Criminal Profiling

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Criminal Profiling
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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
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• History of Criminal Profiling
• first recorded use was in 1880s 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

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In WWII Dr. Walter Langer was asked to profile
Adolf Hitler. He was asked to attempt to
explain Hitlers 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.
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In the 1950s 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.
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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.
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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.
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• 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

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1. Residency using geographical profiling to
   determine the likely area of residence of the
   suspect
2. Intelligence Level categorizing the offender as
   organized or disorganized will give the probable
   education level of the suspect
3. 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.

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1. Marital Status single, married, separated,
   divorced, or widowed
2. Living Arrangement find out if the suspect
   likely lives alone, with a spouse, a common-law
   partner, roommate, or other family member
3. 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

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1. 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
2. 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

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1. 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
2. Provocation Factors what type of set-up may
   draw out the suspect ie. decoy, sting operation
3. Interrogation Technique should a direct
   approach confronting the suspect with the
   evidence or should a counseling interview be used

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• 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

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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.
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• 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

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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.

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• visionary hears voices or sees visions that
  tell them to kill
• missionary goes on a hunting mission to rid the
  earth of a group of people
• hedonistic 4 types
• comfort-oriented
• lust-oriented
• thrill-oriented

all take pleasure in the kill

• power-oriented takes pleasure in domination and
  manipulation, get a rush from the victims
  misery