Research Article

Linking serial residential burglary: comparing the utility of modus operandi behaviours, geographical proximity, and temporal proximity

  1. Lucy Markson1,
  2. Jessica Woodhams2,*,
  3. John W. Bond3

Article first published online: 3 MAY 2010

DOI: 10.1002/jip.120

Issue

Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling

Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling

Volume 7, Issue 2, pages 91–107, June 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

Markson, L., Woodhams, J. and Bond, J. W. (2010), Linking serial residential burglary: comparing the utility of modus operandi behaviours, geographical proximity, and temporal proximity. J. Investig. Psych. Offender Profil., 7: 91–107. doi: 10.1002/jip.120

Author Information

  1. 1

    School of Psychology—Forensic Section, University of Leicester, UK

  2. 2

    Centre for Forensic and Criminological Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK

  3. 3

    Scientific Support Unit, Northamptonshire Police, UK

*Centre for Forensic and Criminological Psychology, School of Psychology, Franklin Building, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 13 MAY 2010
  2. Article first published online: 3 MAY 2010

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Keywords:

  • comparative case analysis;
  • case linkage;
  • linkage analysis;
  • behavioural linking;
  • crime scene behaviour;
  • housebreaking

Abstract

Whilst case linkage is used with serious forms of serial crime (e.g. rape and murder), the potential exists for it to be used with volume crime. This study replicates and extends previous research on the behavioural linking of burglaries. One hundred and sixty solved residential burglaries were sampled from a British police force. From these, 80 linked crime pairs (committed by the same serial offender) and 80 unlinked crime pairs (committed by two different serial offenders) were created. Following the methodology used by previous researchers, the behavioural similarity, geographical proximity, and temporal proximity of linked crime pairs were compared with those of unlinked crime pairs. Geographical and temporal proximity possessed a high degree of predictive accuracy in distinguishing linked from unlinked pairs as assessed by logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses. Comparatively, other traditional modus operandi behaviours showed less potential for linkage. Whilst personality psychology literature has suggested we might expect to find a relationship between temporal proximity and behavioural consistency, such a relationship was not observed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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