Criminal Profiling
By Jory Henley
Period 7
English 12
Criminal profiling
• Criminal Profiling is when you connect evidence
gathered from past crimes, then using that
information making an assumptions about who the
perpetrator is and what he or she might do in the
future.
Criminal Profiling info
• Profiling is most often employed by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and is usually in
cases such as rapists, murders and other illegal
acts. But many people are against using criminal
profiling because sometimes it can lead the case
into the wrong direction.
Profiling Background
• Criminal profiling was first used in the late 1900s
by Thomas Bond who was a medical doctor who
used this system to try to find out the personality
of one of the most famous serial killers Jack the
Ripper.
New York City Bombing (1950)
• Law enforcement officials brought James Brussel
a psychiatrist into the investigation and he
constructed a profile of the bomber. George
Metesky, he fit the profile almost exactly. Roman
Catholic middle-aged Eastern European immigrant
who was unmarried, lived in Connecticut with
female relatives, had a paranoid personality and
wore a buttoned-up, double-breasted suit.
Profile of Adolf Hitler
• Psychiatrist named Walter Langer said that Hitler
would most likely commit suicide if faced with
imminent defeat. In 1945 the Allied forces entered
Berlin the German capital Hitler did indeed kill
himself
Bomb explosion of the1996
Summer Olympics
• A bomb that exploded killing one person and
injuring more than 100 led to the investigation of a
security guard Richard Jewell. At first they called
him a hero for identifying the bomb before it
exploded and helping to evacuate bystanders.
Then Jewell was named as a suspect in the media
a few days after the bombing. It was because the
FBI said that he fit the suspect profile as someone
with a law enforcement background who might
have planted the bomb so that he looks like a hero.
Fall of 2002 D.C. Snipers
• John Allen Muhammad and John Lee
Malvo who are accused of a string of
shootings in the fall of 2002 most of them in
the Washington, D.C. area. The use of the
sniper to shoot the victims from a distance
the seemingly random selection of most of
the victims and to leave crime scenes
without attracting attention left investigators
stunned.
Bad Idea
• If the police department believes that a
perpetrator is a man in his 20s who doesn’t
have a job they will focus all their efforts on
those who fit that profile while other
possible suspects are passed by. Criminal
profiles can have the detective chasing a
stereotype while the real suspect would get
away from the crime.
Wrongful Imprisonment
• Just because the
shooting happened in
an Urban Area they
assumed that it was
two young black
African Americans
DeShawn Reed, left, and his
uncle Marvin Reed (served
eight years)
Poll of 2007
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Stopped
by
Police
Blacks
Hespanic
s
Caucasia
ns
Others
• Wrongfully accused
because of Criminal
Profiling
Wrongfully Convicted
• Wrongfully convicted
poll (2007)
160
140
Blacks
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Wrongfully
Imprisoned
Hespanic
s
Caucasia
ns
Asians
Others
• Criminal profiling is a team effort in solving
crimes. A detective using this system can
help investigators use critical resources by
narrowing their focus to a specific type of
suspect or in a certain area. It can help
understand the patterns in random
information
Pros and Cons of Criminal
Profiling
• Criminal Profiling is used in many cases. It
is very controversial because it can have the
police arrest an innocent citizen and it can
ruin there live and also their families.
Criminal profiling can also solved cases if it
is used the right way.
Supporters of Criminal Profiling
• Profiling allows investigators to
concentrate their efforts on a
smaller area than they otherwise
would. By setting out specific
estimates of the characteristics
of suspects and where they live
and commit crimes law
enforcement authorities can
apply human and financial
resources to a smaller
geographic area and a shorter
list of suspect
• In 1998, Rossmo aided the
Lafayette, La. police in
catching a suspect who
had committed more than
a dozen rapes over nearly
a decade and every rapist
who was ever caught by
him was found in the area
he predicted.
Against Criminal Profiling
• Criminal profiling should
not be a system used to
catch perpetrator, this
system can ruin lives if
not used properly. And it
can also lead the case into
the wrong direction and
cause the suspect to get
away from his or her
crime.
• Mark Bravo convicted
for a rape he did not
commit. He served 3
years and was later
released after they
caught the real
criminal.
The Interview
• William Edison was walking home from a
friends house before the curfew bell ranged,
on his way home he was stopped by police
because their was a series of house breaking
and he fitted their description (black male
ages between 16-22) of their suspect and
they told him that if any house gets broken
into or any cars get stolen they are arresting
him.