The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Review of Research on Investigative Decision-Making by Police Officers in Sex Offense Cases

This chapter presents a review of the research on police decision-making in sex offense cases, before concluding with some suggested priority areas for further research. An exploration of ‘the good’ is first presented, for example how objective and effective police decision-making can be enhanced, with particular focus on current decision-making and investigative guidance provided to UK police dealing with sex offenses. Next, research on ‘the bad’ and ‘the ugly’ aspects of police decision-making in sexual offenses is presented, which reflects the abundance of research on the negative influence of cognitive bias, such as police adherence to ‘rape myths’ linked with low-reporting of and high-attrition rates in sexual offense cases. The chapter concludes with suggestions for priority areas in most urgent need of future research, if understanding of how police can approach and investigate sexual offenses more effectively is to improve.