand but will also encompass relevant learning from the experiences of other affected nations where available.

This study analysed a large dataset of all charges in all Crown Courts in England and Wales (551,669) where outcomes occurred between 1 October 2006 and 31 March 2008.

Such a large dataset enabled a statistically reliable analysis of trends in jury verdicts.

The study examined whether defendant ethnicity, offence type, court, severity of offence or number of charges in a trial had any correlation to jury verdicts.

Although this report does not address every aspect of a mass fatality DNA identification effort, it does stress intentional testing redundancy as a way to monitor a system’s effectiveness. The report also discusses how decisions made in the first 48 hours after a mass fatality event shape the scope of the identification effort.

This study report is the first to examine the risk factors, social context, and patterns of trauma associated with elder abuse in the present, with the aim of providing diagnostic criteria to apply to past societies.

This government website explains the requirements and process for people who wish to become a Magistrate.

The DVI Guide provides guidelines for use by INTERPOL Member Countries in the identification of disaster victims. It can also be used to assist in establishing DVI Teams and in the management of DVI operations by those countries that either do not currently have a DVI capacity, or have never been confronted with such operational situations.

Consulting Cops August Newsletter.

The Code for Crown Prosecutors is a public document, issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions, that sets out the general principles Crown Prosecutors should follow when they make decisions on cases. The CPS guidelines in relation to whether to charge or not is vital information for the crime writer. 

A very interesting study conducted to identify the effect of a male defendants facial attractiveness and trustworthiness on Judicial Decisions. 

Fascinating study on the durability of cling film in preserving dead bodies.

The purpose of this guide is to act as a brief overview of issues relating to the recovery and recording of inhumated human remains for field archaeologists. Contains potentially relevant information for crime writers with bodies underground in their story.

Produced by the Sentencing Council an informative video about how sentences are reached in court.

FBI Training video in relation to their Evidence Recovery Team recovering the remains of dead bodies from under the ground. 

Do you need to locate a court or tribunal address or contact details? You can do that via this government link.

A very interesting piece of writing published in K9 Magazine with regards to the use of Human Remains Dogs to find dead bodies in water.

A great way to get an insight into the UK Supreme Court. Have a look around via this 360 degree virtual tour link.

This is an example of a command structure when responding to more complex incidents or operations. The example ensures that any interdependencies or potential conflicts are managed effectively, while ensuring clarity of command throughout the duration of the incident or operation. This structure is role rather than rank specific. Officers of a senior rank to those nominated to undertake one of these roles should not automatically assume superiority solely on the basis of rank. However, they are accountable for any information or advice given to commanders.

An interesting article from the New York Times in relation to Cadaver Dogs or Human Remains Dogs.

Teresa is based in Jacksonville, Florida. She has a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice Administration and is well versed in research and fact finding. Teresa offers the writer a means to obtain all their research needs for their next or ongoing project in a concise professional format. Let Teresa do the work for you.

If you need help understanding all the differing courts within the England & Wales Court system then look at this diagram which explains all. 

House to House enquiries are an essential tool used by the police in all major investigations to identify witnesses and potentially suspects to the relevant crime. This link will show you the forms used by the police whilst conducting these enquiries. 

For any writers with a project set in the eighties then this document gives you the pay structure at that time.

To assist the writer in developing and ressearching their international based projects we have added an International Police Websites section to our free Writer's Aids page.

To save everyone the hassle of scrolling through our long list of News items to identify documents that may asisst them with their current project they have all been placed into one convenient location within the Writer's Aids page. Direct link Documents of Interest.

An interesting PowerPoint presentation provided to response officers to assist with their management of crime scenes in relation to dead bodies when they are the first to attend. The crime scene photographs themselves have been removed due to the presence of dead bodies. 

This manual has been prepared for use by police officers, police staff and CPS prosecutors concerned with the preparation, processing and submission of prosecution files. Every effort has been made to ensure that this manual uses straight forward language and that it reflects current CJS processes.

Consulting Cops June Newsletter is published. 

This guidance tells Criminal Investigators in Immigration Enforcement (IE) and suitably trained and accredited criminal investigators within the Home Office about the forms they need to complete when preparing a case for prosecution.

This guidance tells you how:

• the manual of guidance is set out

• to use the manual of guidance

• to use the series of MG forms linked to the manual of guidance

An interesting guidance document about EDIT - Evidential Drug Identification Testing in Police Stations which was published in 2008. If you are writing about drug cases and custody in this era then you will need to know the information contained within.

A PowerPoint presentation from the Forensic Telecommunications Services in relation to an introduction into Cell Site Analysis.

A PowerPoint presentation in relation to the definition of a significant witness and how their evidence would be captured in 2012 by the Metropolitan Police Service. If you are writing about this time period you should consider this information to assist with your authenticity. 

As part of the London Screenwriting Festival 365 Consulting Cops founder; Lyndon Smith and team members; Harry Tangye and Miles Manning participated in an online Zoom session about the authenticity of police TV/Film shows.  

Stacey has extensive experience in complex, victim-centric missing, abducted, and exploited children investigations and crimes against children investigations. Stacey is a Technical Advisor and provided police procedural advice to crime thriller writer, Chris Mooney. Stacey is currently a doctoral student at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, researching child abduction homicide. 

Andy served for 28yrs with Staffordshire Police. He has extensive policing experience both as a traffic officer and as a custody sergeant. He identified the vulnerability of neurodiverse people in the CJS and devised the 1st police autism strategy in the UK. Being an autistic police officer and custody expert he recently published ‘Autism and the Police’

Donna had a 26 year career with Tallahasse Police Department, Florida specialising with death investigations and managing major crimes scenes and investigations. Donna supervised 561 death investigations including homicides, suicides, accidental/ industrial deaths, arson related deaths and all officer involved shooting investigations. An award winning author with her "Behind and Beyond the Badge" books.

Crime writing author and ConsultingCops team member; Lisa Cutts latest novel "Don't Trust Him" is released today.

The guidance document for the police when investigating the most serious crime; Murder.

Tim is a serving Armed Firearms Officer (AFO) with Devon & Cornwall Police. He has been a police officer for 15 years and has invaluable experience from dealing with emergency calls as a single crewed response officer covering a vast rural area. Since joining the Armed Response Vehicle's (ARV's) Tim has dealt with countless firearms related incidents and can offer the writer current procedural advice. 

If you would like to learn about Specials then read their own digital magazine "Special Impact". This is the Spring 2020 version.

Consulting Cops May Newsletter Published 

James works within the Egg Harbour Township Police Department (EHTPD), New Jersey. He has 25 years experience of dealing with 911 emergency calls for the Police, Fire and Medical Services. Offering a unique insight into being the first line of contact for emergency situations and the subsequent management of the service reponse.  

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 gives people with spent convictions and cautions the right not to disclose them when applying for most jobs, and for other products/services like when buying insurance. Apart from those given prison sentences of more than 4 years, most people with convictions will benefit from it at some point in their lives. Changes were made which came into force on the 10th March 2014. This guide provides a brief summary of this Act.

This advice is valid at any time for retailers to protect themselves and their staff. Published by the National Business Crime Centre. If you are a retailer please have a read here.

To assist the writer with identifying what in a TV/Film production is not authentic ITV's recent  "Liar" Series 2 has been reviewed and is published via a blog for your consideration..

Blog - Ten Common TV/Film Mistakes - Number 2 Suspect Interviews. All the common mistakes explained in this blog. 

Ex-Sgt ARV and Traffic expert Harry Tangye has released his autobiography Firearms and Fatals. View it at Amazon.