This report compiles the best practices and common problems of fire
protection and criminal justice agencies in identifying,
investigating, prosecuting, and preventing arson. Commonly, the
crime of arson is motivated by spite and revenge. Perpetrators
strike with fire at buildings where people live, work, or
socialize-causing injury, property loss, and death. Civilians and
firefighters alike die in arson fires every year. Thirty years ago,
arson captured media attention because so-called arson-for-profit
rings were burning down decaying urban neighborhoods that had
ceased to be profitable, and then rebuilding them at a substantial
profit. Other high-profile cases involved arsonists who were
connected to gangs and drug lords, and who set fires to intimidate
their rivals or as retribution for deals gone bad. Some of the most
publicized cases occurred in the cities of New York, Boston,
Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Baltimore, and others. There even were
situations where neighborhood vigilantes, who were frustrated with
crime and run-down buildings, took it upon themselves to torch
structures to rid the neighborhood of vagrants, prostitutes, and
drug dealers. Insurance companies were perceived as the main
victims from intentional fires. As a crime com-mitted against
property, the economics of arson played center stage to the less
well-defined statistics on injuries and deaths. Since arson fires
do, on average, cause proportionately higher losses than fires from
other causes, insurance companies committed many resources toward
investigation and control. From establishing tip reward programs,
training accelerant detection canines (ADC's), supporting arson
reporting immunity legislation, and establishing the property
insurance loss register (PILR), the insurance industry was a strong
partner at that time. There is a dichotomy between arson as a
property crime and arson as a crime against people, and that lies
at the heart of today's challenges with cases of arson. As a crime,
arson's long-standing definition as the willful and malicious
burning of property does not do justice to the fact that today
arson is usually a personal crime that is directed intentionally
against specific victims. It is time for arson to be dealt with as
a violent crime against persons, not just a crime against property.
Today, spite and revenge dominate as the motives in intentional
property fires, especially where there are casualties.
Revenge-minded arsonists torch nightclubs, occupied residences,
hotels, and other settings where their intended victims, and often
other innocent people, are injured and killed. First responders get
injured or die battling these blazes and trying to save others.
Even though a portion of incendiary fires are motivated by other
reasons (e.g., excitement, economic relief, peer pressure, a cry
for help, and so forth) most set fires happen because someone
wanted to inflict harm on another person using fire as the weapon
of choice. Fire investigation units from The U.S. Fire
Administration's (USFA's) project indicated that spite and revenge
were the most common motives behind incendiary fires. Among project
sites from the past 5 years, spite and revenge ranked as the
highest leading motives, when investigation units were queried
about prevailing motives.
General
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