NCJ Number
177491
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 39 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 1999 Pages: 269-286
Date Published
1999
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study examines how the police use the media in an instrumental fashion as an investigative resource in murder inquiries using data from ethnographic fieldwork on five murder inquiries in England, secondary analysis of 50 police case files, formal and informal interviews with police detectives, and a review of murders reported in the national press and on television.
Abstract
The authors show most murders are comparatively easy for the police to solve. However, some particularly serious murders are difficult to solve and the police may employ a range of tactics, including use of the media, as part of the investigative strategy. In the case of difficult murders, the police are likely to pursue a proactive media strategy and seek publicity in an effort to obtain more information from the public. There appears to be a natural symbiosis of interests for both the police and the media in extensive media coverage of serious murders. Police media strategies are discussed, and decisions about the strategic deployment of these strategies are linked to structural concerns of police and media organizations. 31 references