Criminal Profiling

What is criminal profiling and how accurate or inaccurate is this type of investigative tool? Criminal profiling or “criminal investigative analysis” as it is called today, can be traced to as early as the 1800’s. This technique was used by criminologists and police officers such as, Alphonse Bertiollon, Jacob Fries, Hans Gross, Ernest Kretschmer, and Cesare Lombroso just to name a few. In the mid to late 1900’s this investigative technique became an important tool amongst investigators with little clues in their cases when looking for an unknown subject. Many in the field were skeptical about this type of technique because they felt that it was more of a guessing game than actual investigation tool. It was the likes of criminologists and psychiatrists

The information gathered by the investigator then allows for him/her to create an offender profile which can include but is not limited to the offenders; sex, age, weight, and ethnicity. Criminal profiling can be used in almost any type of crime and becomes a valuable tool based on the amount of information that is gathered by the investigator. Other pertinent information that could be found in a criminal profile are the perpetrators personality attributes, such as; psychological diseases, self-esteem, guilt or remorse, and their aggressiveness. This type of information can be gathered based on the type of crime committed and by examining the types of injuries the victim

This stage consists of seven key points that builds on the information gathered during the first stage. The first key point in this stage is the homicide type and style. Basically what the investigator has two do is determines what type of murder was committed. Was is it a mass murder and was it classic or family? A classic mass murder involves one person operating in location at one period of time. A family mass murder however, is when four or more family members are killed but the perpetrator does not take their own life. The second question is, what type of murderer are you dealing with spree or serial murderer? The second key point during this stage is the “Primary Intent of the Murderer”. A killers primary intent can be; criminal enterprise, emotional, selfish, sexual, or cause-specific. When a killers primary intent is due to criminal enterprise, it usually means the killer is in the business or committing crimes. These types of criminal are usually found amongst the Mafia. The third key point is known as “Victim Risk”. The victims risk is determined using factors such as age, occupation, and lifestyle. The victim risk is also broken down into high, moderate, and low based on these factors. The fourth key point is known as the “Offender Risk”. Here the data on victim risk is combined with the risks revolving the offender while he/she was committing the crime. The