-
Essay / Evaluation of the offender identification procedure and its applications
"Criminal profiling is the process of inferring the distinctive personality characteristics of individuals responsible for the commission of crimes." (Swanson) A process that Swanson, Chamelin, and Territo claim has a fifty-year history, which in reality may go back more than twice as long. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay The first documented act of criminal profiling involved Dr. Thomas Bond, the surgeon who performed the autopsies on the five women killed by Jack l 'Ripper. Bond said a single person, physically strong, cool and daring, committed all five. He thought the man would be calm and harmless-looking, middle-aged and well-dressed, probably wearing a cloak to hide the bloody effects of his attacks in the open. He would be a loner, without any real occupation, eccentric and mentally unstable. He might even suffer from a disease called Satyriasis, a sexual deviance. Most likely, those who knew him would know that he was not right. (Ramsland) Sadly, Jack the Ripper was never brought to justice and profiling moved from the autopsy table to the couch, now in the hands of psychiatrists. Actual profiling took a back seat for the next fifty years as the science was studied. Doctors interviewed the killers to better study the tendencies of these men, including the killer Charles Starkweather of the 1960s and the German serial killer Peter Kurten of the 1930s. The US Office of Strategic Services even requested a profile of Adolf Hitler in 1942. Dr. Walter C. Langer discovered that: Hitler was meticulous, conventional and prudish about his body. He was sturdy and considered himself a standard bearer and a pioneer. He had manic phases, but did little exercise. He was in good health, so it was unlikely he would die of natural causes, but his mental state was deteriorating. He wouldn't try to escape to a neutral country. Hitler always walked diagonally from corner to corner when crossing a room and he would whistle a marching tune. He feared syphilis, germs and moonlight, and loved severed heads. He hated scholars and the privileged, but loved classical music, vaudeville and the opera of Richard Wagner. He also liked circus acts that put people in danger. He showed strong narcissistic and sadistic tendencies, and he tended to speak in long monologues rather than having conversations. He had difficulty establishing close relationships with anyone. Since he appeared delusional, it was possible that his psychological structures were collapsing in the face of imminent defeat. The most likely scenario was that he would end his life, because he had already threatened him, although he could ask one of his henchmen to do it for him. (Holmes) Of course, the landmark criminal profiling case took place in the mid-1950s with "Mad Bomber" in New York. George Metesky began his career on November 16, 1940, when he planted a pipe bomb in a toolbox on the windowsill of Consolidated Edison's office. Followed up a year later with another device in the gutter of another Con Edison building. He then took a four-year break before declaring: "I will not produce any more bomb units for the duration of the war." My patriotic feelings pushed me to make this decision. Later, I will take Con Edison to court. » He returned to duty on March 29, 1950 at Grand Central Station and continued to pollute thecity with 30 bombs over the next six years. (Pagewise) Traditional policing methods were failing and the public was demanding a solution. The detectives decided to turn their attention to criminal profiling, and specifically to Dr. James Brussel. After reviewing the Mad Bomber's case and letters, Dr. Brussel discovered that The Mad Bomber was a middle-aged, meticulous, largely self-educated, Slavic, Catholic man with an Oedipal complex who lived in Connecticut. He reportedly worked for Consolidated Edison or one of its subsidiaries. Dr Brussel insisted to skeptical police that to bring out the bomber would require the case and its profile to be widely publicized. He also suggested that Con Edison search his former employee records... "and when you catch him... he'll be wearing a double-breasted suit. And he'll be buttoned up." (Pagewise) It was this very profile plastered all over the newspapers that ultimately led to Metesky's capture. Not by a neighbor as one might assume, but rather by Metesky's response to the profile that led to his capture. Meanwhile, the suicide bomber intensified his attacks and wrote more letters. He also called Dr. Brussel directly – a feat of intelligence in itself since the doctor's number was not listed. Dr. Brussel believed it was only a matter of time before the suicide bomber's arrogance got the better of him. (Madden) Meanwhile, Con Edison assigned several members of its administrative staff to comb through its vast files of "troublesome" employees looking for anyone who fit the profile. As an employee named Alice Kelly was going through the stacks of files, she came across a file concerning one George Metesky of Waterbury, Connecticut. He had worked for United Electric & Power Company. He fit the profile, so Kelly took a closer look. Metesky had suffered an accident on site at the factory where he worked. He blamed his later tuberculosis on this accident – a claim which could not be proven. After his disability claim was denied, Metesky wrote several angry letters to the company – a promise of revenge for the company's "vile acts." (Madden)In response to an open letter from the Journal-American, the suicide bomber gave details of the accident that injured him. In doing so, he committed the kind of arrogant blunder that Dr. Brussel predicted. The bomber took over the records of his accident and the claims were long lost in the files of the utility giant he hated. He didn't know that Alice Kelly had found his file or that police would soon discover that the locations and dates in the Metesky file matched those he had given to the newspaper. (Madden)A few nights later, neighbors were shocked when police came to arrest Metesky. Dressed in his bathrobe, he pleasantly and politely confessed to being the author of the attack. He revealed that FP stood for “Fair Play”. Police asked Metesky to change clothes before arresting him. He agreed, and when they took him away, he was wearing a buttoned-up double-breasted suit. (Madden) It will be decades before profiling becomes a standard investigative tool. Profiling entered the FBI with the arrival of Howard Teten, who joined the bureau in 1962 and developed the concept throughout the 1960s. While previously working as a police officer in California, Teten had was promoted to crime scene specialist while taking criminology courses. The courses had a more psychological than sociological orientation. Teten brought the same mindset to the office and developed a background in applied criminology. He and his partner, Pat Mullany, taught the concept)