There has been little research on the factors that affect investigative decision-making. The purpose of this dissertation is to advance the knowledge on the theory of normal crime and to ultimately work toward finding ways to solve more crime. Through in-depth interviews, analysis of police reports, and the examination of crime data, this study provides a better understanding of how detectives solve crimes and the factors they consider when determining the level of effort to put forth to solve crimes. The data suggest that for serious crimes, officers are internally motivated to solve these cases and will go to great lengths to solve them. The factors that make crimes serious are; violent/egregious acts, victim emotional trauma, victim vulnerability, and serial crimes. Conversely, for typical crimes, investigative effort is motivated primarily by the likelihood that the case can be solved. Factors that affect investigative effort for typical crimes are; the evidence available, when a gun is stolen, the value of stolen property, political/media/community pressure, time available to investigate, and prosecutor constraints. Finally, there are some crimes that cannot be successfully adjudicated by the legal system. These include crimes in which the victim will not cooperate, crimes in which the victim is involved in illegal activity, and false reports. For these cases, investigators put forth enough effort to confirm that the crime cannot be prosecuted. The findings in this study are unique in that they offer a better understanding of investigator decision-making and offer new insight regarding the variables that affect investigative effort.
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