Module 1

profiling - an art or science?

- is profiling an art, science, or both? - is it one of many forensic tools, it does not replace good investigative techniques, and educated guesses aided by knowledge gained from the profilers experience

Profiling is an art, not a science

- not everyone agrees that psychological profiling is of benefit to law enforcement. Indeed, not all crimes are suitable for the profiling process. - while virtually any crime showing mental, emotional, or personality aberration can be analyzed for profiling purposes, certain crimes are particularly appropriate for the process; these crimes include a series of rapes, serial murders, child molesting, ritualistic crimes, threat communications, violence in the workplace, and serial Arson.

Goal 3 of profiling: to provide interviewing suggestions and strategies

- once a subject is apprehended, a profile packet should contain information regarding proper and effective methods of interviewing and interrogation. This can be crucial. - profile packet should contain information regarding different personalities and effective strategies in soliciting information from a diverse group of offenders. Not all people react to questioning in the same fashion.

intelligence process (frost, 2001)

- planning, directing, collecting, evaluating, collating and organizing, analyzing, and reporting

Criminal Profiling - Profiling Methodology

- signature behaviors: acts committed by an offender that are not necessary to complete the offense. Their convergence can be used to suggest an offender's psychological or emotional needs (signature aspect). They are best understood as a reflection of the underlying personality, lifestyle, and developmental experiences of an offender. - Signature Aspects: The emotional or psychological themes or needs that an offender satisfies when they commit offense behaviors. - Jack the Ripper's Modus Operandi: He attacked white female prostitutes in their 40's in a cluster of victims within a short distance of each other. The first four victims Mary Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes were killed and found outdoors in the Whitechapel area; then he changed his MO by killing and leaving the fifth victim Mary Kelly, indoors; By choosing to murder Kelly indoors, the killer demonstrated that he was an experienced night time cat burglar and stalker, as he attacked all his victims in the early morning hours when dawn was approaching. - Jack The Ripper's Signature: Remember this relates to what the Ripper did over and above what was necessary to commit the crime - it transcends the MO; Each victim was posed in a sexually degrading position, intentionally left that way so the discovery of the bodies would startle the people who found them. They were not concealed or hidden away, but placed in locations where they would be easily discovered; The placing of the victims on their back, grotesquely laid out with their throats cut and viscera exposed or missing, reflect the cruel reality of the killer, his total mastery over their bodies. The pleasure for the killer was demonstrating each victims vulnerability; Incidentally Keppel does not believe that all the murders attributed to Jack the ripper where in fact carried out by him. He claims that in the case of three of his alleged victims there were fundamental differences in the signature of the crimes. However, there is no doubt that like his fellow writers on the topic Keppel firmly believes that signature behavior represents a real and intrinsic part of the offender's personality. - MO vs Signature: MO stands for Modus Operandi and it literally means way of working and it's what an offender does in order to carry out a crime. For example, a burglar who always uses a glass cutter to gain access to a house is demonstrating an aspect of his or her MO or way of working. From an investigative point of view analysis of the offenders MO can be used to link cases at crime scenes, however, a major stumbling block is that an offenders MO (way of working) can change. Unfortunately, investigators make a serious error by placing too much significance on the M.O. when linking crimes. For example, a novice burglar shatters a locked basement window to gain access to a house. Fearing that the sound of a window breaking will attract attention, he rushes in his search for valuables. Later, during subsequent crimes, he brings tools to force open locks, which will minimize the noise. This allows him more time to commit the crimes and to obtain a more profitable haul. - Stage 1 Profiling Inputs: The first stage involves collecting as much crime related information as possible, autopsy reports, photographs of the crime scene and deceased, essentially anything that is likely to indicate what happened, how it happened and why it happened. - Stage 2 Decision Processing: Armed with the information from stage one the next step involves determining whether the crime in question can be located within a number of behavioral classifications. The FBI developed their own manual of classifications and it functions along the same lines as the system used to classify mental illness. In essence you have a checklist of signs and symptoms and if these are sufficiently present within a particular case the offender will be assigned that classification; This is why you see multi dimensional descriptions of profiled offenders e.g. organized, power assertive serial rapist. This stage will also generate a number of more general classifications e.g. the murder type (mass, spree, serial etc); the primary motive (sexual, financial, emotional etc). - Stage 3 crime assessment: The principal aim of stage three is to piece together the chain of events before, during and after the commission of a crime. Essentially the profiler wants to reconstruct the crime from the perspective of both the victim and the offender. - stage 4 the criminal profile: Having assessed and consolidated the information from the previous stages the profiler is now in a position to hypothesize about the type of person who committed the crime. The preliminary description will usually include details relating to the suspects sex, age, race, occupational skills, IQ, social interests, mental health status and family background. - Stage 5 investigative use: There are two main ways in which profiling is used to assist an investigation. Firstly a detailed written report is made available to the investigating team so that they can concentrate their efforts on suspects who appear to match the profile. The aim is to generate a reliable profile of the person who's committed the unsolved crime so that the subsequent investigative effort is much more focused. Now this may seem like an obvious point but arguably the greatest strength of profiling is that it has the potential to minimize information overload.

The Monster Within and Among Us - The Case of Jack the Ripper

- there is a darkness in humanity that has manifested itself in a lust for blood throughout the ages - 20th century serial killer - every year we have about 20 serial killers, 10 of whom are apprehended, 10 on the loose, and they are in total responsible for some 200 deaths. - 200 victims of serial killers on a yearly basis. The average serial killer is responsible for 10 deaths. - the idea of a monster, a killer among us, started in 1888 in Whitechapel, one of the poorest areas of London England. Women were targeted, prostitutes', lower class, murdered and mutilated - the case that started the serial killer craze was the case of jack the ripper. - Jack the ripper sent letters in to the press, killed in obvious places where he could of been caught. - The whitechapel murders, there were 11 in total, 5 are universally accepted as the work of a single serial killer called only as Jack the Ripper. Began on August 31st, 1888 when police discovered the slashed body of 43 year old polly, or known as mary ann nichols at 3:40 in the morning. She was a prostitute. Sliced throat and had deep gashes in her abdomen and womb. 9 days later, September 9th early AM, Jack the ripper struck again, 47 year old Annie Chapman, known as Dark Annie. She was a penniless prostitute. Throat slit and body mutilated. The police had no idea who could of done it til they received a letter that was signed by Jack the Ripper. September 30th, he struck again, killing twice in as many hours. Elizabeth stride was killed first, 45 years old, not mutilated. 2nd killing of the night, catherine eddowes, 46 years old, murdered and mutilated, her womb and kidney eviscerated. First 4 victims had similar backgrounds: Similar in age 40s, they had been married or had long term relationships, 3 had children, all were prostitutes. - Jack the ripper of middle age prostitutes - Jacks last victim did not fit the profile. After the 4 murders, women stayed inside especially prostitutes. There were NO murders in october. Nerves settled and people started to go out again. Mary Jane Kelly was a 24 year old, the fifth target. She had been married but her husband died, and she had no children. She turned to prostitute to make money for herself. November 9th 10:45 AM, landlord went to the room to ask for rent and found her brutally mutilated. She was so badly mutilated that her current lover could only identify her by the color of her hair and eyes. After this killing, jack the ripper vanished. He had sent in 3 letters thats it. Was NOT the first serial killer but he was the first serial killer to create a worldwide media frenzy. Newspapers just became the worlds first mass media. From this point on, every serial killer has an AKA, such as the boston strangler, green river killer, beltway snipers. - the first and best known was a novel written by mrs belloc lowndes published in 1913. the lodger is the story of a mysterious guest who takes a room in a london home. The perfect metaphor for the killer among us. - the less dead: at least 75% of the victims we can find within the last 105-110 years would classify as less dead, they were less alive. They were marginalized people, throw away people. People don't care about them. Prostitutes, women alone, elderly women, hospital patients, young runaway kids. people consider them below society. serial killers in most cases will attack a vulnerable victim. - sociopathic serial killer, tends to be alone. Likes the dark, walks the empty streets at night. Antisocial. Doesn't really like people. lacks insight, lacks remorse, lacks empathy for the victim. Not troubled by the murder. - serial killers use sex typically

Annie Chapman

- 2nd victim - middle aged; married with kids but left her husband and two children to become a prostitute and street vendor, selling flowers and her own crochet. - people report that dark Annie was a hostile person and would often get involved in physical altercations with other women - especially true when she drank. Only drinking on Saturdays oddly enough. 5 foot tall, light brown hair, blue eyes, dark complexion. Was not in good health, suffering from disease of the lungs and brain. Could have also had TB and syphilis, her illness was considered terminal. Criminal background is not known, but she must of had an arrest record for fighting while intoxicated. - medical report: she was disemboweled; uterus was removed from the scene, as was one kidney. The abdomen was laid open and the intestines were lifted out and placed over her right shoulder. The intestines were severed. Parts of the pelvis, the uterus, and the upper part of the vagina were removed; also 2/3 of the bladder was removed; knife was 6-8 inches long approximately, was sharp.

Elizabeth Stride

- 3rd victim - middle aged, 45 when she was murdered; 5 foot 5, brown hair, light gray eyes, pale complexsion; no teeth in her lower jaw. people knew her as friendly and outgoing; she also was reported to be a drunk - used foul language. was married. a person riding his horse found her, the horse wouldn't continue on the path and he got off to find out why and found elizabeths warm dead body. thorat cut, not other mutliations found.

Catharine Eddowes

- 4th victim - also known as Kate Kelly. Middle aged, 46. 5 foot, hazel eyes, dark auburn hair. Tattoo on her left arm. married and had kids. Was arrested for drunkenness' and disorderly conduct. she also had her throat slit, intestines taken out and placed over her right shoulder. but she had her ear cut off and colon removed and put into a lump next to her. Killer took the uterus and kidney from the crime scene.

Mary Jane Kelly

- 5th victim - 25 years old at the time of her death, 5 foot 7, blond hair blue eyes. Very attractive and clean. She was loud and belligerent when she drank. was married and thought to have had a child allegedly. She was three months pregnant at the time of her death. She was killed in bed, nude, her clothes were neatly folded next to her on a chair. She was badly mutilated, abdomen and thighs were removed, breasts cut off, arms mutilated, face mutilated beyond recognition. nose, cheeks, eyebrows, and ears were partially removed. Lips were cut several times. neck was cut down to the vertebrae. Heart was removed and not found at the crime scene. Some of her skin was placed on a table next to the bed.

Jack the Ripper

- August to November 1888, East end of London, especially the Whitechapel section. He called himself Jack the Ripper; he was first called the leather apron killer by the police and the press. Killer sent a letter to the media identifying himself as jack.

what is criminal profiling?

- Criminal profiling (also known as offender profiling and specific profile analysis) is to create a psychological and not only psychological portrait, determine location of the offenders by gathering their personal attributes from crime scene behavior in order to assist in detection of them. - Criminal profiling is typically used when offender's identity is unknown and with serious criminal offences such as murder, sexual assault. Profilers also work on crime series, where is considered, that the crime is committed by the same offender. - There are two main directions of Criminal profiling: The profiling of an criminal's personal characteristics and geographical profiling. Most commonly, the first one is what people most commonly associate with criminal profiling. - A geographical profiler could be asked to identify the location of an offender's home, an offender profiler might be asked to construct profile of an unknown offender based on his/hers behavior at the crime scene. - The geographical approach - this looks at patterns in the location and timing of offences to make judgements about links between crimes and suggestions about where offenders live and work. - Investigative psychology - this grew out of geographical profiling and uses established psychological theories and methods of analysis to predict offender characteristics from offending behavior. - The typological approach - this involves looking at the characteristics of crime scenes to assign offenders to different categories, each category of offender having different typical characteristics. - The clinical approach - this approach uses insights from psychiatry and clinical psychology to aid investigation where an offender is thought to be suffering from a mental illness of other psychological abnormality. - The process of criminal profiling can be divided into five stages: Profiling inputs, Decision processing, Crime assessment, The offender profile, Investigative use - profiling inputs: This step involves gathering all the information about the crime. This may be any kind of information that would help understand what happened, how it happened and why. On this stage gathering of background information about the victim such as his/her employment, activities, friends, habits, social status, criminal history is also very important. - decision processing: During this step, all the information gathered in the first stage is being organized in order classify the crime by type and style. A correct classification will assist profiler in determining the direction of investigation. Answering relevant questions such as: Where did the action take place? Why would a person commit the crime, what would his primary motive be? Why offender might have chosen the specific victim? What did he/she do in order to reduce the risk of detection, does the offender seem to be amateur or professional, or at least how intelligent he/she may be? For example, a murder can be divided into many types of classification, such as: Constant murder (third party) Gang-motivated murder Kidnap murder Drug murder Insurance related murder with sub-classifications of individual profit and commercial profit Personal cause homicide with sub-classifications such as domestic homicide, argument/conflict murder, revenge, nonspecific motive murder, extremist homicide, mercy/hero homicide. Sexual homicide, which can also be classified as organized, disorganized, mixed, sadistic, elder female sexual homicide. - crime assessment: After summarizing all the information gathered in previous steps, the crime assessment is made. The primary aim of this stage is reconstructing a sequence of events that took place before, during and after committing a crime and determine the behavior of both, victim and offender. - the offender profile: This stage focuses on hypothesizing about the type of a person who committed an offence. The created profile will include information, which describes offender. In some examples this information will include age, sex, location, social status, intelligence, physiological characteristics, etc. - the investigative use: There are two main ways in which an offender profile can help in investigation. Firstly, criminal profilers make a report for investigators so that they will concentrate their efforts on finding an offender, that matches characteristics in the profile and secondly it will be used for planning an interview process of suspects; It is worth admitting also, that the profile may change during the investigative use. - FLAWS: The use of offender profiling is controversial. Many people don't believe in it, because it is not an exact science. One of the flaws of offender profiling is "Stereotyping." this occurs in a case, when profiler starts believing something about a person based on small number of characteristics. Many unsuccessful profiles are created if they are based solely on Stereotyping.

what does a criminal profiler do?

- Criminal profiling started to become a major focus of the FBI in the 1970s, and in the decades since then, it has become a common tool in investigating and solving crimes. One of the most common sources of employment for criminal profilers in the U.S. is the FBI, which also provides training in the practice to other law enforcement officials around the world. - duties: Visiting and analyzing crime scenes Analyzing evidence Reading reports from investigators and other analysts Studying human behaviors and characteristics Developing psychological profiles Writing reports Providing court testimony Working with police officers and detectives Teaching - salary: 48k to 138k - education: bachelors degree, advanced degrees are common, years of experience and training. - skills: Perception: Good profilers are able to see things most people might miss. More than just recognizing clues at a crime scene, they are able to pick up on the social cues of others and see patterns where they are not obvious. Attention to detail: Even the smallest piece of information can be relevant. Good profilers recognize this and make note of small details even if they don't seem relevant at the time. They may turn out to be relevant once other evidence is uncovered or analyzed. Analytical skills: The job often involves putting together a profile of a person the profilers have not met. This requires identifying behaviors and traits based on the way crimes were committed, where they were committed, and when and how, and why they might have been committed. Communication skills: Because they often consult with other police agencies, criminal profilers need to have excellent communication skills. This often involves helping to walk other law enforcement officials through the process of seeing how profilers reached the conclusions they have reached. Physical fitness: Those working as FBI agents especially need to maintain a high level of physical fitness. Prospective agents must meet specific requirements, and fitness must be maintained.

Introduction

- Despite the tremendous amount of interest in the field of profiling, we must remember that it is only one tool and by itself has never solved a murder case, despite the statements made by some. criminals are not always brought to justice, every Killer is NOT peacefully arrested. - profiling, or criminal investigation assessment, is an educated attempt to provide investigative agencies with specific information as to the type of individual who committed a certain crime. - crime scene reflects pathology - each offender will leave part of him or herself at the crime scene. Serial crimes are similar.

criminal profiling: the original mind hunter (profiling killers dates back to jack the ripper)

- FBI formed its behavioral science unit in 1974 to study serial predators. - Netflix series mindhunter explores the early efforts of the FBI to understand and profile serial killers. Its based in part on the writings of best selling author mark olshaker and legendary FBI profiler John Douglas. - john douglas is one of the several pioneering FBI agents. - profiling, or criminal investigative analysis, as it is called by the FBI, involves the investigation of a crime with the hope of identifying the responsible party, that is, as unknown perpetrator, based on crime scene analysis, forensic psychology, and behavioral science. - criminal profiling really is a combination of law enforcement and forensic psychology. Even today it is a relatively new field with a few set boundaries or definitions. practitioners of criminal profiling do not always agree on methodology, procedures or even basic terminology. Practitioners of profiling all share a common goal of analyzing evidence gathered at a crime scene and statements provided by victims and witnesses to develop a description of an unknown offender. - Dr Peter Vronsky noted that the offender description can include psychological factors such as antisocial personality traits, psychopathologies, behavioral patterns, as well as demographic variables including ages, race, and geographic locations. - in practice, conducted by the FBI, criminal profiling is involved in the investigation, apprehension and prosecution phrases of the criminal justice process. - Investigation phase, profiling is used to determine whether or not crimes are linked and to predict the personality and lifestyle characteristics of an unknown perpetrator. its used to develop strategies to apprehend the unknown criminal and to access the likelihood of an escalation in the perpetrators crimes. - apprehension phase, profiling is used to predict where to look for an unknown serial criminal, to determine what information should be included in a search warrant, and how he or she may react upon apprehension. - prosecution phase, criminal profilers act as experts in court to link crimes based on forensic evidence and to connect an alleged perpetrator to a series of crimes. - profiling has a long and storied history. The first application of criminal profiling techniques, london physicians george phillips and thoimas bond used autopsy results and crime scene evidence in the fall of 1888 to make rudimentary but informed predictions about legendary serial killer Jack the rippers personality, behavioral characteristics, and lifestyle. In the written report Dr thomas bond concluded that " all five murders no doubt were committed by the same hand, the women must have been lying down when murdered and in every case the throat was cut first; jack the ripper had no medical training or knowledge of anatomy despite the extensive cutting and mutilation of his victims. Bond reached his conclusion and noted that the gaping wounds inflicted were not consistent with the training of a medical expert or even a butcher. In his opinion, the murderer must have been a man of solitary habits, subject to periodic attacks of homicidal and erotic mania, uncontrollable sexual desire. - Law enforcement authorities opposed Dr. bond, they concluded that jack the ripper was either a physician or had medical training due to the fact that he had removed internal organs from some of his victims. The authorities at the time believed he was a surgeon.

Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols

- First death by Jack the Ripper. - 43 years old at time of death, 5ft 2, brown eyes, dark complexion, and brown hair slightly turning gray. People described her as small and clean, she was poor and missing teeth. She was also an alcoholic. She had one child, was also a prostitute. Criminal record of drunkeness, disorderly conduct, and prostitution. - medical report: five missing teeth, slight tear in her tongue; left side of her throat was a circular bruise, and she had a similar bruise on her left side of her face. On the left side was a 4 inch incision. No blood was found on the body. There were several incisions across the abdomen. All wounds made by the same knife. - Comments: throat slashed, stabbed in the stomach, and vertebrate were exposed.

Goal 2 of Profiling: To provide the criminal justice system with a psychological evaluation of belongings found in the possession of the offender

- Important goal to investigators when they have a prime suspect. It may be that all of the physical evidence, witness reports, and all pertinent information point toward one suspect. - the psychological profile may suggest items the offenders may have in their possession: souvenirs, photos, pornography, and so on. These items will serve as a reminder of the violent episode. - in a case of a serial pedophile, we are familiar with pedophiles child pornography collection. By analyzing the collection, the profiler can offer the police interrogator with a plan to interview the alleged offender as to choice of victim, seduction or capturing strategies, and other pertinent information gleaned from the collateral evidence found in the possession of the charged offender. Can be said about other types of offenders undergoing interrogation: arsonists, serial killers, and rapists.

Goal 1 of Profiling: To provide the criminal justice system with a social and psychological assessment of the offender

- Provide basic and sound information concerning the social and psychological core variables of the offenders personality. Should include race, age range, employment, religion, marital status, education, and so on. - This psychological packet will focus the investigation. The profile will reduce the scope of the investigation. This will have a direct effect on the number of days and weeks spent on the case by positioning the police toward a successful resolution. - a profile contains information that alerts the law enforcement professional to the possible psychological traits present in a crime scene. It can predict future possible attacks as well as probable sites of attacks.

FBI behavioral analysis Job

- Within the FBI's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) are three departments designated as Behavioral Analysis Units (BAU). These three departments are assigned to various aspects of criminal or terroristic actions: BAU-Counterterrorim/Threat Assessment, BAU-Crimes Against Adults, BAU-Crimes Against Children - description of behavioral analyst job: BAU personnel collaborate closely with federal, local and international law enforcement agencies to produce accurate recreations of violent crimes, provide a psychological framework for such crimes and predict the likely actions of violent perpetrators. The keen insights of BAU scientists have helped countless investigations identify and apprehend criminals and terrorists before they could produce any more violence. - salary: 45k-129k

what is profiling?

- an educated attempt to provide investigative agencies with specific information as to the type of individual who committed a certain crime - also known as, "criminal investigation assessment" - profiles are not suitable in all cases

profiling goals

- construct a social and psychological assessment of the offender - construct a psychological evaluation of belongings of the offender - provide interviewing ideas and strategies

crimes suitable for profiling

- crimes most appropriate for psychological profiling are those where discernable patterns are able to be deciphered from the crime scene or where the fantasy/motive of the perpetrator is readily apparent - sadisitic sexual assaults, sexual homicide, postmortem cases of abuse and humiliation, motiveless fire settings, lust and mutilation murders, rape, occult and ritualistic crimes, child sexual abuse including pedophilia, and bank robberies

reliability & validity

- criticism that needs to be addressed - we need to have current data - we need to recognize the politics of criminal profiling - we need to work in teams

inductive & deductive profiling

- inductive - if specific crimes are similar, then offenders share similar personality characteristics - look at past crimes & offenders - quick and inexpensive - deductive - take a close look at crime scene and evidence to put together a profile of the offender, takes more time - assess offender fantasy - interpret the crime scene, more reliable IN PRACTICE, WE USE BOTH TYPES

Chapter 1

Below

Chapter 13 Jack the Ripper

Below

Inductive versus deductive reasoning

Inductive approach to profiling rests with a simple premise, an assumption that if certain crimes committed by different people are similar, then the offenders must also share some type of common personality traits. The information gathered comes from past crimes, past known offenders, and other sources of information, including the media. Advantages: quick, inexpensive, and there is no need to blend the academic disciplines of sociology, psychology, criminology, and psychiatry. The profiler does not necessarily need any special skill or knowledge of the field of human behavior. Deductive approach- from a thorough analysis of the crime scene and the evidence left at that scene, the profiler is able to construct a mental picture of the unknown offender. As profilers, we know from experience that one of the most vital elements in the analysis of a crime is victimology. Despite a profilers request that a police agency disclose all known information about the victim, this is the one element that typically lacks adequate information. the more one knowns about the victim, the more one knows about the offender. From this perspective the profile is drawn from the physical and nonphysical (love, hate, rage, fear, etc) evidence. The profile drawn from this perspective is agonizingly slow. Much care is taken in the examination of forensic reports, victimology, etc, and the report will take much longer to develop using only this approach. One assumption is that any crime is accompanied by a fantasy. while inductive profiling may not be as reliable as the deductive method, there is no reason to ignore the possible benefits derived from the utilization of this method, and combining the benefits of both is truly the correct response.

MO

Method of operation OR Modus operandi

who was jack the ripper

a white male, 28-36 years old, lived or worked in the Whitechapel area, and probably worked at a sort of job in which he could vicariously experience his destructive fantasies, such as a butcher. Displayed a strong dislike to prostitutes

goals

broad general statements of what is to be accomplished; these are usually statements individuals or organizations offer to direct their efforts toward some reward; NOT distinctly unique, they exist to aid the criminal justice system in its battle against crime.

criminal profiling

chapter 1

Suggested Crimes for Profiling

sadistic sexual assaults, sexual homicide, postmortem cases of abuse and humiliation, motiveless fire settings, lust and mutilation murders, rape, occult and ritualistic crimes, child sexual abuse including pedophilia, bank robberies, and anonymous obscene communications

objectives

specific, measurable statements to be accomplished by a given time; the means to be used to satisfy the goals of the organizations, and must be measurable