Explain in detail how the technology of Geographical Profiling has evolved over the past 20 years and how it is being used successfully today by law enforcement.
When an offender commits multiple crimes he/she leaves a footprint that could benefit investigators in locating him/her. According to Turvey (2012), investigators use nomothetic data and assumptions as a method to find the offenders home location, place of work, or other relevant anchor points based on geographic region known as geographic profiling. Offenders often stick to the same pattern when they do not get caught for their crime, known as modus operandi (MO), which in return guides investigators to link cases together (Barrow & Rufo, 2013). Investigators use these patterns, and marks left behind at each crime scene location into Over the years, geographical profiling has evolved using technology. There are different programs that are used to input data. Dr Kim Rosmo developed a special computer software that accesses a three dimensional feature of a crime called the Criminal Geographic Targeting (CGT) (Barrow & Rufo, 2013). Another useful program that was created is the Geographic Information System (GIS) that is an automated system for capture, storage, retrieval, analysis and display of spatial data (Rossmo, 1999). Computer Statistics
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According to Rossmo (1999), the first geographic profile was prepared in 1990 by the Vancouver Police Department. Since then it has assisted the Scotland Yard FBI, New York Police Department, RCMP in over 100 investigations, involving 1500 crime. Request for assistance with geographic profiling training has come from all over the world including Canada, Britain, Germany, Greece, Belgium, New Zaeland, Middle East,
Weaknesses of Theory Assuming the victims knew the suspects based upon the rural area crime scene location would be a sweeping generalization and using inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning can be too broad to be used for an individual crime. Drawing conclusions from the insufficient evidence is using false precision. The case facts cannot possibly support an absolute conclusion.
Using coordinates or simple objectives allows the ability to make proper determination. Geographic data allows identifiable information to be offered to subscribers with the encouragement of geographical indicators. Display tools offer a realism of visual effects and the most applicable advantages. Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, spatial statics and Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Systems of these nature offer geographers collaborative and analyzed information far more unique than traditional research techniques (Geographic Information Systems as an Integrating Technology: Context, Concepts, and Definitions,2015). Lastly, geographic reality and space relation must be gathered using input and output of data and formulaic sequences, but the tools make them applicable to user.
In law, criminal profiling is used to determine and identify likely suspects and analyze their patterns to predict future offenses or victims. Profiling is one of the important tools used by the government to help in curbing the spread of criminal activities in a region. One of the most popular cases in the history that used this tool is the David Richard (son of Sam) case. David Richard is an American serial killer convicted of a series of shooting attacks in New York. Son of Sam as he is popularly known killed six victims and wounded seven others in the summer of 1977.
Justice Quarterly: JQ, 15(3), 577-581. Retrieved October 6, 2017, from https://bethelu.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.bethelu.idm.oclc.org/docview/228157991?accountid=56725 Saferstein, R. (2015). Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science (11th Ed.). Boston: Pearson. Retrieved October 6, 2017, from
The information used comes from other crimes scenes, police reports, psychological evaluations, and victimology reports. When using inductive reasoning, the profiler must first start with a hypothesis, and then information is gathered to support or reject the hypothesis. This type of profiling focuses on the “typical” offender for the type of crime they committed (Bartol & Bartol,
The first thing that criminal profilers do is go to the crime scene and gain information about the crime scene, such as such as pictures and information about the area. While at the crime scene, they are being to try to put themselves in the mind of a criminal to see what they maybe feeling or thinking. There are 4 main things that they look at to gain information about the criminal, the antecedent, Methods and manner, body disposal and the post offense behavior. (Winermen). They evaluate the information and start to form their profile from the information.
Roman Mendez CRJ 1113-001 @01505193 I. Describe racial profiling and racially biased policing Racial profiling is a prominent problem in America in general. No individual goes unjudged in todays society. The US department of Justice claims "Issues surrounding race in America, and, specifically, racial profiling have been highly visible and volatile. " (Bias-Based Policing, n.d) Racial profiling is defined as "Creating a profile about the kinds of people who commit certain types of crimes" by the National Institute of Justice.
The act of profiling is defined as the analysis of a person’s psychological and behavioral characteristics to help make generalizations/ assumptions about a person’s intent and or capability. An assumption is defined as something that has been accepted as being true without substantial evidence. These assumptions, then lead to what is known as racial profiling, which refers to a sort of discriminatory way in which an individual is targeted for suspicion in a crime based solely on that individual’s race, ethnicity, religion or national origin. Why make assumptions about a person without having substantial evidence? Why violate and/or humiliate an entire group of people based on an assumption?
Regarding to racial profiling and the multiple perceptions that go along with it, the issue refers to the use of race as the answer in police decision making. More importantly, let’s look into the public’s perception of profiling through the classification of race, class, and personal experience. Weitzer and Tuch (2002) conducted this study to stretch this issue that has grown over the recent years and has touched based on the classifications mentioned earlier. Their major findings from surveying the respondents’ attitudes contributed towards the citizens’ hostility with the police. Basically, the classifications that were most affective to the citizens in their findings were race and personal experiences.
Racial Profiling and the disproportionate use of police force are controversial political issues. Debates on racial bias in policing continue to reverberate across the country making headlines, aside from the importance of the debate on racial profiling and police use of force, such events create intergroup conflict, foreground stereotypes and trigger discriminatory responses. A serious issue in today’s society is the rising tension between the police force and the community which has developed through racial profiling and police brutality. In New York City, the controversial “stop, question, and frisk” policy was endorsed by some as essential for reducing crime rates (MacDonald 2001) and challenged by others as racially biased with a heavy burden placed on affected individuals and communities (Fagan et al. 2010).
Forensic psychologist Richard N. Kocsis indicates that criminal profiling can be defined as “…identifying, that is, predicting who is most likely to offend in given ways and who may be most at risk in terms of being a victim of crime” (Kocsis, 2007). It’s a method used by Law Enforcement to identify suspects that are more likely to commit certain crimes. Instead of basing suspects primarily due to the suspect’s race, ethnicity or religion as racial profiling generally does. In essence, it’s about making education guesses based on evidence presented. Take serial murder cases, identifying how the killer approached the victim, his motive, and level of
As a result of ethnic profiling, an ongoing debate has sparked which often one perspective questions the morality and legality for profiling and the other perspective believes that profiling is necessary for the safety of citizens. In addition, profiling has increasingly become a more urgent topic
The Growth of DNA Profiling With today's crime rate being at an all time high, crime investigators have switched to using faster and easier methods of locating a suspect. DNA profiling is one method that is becoming more popular because it is faster and easier. It is also becoming popular because you can use the method of DNA profiling in more than one way and for several different things other than just in criminal investigations. One of the most common uses for DNA profiling is the use in criminal investigations.
With the emergence of social media applications that focus on location as a necessity to function upon, geotagging is becoming more popular by the years. Considering this, individuals should be aware of the pros and cons of allowing location-based services to extract personal information from them that blurs the line between cyberspace and real space. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to determine whether geotagging is beneficial or detrimental to individuals as users. The paper will explore the “pro” arguments of geotagging by shedding light upon its benefits such as, the development of social circles, marketing opportunities for businesses, navigational purposes, and geotagging as a law enforcement resource.
Stake holders can benefit from crime mapping by receiving real time security updates of local areas, assisting basic threat assessments to determine where significant risks are most prominent and, will support local intelligence agencies in understanding risk locations. However, permitting crime mapping as an open source research tool can also be a disadvantage. Open source allows every member of the public access including adversaries. I feel the biggest victims of crime mapping will be local businesses, police forces and the general