3.9 TYPOLOGIES AND PROFILING OF THE OFFENDER

One of the professional challenges to police investigating crime scenes is to create a nexus (link) from one crime to others which appear similar for many reasons. Creating the nexus helps the investigator to recognize similarities, focus on modus operandi, and identify common evidence left behind at multiple crime scenes (including possible “signatures” associated with violent crimes which may be left at the scene by the criminal). Often, the investigator creates comparisons between crimes committed which appear to be clearly connected, and from this, a profile of the offender may emerge.

Law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and criminologists in the United States who attempt to work out these identifying characteristics of offenders prefer the typological system of comparison. The typological system has its roots in the expertise of law enforcement, requires communication between investigators, agencies, and others locally, regionally and beyond, and is based primarily on a combination of qualitative data and experience. There are differences in perspectives from different parts of the world. In the United Kingdom, for example, a geographical system originating in psychological expertise, is preferred. The geographical system is based on empirical, quantitative, information and focuses on statistical methods informing investigators of offender characteristics allowing police to create the offender profile.

Criminological Investigation Today

A national “Bureau of Investigation”, which was the precursor to today’s FBI, was formed on July 26, 1908, in response to increased growth of cities and a commensurate expansion of criminal activities taking place in the U.S. (Fox, 2003). Up to this point a systematic way of enforcing the law across the country did not exist. Small police forces in local communities existed but, for the most part, were poorly trained and equipped by today’s standards. Many received their positions of public trust through a political appointment. Recruitment and retention was a significant issue, even then, due to poor wages, long and arduous work schedules, no visible way of uniformly informing the people of the officer’s legal authority, and no prescriptive initial and ongoing training program.

Petty crime in those days could easily occupy an entire police force in a community. The advances in technology and mechanization created additional opportunity for lawbreakers to prey on communities. Just because the automobile industry was in its infancy, it didn’t mean that cars couldn’t be stolen from their proper owners and used for criminal activities. As the country was on the cusp of its entry into the first major world war, Americans now had to address how they would protect their national security from the threats of sabotage, international espionage and domestic subversion. Finally, the threat of anarchism was real–a revolutionary call to overthrow capitalism and bring power to the common man, taken a step further–advocating the overthrow of the government entirely, returning governance to the common man. The people advocating this point of view in the early 1900s were, in fact, the first modern-day terrorists. Through the early efforts of a number of self-styled “special agents” and the leadership of notables such as J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI flourished.

Using the most advanced techniques known at the time, the FBI, in the late 1970s, created a typological profiling strategy that was endorsed by many in the criminological community (Sammons, n.d.). The strategy was created after interviewing 36 individuals who were convicted as serial killers and rapists. The FBI then added information previously gleaned from previous investigations and solved crimes, to the knowledge gained from the interviews. The cornerstone of the FBI approach is the classification of crime scenes (and hence, offenders) as either organized or disorganized. FBI profiling is a six-stage process, seeking to identify and analyze:

1) investigations data, also called profiling inputs. This preliminary step merges all relevant case information, including detailed reports, crime scene photographs, description of the neighborhood, the medical examiner’s report, a timeline of the victim’s movements, actions and contacts immediately before death, and the offender’s detailed profile.

2) The investigator constructs a decision process model. Here, the basic characteristics of the homicide, including all pertinent details, are stated. A comparison of where the victim was found in relation to where the murder may have occurred, is announced.

3) Crime assessment is conducted. This is the most complex and detailed process. It is here that the investigator tries to establish whether the crime scene demonstrates characteristics of an organized offender, that of a disorganized offender, or a combination of the two. This classification process is considered central to how the FBI approaches criminal profiling.

The determination that a crime scene is organized or disorganized is based on evidence of planning on the offender’s part.

The determination that a crime scene is organized or disorganized is based on evidence of planning on the offender’s part. A disorganized crime scene suggests unplanned, chaotic behavior, whereas an organized one suggests control and forethought. The profile eventually constructed will often go beyond the typical characteristics of organized/disorganized offenders and include information extrapolated from the crime scene about the offender’s physical characteristics, employment/skill set, sexual history, age and ethnic group (which are usually similar to the victim’s). (Sammons, n.d., p. 1)

It is through the use of this approach, along with other investigative information available, that the apprehension and conviction of Gary Ridgeway, the “Green River Killer” to whom at least 48 murders are attributed, was accomplished by the King County Sheriff’s Office and their partners.

4) Criminal profile release to local investigators. In this stage, the profiler produces a report that attempts to accurately predict the personality type, physical and social characteristics of the yet-unknown offender, and any outlier observations: does the offender “stage” certain objects relative to the victim or collect “trophies” from the crime scene? Does it appear that the killer has an obsession with pornography? Does the offender attempt to communicate with investigators through the media?

5) Investigation is now conducted by the local police agencies which have incorporated the FBI-developed criminal profile into the search. The so-called “Boots on the ground” may be able to readily compare the local knowledge base of offenders to the profile and immediately develop a suspect. At minimum, the enriched investigative material should help patrol officers and detectives to watch for persons who fit the profile rendered.

6) The apprehension of a criminal who demonstrates tendencies modeling the criminal profile is the culminating step in the FBI profiling process. This stage reflects the accuracy of the profile developed. After apprehension, local police and FBI interviews and interrogations will permit additional details to be fact-checked, and such information can be harvested and imputed to the profiling system database. Doing so tends to improve the profiling accuracy for future investigations.