Offender Profiling

1. Offender Profiling

2. OFFENDER PROFILING Profiling begins with an analysis of the physical evidence found at individual crime scenes. The criminal profiler uses deductive reasoning to start to develop a picture of the offender in terms of the characteristics of different kinds of criminal. deductive reasoning: the reasoning involved in using specific physical facts to arrive at generalizations

3. The Anthrax Killer and the role of the FBI • On the 18th of September 2001, 7 days after the twin towers were hit, a hand printed letter was sent to “NBC TV – Tom Brokaw”. It was postmarked Trenton, NJ (New Jersey). On the same name a similar letter was sent to “NY Post” (New York) and was also postmarked Trenton, NJ. Inside the letters was a “coarse brown granular material looking like Purina dog food”

4. Robert Stevens, a journalist working for another paper owned by AMI was the first person to contract and die from inhalation of anthrax spores, in total at least 22 people developed the infection, five of these died of the infection, including the aide of Senator Daschle and two postal workers who had handled the letters. The FBI were called in to investigate to case and issued a profile of the possible offender/s. See h/o and task sheet

5. Subsequent to the letters being sent the following information became available: The Anthrax in the second set of letters was more sophisticated and refined than that first used. Although of different grades, the Anthrax was derived from the same bacterial strain. This strain had been originally researched at Fort Derrick, U.S.A. and distributed to fifteen bio-research labs within the U.S. and six overseas. The strain had been cultured no more than two years previously. On the 9th May 2002 the New Scientist reported that “The DNA sequence of the anthrax sent through the mail in 2001 has been revealed and confirms that the bacteria originally came from a US military Laboratory” In August 2002 investigators found Anthrax spores in a mailbox at 10 Nassau Street near Princeton University, New Jersey.

6. Look at the information on p37-38 of your booklet and try to answer the questions on p39.What do you think is the purpose of offender profiling, based on this case and your general knowledge?

7. The FBI and USA government have yet to convict anyone for the Anthrax attacks although there have been several suspects: Steven Hatfill: A virologist and ex-green beret Dr Philip Zack: A microbiologist working at Fort Derrick, accused of leading a hate campaign against muslim co-workers Dr Bruce Ivins: Worked in the bio-defense labs at Fort Derrick for 18 years. Committed suicide on 1st August, 2008. Widely reported that the FBI were about to accuse him of the anthrax attacks. On 6th August 2008 Ivinswas declared to be the sole culprit in the Anthrax attacks. The case is now closed.

8. Offender Profiling

9. OFFENDER PROFILING Profiling begins with an analysis of the physical evidence found at individual crime scenes. The criminal profiler uses deductive reasoning to start to develop a picture of the offender in terms of the characteristics of different kinds of criminal. deductive reasoning: the reasoning involved in using specific physical facts to arrive at generalizations

10. Holmes (1989) suggests that the aims of profiling are: • To reduce the scope of an investigation by providing basic information in relation to the social and psychological variables of the offender’s personality • To allow some prediction of future offences and their location • To provide a psychological evaluation of belongings found in the suspect’s possession • To provide strategies for interviewing offenders which take account of individual differences.

11. There are two major approaches to profiling: 1.The British take a BOTTOM UP approach to profiling which involves ”Using detailed information from INDIVIDUAL crime scenes to draw up an INDIVIDUAL profile of the suspect.” 2.The Americans favour a TOP DOWN approach • “Compares detail of a crime with existing classifications of crimes to match the crime with a TYPOLOGY of a criminal.”

12. The US approach Top - down

13. Typological offender profiling • Booklet p35; • the FBI interviewed 36 notorious sex murderers and serial killers in prison

14. Two important ideas • Behavioural evidence • Things that tells us how an offender went about committing a crime • Criminal consistency • The idea that a person’s behaviour at a crime scene is consistent with their behaviour in other contexts • These can be used to try to work out which type of offender has committed a particular crime

15. M.O.= modus operandi = ‘way of operating’. Hazelwood believed there is an agreement between character and action.What do you think the implications of this are?

16. What does this crime scene tell you about the offender responsible?

17. Characteristics of sex criminals Victims chosen for a r_ _ _ _ _: they possess a characteristic valued by the killer Crime driven by s_ _ _ _ _ f _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. (HINT – where do you think they originate from? LINK with Freud??) Choose a victim they can access and overpower e _ _ _ _ _. Early sexual fetishes and an interest in p _ _ _ and c _ _ _ _ _ _ Poor s _ _ _ _ _ skills

18. Typological offender profiling CARD SORT!

20. Select a few of these features and add them to p35 of your booklet There’s more information on this topic at: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gary.sturt/crime/offender%20profiling%20definitions.htm

21. Types of crime scene

22. Categorise the three criminals using the case histories provided

23. FBI profiling process Data assimilation Data compiled from police reports, post mortems, crime scene photos etc. Crime classification Profilers decide whether the crime scene is organised or disorganised Profile generation Offender’s physical, demographic and behavioural characteristics Crime reconstruction Hypotheses about crime sequence, offender & victim behaviour etc. See booklet p34

24. Profile the crime scenes at the back of your booklet • Use the evidence to construct a profile • Organised or disorganised • Behavioural evidence • Known characteristics of serial offenders • Your profile should… • Tell the story of the crime • Describe the person responsible

25. Types of crime scene

29. Problems with typological profiling • What problems can you identify with the FBI’s approach to offender profiling? • Assumptions about stable types • Incomplete data • Subjective judgements • Small and unusual sample • Validity of methodology • Narrative & anecdotal evidence

30. For the UK approach, we’re going to focus on GEOGRAPHICAL PROFILING • You have two minutes to draw a map of the KoW catchment area.

31. The UK approach Bottom - up

32. This starts with small details and builds them up to create a picture using all available data; it aims to provide a pattern of co-occurring characteristics and consistencies in behaviour during criminal behaviour

33. Look at your booklet p40! British profilers such as Canter look for ways in which a criminal’s behaviour during a crime may reflect his behaviour in everyday life; because people tend to act in a consistent way across many types of different situation.

34. What is geographical profiling? • A set of techniques for making inferences about crime and criminals from the location and timing of offences.

35. Activity: Crime mapping • Plot the crimes listed on p43 of your booklet on the map on p42 and then decide... • How many offenders do you think are responsible and why? • What other suggestions can you make about the offender(s)?

37. Crime mapping Source: streetmap.co.uk

38. Crime mapping Source: streetmap.co.uk

39. Offence clusters

40. Crime mapping Source: streetmap.co.uk

41. Source: streetmap.co.uk

43. Geographical profiling: 1. Routine activity theory • Crimes occur when three circumstances coincide: • A motivated offender • A suitable (and vulnerable) victim • Absence of a capable guardian • Criminal offences are an extension of the offender’s normal activities, so will occur in places the offender makes regular use of

44. Geographical profiling: 2. Circle theory of environmental range • A circle drawn to encompass all the crimes in a series is likely to contain the offender’s base (Canter & Larkin, 1993). • Where should the police look for the offender responsible for the cluster between the underground line and Durnsford road?

46. 3. Dragnet analysis

47. Timing of offences • Information about geographical location of crimes becomes more useful when combined with information about when offences occurred.

48. Crimes around Manchester University Street robbery Burglary How can we explain the fluctuations in different crimes over the year? J F M A M J J A S O N D

49. Mental maps CHEDDAR MAP • How accurate is your map of the Cheddar area? • How does your map reflect your experiences and perspective?

50. Mental maps • Individuals construct mental maps of the areas they know. • These are not absolutely accurate. They embody the person’s experience and perspective on the area. • The distribution of linked offences may reflect the offender’s mental map of the area