Current research on police psychology in criminal investigations assumes investigativeuddecision-making in cold case (undetected) homicides to be the same as that ofudlive/current homicide investigations, therefore not warranting exploration in its ownudright. In contrast, the present article suggests that significantly different psychologicaludand contextual factors exist which can facilitate bias in investigator decision-making inudcold case (undetected) homicides. These include the biasing effect of inheriting a chainudof decisions often made by many previous investigators and the negative framing effectudthat the term ‘cold case’ can have on investigator confidence and on their subsequentudinvestigative decision-making. Although the idea that cold case homicide investigationudnecessitates a different ‘investigative mindset’ to live cases is only suggested here, audpossible agenda for a bespoke research project on cold case investigator decisionmakingudis tentatively suggested.
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