FBI Crime Scene Analysis

When criminologists build criminal profiles, they think about how the killer gained access to the victim, what the killer did to the victim, if the killer tried to cover his or her tracks and how, what about the victim attracted the killer to target them, and what motive or fantasy drove the killer to hurt the victim how and where they did.

Criminal profiling has become a very popular and controversial topic. Profiling is used in many different ways to identify a suspect or offender in a criminal investigation. “Criminal profiling is the process of using behavioral and scientific evidence left at a crime scene to make inferences about the offender, including inferences about personality characteristics and psychopathology” (Torres, Boccaccini, & Miller, 2006, p. 51). “The science of profiling rests on two foundation blocks, basic forensic science and empirical behavioral research. Forensic science includes blood spatter analysis, crime scene reconstruction, and autopsy evidence. Empirical behavioral research identifies offender typologies, relates crime behaviors to suspect

Criminal profiling is another subject of criminal and forensic psychology, which is probably one of the oldest studies of forensic science. Criminal profiling has been called many things, such as behavioral profiling, crime scene profiling, criminal personality profiling, psychological profiling, and more recently even criminal investigation analysis. Criminal profiling’s history has come from a history of criminal behavior, the study of mental illnesses, and forensic examinations.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an assessment of psychological profiling as an investigative tool for the future. The paper will try to focus on what happens if profiles are developed that have not accurately portrayed the apprehended. Additionally this paper will be reviewing the Baton Rouge Serial Killer and The Unabomer cases in order to answer additional questions such as; what were the main criticisms documented in these specific cases, how can a profiler achieve the desired end results using the resources available, and what future challenges do you see this approach facing as more

The criminal investigative approach is what is used law enforcement and more specifically by the Behavioral Analysis Unit with the FBI. The BAU assists law enforcement agencies by their review and assessment of a criminal act, by interpreting the offender's behavior during the crime and the interactions between the offender and the victim during the commission of the crime and as expressed in the crime scene. The clinical practitioner approach focuses on looking at each case as unique, making the approach very individualistic. One practitioner, Turco, believed that all violent crimes were a result of the mother-child struggle where female victims represent the offender's mother. This is also recognized as the psychodynamic approach. Also outlined are some principles for profiling which include being custom made, interactive and reflexive. By following these principles, the profile should include advice that is unique and not from a stereotype, should be easy to understand for all levels of intelligence, and all elements in the profile should influence one another. The Scientific approach relies heavily on the multivariate analysis of behaviors and any other information from the crime scene that could lead to the offender's characteristics or psychological processes. According to this approach, elements of the profile are developed by comparing the results of the analysis to those of previously caught

The method of criminal profiling is one of the most widely taught methods in the world for finding the physical identity of a suspect. What was originally coined for use by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is now essentially a worldwide go-to for catching criminals. Although criminal profiling does not catch the suspect authorities are looking for, it is a tremendous help finding an unsub (Loreto). The way to becoming a criminal profiler is extremely diverse.

Mark Twain said, "Let us consider that we are all insane. It will explain us to each other; it will unriddle many riddles”. The job of a Criminal profiler is to “unriddle” the psyche and crime scene, and by doing so, pin pointing a person-of-interest based on behavioral characteristics of the person and the crime. Criminal profiling has been used for many years, and has helped law enforcement find and convict many criminals, and has many times been called the crossroads of psychology and law enforcement.

The beginning of the journal introduces the history of criminal profiling. In the early 1900’s criminal profiling was known as fiction to writers. It was not until the middle 1900’s that the justice system looked at proling as facts, helpful facts indeed. Today, criminal profiling is used all around the nation to solve unanswered questions in cases. Profilers use facts from the crime scene to help find the personality and even facial features of a perpetrator. Without criminal profilers many cases would go unsolved and unknown. Profiling goes deeper than just examining a person on the outside, it is psychological. A

The process of inferring the personality characteristics of individuals responsible for committing criminal acts has commonly been referred to as criminal profiling. (Turvey) Criminal profiling can also be referred to as, behavioral profiling because when a profiler creates a profile they refer to the behavior of the offender. The general term criminal profiling can also be referred to as crime scene profiling, criminal personality profiling, offender profiling, psychological profiling and criminal investigative analysis. All the terms listed above are used inconsistently and interchangeably. Modern criminal profiling is owing to a diverse history grounded in the study of criminal behavior (criminology), the study of mental illness

The journal focuses on the ethical and legal issue affecting criminal profiling. First, there not a single peer-reviewed system of measurement practices that has been developed. In addition, there is no agreed methodology of conducting criminal profiling. It means there is no scientific basis upon which profiling underlies. The media also portrays profiling as a romantic or heroic profession, hence resulting in an inappropriate perception of profiling. Criminal profiling can also be at times undesirable as it can lead to delays as it can suggest inappropriate directions or suspects in an investigation.

Criminal profiling is one of few first things to think of when it comes to forensic psychology. Criminal profiling is featured in popular television shows such as in Law and Order and CSI. Often in those shows, the police officers were able to catch the criminals based on the criminal profile that forensic psychologists came up with. In a theory, the polices rely on criminal profiling to catch criminals, educate the public about a possible criminal, and confirm the witnesses’ accounts. Criminal profiling involves using various methods to guess a criminal’s background, behavior, and even preferences for the victims.

Criminal profiling can even be dated back to the 1800s when doctors were trying to predict the patterns of serial killer Jack the Ripper. Back in 1974, the FBI developed its Behavioral Science Unit to help investigate serial rape and homicide cases. It was during this time that two agents, Robert Ressler and John Douglas, came up with the idea called “organized/disorganized dichotomy”. This theory states that organized crimes are premeditated and carefully executed, therefore, there would be little evidence left at a crime scene. The opposing idea being that disorganized crimes are not planned and the criminal might leave behind a slew of evidence including blood or fingerprints. The theory goes on to say that an organized criminal is most likely antisocial and know right from wrong, and, although they may not be insane, they show no remorse. Whereas disorganized criminals they categorized as young and possibly under the influence of drugs or alcohol or they are mentally ill. For year the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI kept working on this theory and fine tuning it but still stating that the basic premise is that

The National Forensics Academy was full of multiple dimensions of crime scene investigation that I had not even thought about nor learned about in the past. The world of crime scene investigation is interesting to me because of all these aspects and because they are ever changing, and new and better methods are being discovered. Throughout the academy I learned about these aspects in detail and how there are various methods within each aspect. The aspects that I learned were how to photograph a crime scene, finger printing, foot impressions, crime scene sketches, blood spatter analysis, bullet holes, bones, and digging up a grace to recover a body. These aspects work together to investigate and recreate crime scenes.

Modern criminal profiling is based on a diverse and continuous history studies of; criminal behavior (criminology), mental illness (psychology and psychiatry), and finally the examination of physical evidence (forensic). Across the United States, several agencies count on the mind of the criminal psychologists to lead them on the right track to discovering the correct offender. Ultimately profiling provides researchers with knowledge, appearance, and behavior of a potential criminal. Criminal profilers are mainly used by federal agencies. Among the most commonly we have; the federal bureau of investigations (FBI), central intelligence agency (CIA), criminal investigation division (CID) and the Army and the naval criminal investigative service

Offender profiling can be described as the process often used in extremely serious offences such as serial murder or sexual assault. The process aims to identify unique characteristics about the offender through examining the characteristics of the offence and gathering information about the victim (Farrington, 2007) as well as using information gained from previous similar offences before gradually building up an offender profile.