Behavioral Profiling Behavioral Scientists and Investigate Often

Behavioral Profiling

Behavioral scientists and investigate often rely on criminal profiling to narrow down the list of possible suspects in a crime scene or in a potentially threatening situation. This is primarily done by matching personal traits and behavioral patterns of criminals to the way in which the crime was committed and that can help in shrinking the large pool of suspects to a few which makes it relatively easier to solve the crime. (Douglas, J.E., Olshaker, M., 1986). Profiling has often been a target of intense debate by people who feel victimized by the process, however, it must be understood that profiling can never lead to one specific person. It can only help in providing leads to possible suspects and that too by means of their personality traits and behavioral past. In other words, a person who has not committed crimes and doesn't have suspicious behavior or personality traits need not worry about possible victimization even though there have been few cases. We can however say with some degree of confidence that pros of criminal profiling outweigh some of its cons. It is mostly like a police sketch that gives law enforcement personnel an idea of how the person may look but doesn't really pinpoint a single individual.

Criminal profiling has also been useful in pooling together various community resources. By the help of such profiles, police can make people aware of the potential threats and people possibly linked to those threats. That way community can help the police in providing leads if they see someone that matches the description provided by law enforcement. (Douglas, J.E., Olshaker, M. 1999).

Since the field of criminal profiling is vast and there are plenty of ways in which it can be done, it is must to rely on some of the most often used strategies. In my case for example, I would want to use the same strategy that FBI commonly uses to develop criminal profiles.

According to Douglas, Ressler, Burgess and Hartman law enforcement agencies would normally take five steps to develop a criminal profile which helps in the arrest of the right person or at least in the identification of the right suspect. These five stages are:

1. Inputs: data collection

In the very first step, all basic information about the crime and criminal are collected. These are not placed in any specific order but police focuses on collecting as much information about the crime scene as possible including physical evidence, eyewitness statements, crime scene details like photographs, time at which it possibly occurred, profile or place and collection of past records connected with victim. At this stage, it is important not to develop a profile right away because this is a preliminary stage which is collection of raw information and profiling at this stage can be wrong as it may bring personal prejudices and views into play.

2. Decision making or process stage

In the second stage, like all expert profiles, I as an investigator will also need to put the information in some logical order. In other words, this is the stage when information in given some meaning by focusing on patterns that might emerge and raising questions about the crime. In this stage it is important to ask questions like what kind of crime it was: possible suicide, homicide, robbery etc. Then primary motives for crime are identified: was it a hate crime, a revenge crime, a serial killing etc. Was the victim being threatened, what happened before or right after the crime? Who were the people present at the crime scene when police arrived? Was the body found, if yes; in what condition? These are some very important questions which must be raised and answered in order to correctly identify the criminal through profiling.

3. Assessing the crime

From the findings of the previous stage, the investigator can now focus on correctly assessing the situation i.e. The crime. In some cases, the crime may not even be real and thus may be staged to mislead the police. For this reason correct assessment is critical. The investigator also needs to know exactly how organized or disorganized the crime was and if the victim was known to the criminal. For example as a general rule, profiling experts believe that a victim with brutal injuries to the face is someone whom the criminal knew well. Similarly it is also believed that a weapon used at the crime scene can say a great deal about the organization of crime or its primary motive. For example if any available weapon was used, there is an indication of impulsivity which suggests that the criminal did not come with the intention of premeditated murder but since a person appeared, out of fear or some rash decision, he used any object he found to silence the person. On the other hand, if a gun was used, the crime is normally considered pre-meditated. Similarly the time of the crime also gives clues to the motives. For example an early morning crime is generally not impulsive ones and usually do not involve alcohol or drug influence.