580 California St., Suite 400
San Francisco, CA, 94104
Key research themes
1. How do police practices and institutional cultures shape investigative approaches and ethical challenges in European and Latin American policing contexts?
This theme investigates the variety of police interviewing techniques, organizational cultures, and ethical considerations within police forces across Europe and Latin America. It focuses on how practical tactics, institutional dynamics, and ethical frameworks influence criminal investigations and police-community relations.
Key finding: Through ethnographic immersion with pre-police recruits in Rio de Janeiro's suburbs, this study uncovers informal police territorial control extending beyond formal functions. The police, perceived as centers of power, exert... Read more
Key finding: Based on 12 months of ethnographic research in Lisbon police stations, this work identifies individual geographic mobility as a core management strategy sustaining organizational uniformity in the Portuguese Polícia de... Read more
Key finding: This qualitative analysis from Pontianak, Indonesia, uncovers significant ethical violations among police officers, particularly child abuse cases that erode public trust. The study shows systemic deficiencies in ethical... Read more
Key finding: This scholarly examination explicates the evidentiary role of expert witnesses within police disciplinary proceedings in Poland. Despite sparse legal regulation, the paper identifies challenges in effectively incorporating... Read more
2. What are the roles and perceptions of scientific and technological innovations in modern criminal investigations and forensic practices?
This theme explores how advances in forensic science, data technologies, and surveillance tools influence criminal investigations, police work, and justice outcomes. It addresses both the practical integration of technology in investigative processes as well as ethical and organizational challenges, including perceptions of these innovations among practitioners and their implications for evidence quality and police accountability.
Key finding: This paper advances a comprehensive ethical framework for forensic specialists in Portugal, addressing the integration of scientific rigor with legal imperatives. It emphasizes the necessity of formalized ethical codes to... Read more
Key finding: Through a large-scale randomized trial deploying body-worn cameras across 470 police officers in Rio de Janeiro's Rocinha favela, this study empirically tests BWCs' effect on police misconduct in a militaristic policing... Read more
Key finding: This paper outlines a typology distinguishing 'art,' 'craft,' and 'science' as logics shaping detective work, arguing that effective investigation requires blending experiential intuition, case craftsmanship, and systematic... Read more
3. How is detective and crime fiction literature narrated and theorized in Latin American and European contexts, particularly concerning the construction of crime, protagonists, and genre evolution?
This theme encompasses literary analysis and theoretical reflections on crime fiction in Latin America and Europe. It focuses on the transformative roles of protagonists, metaliterary critiques, historical contextualization, and narrative strategies—especially regarding the evolution from traditional detective novels to contemporary neo-noir and picaresque hybrids important in shaping cultural understandings of crime narratives.
Key finding: Analyzing Salvadoran author Rafael Menjívar Ochoa’s novels, this 2019 study reveals a sustained metaliterary interrogation of crime and the investigator/hero figure in postwar contexts. The work critically situates... Read more
Key finding: This philological edition presents two essays by Fernando Pessoa from his adolescence to late 1920s, providing early critical thought on detective literature. It contextualizes his work historically, revealing an ambitious,... Read more
Key finding: This 1996 work critically compares three detective novels set in Ancient Rome, highlighting distinct narrative techniques and the role of historical recreation in diversifying detective fiction modes. It demonstrates how... Read more
Key finding: This comparative study articulates the fusion of Spanish picaresque tradition with crime fiction in Barcelona-based narratives by Mendoza and Solana. It elucidates how marginalized, antiheroic protagonists embody social... Read more