Essay Sample on Criminal Profiling

It was 1888 when Jack the Ripper terrorized The East End of London. George Phillip and Thomas Bond were physicians that informally used criminal profiling or investigative techniques. This was achieved by using crime scene evidence to make a profile of who Jack the Ripper is. While Jack the Ripper was never caught, they do have a profile on him. The investigators believed that Jack the Ripper was a white man in his late 20s to 30s; he was average in intelligence and was simply lucky that he was not caught. Investigators also say that he was single and had poor personal hygiene. What also interesting that the investigators said was that Jack the Ripper hated, feared, and was intimidated by women. He may have had an antisocial personality disorder which means that he cannot differentiate the difference between right and wrong or the feeling of another person. While there is more to his profile than is listed the full profile can be seen in the Center for Geospatial Intelligence and Investigations: Jack the Ripper from Texas. Criminal profiling is a technique that is used in investigations to help law enforcement narrow down suspects. This is done by observing the crime scene or the way the crime was committed to infer what type of personality or behavior traits the suspect may have. Criminal profiling has helped narrow down and solve criminal cases. Using criminal profiling can help investigators figure out the age, race, gender, and geographic location. Profiling a criminal can also help investigators figure out the suspect's next crime. Another benefit of investigators using this technique is that it can help them know how to interrogate the suspect when they have them in custody. Therefore, law enforcement should have to take courses and be trained in criminal profiling. 

There are two approaches to profiling an offender. The first approach is the top-down which is used in the United States. This approach investigates using the data gathered from the scene, they then identify characteristics of the offender’s lifestyle and what characteristics they may have. Investigators also categorized the offender as either being organized or disorganized. This means that if an offender is organized then the crime is planned, the victim is a targeted stranger and there are few clues at the crime scene. The offender most likely has an IQ that is above average. They are also sexually and socially sufficient and may even be in a relationship. This offender will also likely follow the case of the crime through the media. While a disorganized offender crimes have little planning and do not attempt to hide evidence. This offender is likely to live alone near the crime scene. Disorganized offenders are also likely to be sexually and socially meager. This approach was influenced by John Douglas who was a special agent in the FBI in the 70s. In Douglas’ career, he interviewed serial killers and other violent offenders to understand how these offenders think. In FBI pioneer of criminal profiling John Douglas to visit Penn State Berks from Penn State Douglas says, “To understand the artist look you must look at the artwork … to understand the criminal you must look at and study the crime itself,” this means that if law enforcement wants to catch a criminal, they need to understand what crime they are doing. Having law enforcement training in criminal profiling will allow them to understand what type of criminal they are dealing with. This will also allow them to understand how to interview the suspect and what to expect. 

The second approach used by investigators is the bottom-down used in Britain. The bottom-down approach was created by psychologists David Canter and Paul Britton working with the police. This technique starts by investigating the intricate details that create the larger picture. In this approach, there are no initial assumptions made about the offender. The bottom-down approach is based on data which means that the profile of the offender is based on the association of the offender's particular characteristics of the crime scene and of the offender. According to Offender Profiling Explained by Elisabeth Brookes the bottom-down approach, “Started by an individual analysis of individual crimes and series of crimes. Canter then started to statistically analyze solved crimes and identified clusters of events and behaviors that occur together. From this analysis, he derived typologies.” 

Law enforcement officials should be trained to help them know what type of criminal they are dealing with. Knowing this can help police officers know where the offender may attack next. They may even have a better understanding of the characteristics of who the offender is. When they do catch the suspect understanding criminal profiling will help them know how to interrogate the offender. Also, taking psychology courses will help police officers understand how to deal with mental health issues. Knowing how to deal with a mental health crisis will help de-escalate a hostile situation. There are many situations where there was someone with a mental health crisis that law enforcement ended up killing the person. Matthew Tucker was a Black teen in Riverside County who called the police due to having suicidal thoughts. The officers did a terrible job of handling the situation and shot the emotionally distressed teen and murdered him. This is unacceptable and could have been prevented if law enforcement were professionally trained in criminal profiling, racial biases, and psychology courses to understand mental health.  

Some people dislike profiling since it is not always one hundred percent accurate at profiling or finding the offender. This can cause investigators to focus on innocent people which allows the guilty party to get away. This can be avoided if we teach law enforcement both the top-down approach and the bottom-down. The bottom-down approach as stated early makes no assumptions about the offender. If law enforcement is open to multiple suspects this will prevent them from only looking at innocent people. It should also be noted that not all criminal profile approaches will work for all situations or even cultures. This means that law enforcement may need to learn different criminal investigation approaches. Therefore, the police force would also need to keep in mind that an offender may change throughout their crime spree. Another issue is racial profiling, in which criminal profiling has been used to further this injustice. Racial profiling is using someone's race as a reason or justification for why a person is a suspect of a crime, which is an immense problem in the United States. Criminal profiling has been helpful in solving crimes but the history of it being used for racial profiling must be addressed. According to Criminal Profiling by Gale Encyclopedia they said about the history of criminal profiling is, “Furthermore, criminal profiling has occasionally evolved into racial profiling, with selective patrolling of African American communities and “stop and frisk” policies that have caused public outrage and civil disturbances.” this issue deals with racism that has been an issue in law enforcement. Since law enforcement has authority and is supposed to protect pedestrians there cannot be this fear that minorities feel towards law enforcement. This means that any forms of racism in the police force cannot be tolerated. Additionally, to address the dark history of profiling, law enforcement must be required to learn the history of racial profiling. Therefore, it should be the job of law enforcement to mend the relationship and trust with the Black community and other ethnic minority groups.