NCJ Number
81300
Journal
Fire and Arson Investigator Volume: 32 Issue: 2 Dated: (October-December 1981) Pages: 17-26
Date Published
1981
Length
10 pages
Annotation
In this second part of a two-part article, the general manager of the Insurance Crime Prevention Bureau in Toronto, Ontario, discusses the investigation of and prosecution of fires set to defraud insurance companies, with emphasis on procedures in Canada, California, and some European countries. Measures to prevent such fires are suggested.
Abstract
The investigation and prosecution of fraud fires in Canada are governed by several sections of the Canadian Criminal Code. For example, an inquiry conducted under the Fire Commissioner's Act gives the fire commissioner the same powers as held by a judge or coroner. The criminal code permits prosecutions whenever the evidence is uncovered, no matter how many years have elapsed since the crime was committed. In contrast, both State and Federal governments in the United States are encumbered by statutory and decisional law that restrict suspect examination and crime scene inspection. However, the private insurance industry can contact and interview witnesses and suspects as conditions of policy compliance and is not limited by the financial restrictions which apply to public investigations or by search and seizure restrictions which apply to law enforcement personnel. Nevertheless, experienced judges and trial lawyers in the United States assert that the American laws are adequate to deal with arson and arson-related fraud. Arson is also increasing in Europe, where insurance companies play an important in combating this form of crime. In Canada, civil court trials have been successful in cases where the evidence is insufficient to produce a conviction in criminal court. Two major means of preventing fraud fires are the use of accurate investigations and prosecutions as deterrents and the use of prefire inspections to identify danger signals associated with premeditated fires. For the article's first part, which deals with fraud fires in Canada, see NCJ 81299.