1. Profiling

2. Plan for Today What is Profiling? Offender typologies
Problems with profiling
Geographical profiling

3. What is Profiling?
A technique for identifying the major personality and behavioural features of an offender based on an analysis of the crimes they have committed

4. Goals of Profiling
Suspect prioritization
New lines of enquiry
Interview strategies
Predict dangerousness
Flush out offender

5. Profiling What do profilers do?
provide investigators with a personality composite, behavioral tendencies and demographic features of the unknown offender
Also, crime and threat analysis, investigative assistance, strategies for interviews and prosecution, and expert testimony
Mostly homicide, also rape, arson, bombing, espionage, stalking, extortion, kidnapping, terrorism and product tampering
TYPES: Criminal profiling, Geographical profiling, …

6. Profiling Criminal Profile may include:
Gender, age, race, occupation, socioeconomic status, mental status, area of residence, educational and family background, social habits and probable arrest history
Geographical profiling: area of “base”

7. Criminal Profiling.
The process of inferring distinctive personality characteristics of individuals responsible for committing crimes has commonly been referred to as criminal profiling

8. Criminal Profiling
A profile generalised from behavioral and demographic characteristics shared by other criminals. Product of statistical characteristics and generalisation.
Ex: 80% of all serial killers that attack college students in parking lots are white males, age 20-35, who live with their mother and drive Volkwagen vans.
Our offender has attacked three female students in parking lots.
Therefore our offender is a white male, age 20-35, who lives with his mother and drive a VW van...
Assumptions
Individual behavior and motivation can be predicted from the study of individuals who share similar behaviors and motivations.

9. Different Types of Criminal Profiling
Inductive Profiling
Profiling an offender from what is known about other offenders
Deductive profiling
Profiling an offender from evidence relating to the crime of that offender

10. Inductive Profiling
80% of serial killers who attack people in parking lots are white males
Our offender has attacked three people in parking lots, therefore it is likely that our offender is a white male

11. Deductive Profiling
Body of a female victim is found with no blood or clothing at the scene
Location is not the primary crime site due to the lack of blood and clothing found at the scene

12. The profiler’s dictionnary:
Modus Operandi (standard procedure)
Behaviors committed by the offender during the commission of the crime which are necessary to complete the crime.
Can vary as the offender becomes more experienced
MO ensures success, protect identity, offer escape: dynamic
Signature
Behaviors the offender has to do to fulfill an emotional need or a fantasy.
Thematic nature, it tends to be more stable over time.
Needs of the offender: often ritualized
ex: staging, overkill, bondage, etc.

13. Example of MO and Signature
An unknown subject rapes a woman in her home, using a rope garrote to control her while he rapes her, causing little or no other physical damage. The offense takes 10 or 15 minutes and then the offender leaves through the back door of the residence which shows signs of forced entry.
Over the next two months, two more rapes are committed by the same rapist with roughly the same MO, each taking about ten to fifteen minutes. Investigators are able to make the connections right away because of DNA evidence collected at the various scenes. During rape number three, it is noted, the victim struggled a great deal and very heavy ligature furrows are observed on her neck.
A week later, a fourth victim emerges. The fourth victim explains in her statement how the offender brought her in and out of consciousness intentionally using a rope garrote, and how the offender spent almost an hour with her. DNA evidence is unavailable for this fourth rape: is victim number four related?

14. Example of MO and Signature
All else being equal, this is the same offender.
What has occurred is that the offender, over time, has eroticized the use of the garrote. During the first rapes, the garrote was a means to acquire and maintain control of the victim (MO Oriented).
Over time and experience, the offender developed a sexual desire to strangle his victims while raping them (Fantasy Oriented).
This is not surprising given the strong association of the garrote with the act of rape during the first few attacks.
The presence of an object or behavior during sex can quite easily lead to it's eroticization and inclusion in fantasy and subsequently fantasy behavior.

15. How do you create a Profile?
Behavior reflects personality!
Actions before, during and after crime
Look at what offender chose to do and what he chose not to do. (Behavioral fingerprint)
Signature
What did he do that he did not have to?

16. How do you create a Profile?
Look at evidence, police and autopsy reports, crime scene photos, i.e., learn everything about the offender
Use inductive and deductive reasoning, experience of violent behavior, facts of particular case, and statistical probabilities.
In depth interviews with violent offenders

17. Organized - Disorganized typology
Source: Robert Ressler, Ann W. Burgess, and John E. Douglas, Sexual Homicides: Patterns and Motives. New York: Free Press, 1992, pp , 130.

18. PROFILE CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZED AND DISORGANIZED MURDERS
Average or above-average IQ
Below-average IQ
Socially adept
Socially inadequate, often never married, fearful of people, may have developed well-defined delusional system
Skilled-occupation employment history, but uneven work history, sometimes has job below abilities
Poor work history
Sexually competent
Sexually incompetent, may never have achieved sexual intimacy
High birth order in family, often first son
Low birth order in family
Father’s work generally stable
Father’s work history unstable
Parental discipline perceived by offender as inconsistent
Harsh parental discipline
May feel angry or depressed at time of crime, but reports himself as calm during it
Recurring obsessional and/or primitive throughts, at time of crime is confused and distressed, acts impulsively under stress
May use alcohol prior to crime
Limited use of alcohol
Precipitating situational stress, e.g. financial, marital, relationships with females, and employment problems
Minimal situational stress
Usually living with partner
Lives alone or with parental figure
Likely to have car in good condition
Usually finds victims in his geographic area, lives in close proximity to scene
Follows crime in newspapers, clippings about crimes committed often found at offender’s home, may take souvenirs from victim or scene
Little interest in news media
8-9

19. THE ORGANIZED/DISORGANIZED OFFENDER
The organized/disorganized offender is an FBI model. The organized/disorganized offender dichotomy has a strong crime scene focus.
Stage 1: Collecting inputs, which are essential for accurate profiling
State 2: Using Decision Process Models, which is the process of organizing and arranging the inputs into meaning patterns
Stage 3: making the crime assessment, which is the reconstruction of the sequence of events and the behavior of both the victim and the offender

20. THE ORGANIZED/DISORGANIZED OFFENDER
Stage 4: Developing the criminal profile, a process which addresses the type of person who committed the crime and that individual's behavioral organization in relation to the crime, including background information, physical characteristics, habits, beliefs, values, pre-offense behavior leading to the crime and post-offense behavior

21. THE ORGANIZED/DISORGANIZED OFFENDER
Stage 5: Continuing the on-going investigation by those assigned to it, with the profiler making adjustments in the profile if fresh information warrants it and being available to discuss the case with those assigned on an as-needed basis
Stage 6: Following the apprehension, reviewing the agreement between the outcome and the various stages of the profiling process are examined

22. Organized, Disorganized, Mixed – typology

23. Organized crime scene predicts:
Premeditation, manipulative, cunning, deliberate and methodical. Psychopathic (narcissistic and remorseless)
Pride in appearance, articulate, outgoing, charming
Crimes and aftermath well planned and executed
Chooses targets carefully, brings own weapon, tries to conceal the body
CONTROL (a thinking criminal)
Older, more mature, leave general area (drive)

24. Disorganized Crime Scene predicts:
Loner, few social skills and ties, feels inadequate
Sloppy unkempt appearance (home), haphazard impulse crimes against victims of opportunity.
More likely to attack family, friends, neighbors or acquaintances
Frenzied crime scene – sparked by drugs, mental illness, or inexperience. Mutilation and overkill
Symbols of disorganization reflect delusions
Blitz attack, leaving victim
Attack close to home, walk or public transportation

25. Mixed crime scene
Young offender making transition to organized predator
Short temper but plans revenge without taking unnecessary risks
Situational factors (inability to control victim) leading to improvised behavior
More than one perpetrator

26. The profiler’s dictionnary: (con’d)
Serial murder, Spree murder, and Mass murder:
Serial: three or more separate events with a cooling off period between homicides)
Spree: killing at 2 or more locations with no emotional cooling off period between homicides.
Mass : anything more than 3 victims in one location and within one event.

27. Homicidal trends Serial killers
generally target strangers, consistency in victim profile
Cooling off period
Trophies
At least 3 victims

28. THE HOLMES TYPOLOGY ACT-FOCUSED (quick kill)
1 - THE VISIONARY - hears voices or sees visions that tell him to kill (psychotic), the voices tend to be either God or the devil, legitimating the violence.
2- THE MISSIONARY - goes on hunting "missions" to eradicate a group of people (prostitutes, Jews, etc.) from face of earth, seems like "fine young man" to neighbors.
PROCESS-FOCUSED (slow kill)
3 - THE COMFORT-ORIENTED HEDONIST - takes pleasure from killing, but also gets some profit or personal gain from it. (mostly women)
4 - THE LUST-ORIENTED HEDONIST - associates sexual pleasure with murder, sex while killing and necrophilia are eroticized experiences.
5 - THE THRILL-ORIENTED HEDONIST - gets a "rush" or "high" from killing, an elixir of thrills, excitement, and euphoria at victim's final anguish.
6 - THE POWER/CONTROL FREAK - takes pleasure from manipulation and domination (sociopath), experiences a "rush" or "high" from victim's misery.

29. Serial Killing Hunting grounds for serial killers: “Sites and zones”
1. sin strips
2. gay bars or single bars
3. skid row areas
4. college campuses
“Sites and zones”
1. VICTIM'S LAST KNOWN LOCATION
2. COMFORT ZONE (activity spaces, hunting grounds, stalking sites)
3. BUFFER ZONE (offender's residential location)
4. ATTACK SITE (edge of comfort zone; actual crime scene)
5. HOLDING SITE (sometimes used)
6. VEHICLE DISPOSAL SITE
7. PROPERTY DISPOSAL SITE
8. BODY DUMP SITE or DISPOSAL ZONE

30. Most frequently selected victims [Hickey (2002; 399 serial killers)]
Strangers (70%)
1. College students,
prostitutes
2. Little boys and girls
3. Hitchhikers
4. People at home
5. Handicapped people
6. Store-owners, landlords
7. People walking street
8. Older women
9. Police officers
10. Derelicts/transients
11. People responding to newspaper ads
Acquaintances (20%)
1. Friends and neighbours
2. Girlfriends and boyfriends
3. Waitresses and prostitutes
4. Co-workers
5. Landlords, employers, guards
6. Gang members
7. Patients
Family (10%)
1. Own children
2. Husbands
3. Wives
4. In-laws
5. Nephews, nieces
6. Own mother
7. Sibling
8. Grandparents

31. Male Serial Killers: Methods 1. Firearms mainly (41%) Motives
2. Suffocation (37%)
3. Stabbing (34%)
4. Bludgeoning (26%)
5. Firearms only (19%)
6. Poison (11%)
7. Drowning (3%)
8. Other (2%)
Motives
1. Sex (55%)
2. Control (29%)
3. Money (19%)
4. Enjoyment (16%)
5. Racism and hatred (11%)
6. Mental problems (6%)
7. Cult-inspired (5%)
8. Attention (2%)
Hickey (2002) studied 399 serial killers and found the following rank order of the most frequently used methods and motives

32. Female Serial Killers:
Methods
1. Poison (80%)
2. Shooting (20%)
3. Bludgeoning (16%)
4. Suffocation (16%)
5. Stabbing (11%)
6. Drowning (5%)
Motives
1. Money (74%)
2. Control (13%)
3. Enjoyment (11%)
4. Sex (10%)
5. Drugs, cult involvement, cover up, or feelings of inadequacy (24%)
account for only 8% of all American serial killers, but American females account for 76% of all female serial killers worldwide. Hickey's (2002) subsample of 62 females out of 399 serial killers used the following methods and motives.

33. Spree killers No cooling off period
Different, indiscriminate locations
Victims are generally strangers or are utilitarian murders
High suicide rate
Often “suicide by cop”

34. Mass Murderers Kill 4 or more people at one time and place
Mentally unbalanced, paranoid and suffering from chronic depression
Plagued by personal failure
“workplace violence”

35. Serial Rapists Power Reassurance rapist
lacks confidence socially and sexually with women, rapes to reassure his masculinity
Will fantasize a consensual relationship (may even believe it)
Can be apologetic
e.g., “the gentleman rapist”

36. Power Assertive Rapist
Attacks to assert his masculinity
Believes women are objects for gratification
Macho self-perception
Women are seen as second class citizens
Will strike impulsively

37. Anger Retaliatory Rapist
Wants to hurt, punish and humiliate victims
Hates women in general (or specific group)
Wants to “get even” for some real or perceived injustice
Will strike impulsively

38. Anger Excitation Rapist
Known more commonly as sexual sadists
Least common but most violent rapists
Highly ritualistic crimes
Fantasies usually involve some master-slave relationship
Seeks complete control over victims and derives pleasure from their suffering
Crimes are methodically planned

39. Opportunistic and Gang Rapists
Opportunistic rapist is already committing another crime
often involves drugs (especially alcohol)
Gang rapes often operate on a mob or pack mentality (always a pack leader)
- likelihood of serious physical injury to victim

40. Criticisms of Profiling

41. Criticisms
Despite its successes, profiling as a field is not without criticisms. Include in these criticisms are:
untrained or inadequately trained profilers
promising too much and delivering too little
relying on inadequate or dated databases
overstating the meaning of physical evidence

42. Problems with profiling
Can only create imprecise stereotypes, descriptions are vague and general
There is little theoretical foundation for generated demographic and personality factors
Can narrow the investigation parameters
Art based on experience rather than science

43. A Cheaper Alternative? H

44. What is Geographic Profiling?
Geographic profiling is a technique typically used in serial violent crime investigations. It involves an analysis of crime scene locations in order to determine the most probable area of offender residence.

45. What is Geographic Profiling?
Geoprofiling/GP is an investigative strategy that uses the locations of a series of crimes to determine the most probable area of the offenders residence
GP does not “solve” crimes; it does prioritize suspects and their likely addresses
This allows investigators to focus their resources and strategies, e.g., saturation patrol, surveillance, and neighborhood canvasses

46. Where Does a Geographic Profile Fit?
Occurrence of a crimes series
Use of traditional investigative techniques
Linkage analysis
Criminal profile
Geographic profile
New investigative strategies

47. 1. Awareness and Activity Spaces
AWARENESS SPACE
ACTIVITY SPACE

48. 2. Importance of the Home H
COMMUTER H
MARAUDER

49. 3. Buffer Zone
An area surrounding the criminal’s home where targets are viewed as less desirable (and therefore crimes are less likely). H

50. S5 S4 S1 S7 S2 S3 S6

51. Profiling the Washington Sniper
Washington DC area
October 2, 2002 to October 22, 2002
14 shots, 10 dead, 3 wounded
Thought to be linked cases
Requests for criminal and geographic profile

52. S2 S1 S3 S4

54. Key References
Canter, D.V. and Alison, L.J. (1999). Profiling in Policy and Practice: Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.
Holmes, R.M. and Holmes, S.T. (2002). Profiling Violent Crimes. London: Sage Publications.
Turvey, B. (2002). Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis. New York: Academic Press.

55. Questions?