Arson: The Most Difficult Crimes to Prove, Essay Example

It is not without reason that arson is considered one of the most difficult crimes to prove and/or prosecute. Several key factors render it typically an “invisible” crime, most notably the inherent one of that of the crime itself destroying evidence of intent.   Fire, rather obviously, burns and destroys, and only modern technologies have begun to enable investigators to ascertain criminal intent as a cause. Even so, arson remains elusive to define as crime because the specific training required to identify its presence is not widespread, as arson investigation also demands the cooperation of several law enforcement agencies to successfully proceed  (Hess, Hess-Orthmann 476). The crime is rarely performed from a single motive, and is in fact typically an extension of other crimes, such as fraud. This intrinsically complicates, and consequently renders more difficult, investigations.

Motives, too, add to the problems in identifying arson, for they cover a range far more broad than that of the well-known seeking of profit through insurance fraud. Basic economic gain accounts for approximately forty percent of arson cases, and a wide range of motives are attributed to the rest. These include revenge, the effort to conceal another crime’s evidence through fire, and even malicious “fun” (DiCanio 12). Another prominent motive for arson is criminal intimidation, usually exercised by organized crime, in which the arson is committed to achieve a further criminal end. The presence of terrorism, both in the United States and globally, also adds to the dilemmas in both determining and fighting arson, for politically-motivated arsonists are, in the estimation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, conducting their crimes with unprecedented levels of sophistication (Caulfield 146). Career criminals, formerly hired “torches”, now employ new technologies to both commit and disguise the traces of arson. Subsequently, these modern methods of performing arson exponentially enhance the challenges in proving the crime presented by multiple, potential motives.  More so than virtually any other criminal act, arson defies law enforcement by virtue of complications in determining motive and in actually gathering evidence of the act itself.

Works Cited

Caulfield, J.  Burning Issues. Builder, Vol. 28, No. 10, August, 2005.  pp. 144-154.  Print.

DiCanio, M., Ph.D.  Encyclopedia of Violence: Frequent, Commonplace, Unexpected. Lincoln, NE:  iUniverse, 2004.  Print.

Hess, K. M., & Hesss-Orthmann, C.  Criminal Investigation.  Clifton Park, NY: Cengage Learning, 2009.  Print.