Criminal Profiling Essay

Criminal Profiling Criminal profiling is generally considered as an investigative technique and forensic science method that is carried out after the occurrence of a crime. This technique is basically described as the use of forensic science principles and other law enforcement strategies to make judgments about a person’s involvement in a crime depending on various overt and subtle factors. The technique has constantly been used in different aspects of the criminal justice system such as fraud detection, wanted terrorists, targeting of fugitives, and conducting evaluation of government leaders, especially dictators. Generally, criminal profiling is an investigative and behavioral tool that is geared toward assisting law enforcement investigators …show more content…
During its formation, the mission of the Behavioral Science Unit was to promote the incorporation of behavioral science into the training curriculum for federal law enforcement personnel. The role of this body in criminal profiling has involved promoting behavioral science, which is a term that encompasses certain social science disciplines in order to enhance understanding of human behavior. The understanding of human behavior would specifically focus on criminal behavior as well as social factors that contribute to or influence it. Consequently, the Behavioral Science Unit has developed to become a vital resource for several local and state law enforcement bodies by providing help in dealing with difficult cases through criminal profiling. The influence of Behavioral Science Unit in criminal profiling is the fact that it transformed the profiling process to the currently used organized/disorganized method (O’Connor, 2014). Actually, BSU is an important component of the history of criminal profiling of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. According to Greene & Heilbrun (2014), the Behavioral Science Unit acts as the main source of research and development in criminal profiling based on its experience since 1970s