Criminal Profiling

Criminal profiling has been used by law enforcement for over 120 years Criminal profiling has been used by law enforcement for over 120 years. It is used to produce a list of potential characteristics for a perpetrator of a crime to help narrow down a list of suspects. Other names for this technique (a) offender profiling (b) psychological profiling (c) personality profiling (d) applied criminology (e) behavioral investigative analysis

History of Criminal Profiling first recorded use was in 1880’s by Dr. Thomas Bond who performed an autopsy on one of the victims of “Jack the Ripper”. after the autopsy he reconstructed the crime scene to interpret the behaviors and personality of the killer he then studied other mutilated female victims and concluded that they had all been killed by the same person

In WWII Dr. Walter Langer was asked to profile Adolf Hitler. He was asked to attempt to explain Hitler’s mindset, what his motives were, and most importantly what might he do if he were ever caught. Dr. Langer correctly predicted that Hitler would commit suicide if Germany lost the war.

In the 1950’s Dr. James Brussel profiled the “Mad Bomber” of New York City. Dr. Brussels’ report was very accurate, and even detailed the clothes that the bomber would be wearing! Dr. Brussel also worked on the “Boston Strangler” in 1964. He convinced police that only one strangler existed, not two as was previously thought.

In the last 50 years this technique has been utilized in numerous cases throughout the world. Specialized units have been set up strictly for the purpose of profiling, including a program at the US FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia.

The Criminal Profile Report A criminal profile report is written after a crime scene and all related evidence has been documented and analyzed. The profiler is brought in to create a report describing some possible characteristics of the suspect. The profiler focuses on only the physical evidence to maintain complete objectivity when preparing the initial profile.

A criminal profile report contains some or all of the following information: Age – usually given as a range of possible ages (usually a 5 year span) Gender – determined by the gender of the victims and the nature of the crime scene. Race – determined by race of victims because the suspect is usually the same race as the first victim

Residency – using geographical profiling to determine the likely area of residence of the suspect Intelligence Level – categorizing the offender as organized or disorganized will give the probable education level of the suspect Occupation – determine if the suspect would be in a blue collar or a white collar position, and steady or casual employment using disorganized or organized categories.

Marital Status – single, married, separated, divorced, or widowed Living Arrangement – find out if the suspect likely lives alone, with a spouse, a common-law partner, roommate, or other family member Psychosexual Maturity – using the nature of the crime scene and the physical state of the victims to determine the state of mind and sexual age of the suspect

Type/Condition of Vehicle – using the disorganized and organized category to determine the age and state of the vehicle, or analyzing any physical tire prints that are left behind Motivating Factors – was the crime random or detailed and planned out? Was the suspect overcome with anger toward the victim/or society, or merely acting out a fantasy

Arrest Record – is it likely the suspect has a record, or does it seem to be a first offense as seen by the crime scene Provocation Factors – what type of set-up may draw out the suspect ie. decoy, sting operation Interrogation Technique – should a direct approach confronting the suspect with the evidence or should a counseling interview be used

a profile report DOES NOT generate a list of suspects it helps law enforcement officials focus their investigation upon suspects who fit the profile during the investigation new evidence may be introduced that changes the initial profile

if the investigation proves unsuccessful, the report may be re-evaluated or a second profiler brought in for a “second opinion” when a suspect is apprehended, the profile is compared to the actual suspect without this comparison it is difficult for the profiler to become more accurate

Uses of Criminal Profiling Criminal profiling is a relatively new science that is being utilized more frequently in law enforcement as its full potential is being realized. There are many investigative bodies that currently use this technique to narrow down a list of suspects in order to apprehend the actual perpetrator of the crime.

Various offenders that have thus far been profiled include: Terrorists: September 11 - Osama Bin Laden Oklahoma City Bombing – McVeigh and Nichols Arsonists: Most are white males under the age of 21 Unabomber – Ted Kacynski Mad Bomber – George Metesky Child Molesters: Most display psychosexual immaturity, and often have homosexual tendencies Jeffrey Dahmer, Clifford Olson, John Wayne Gacy Rapists: 75% are under the age of 25 years old * power-assertive, anger-retaliation, power-reassurance or anger excitation type rapists Serial Murderers: motivation varies. Mental illness can play a large role * David Berkowitz “Son of Sam”

Types of Murderers There are 3 types of “multiple” murderers Mass murderers: kill several victims at one time in one place Spree murderers: kill several victims, but not in one place Serial murderers: kill several victims over a fairly long period of time. Serial murderers are also further categorized into 3 subtypes…….

visionary – hears voices or sees visions that tell them to kill (b) missionary – goes on a hunting mission to rid the earth of a group of people (c) hedonistic – 4 types comfort-oriented lust-oriented thrill-oriented power-oriented – takes pleasure in domination and manipulation, get a ‘rush’ from the victim’s misery all take pleasure in the kill