PDF Criminal Investigation The Art and the Science 3rd Edition Michael D Lyman Michael Lyman 9780130912886 Books

Product details Paperback 567 pages Publisher Prentice Hall; 3 edition (July 23, 2001) Language English ISBN-10 0130912883

Criminal Investigation The Art and the Science 3rd Edition Michael D Lyman Michael Lyman 9780130912886 Books Reviews

• This book is an embarrassment to those who work crime scene. I reviewed the author's bio, and I can't explain how so many conflicting directives and erroneous crime scene techniques appear in this publication; the 7th EDITION!!!! It would appear that this author has never personally processed a crime scene at all, yet that is the core focus of this book. For an experienced CSI person, this is a painful read; ignoring the scores of grammatical and spelling errors. It appears the content was "borrowed" from other, more academic, books on the subject and inserted without melting it into this book. Inexperienced criminal justice students probably wouldn't know the difference (although even the average student should catch what the editor missed, or at least be confused by the myriad, conflicting axioms).
  
  Where to begin? Wow.
  
  - book begins with a modern case of murder, but it sloppily introduces the history of policing and crime scene investigation; what does it have to do with the history of policing? nothing; what does it have to do with the history of crime scene investigation; nothing. Perhaps it might be setting up the "CSI Effect" later discussed in the chapter; nope - no connection.
  
  - the author tries to define and explain "inductive" versus "deductive" reasoning, and leaves the reader more confused than when they began; likely the author doesn't know the difference, as the explanations appear to be a discussion of synonyms. Inductive reasoning is virtually undefined by the author, but rather suggested through an immediate example. From that weak study, the author expounds into strong and weak deductions. Similarly, the author tries harder to define deduction, and ends up with "reasoning based on specific pieces of evidence to establish proof...". What? That's the definition? No, it is not. Wait until he adds "abduction" to the mix.
  
  - on page 23 we learn that, "A police department's reporting system and the investigative role of patrol car are inextricably bound." Really? A patrol car performs an investigative role which is bound to the department's reporting system? I'll let Ford know that.
  
  - same page contains the unintelligible sentence, "The second provides an opportunity for details of the investigation thus far expended so the follow-up plans do not unnecessarily duplicate tasks already completed." Provides an opportunity for details of the investigation thus far expended so... What? Where did this sentence fragment come from? He is trying to explain the second component of the "reporting system".
  
  - page 24, shows a picture of a sergeant and calls him a "patrol officer"; police recruits know the difference
  
  - page 33, tells the reader, "It is recommended that notes be taken in a bound notebook...", and, "...a small spiral notebook is used." The author suggests that the pages should be permanent so the appearance of removed pages is avoided when submitted during discovery.
  - page 37, conversely tells the reader, "...officers should...use...a loose-leaf notebook so the pages can be easily removed and filed." Which notebook should the rookie investigator run out and purchase? I guess stay tuned for the 8th edition.
  
  - page 39, implores us to "Try to use the active voice..."
  - page 41, give us a perfect example of the ideal report, except (you guessed it) it uses passive voice ("Subject was read his rights...").
  
  - page 42, tells us that supplemental reports are considerably longer than the initial complaint. Really? Previously the author explained the RAND study which directs officers to conduct most (if not all) the investigation up front and clear the case when capable. That would likely consist of just a single, very detailed initial investigation with maybe a short paragraph from the detective saying he/she read it and the case disposition.
  
  - the author goes in to detail convincing us that digital photography will soon be the standard in CSI documentation; well, it's been that way for some time. Since that trend has passed, and it has been the standard, body-cams and surveillance video are becoming more common; nothing mentioned about those (or at least yet, as I'm crawling to the end of this book). Likewise, no mention of aerial photography (helicopter or drone), yet.
  
  - the author tells us to record (for every one of the 100-200 photos he suggests we take), the f-stop, shutter speed, etc. of the camera settings. No. CSI doesn't do that. You can imagine how long that would take to accomplish even the initial walkthrough photos. The criminal would be deceased of old age by the time this crime scene was processed. Remember, good CSI personnel photograph (or video) virtually everything they do, to document it. Even the author's example photo log has no listing for this data; digital photos record it automatically with the digital photo data.
  
  - crime scene diagramming described is VERY basic and crude; there are many more methods, described in far better terms, in more competent texts (GPS, lasers, etc.). The evidence is found using various search techniques (none of which I find in this text, yet; grid searches, zone searches, inward / outward spiral, parallel, etc.).
  
  - case studies inserted at random points that have no relation to the surrounding text, with no attempt to use them in support of the learning objectives.
  
  I'm on page 63 (out of 611), and I have only pointed out less than half of the errors I find. This...is...painful.
• This book is filled with errors. Did anyone read this before publishing? There are multiple instances where a paragraph repeated itself the following paragraph or repeated a few sentences shortly after the original. The books just uses stats over and over to make conflicting points. There will be a graph or chart in one section that shows information and the author will state the opposite in the text of the book. Example. He will state that ____ Crimes are down 5%. But the chart actually shows that crime go up. He throws numbers at you repeatedly as if it makes this book better. No, they don't. Someone please edit this book and rid it of about 50 pages of useless crap.
• This by far the worst crime investigation book I have ever come across. Not only are there numerous grammar and spelling errors, but the information is incorrect and conflicting by what is considered proper protocol and procedure. This author should be embarrassed by the product that his name is attached to. I will never, EVER consider anything that he has written in the future and will warn anyone against purchasing a text book by him. He should seriously go spend a day doing what he is writing about and then MAYBE he would have a clue.
  
  If I could give no stars I would. I'm glad I only rented it for what I needed it for and it's promptly been sent back.
• i'm currently in a C.I. class and we have to use this book. Its the worst criminal justice book i've had to rent for my classes so far. Lots of fluff, repeated sentences and the page margins lack the bits where the book would define key terms like other C.J. books i've rented in the past.
• I am glad that I am only renting. I'd be a little pissed if i payed $100 + for that. All in all it's a textbook. It's got some gems.
  I wish it was a hardcover, cause wear and tear is evident.
• Not in the best condition but i dont care, only need it for school
• Although this book is written for the law enforcement community as a text book, it's not the dry content that you normally expect to find. I think this book will cross over to the general public that enjoys crime solving interests. I don't know if because we watch CSI, NCIS, and the host of other great crime scene investigator TV programs or not. But this book will hold your interest and can be used as a great resource of an aspiring writer punching out that great crime novel on the keyboard.
• I am nearly done reading the book. There are so many typos and duplicated paragraphs! It is like they released a draft and forgot about creating a final edit. For the money it costs to get this book, I expect the editor/author to at least try.