TOUGH CASES TO CRACK

ARSON investigations are always an uphill battle, says Robert Schaal of the International Association of Arson Investigators, who worked 27 years in the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“First, you have to determine the cause, rule out any accidental fires and definitively determine what caused it and that it was intentionally set,” he says. “Then, you have to gather evidence and identify who did it and see if they had the motive, means and the opportunity to commit the crime.”

That means arson has one of the lowest clearance rates of any crime, Schaal says, meaning investigations usually don’t identify the culprit. Of the nearly

57,000 arsons reported across the country in 2010, just more than 11,000 arrests were made, a clearance rate of about 19 percent, according to the FBI. Arrests were made in 21 percent of Wisconsin’s 676 arsons in 2010.

Once an arrest is made, prosecution is another big hurdle, adds Schaal: “You have to get a prosecutor interested in bringing the charges, and that’s kind of a tall task to begin with because the forensics are very different than [prosecutors] typically deal with” in other crimes such as murder, rape or assault. Many cases considered “cleared” with an arrest don’t end up being charged. And at trial, Schaal says, a conviction usually hinges on an expert convincing the jury that the fire was intentionally set and accidental causes are not possible.

While no state or federal agency tracks arson convictions, Schaal believes that – just like arrest rates – that successful prosecutions are relatively rare.