Violent crime increases during warmer weather, no matter the season, study finds

Mairead Cain

Mr. Ippolito

A/B Odd

9 January 2018

Drexel University. "Violent crime increases during warmer weather, no matter
the season, study finds." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 September 2017.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170925132948.htm>.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170925132948.htm

For my current event article, I decided to read and analyze the article
“Violent crime increases during warmer weather, no matter the season,
study finds,” from the online source Science Daily. The article discusses
a research project that concluded the notion that violent crime is more
likely to occur during the hotter seasons of the year. Leah Schinasi, PhD,
and her assistant research professor, Ghassan Hamra, PhD, conducted the
majority of this research expedition. The pair examined a decade worth of
statistics taken from Philadelphia in order to conclude that violent crime
was more likely the hotter it was outside. “When the heat index (a metric
that uses temperature and humidity to represent human comfort) was 98
degrees, rates of violent crime were 9 percent higher compared to days
when the temperature was 57 degrees.” Disorderly conduct rates would
also increase with the temperature. “Our findings are reasonable when
you think about social behavior,” Leah Schinasi said. “When temperatures
are extremely cold or hot, people stay indoors. But as temperatures
become more comfortable, more people are outdoors, which presents
greater opportunity for crime.” Despite the somewhat strange pattern,
Schinasi noted that location of the specific crime would have to be taken
into account as well. That being said, there is a clear correlation between
the temperature outside and violent criminal activity. This is particularly
concerning considering the changing climate and the inevitability that it
will only get worse in the decades to come.

Considering the fact that this article concerns the correlation between
temperature and criminal activity, it is evident that said research plays an
extremely important role in the future of forensic science. Authoritative
institutions can use this newfound information to possibly prevent future
violent crime by simply looking at the weather. The information also gives
another reason as to why climate change should be considered as an actual
threat. Politicians are constantly putting the imminent, if not currently
occurring, issue aside. Even the United States federal government, once
an innovator for scientific advancement, puts the problem in its own corner,
solely there for future generations to fret about. Now, there is proof that
climate change could also negatively affect human relations, along with the
planet’s ecosystem.

Overall, I believe that the article “Violent crime increases during warmer
weather, no matter the season, study finds,” was extremely well written and
equally informative. The authors were able to describe the lengthy statistics
at hand while relating back to how said information will affect the future.
The authors go into amazing detail surrounding how, exactly, they conducted
their research. In an effort to improve the article, the authors should have
supplied the reader with more information surrounding any future research
projects. It would be interesting to know how, exactly, the researchers intend
to inform the American populace about this newfound knowledge. The
authors could have further improved the article by providing even more
statistics and comparisons from their research.

Rape Kits in America: Battling the Backlog-on-Backlog in SAKI

Hayley Berry

Mr. Ippolito

Current Event

1/8/18

“Rape Kits in America: Battling the Backlog-on-Backlog in SAKI.” Forensic Magazine, 4 Jan. 2018,www.forensicmag.com/news/2018/01/rape-kits-america-battling-backlog-backlog-saki.

For this current event I read the article “Rape Kits in America: Battling the Backlog-on-Backlog in SAKI” by Seth Augenstein. In this article they talk about how horrible the rape kit system is in America. They also talked about how at many police stations they have lots of rape kits sitting on shelves and never get processed. “ Between 400 and 500 of the potential case-cracking matches were sitting on the shelves, the Akron police said at the time.” This goes to show that there are so many things that are wrong with how America deals with rape and how they don't value the victims at all because they don't give them justice. Overall, this article was talking about how rape cases don't get tested and they sit on shelves forever and the people that were hurt don't get any closer.

This is a very present topic in our world today because there are so many cases that have recently come out about men in Hollywood. Although the allegations that were coming out about the men in Hollywood were more about rape, the people that were silent finally came out and said something. The rape cases that are sitting on the shelves at the police stations are going too good use just sitting there. There should be a better way of a test for rape.

I thought that this article was very informative and it taught me a lot about how rape cases are processed and not processed. I thought that they did a great job explaining the detail on how they are doing the process wrong. One thing that I thought was bad during the article was it was a little repetitive. Overall I thought this was a great article and it was a great choice to read with what has been popping up today.

“'Accidental' X-Mas Eve Shooting Ruled Homicide After Autopsy, Girlfriend Arrested.”

Augenstein, Seth. “'Accidental' X-Mas Eve Shooting Ruled Homicide After Autopsy, Girlfriend Arrested.” Forensic Magazine, 29 Dec. 2017, www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/12/accidental-x-mas-eve-shooting-ruled-homicide-after-autopsy-girlfriend-arrested.

In Seth Augenstein’s article “'Accidental' X-Mas Eve Shooting Ruled Homicide After Autopsy, Girlfriend Arrested,” he discusses a case in which Dominique Kendra Wix was charged with murder in the killing of her boyfriend, Akoya Skeith. Wix originally claimed that after an argument her boyfriend began to reach for his gun and accidentally shot himself. However, after further investigation through an autopsy, police stated that “the angle at which the fatal single shot must have been fired – disproved the story of a self-inflicted wound.” Augenstein discusses how the distance from which the gun was shot would affect the size of the wound which would also help in determining whether Wix told the truth about what happened. Police also stated that once being brought into police headquarters, Wix gave two different stories, the first “indicated that the two were in their upstairs bedroom when Skeith made an aggressive move toward her while wearing the gun his waistband – so she grabbed her own 9mm handgun from an end table and shot him” while the “second story then claimed she had only pointed the weapon at Skeith in a “playing” manner and accidentally pulled the trigger – and there was no argument or fight at the time.” Wix was eventually arrested and then she was charged with manslaughter as well.

Augenstein’s article describes the importance of having such knowledge of gunshot wounds during an autopsy helps in determining the cause of the wound. Having this ability is important to modern society as there have been many attacks and shootings such as the one described in the article. Investigators are able to determine an approximate distance from where the gun was shot based upon the size of the wound which can also help in preventing false explanations or accusations.

Seth Augenstein’s article “'Accidental' X-Mas Eve Shooting Ruled Homicide After Autopsy, Girlfriend Arrested,” although explaining the case, I thought that it would have been more helpful if he were to provide more information regarding the case as well as what other experts have said. However, Augenstein’s article provided a detailed explanation regarding the examination of gunshot wounds during an autopsy which helped in better understanding the process.

Jerry Brown Pardons Man Imprisoned for Decades for Murders He Didn’t Commit

Catherine Faville

Forensics

Current event 12

Hauser, Christine. “Jerry Brown Pardons Man Imprisoned for Decades for Murders He Didn’t Commit.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Nov. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/11/23/us/jerry-brown-pardon-murder.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/23/us/jerry-brown-pardon-murder.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%20Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection

After reading the article Jerry Brown Pardons Man Imprisoned for Decades for Murders He Didn’t Commit written by Christine Hauser discusses how a man served forty years in prison for the murder of a woman and her 4 year old son. However with new developments in the investigation, it was revealed that he was wrongly convicted. The now 70 year old was pardoned due to the new DNA tests conducted proving his innocence. As Mr. Coley goes free, the real murder is still undetermined.

This article really stood out to me considering these types of cases are recurring in society, It shows the importance and relevance forensic DNA analysis are in court cases, if looked at wrong a major ripple effect could take place in a innocent persons life. However there were some weaknesses within this article, if the author added more information as to how and why Mr. Coley was originally convicted of this crime, the author failed to answer this question.  If this information was added it would have made the reader feel more for Mr. Coley, and would have helped get a better understanding of how exactly they convicted him.

Y-STR DNA to be Included in Boston Dorm Rape Trial

Hana Eddib 1/1/18

Forensics current event 12

Augenstein, Seth. “Y-STR DNA to Be Included in Boston Dorm Rape Trial.” Forensic Magazine, 29 Dec. 2017, www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/12/y-str-dna-be-included-boston-dorm-rape-trial.

In Seth Augenstein article discussing the Boston Dorm Rape trial, Augenstein discussed the recent approval of a Y-strand DNA to be included in the trial. 21 year old former MIT basketball player Samson Donick has been charged with rape. The trial is set to take place next month. Donick and his team had motioned to exclude the DNA evidence that came from a supposed victim. Defense attorneys argued the crime occurred in an area of Boston and with a school that has a large Jewish population, according to court records. Greg Hampikian, a Boise State University scientist who has worked extensively with the Innocence Project argued on behalf of the defense claiming, “ Risk of unfair prejudice looms large over this case, because as the average juror well knows, DNA is often described as a genetic blueprint of an individual’s physical characteristics...f the jury were to mistake the limited Y-STR DNA evidence concerning Donick for more definitive autosomal DNA evidence, it would likely wrongfully convict Donick.” However, the judge moved to have the DNA evidence included as he stated, “While there is undoubtedly a greater percentage of Ashkenazi Jews in the vicinity of the Dorm than there is in the United States generally, there is no evidence regarding the percentage of Ashkenazi Jews who had access to (the victim’s) bedroom on the night in question.” The defense is allowed to discuss the Jewish population’s effect on the evidence at the trial but the court believed it would not be enough to convict Donick. The analysis of the genital swab and Donick’s buccal swab was performed by the Serological Research Institute in Richmond, California. It focused on Y-STR, paternally-linked genetic markers. The scientists at the lab concluded “approximately one in 8,631 males in the general population could be included as the contributor” of the DNA – and one 2,488 Caucasian males. As Donick is an Ashkenazi Jew, The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office claimed it was inculpatory evidence.

This article is very relevant to our society. Sexual assault cases are becoming more and more prominent in courtrooms, and this new evidence could be helpful to others who find their defendant to be an Ashkenazi Jew. Regardless of if the defendant is or isn’t, this evidence could open up forensic evidence based on race, or ethnicity as certain races and ethnicities have similar features and therefore similar DNA strands.

This article was very informative and I thought it was very well-written. The author did a good job of explaining both sides of the argument and the impact the new evidence could have on the case.  The only problem with the article that I found was that the author failed to include a description on the Y chromosome and the effect it has on a DNA strand. It would’ve been helpful in understanding its significance if the author had provided an example on how the Y versus the X chromosome would affect a DNA strand.