Purpose Of Criminal Profiling

Criminal profiling has been used in the past, as well as in the present to catch many criminals but at the same time, it has also been unsuccessful in the capturing of offenders. It is used by police and investigators in the apprehension of offenders and typically applied to aid in many different types of difficult cases. Many methods are used in profiling such as geographic profiling, investigative psychology, criminal investigative analysis and behavioral evidence analysis, to create characteristics that will isolate and narrow the offender pool (Petherick, 2014). Within these methods there are specific aspects that should be questioned, such as if profiling in general is investigatively relevant, if case linkage can be used as a valid

A popular image many have when envisioning a criminal profiler’s profession became popular from fictional novels and television shows, such as Sherlock Holmes or “Criminal Minds.” This reoccurring persona of a criminal profiler has been seen as someone who evaluates criminal evidence, can create a definite description of the offender and undeniably identify the guilty offender. However, despite the popular images, according to Holmes and Holmes (2002),

The general purpose of criminal profiling is to provide investigating authorities with a social and psychological evaluation of the offender, to narrow the suspect pool, to provide a psychological assessment of items found in possession of the offender, and lastly, to provide interviewing and interrogation

could lead investigators to an offender, it fails to suggest the context in which a crime was committed or reactions of victim and offender during an offense (Kocsis, 2007). In many circumstances, case linkage has been proven to be unreliable and inaccurate. Sometimes it is possible that interruptions or unexpected reactions from the victim arise during an offense, ultimately leaving certain crimes appear similar to others (Douglass and Munn, 1992). For example, if two crimes reflect that of similar cases such as a rape or robbery using similar behaviors, it does not exactly mean that the same offender has committed two or more of the crimes or has used the same behaviors like case linkage implies. A particular ruling during the case of New Jersey v. Fortin reflects this concept. The case focused on the charge against Steve Fortin with the murder of Vicki Gardner who he a sexually assaulted and another murder of Melissa Padilla who was also sexually assaulted and strangled to death. Roy Hazelwood, a retired FBI profiler, was utilized by the state to analyze the murder of Melissa Padilla and Vicki Gardner to determine whether the same offender committed these crimes. Hazelwood argued that through his experience and his linkage analysis, which was based on fifteen aspects, was as accurate as using fingerprints or DNA. However, the court disregarded Hazelwood’s linkage analysis based on the