Tatjana Kuznecova
Tatjana Kuznecova, MSc, is a researcher and project leader in Saxion University of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands.
Tatjana holds a double Master's degree in Environmental Sciences and Environmental Technology acquired in Riga Technical University (Latvia) and Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Lithuania). Her previous professional experiences include research and educational work in Riga Technical University (Latvia) and University of Twente (Netherlands) and participation in various local and international projects.
At the moment, Tatjana is working with two research groups at Saxion University of Applied Sciences, one of which - Advanced Forensic Technology - is devoted to development and application of new techniques to facilitate crime investigations. As a coordinator and senior researcher Tatjana has been leading research lines of Data Science in Crime (completed project 'Cold Case: Solved and Unsolved') and Environmental Crime (new EU ISF-P project 'NarcoView').
In her projects Tatjana mostly focuses on the applications of geo-spatial data techniques, data science and data mining.
Sessions
On average 150 murders take place in the Netherlands yearly, but not all such incidents can be solved. Currently there are more than 1700 unsolved cases that classify as a "cold case" by the National Police Netherlands. Investigation into these types of capital offenses takes a lot of time, money and capacity. Applications of the current working method and available techniques are very labor-intensive and time-consuming. In addition, the pressure on the executive police officers is high - from the police organization, the Public Prosecution Service, the media, the next of kin, and society in general.
From an investigative point of view, it is important to be able to provide direction in the criminal investigation, in which ‘tunnel vision’ should be prevented. From a scientific point of view, more research into homicide cases in the Netherlands is of eminent importance. Remarkably little has been written in scientific literature about this type of crime.
Saxion University of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands in collaboration with the Dutch Police Academy and a number of partner companies initiated a research line to investigate to what extent data science techniques and modern digital technologies can be used to organize, direct and manage murder and manslaughter investigations more effectively and efficiently. The first project in this line – ‘Cold Case: Solved & Unsolved’ – focused on the use of open sources to collect the data and gain more insight into homicide cases in The Netherlands, explored applicability of modern data processing and analysis techniques, as well as developed a pilot tool for structuring the investigative process. A so-called ‘narrative approach’ and ‘scenario-thinking’ served as a backbone for the development of new techniques. That was also the first step in building the biggest homicide database using open-source data. The project was integrated with a study course ‘Minor Cold Case’ in Saxion University to facilitate the use of the developed knowledge and tools in the educational programs.
As a follow-up, a collaboration with a volunteer-based organization dealing with cold case research will be set up for further data collection and development of new tools.