Re: What do you need to become a Criminal Profiler? -- Criminal Profiling

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Date Posted: 15:55:54 12/27/03 Sat
Author: giu
Subject: Re: What do you need to become a Criminal Profiler?
In reply to: Kristy Smith 's message, "Re: What do you need to become a Criminal Profiler?" on 12:53:21 10/22/03 Wed

This reply is in response to your post to THE CRIME LAB list-server.
"Criminal profiling" is simply a technique in an attempt to identify personal
traits of a perpetrator of a homicide and/or a crime involving sexual
assault. The techniques are fairly straightforward and require relatively
little training, usually about a week, although the basic principles can be
digested in a couple of hours. Profiling became popular (in the media,
thanks to the film Silence of the Lambs) after the FBI had established its
"Behavioral Science Unit" consisting of Ann Burgess (a nursing professor at
the University of Pennsylvania) and several FBI agents that went on to write
books and become well known, among them John Douglas, Robert Ressler, and Roy
Hazelwood. The unit does research and trains other FBI agents, who go on to
train local police investigators to do profiling. So, outside of this small
FBI unit, profiling is only a full time job for folks who do training courses
in it, and about the only person that I know of who does that is a rather
controversial character by the name of Brent Turvey who operates an outfit
called "Knowledge Solutions, LLC."

So, seeking to become a criminal profiler where no full time occupation
exists seems a bit of a long shot. Investigating crime is squarely within
the realm of public government, most notably the municipal and county police.
The way this is set up in the USA means that a person seeking to become an
investigator must first enter the field as a uniformed police officer or
deputy sheriff. Your degree in Criminal Justice is one such degree that may
be applicable for entry as a police officer, although many jurisdictions,
especially the smaller ones, permit entry with a high school diploma.
However, other college degrees are also useful. Having been in this
"criminal justice" business for over 40 years, I have heard the same lament
by senior practitioners (police chiefs, chief medical examiners, etc.) down
through the ages: "Send me people who can WRITE! I can train them to do
anything else but I have no time to train people to read and write!" So,
literacy is high on the list. I know of a few police chiefs that prefer to
hire college English majors for this very reason. Also, your degree in Fine
Arts may be marketable, especially in big city departments where art theft
may be a problem. I have known several investigators over the years that
have specialized in art thefts in several major large East Coast city police
departments. Indeed, there was even a detective back in the 1970s (I think
he was with the New Hampshire State Police) who specialized in antique
weathervane thefts where thieves would filch old weathervanes from the top of
barns and replace them with counterfeits and then sell them to art dealers in
New York City.

Best wishes, Z. G. Standing Bear, Ph.D., Coordinator of Forensic Health
Sciences Programs, Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University
of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO

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Replies:

what courses? -- ashley, 20:31:43 05/05/04 Wed
what courses? -- ashley, 20:31:43 05/05/04 Wed
Re: What do you need to become a Criminal Profiler? -- Andramedia C. Robinson, 18:15:52 06/05/05 Sun
Re: What do you need to become a Criminal Profiler? -- A. C. Robinson, 18:20:08 06/05/05 Sun
Re: What do you need to become a Criminal Profiler? -- betty, 10:27:57 09/24/07 Mon