How I find new research to write about — Part of my intent for True Crime Adjacent is to cover new academic criminology and criminal justice research that I judge to be relevant to true crime or of interest to you as a true crime follower. …

A gentle introduction to writing practice, which can both make you a better writer and break writer’s block. — Earlier this afternoon, I sat down to practice writing, which I know sounds odd. The article you’re reading is mostly the raw text of that writing practice session. I’ve added a link here or there and few notes enclosed in square brackets where I said something incorrect. The point is…

Or, 5 tips for writing sentences that won’t leave your readers scratching their heads — One of the most shared pieces of writing advice I see on Medium and elsewhere is to write as much as possible. It’s excellent advice, as far as it goes. …

Who confesses and who doesn’t — New research into police interrogations and confessions by extrafamilial murderers found three types of killers. The clusters of offenders found in each type differed in many ways, including whether they confessed and their relationships to their victims. Conducted using coroner’s reports and police investigation files from cases where victims were…

The first in a series on crime statistics — Comparing the amount of crime in two places is trickier than most people realize. Criminals have a vested interest in not being found out. Victims don’t universally report crimes committed against them, for reasons ranging from not thinking minor crimes are serious enough to report to not believing the police…

Writing has been disrupted, and it’s a beautiful thing — My journalism school classmates and I didn’t think much of the local tabloid newspaper. It was 20 years ago, so our criticisms don’t matter. What matters is how our instructor responded: “The only way to measure a publication is the way you would measure a wild animal: against its environment.” …

The same women and girls are also more at risk of being trafficked — Recent work examining the limited body of research into sex trafficking in Canada found that “Indigenous, im/migrant, and other marginalized women and girls” are “particularly impacted” by “gaps and barriers in anti-trafficking responses.” The authors of the study wrote: “The findings of this review highlight the importance of addressing the…

Can The Freelance Writer’s Handbook, from 1987, help us out in the 2020s? — As a young journalist in the early 2000s, I came across a slim volume that made my life much easier. It was already old then. In it, I found many helpful tips and ideas, including a number of article formats that promised to turn regular writers into “magicians” able to…

Research examining the new practice found that the data-driven approach to policing also lacks sufficient evaluation and raises questions of accountability — Predictive policing is a relatively new approach that uses data science and crime data to try to prevent crime by altering how police are deployed in the field. However, research suggests that the practice has some challenges that should be addressed.