The Case to Review Murder Investigations

Abstract

Professor John Grieve is Professor Emeritus and Chair of the John Grieve Centre for Policing & Community Safety at London Metropolitan University, and a former Director of Intelligence for the Metropolitan Police. He has a long and distinguished history in the police service and was appointed CBE in the Millennium Honours list. Dean Jones is a serving police officer with 30 years of service, mainly within the CID. He is an honorary fellow of University of Portsmouth and is currently the deputy chair of the ACPO Investigative Interviewing Steering Group. Becky Milne is a Principal Lecturer at ICJS, University of Portsmouth and a member of ACPO's Investigative Interviewing Strategic Steering Group. In this article, the authors examine the recent activity of ACPO reviewing major crime investigations, particularly murder enquiries, to help reduce the likelihood of miscarriages of justice occurring in the future. The authors reflect upon the possible causes of flawed investigations that have led to miscarriages in the past, and examine the major academic work that supports the principle of reviewing murder inquiries.

© Oxford University Press 2008