Young offender

A 1997 report, “Validity, Utility, and Ethics of Profiling for Serial Violent and Sexual Offenders,” shows that the FBI also made this case nearly two decades ago, reporting success rates “in excess of 80 percent” (Wilson, Lincoln, and Kocsis, 1997). However, the FBI’s claims are inflated. In reality, Pinizzotto’s 1984 study shows that, out of 192 offender profile requests, only 46 percent were found useful to the investigation. Further more, profiling only aided in identifying…

leave behind, tells law enforcement a lot about their distinct personality. For example: crime scenes that are disorganized with evidence left behind may mean that they’re psychotic and unintelligent while organized scenes point to a more intelligent offender who has carefully plotted his attacks and taken care of evidence. Knowing background information may seem like a secondary priority but in cases where the suspect left little to no evidence, behavioral clues is vital for their…

race of their killer. “Among 53 (54.6 per cent) white female victims, 46 (47.4 per cent) were attacked by white males and 7 (7.2 per cent) by nonwhite males. Among 31 (32.0 per cent) black female victims, 22 (22.7 per cent) were attacked by black offenders and 9 (9.3 per cent) by white perpetrators. One Asian female (1.0 per cent) and 12 (12.4 per cent) white males were the victims of white serial killers.”(222). This shows that on average, the killer is the same race as their victims and that…

Profiling simply defines the use of information from the crime scene to describe the offender’s behaviour while committing the act of crime. (Criminal Psychology: A Beginner’s Guide, p. 6 to 7) Criminal profiling or offender profiling is one of the used techniques in identifying a criminal in several cases besides scouring for physical evidences like blood, murder weapons, and many more. It has already been used in various scenarios when it comes to solving cases pertaining…

Frank Miller's Sin City: The Hard Goodbye tells the story of Marv, a psychotic, disfigured, ex-military killer living in a decadent and corrupt city. Marv is framed for the murder of beautiful prostitute Goldie, and feeling a connection with her though they only shared one night together, Marv goes on a search for her killer. Marv is both hunter and hunted as he traces the murder up through Sin City to a corrupt cardinal and a cannibalistic serial killer preying on the city's prostitutes. Marv…

Criminal Psychology Introduction: Criminal psychology is the study of the intentions and behaviours of criminals. Criminologists apply psychology to crime in order for them to uncover the criminals reasoning for committing the crime. This is not a job that many people know about but I believe that it is a very important job so that the police and other agencies have information about what and who they are dealing with. I had a short limited amount of prior knowledge about this topic but from…

Have you ever wanted to be that person on the crime shows, the person that who interrogates the suspects and proves them guilty? Forensic Psychology is the intersection between psychology and the the justice system. Essentially, Forensic Psychology involves applying psychology in the field of criminal investigation and the law. Forensic Psychologists are involved in both criminal and civil matters (custody disputes, insurance claims, and civil lawsuits). Forensic psychologists evaluate…

Jack Coler and Mr. Ron Williams, entered the Jumping Bull Ranch, private property in an unmarked police car. They allegedly sought to arrest a young Native American man they believed they had seen in a red pick-up truck. A large number of AIM supporters were camping on the property at the time. They had been invited there by the Jumping Bull elders, who sought protection. The families immediately…

Before the 19th century, witness testimonies were viewed as the ‘smoking gun’ during court proceedings. In the 1930s, French criminologist and forensics pioneer Dr. Edmond Locard outlined his theory of exchange in the American Journal of Police Science (Solanki, 2013). Locard’s exchange principle was derived from the concept that if one makes contact with another person, place or thing, physical materials are inevitably exchanged. Therefore, when applied to a crime scene, a criminal cannot…

Ten people in the Wichita, Kansas area between the years 1974 and 1991 were brutally murdered by Dennis Lynn Rader a.k.a the BTK Strangler. After years of fear and horror the BTK Strangler was identified and captured by police. This would not have been possible if the police investigating murders in the area were unable to connect the killings, create a profile of the killer, and then use that information to build evidence against Dennis Rader. The first and arguably the most important step in…