Determining the Veracity of 911 Homicide Calls in the Metro-Phoenix Area Using COPS  Scale and Concordance

Determining guilty parties in homicide cases is not always straight forward. The more tools investigators have to assist them, the better. 911 calls are often the least influenced form of linguistic evidence, in the sense that the caller has not yet been influenced by lawyers, law enforcement, etc.. This paper analyzes the reliability of using the Considering Offender Probability in Statements (COPS) scale and concordance program to evaluate veracity in 911 homicide calls. To do this, six 911 homicide calls from Mesa, Arizona were transcribed, evaluated based on the COPS scale, and put through a concordance program. The results showed high reliability with the COPS scale and varying reliability with the concordance program, with benefits and drawbacks to each. This study unveils the need for more research to be done on 911 calls.