Analyzing 911 Homicide Calls by Tracy Harpster

Analyzing 911 Homicide Calls by Tracy Harpster

This book provides police investigators and homicide detectives with a practical method of analyzing 911 homicide calls to uncover the truth. A structured analysis of 911 homicide calls can directly aid in developing investigative leads, planning interviews, and solving cases. Case examples provide practice in analyzing calls to determine the likelihood of the caller’s innocence or guilt. Every member of the investigative team, from call-taker to first responder, investigator, coroner’s investigator, and prosecutor, can contribute to the success of investigations through their knowledge of 911 call analysis.

Deputy Chief Tracy Harpster has served with the Moraine Police Department in Ohio since 1984. He has worked as a street officer, undercover narcotics officer, Sergeant, Detective Sergeant, Operations Lieutenant and Deputy Chief. From 2002-2005, Deputy Chief Harpster was a Task Force Director in the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission, investigating large scale RICO, theft, money laundering and gambling crimes. From 2005-2007, he was assigned to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in Dayton, Ohio. From 2007 to 2011 Deputy Chief Harpster was the director of the Tactical Crime Suppression Unit Narcotics Task Force. Deputy Chief Harpster received a B.S. in Criminal Justice from Bowling Green State University and is a graduate of the 216th Session of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy, Quantico, VA. In 2006, Deputy Chief Harpster achieved a Graduate Degree from the University of Cincinnati where his Master’s Thesis examined the indicators of innocence and guilt of 911 homicide callers reporting the offense. Deputy Chief Harpster is a member of the Vidocq Society, a crime-solving organization that meets monthly at the Union League of Philadelphia. Members of the Vidocq Society apply their collective forensic skills and experience to "cold case" homicides and unsolved deaths. V.S.M.'s donate their deductive and scientific talents for the common good.

Dr. Susan Adams, a retired FBI Agent, is an international speaker and author in Investigative Interviewing Techniques. She has taught in Vienna, Prague, Edinburgh, Ottawa, Toronto, and throughout the United States. Her work appears in over a dozen international journals, books and law enforcement publications. As an instructor at the FBI Academy, Dr. Adams supervised the FBI Academy Unit responsible for teaching Investigative Interviewing and Statement Analysis to National Academy police officers and FBI Agents. She currently teaches Criminal Justice at the Graduate School of the University of Maryland University College. Dr. Adams earned her Ph.D. in Human Development from Virginia Tech and received the University of Virginia’s Jefferson Award for Excellence in Research for her study examining indicators of veracity and deception in written statements provided to law enforcement. She serves as a member of the Vidocq Society, a non-profit group of forensic professionals who offer their services to help solve cold case homicides.