Arson

12 Key excerpts on "Arson"

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  Serial Crime

  Theoretical and Practical Issues in Behavioral Profiling

  • Wayne Petherick(Author)
  • 2005(Publication Date)
  • Academic Press

    (Publisher)

  As the common law concept of Arson became inadequate, statutory law (passed by government bodies) expanded the definition to include other buildings and property. By omitting the dwelling or occupancy requirement, other property such as shops, factories, prisons, public buildings, forests, fields, boats and cars are now included in most Arson statutes. The definition will also depend heavily on the criminal statutes of the coun-try or area in which the fire is lit; in some states of Australia it is referred to as Arson, whereas in others it is called “Malicious Damage by Fire/Explosion.” In Scotland it is officially referred to as “Willful Fire-Raising,” and in the United States there are very fine parameters used to define what actually constitutes an Arson. Arsonists are quite often referred to in texts on psychiatry or psychology as “malicious fire-raisers” or “fire-setters,” among other common terms. Clearance rate in this crime is generally low; for example, in the United States approximately 100,000 Arsons are reported to the police each year, but only 15% of these are solved (Dempsey, 1996). Deliberately lit fires are on the increase around the world, but it is not just the number of fires that are a problem. One data set suggestive of the rise in Arson is from the Arson Control Forum (see the 2004 Annual Report).

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  Understanding Violent Criminals

  Insights from the Front Lines of Law Enforcement

  • David J. Thomas(Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Praeger

    (Publisher)

  6 Arson

  Arson is a mysterious crime that few people can understand, and a crime that is rarely talked about in police circles. In fact, it is the one crime that most officers do not understand because it is not “traditional” in the way that robbery, rape, murder, burglary, and theft are—in the sense that they are more common and therefore more familiar. In addition, investigating an Arson requires the participation of other agencies and the expertise of fire marshals or the local fire department, and often police and fire departments do not play well together.

  From a practical standpoint, fire or Arson is rarely discussed unless the loss of property and/or life is so devastating that it requires a multiagency response and the case makes the national news. The reality, however, is that Arson is more common than one might think. The U.S. Fire Administration (2001, p. 1) estimated that Arson was the leading cause of fire in the United States and offered the following data: Arson is responsible for 475 deaths, 2,000 injuries, and $1.4 billion in property loss each year with a total of 267,000 Arsons annually.

  Arson is defined in statute as intentional in nature where the act of creating a fire or explosion is willful, unlawful, and/or done while in the commission of any felony (Colorado General Assembly, 2013; Florida State Legislature, 2013; Texas State Legislature, 2013). The definitions are clear in most instances. Arson is considered a property crime. However, the legislative bodies recognize that many different motives are associated with Arson besides property destruction. Fire has been used to mask crimes of violence, and also as the sole source of acts of violence and/or injury. Arsonists are known to have an impulse control disorder similar to those with reactive and predatory violence, as outlined in Chapter 3

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  Psychology and Crime

  An Introduction to Criminological Psychology

  • Clive R. Hollin(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Arson is generally taken to be a crime in which a fire is deliberately set in order to cause damage to property and that may also endanger life. In Scotland, the legal understanding of the act of Arson is the same as for the rest of the UK but the offence is known as fire-raising. As Arson is a crime against property, incidents such as fires in abandoned cars and other vehicles with no registered owners, and fires in derelict buildings are not covered by the Criminal Damage Act 1971. Firesetting is another term frequently found in the literature: it is often used to refer to the acts of juveniles below the age of criminal responsibility who deliberately set fires (e.g., Fineman, 1980). The term firesetting will be used here to refer to the acts of juveniles below the age of criminal responsibility, while Arson is used denote acts of firesetting within the scope of criminal law. Prevalence In England, the official statistics for Arson are recorded by both the Fire Rescue Services (FRS) and the police. In the statistics, the distinction is made between primary and secondary fires. A primary fire is defined as one that involves buildings or non-derelict vehicles, storage facilities or plant machinery; there may be casualties and the extent of the fire requires at least five fire appliances to bring it under control. A secondary fire is typically a small fire, generally occurring outdoors as with a fire in an abandoned vehicle, which does not involving casualties and is attended by four appliances at most. The definitional issue can lead to procedural problems within the criminal justice system. As shown in Table 5.1, a report published in 2005 by the ODPM noted that the police consistently recorded up to half fewer offences of Arson than the FRS

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  Violence in American Society

  An Encyclopedia of Trends, Problems, and Perspectives [2 volumes]

  • Chris Richardson(Author)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • ABC-CLIO

    (Publisher)

  Arson

  Arson has long been considered one of the most destructive crimes in the United States; however, it has received relatively little attention from local, state, or federal governments. It also has received little attention from academic researchers or from the mass media since the late 1990s. Overall, most of what scholars know about Arson predates 2000. There are several reasons for this: 1) the dual definition; 2) the inability to determine a measurable rate; and, 3) Arson’s mythology. In a definition adopted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1970s, Arson is defined as the “willful or malicious burning, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.” This definition sets the framework for understanding why Arson has remained relatively unstudied. It is important to note that in many jurisdictions, Arson is broken into different categories such as aggravated Arson, attempted Arson, Arson by fire, Arson by incendiary device/explosives, and Arson by chemical/dry-ice device. Aggravated Arson refers to cases where the Arsonist knows or reasonably knows that the building or vehicle is inhabited. Attempted Arson, Arson by fire, and Arson by chemical/dry-ice are often considered to be non-aggravated (i.e., when the building or vehicle is not occupied). Cases of Arson that involve incendiary devices or explosives are often under the purview of federal agencies, such as the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

  First, Arson can be committed against one’s own self or it can be committed against someone else. Because of this duality, motivations for committing Arson are complex and often unclear. It is difficult to distinguish who is the victim and who is the offender. Second, because Arson affects both people and property, there is no definite way to determine a rate (e.g., 4.2 Arsons per 100,000 people). Third, Arson is not required to be reported in the United States for the Uniform Crime Report. The best “official” national count of Arsons is approximately 40,000 in 2014 (FBI 2017). However, as stated by the FBI, this number is not representative of the entire United States. Fourth, the investigation of Arson is plagued by mythology. Essentially, the investigator’s discretion and knowledge guide the determination of whether or not a fire was intentionally set. It was not until 1992 that Arson investigation protocols and training were somewhat standardized in the United States by the National Fire Protection Association’s NFPA 921: Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations . This guideline illustrates the use and application of scientific methodology in fire investigation. It also includes information on how to properly document an investigation, how to handle fire-related evidence for admissibility into court, and an interpretation of the terms related to fire investigation. It emphasizes cause and origin, which are the main two factors relevant to court proceedings. Cause refers to what started the fire whereas origin refers to the location where the fire began. NFPA 921 has been widely ill received by the fire investigation community members, who are trained in some or all misconceptions about cause and origin, yet it is the closest “standard of care” for fire investigation (Lentini 2006). Because of 921’s status as a guideline documenting the scientific investigation of fire, investigators who testify in court as experts often use it. However, it is important to note that judges are considered the deciding authority on whether expert testimony is reliable (as required by Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals 1993). Therefore, because the National Fire Protection Association’s NFPA 921: Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations

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  Profiling Violent Crimes

  An Investigative Tool

  • Ronald M. Holmes, Stephen T. Holmes(Authors)
  • 2008(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications, Inc

    (Publisher)

  6

  Arson and Psychological Profiling

   

  What Is Arson?

  Forms and Types of Arson

  Statistics on Arson A View of the Firesetter Typologies of Firesetters Firesetting Experience

  Types of Fires

  Number of Fires

  False Alarms

  Time of Day

  Regard for Life

  Emotional State and Behavior Just Prior to Firesetting

  Emotional State and Behavior During Firesetting

  Emotional State and Behavior After Setting the Fire

  Arrest

  Confession

  Selection of Target

  Organized Versus Disorganized Personality Conclusion

   

  T

  he deliberate setting of fires has a long history, as varied as the fires themselves. There is no reason to believe that the motivation for all firesetters is the same or even similar (Forehand, Wierson, Frame, Kempton, & Aristead, 1991; Holt, 1994; Orr, 1989; Sakeheim & Osborn, 1986; Webb, Sakeheim, Towns-Miranda, & Wagner, 1990). To the contrary, Arsonists are as varied as their motivations and anticipated gains and different from offender to offender (Kolko & Kazdin, 1992; Sakeheim, Vigdor, Gordon, & Helprin, 1985). This may seem strange at first blush, but the motivating factors as well as the planned gains may be indigenous only to a few. The purposeful firesetter, for example, may be an Arsonist for property gain or erotic gratification (Law, 1991). However, it may be that the exact role of sex as a motivating factor may have been grossly exaggerated (Quinsey, Chaplin, & Uphold, 1990; Rice & Harris, 1991).

     WHAT IS Arson?

  Arson is defined by the U.S. Department of Justice (2004) as “any willful or malicious burning or attempting to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another.” This is one simple definition, but there is more to Arson than a rudimentary denotation. In addition, there are three components to the crime of Arson:

  • There has been a burning of property. This must be shown to be actual destruction, at least in part, not just scorching (although some states include any physical or visible impairment of any surface).

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  Offenders, Deviants or Patients?

  An introduction to clinical criminology

  • Herschel Prins(Author)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Geller states that: Ancient Roman legal texts recognized Arson and defined penalties for this offence. In France, prior to the French Revolution, deliberate Arson was punished by death – hanging for commoners and decapitation for nobles. ‘Under some circumstances, Arsonists were burned alive.’…‘In Britain, during the reign of George II convicted Arsonists’…‘were banished from the country.’ And, as already noted, fire-raising in the Royal Dockyards could incur the death penalty. (Geller, 1992: 283) The legal definition of Arson varies from one country to the next; I make no attempt to define it internationally. Other jurisdictions have comparable statutes and penalties. The word itself derives from Anglo and old French and from mediaeval Latin – ardere – ars : to burn (Concise Oxford English Dictionary). In England and Wales, prior to 1971, the offence of Arson was dealt with under Common Law and the Malicious Damage Act of 1861 (see Averill, 2012). Currently, it is dealt with under the provisions of the Criminal Damage Act, 1971. Similar provisions apply in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, it is dealt with currently under a number of Common Law offences such as ‘wilful fire-raising’ and ‘culpable and reckless fire-raising’

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  Criminal Law

  • Joycelyn M. Pollock(Author)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Perhaps the most difficult task of a prosecutor in proving the common law crime of Arson is to show that the burning was willful or malicious. Mere accident, carelessness, or simple negligence is not enough to constitute the common law crime of Arson. If the prosecutor introduces evidence to show that the person intentionally started the fire that resulted in the burning, this is a clear-cut case. However, it is more difficult to prove malice when the acts amounted to a wanton burning without justification or excuse. In the latter situation, the requirements of Arson could be met if evidence indicated that the actor performed an intentional act that created a very high risk of the burning of a dwelling house.

  Also, there is sufficient intent or malice to constitute the crime of Arson if there exists general malice or intent to burn any dwelling. The concept of

  transferred intent

  applied to Arson in that if one intended to burn the house of person A, but mistakenly burned person B’s house instead, it would be still be Arson. Similarly, if a person didn’t care whose house they burned, they just wanted to burn any house, it would still meet the mens rea required for Arson.7

  B. Model Penal Code

  Under the Model Penal Code, Arson is enlarged to include exploding as well as burning and buildings other than dwellings. The crime of Arson is graded partly according to the kind of property destroyed or imperiled and partly according to the danger to persons. The most serious type of Arson is a felony in the second degree and is most similar to common law Arson. Under this definition, Arson occurs when a person starts a fire or causes an explosion, either to destroy a building or occupied structure of another, or his or her own or another’s property to collect insurance for such loss.

  § 220.1 Arson AND RELATED OFFENSES (1) Arson. A person is guilty of Arson, a felony of the second degree, if he starts a fire or causes an explosion with the purpose of: (a)  destroying a building or occupied structure of another; or

  (b)  destroying or damaging any property, whether his own or another’s, to collect insurance for such loss. It shall be an affirmative defense to prosecution under this paragraph that the actor’s conduct did not recklessly endanger any building or occupied structure of another or place any other person in danger of death or bodily injury.

  (2) Reckless Burning or Exploding. A person commits a felony of the third degree if he purposely starts a fire or causes an explosion, whether on his own property or another’s, and thereby recklessly:

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  Forensic Psychology

  • David A. Crighton, Graham J. Towl, David A. Crighton, Graham J. Towl(Authors)
  • 2021(Publication Date)
  • Wiley-Blackwell

    (Publisher)

  34 Arson and Fire Setting: A New Conceptualisation Faye Horsley

  CHAPTER OUTLINE

  • INTRODUCTION
  • PART ONE
  • THE PSYCHOLOGY OF Arson AND FIRE SETTING
  • THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
  • PART TWO
  • THE CONTINUUM OF FIRE USE (COFU)
  • IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS
  • CONCLUSIONS

  INTRODUCTION

  Arson is a legal term, defined by section 1 (3) of the Criminal Damage Act as any deliberate damage to property caused by fire (Daykin and Hamilton, 2012 ). A multitude of terms relating to the misuse of fire appear in the psychological academic literature. In addition to Arson, some favour fire setting to describe a deliberate act, which is ‘not recreational in nature’ (Gannon and Barrowcliffe, 2012 , p. 2). Other terms, such as fire raising (Prins, Tennent, and Trick, 1985) and pathological fire setting (Geller, Fisher, and Bertsch, 1992), feature along with pyromania. The latter relates to a specific mental disorder but is often misused and misunderstood (Doley, 2003 ). The aforementioned terms are contested in part two of this chapter. Unhelpfully, they are not always clearly defined within the psychological literature and are used interchangeably. In this chapter, fire setting is the predominant term used because it describes a broader construct. However, at times, fire setting and Arson appear concurrently because this directly reflects the existing literature.

  Fire setting is a worldwide problem (Tyler, Gannon, Ó Ciardha, Ogloff, and Stadolnik, 2019). According to official statistics for England in the year ending December 2019 the fire and rescue service (FRS) attended just over 72,000 deliberate fires (Home Office, 2020a ) with 60 fatalities and 983 non‐fatal casualties reported (Home Office, 2020b ). Despite the scale of the problem, the literature base on Arson and fire setting is sparse, when compared with other offence types (Sambrooks and Tyler, 2019

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  The Detective's Handbook

  • John A. Eterno, John A. Eterno, Cliff Roberson(Authors)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  The low solvability rate of just over 20% is good evidence of the difficulty in investi-gating such a complex destructive crime as Arson. It also indicates a need for improved investigations and better-trained investigators. Improved investigation skills begin with an understanding of the legal requirements in conducting an investigation. Legal Considerations The investigation and prosecution of an Arson case requires that the investigator prove the individual elements of the crime. According to 29 Ohio Rev. Code (2011), these elements must be committed knowingly and by means of fire or explosion. The Arson crime must cause or create a substantial risk of physical harm to property of another without their consent. The crime of Arson can also be committed by causing or creating a substantial risk of physical harm to property of the offender or another with intent to defraud; can be com-mitted by causing or creating a substantial risk of physical harm to government buildings used for public purpose; can cause or create a substantial risk of harm to property through offer or acceptance of agreement to hire to any property without the consent of the owner or by the owner with intent to defraud; and can cause or create a substantial risk of harm to any park, preserve, well, and/or other real property. Any criminal Arson investigation must be conducted with the rights guaranteed by the fourth, fifth, and sixth amendments to the U.S. Constitution in mind. The fourth amend-ment guarantees the right to be free from unreasonable or illegal search or seizure. As an investigator, we must make sure that we conduct all searches within the context outlined by the Constitution and interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court and that any suspect seized is seized based on probable cause. The fifth amendment provides Arson suspects with the right not to be a witness against themselves. They also will not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

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  Current Perspectives on Sex Crimes

  • Ronald M. Holmes, Stephen T. Holmes(Authors)
  • 2001(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications, Inc

    (Publisher)

  Psychologically, Arson is a difficult offense to evaluate. Historically, the legal system 188 DANGEROUS SEX CRIMES has viewed the act of Arson as a willful and malicious act; however, with the recent data being obtained specifically in regards to psychobiological variables, we could see the further devel-opment of legal loopholes through which Arsonists may be exonerated from their crimes. It is important for the applied criminologist, psychiatrist, or psychologist to not become overly preoccupied with specific diagnoses or labels, such as pyromania; instead, they should look at the sum total of variables involved in the behavior, and progress from there to obtain the most thorough and complete assessment possible. Arson, unlike other crimes, is unique in the sense that the magnitude of its power is of-ten unknown, even to the Arsonist. A gunman can choose the number of rounds to expend, and a knife-wielding perpetrator can make a conscious choice as to the number of wounds to inflict, but an Arsonist surrenders the power of choice once the fire takes on a mind of its own. Fire chooses its own course of destiny based on several environmental factors; it is no longer dictated by the malevolent wishes of the individual who gave it life. This makes it one of the most deadly and potent forms of criminal behavior. It is therefore worthy of any and all attempts aimed at successful Arson prevention. Arsonists, Pyromaniacs, and Firesetters 189 APPENDIX A Profile of the Pyromaniac Age The heaviest concentration was between ages 16 to 28, with the highest frequency at age 17. Gender Male Race Predominately White Intelligence The pyromaniac can range from being mentally defective to being a ge-nius (approximately 22% of those with no explanation for their firesetting were low-grade defectives). Physical defects These were found to be frequently present.

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  Forensic Science

  Advanced Investigations, Copyright Update

  • Rhonda Brown, Jackie Davenport, , , Rhonda Brown, Jackie Davenport(Authors)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Cengage Learning EMEA

    (Publisher)

  • The child behaves as a “daredevil,” especially when it comes to fire. • The child makes his or her own mixtures to cause fires and explosions. • The child is excited by fire. MOTIVES FOR Arson People start fires for various reasons. Establishing motive is essential to the criminal investigation. The motives for Arson tend to fall into six broad cat-egories. Arsonists might start fires for financial gain, revenge, excitement, vanity, to conceal a crime, or as an act of vandalism. FINANCIAL GAIN Some people start fires for financial gain, usually through insurance fraud. Most homeowners have insurance for their house and its contents. If a house or business is damaged in an accidental fire, the insurance company gives the owner money to replace the building and its contents. Sometimes, people deliberately burn the house to collect the insur-ance money (see Figure 4-18). Other people burn vehicles for similar reasons. Arsonists might also burn a competitor’s business. In this case, the Arsonist might hope to get money by taking the compet-itor’s customers. For this reason, insur-ance companies instigate many Arson investigations. Most insurance compa-nies employee professional Arson inves-tigators who are trained to determine whether a fire was caused by Arson. Obj. 4.9 There appears to be a growing link between Arson and illegal drug activity. Preliminary results of a new study by the National Fire Protection Association suggest that between 20 and 25 percent of reported Arson cases in major American cities are drug related. Figure 4-18. Sometimes an Arsonist hopes to receive insurance money after a fire. DALE A STORK/SHUTTERSTOCK Arson and Fire Investigation Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).

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  Forensic Psychiatry

  Clinical, Legal and Ethical Issues, Second Edition

  • John Gunn, Pamela Taylor, Ian D. Hutcheon(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  The problem of criminal damage is not new and has always been seen as a facet of the behaviour of young people. An Egyptian priest writing 4000 years ago expressed a view that is still heard today ‘Vandalism is rife, and crime of all types is rampant among our young people (Madison, 1970). Given the widespread nature of criminal damage, there is little research on its links to individual disorders. The WHO’s ICD-10 classification does list ‘severe destructiveness to property’ within the list of behaviours on which a diagno-sis of childhood conduct disorders can be made, but this is one of many behaviours and the emphasis is on ‘an enduring pattern of behaviour’ amounting to ‘major violations of age-appropriate expectations’ rather than casual vandalism. In studies of adults that consider associations between mental disorders and offending behaviour criminal damage is rarely cited as a separate category and is often placed in the ‘other’ category. This is in contrast with Arson which, despite its comparative rarity, is often considered separately. Arson Arson is a serious and dangerous crime, it can be a form of violence, it can certainly endanger life. In criminal terms it is just one category of criminal damage, but it is dealt with here separately as it is often a matter of psychiatric impor-tance. It is also given special attention by governments. In 1999 (April 20) the UK government issued a press release stating that an average of two homes an hour were torched by Arsonists in the UK and that the number of Arson attacks had more than doubled since 1989 (BBC, 1999). They sug-gested that 65 deaths and 2000 injuries are attributable every year to Arson and that fires cost an estimated £55 million in insurance.

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