911 Calls in Homicide Cases: What Does the Verbal Behavior of the Caller Reveal?

911 Calls in Homicide Cases: What Does the Verbal Behavior of the Caller Reveal?

Each year, numerous 911 calls reporting a homicide are received by emergency communications centers; a small percentage of the calls are made by the perpetrator. These calls are recorded at times of great stress and are the first versions of what the callers purport to know. A linguistic analysis of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of police and criminal psychology Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 156 - 164
Main Authors: Cromer, Jon D., Brewster, JoAnne, Fogler, Kethera, Stoloff, Michael
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Springer US 01-06-2019
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Deception
Emergency communications systems
Emergency services
Guilt
Hoaxes
Homicide
Hypotheses
Innocence
Law and Psychology
Linguistics
Lying
Murders & murder attempts
Personal relationships
Psychology
Variables
Verbal behaviour
Linguistic analysis
Homicide investigation
Statement analysis
911 call
Lie detection
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Description
Summary:Each year, numerous 911 calls reporting a homicide are received by emergency communications centers; a small percentage of the calls are made by the perpetrator. These calls are recorded at times of great stress and are the first versions of what the callers purport to know. A linguistic analysis of the 911 call can lead to the development of hypotheses regarding a caller’s truthfulness, which can help to guide the initial investigative strategy. The present study examined 14 linguistic variables and an additional 4 mitigating variables in an effort to determine whether any of those variables, individually or in combination, were predictive of the guilt or innocence of the caller. A sample of 50 calls to 911 centers was examined. This study identified the presence of a variety of linguistic behaviors that were correlated with an ultimate finding of guilt or innocence.
ISSN:0882-0783
1936-6469
DOI:10.1007/s11896-018-9282-0