This is a really good idea and the analogy with open source software is a good one.
I suspect that the police will *think* it will do more harm than good though, and the recent tragic case of a Nicola Buley shows some of the challenges, with conspiracy theorists and amateur sleuths actively impeding a live investigation, hurtfully speculating openly about family members and contaminating incident/ crime scenes.
There is definitely a lot of talent out there, but also quite a few idiots, and I suppose the challenge is how do you get the good stuff without having to also wade through the dross
Thank you. I have a couple of cases in mind but Suzy Lamplugh, Claudia Lawrence and Penny Bell are all too recent. The families and suspects are all very much around. I think the Sophie case in West Cork came the closest to this kind of open source investigation but so far it has not quite got to the full story.
This is a really good idea and the analogy with open source software is a good one.
I suspect that the police will *think* it will do more harm than good though, and the recent tragic case of a Nicola Buley shows some of the challenges, with conspiracy theorists and amateur sleuths actively impeding a live investigation, hurtfully speculating openly about family members and contaminating incident/ crime scenes.
There is definitely a lot of talent out there, but also quite a few idiots, and I suppose the challenge is how do you get the good stuff without having to also wade through the dross
Thank you. I have a couple of cases in mind but Suzy Lamplugh, Claudia Lawrence and Penny Bell are all too recent. The families and suspects are all very much around. I think the Sophie case in West Cork came the closest to this kind of open source investigation but so far it has not quite got to the full story.