CRC Press Criminal Major Case Management: Persons of Interest Priority Assessment Tool (POIPAT)

In high-profile investigations, when the suspect pool is very large, resources are unduly strained unless the pool can be narrowed down to the most likely offenders. The Persons of Interest Priority Assessment Tool (POIPAT) provides an objective and consistent means of establishing a priority ranking of suspects or persons of interest in any investigation. Created and used correctly, the tool can determine if any suspect/POI should be considered a high, medium, or low investigative priority, saving time and resources and potentially saving additional victims. Criminal Major Case Management: Persons of Interest Priority Assessment Tool (POIPAT) describes how to set up a POIPAT system for any investigation where there are numerous POIs and limited resources. Using the unsolved Jack the Ripper mystery as a sample case study, it walks readers through the steps of creating and using the POIPAT system. The book begins by providing an overview of offender profiling and the basic considerations for developing elements for a POIPAT. It explains the Element Weighting Chart (EWC) and discusses how many points each element should be weighted based on its level of importance. The author describes how to determine what point totals constitute a high, medium, or low priority so that police managers can know how best to direct their resources. He also discusses tracking how POIs are eliminated through an elimination coding system, thereby avoiding potential duplication and allowing investigators to hone in on the person most likely to have committed the crime. Finally, the book uses the POIPAT system to draw conclusions about some of the best-known suspects who were most likely to have been the real Jack the Ripper. Seeing how the technique is used in a real case, investigators will discover how to effectively create unique POIPATs for their own cases. The downloadable resources contain a template that can be modified for any type of investigation and a number of additional tools and guides.