Geographic profiling
Encyclopedia
Geographic profiling is a criminal investigative methodology that analyzes the locations of a connected series of crimes to determine the most probable area of offender residence. By incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods, it assists in understanding spatial behaviour of an offender and focusing the investigation to a smaller area of the community. Typically used in cases of serial murder or rape (but also arson, bombing, robbery, and other crimes), the technique helps police detectives prioritize information in large-scale major crime investigations that often involve hundreds or thousands of suspects and tips.
While it may not seem so, understanding an offender’s geographical tendencies and habits can tell investigators and profilers a great deal about the personality
of that individual. The underlying principle is that crime-related locations provide information regarding the victim and the offender’s interaction with the geographical environment. It can even show the level of planning that went into the offence, the offender’s familiarity with the location and the extent to which the offender’s use of the crime environment reflects aspects of his non-criminal spatial lifestyle. Geographical profiling is growing in popularity and, combined with offender profiling, is a very helpful tool in the investigation process of a serial murder case.
with pins stuck in it), the formalized process known today as geographic profiling originated out of research conducted at Simon Fraser University
's School of Criminology
in British Columbia
, Canada
, in 1989. The leading developer of geographic profiling is Dr. Kim Rossmo
, a former detective with the Vancouver, Canada Police Department
. His goal was to create a map by analytical crime mapping
to display the most likely location of where the serial offender lives. Geographic profiling model is based on the assumption that offender’s are more likely to select their victims and commit a crime which would be centered near their home address. The technique has now spread to several U.S., Canadian, British, and European law enforcement agencies. Originally designed for violent crime investigations, it is increasingly being used on property crime.
Through numerous research studies, there has been an increased importance placed on the journeys offenders habitually take to determine the geographical range of criminal activity. These areas become a comfort zone
for predatory offenders to commit their crime with a feeling of safety. Consequently, criminal acts follow a distance decay function
, such that the further away the regular activity space of an offender is, the less likely that the person will engage in a predatory criminal activity. However, there is also a buffer zone where an offender will avoid committing crimes too close to their homes in the likely event that they will be identified by a neighbour.
Also, the theoretical foundation is in environmental criminology
, particularly:
Furthermore, serial crimes are the easiest to develop geographic profiles, since each crime contains new spatial information and provides additional data including the fact that crime area tends to enlarge with an increase of comfort and confidence. The initial hunt and criminal acts are most likely to occur relatively close to the location of the offender’s home or workplace. As the success rate increases, there will be a burgeoning sense of confidence to seek his prey further from home and to travel a greater distance. Crimes that are suitable for analysis are those that are predatory in nature and exercises some spatial decision-making process such as the area for hunting targets, travel routes, mode of transportation and even body dump sites.
Another leading researcher in this area is David Canter
whose approach to geographic profiling detailed around the circle theory of environmental range. In 1993, Canter and Larkin developed two models of offender behaviour: marauder and commuter models. The distinction is that marauders operate in an area that is in close proximity of the offender’s home base while commuters commit crimes outside of the habitual zone. It hopes to differentiate the two types of serial offenders by studying the relationship of the criminal spatial behaviour to the offender’s place of residence.
Incorporating these factors in a profile can lead to a geographic pattern where it sheds light on an offender’s mobility, method of transportation, ability to navigate boundaries and most importantly, the possible residential location. It is important to recognize such spatial intentionality, to determine the offender’s comfort zone and their desire to commit crimes in locations where they feel a sense of familiarity. However, the reality may be more complex since an offender may have multiple spatial anchor points, such as home, workplace or the residence of their significant other.
. In response, Rossmo developed a computerized geographical profiling technique called criminal geographical targeting (CGT) which assess the spatial characteristics of crimes. It scans the geographic coordinates of the offender’s criminal area and produces a topographic map, which assigns probabilities to different points for the location of the offender’s home base.
Further tools employed by geographic profilers include specialized software systems, such as Rigel, CrimeStat or Gemini. Similarly, system inputs are crime location addresses or coordinates, often entered through a geographic information system
(GIS). Output is a jeopardy surface (three-dimensional probability surface) or color geoprofile, which depicts the most likely areas of offender residence or search base. These programs assist crime analysts and investigators to focus their resources more effectively by highlighting the crucial geographic areas.
in the mid-1980s. Furthermore, the Geographic Profiling Analysis (GPA) training programme ensures that geographic profiling analysis remains a recognized law enforcement tool; a meaningful certification for crime analysts and detectives; maintain a standard of quality through adequate qualifications in law enforcements; and finally to establish an ethical code of conduct.
While it may not seem so, understanding an offender’s geographical tendencies and habits can tell investigators and profilers a great deal about the personality
Personality type
Personality type refers to the psychological classification of different types of individuals. Personality types are sometimes distinguished from personality traits, with the latter embodying a smaller grouping of behavioral tendencies. Types are sometimes said to involve qualitative differences...
of that individual. The underlying principle is that crime-related locations provide information regarding the victim and the offender’s interaction with the geographical environment. It can even show the level of planning that went into the offence, the offender’s familiarity with the location and the extent to which the offender’s use of the crime environment reflects aspects of his non-criminal spatial lifestyle. Geographical profiling is growing in popularity and, combined with offender profiling, is a very helpful tool in the investigation process of a serial murder case.
History
While the use of spatial analysis methods in police investigations goes back many years (think of detectives gathered around a large city mapCity map
A city map is a large-scale thematic map of a city created to enable the fastest possible orientation in an urban space. The graphic representation of objects on a city map is therefore usually greatly simplified, and reduced to generally understood symbology.Depending upon its target group or...
with pins stuck in it), the formalized process known today as geographic profiling originated out of research conducted at Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
's School of Criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, in 1989. The leading developer of geographic profiling is Dr. Kim Rossmo
Kim Rossmo
D. Kim Rossmo is a Canadian criminologist specializing in geographic profiling. He joined the Vancouver Police Department as a civilian employee in 1978 and became a sworn officer in 1980. In 1987 he received a Master's degree in criminology from Simon Fraser University and in 1995 became the first...
, a former detective with the Vancouver, Canada Police Department
Vancouver Police Department
The Vancouver Police Department is the police force for the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the province after RCMP "E" Division.VPD was the first Canadian police force...
. His goal was to create a map by analytical crime mapping
Crime mapping
Crime mapping is used by analysts in law enforcement agencies to map, visualize, and analyze crime incident patterns. It is a key component of crime analysis and the CompStat policing strategy...
to display the most likely location of where the serial offender lives. Geographic profiling model is based on the assumption that offender’s are more likely to select their victims and commit a crime which would be centered near their home address. The technique has now spread to several U.S., Canadian, British, and European law enforcement agencies. Originally designed for violent crime investigations, it is increasingly being used on property crime.
Through numerous research studies, there has been an increased importance placed on the journeys offenders habitually take to determine the geographical range of criminal activity. These areas become a comfort zone
Comfort zone
The comfort zone is a behavioural state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviours to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk . A person's personality can be described by his or her comfort zones...
for predatory offenders to commit their crime with a feeling of safety. Consequently, criminal acts follow a distance decay function
Distance decay
Distance decay is a geographical term which describes the effect of distance on cultural or spatial interactions. The distance decay effect states that the interaction between two locales declines as the distance between them increases...
, such that the further away the regular activity space of an offender is, the less likely that the person will engage in a predatory criminal activity. However, there is also a buffer zone where an offender will avoid committing crimes too close to their homes in the likely event that they will be identified by a neighbour.
Also, the theoretical foundation is in environmental criminology
Environmental criminology
Environmental criminology focuses on criminal patterns within particular built environments and analyzes the impacts of these external variables on people's cognitive behavior...
, particularly:
- Journey-to-crime
- Supports the notion that crimes are likely to occur closer to an offender’s home and follow a distance-decay function (DDF) with crimes less likely to occur the further away an offender is from their home base. It is concerned with the ‘distance of crime’ and that offenders will in general travel limited distances to commit their crimes.
- Routine Activity TheoryRoutine activity theoryRoutine activity theory is a sub-field of rational choice and criminology, developed by Marcus Felson and Lawrence E. Cohen.Routine activity theory says that crime is normal and depends on the opportunities available. If a target is not protected enough, and if the reward is worth it, crime will...
- Routine Activity Theory
- Originally developed by Cohen and Felson (1979), the primary principle is that the offender and victim must intersect in time and space for a crime to occur. This approach focuses on the concept that crime occurs when an opportunity is taken within both parties’ non-criminal spatial activity. An activity space may consist of the regular areas an offender travels such as work, school, home or recreational areas.
- Rational Choice TheoryRational choice theory (criminology)In criminology, the rational choice theory adopts a utilitarian belief that man is a reasoning actor who weighs means and ends, costs and benefits, and makes a ra...
- Rational Choice Theory
- Concepts relating to the explanation of spatial behaviour include the least-effort principle where offenders are more likely to act on the first or opportunity and the idea of a buffer zone. It exhibits a constant tension between the offender’s desire to divert attention from his home base and the desire to travel no further than necessary to commit crimes.
- Crime Pattern Theory
- Developed by Canadian environmental criminologists Pat and Paul Brantingham, the theory exerts the strongest influence in geographic profiling. It suggests that crime sites and opportunities are not random. There is an emphasis in the interaction between the offender’s mental mapMental mappingThe concept of a mental map may refer to a person's personal point-of-view perception of their own world. Although this kind of subject matter would seem most likely to be studied by fields in the social sciences, this particular subject is most often studied by modern day geographers in order to...
of spatial surroundings and the allotment of victims (target backcloth).
Furthermore, serial crimes are the easiest to develop geographic profiles, since each crime contains new spatial information and provides additional data including the fact that crime area tends to enlarge with an increase of comfort and confidence. The initial hunt and criminal acts are most likely to occur relatively close to the location of the offender’s home or workplace. As the success rate increases, there will be a burgeoning sense of confidence to seek his prey further from home and to travel a greater distance. Crimes that are suitable for analysis are those that are predatory in nature and exercises some spatial decision-making process such as the area for hunting targets, travel routes, mode of transportation and even body dump sites.
Another leading researcher in this area is David Canter
David Canter
David V. Canter is a psychologist. He began his career as an architectural psychologist studying the interactions between people and buildings, publishing and providing consultancy on the designs of offices, schools, prisons, housing and other building forms as well as exploring how people made...
whose approach to geographic profiling detailed around the circle theory of environmental range. In 1993, Canter and Larkin developed two models of offender behaviour: marauder and commuter models. The distinction is that marauders operate in an area that is in close proximity of the offender’s home base while commuters commit crimes outside of the habitual zone. It hopes to differentiate the two types of serial offenders by studying the relationship of the criminal spatial behaviour to the offender’s place of residence.
Considerations
In developing a geographic profile, there are important factors to consider:- Crime locations
- Offender type
- Hunting Style
- Target Backcloth
- Arterial roads and highways
- Bus stops and train stations
- Physical and psychological boundaries
- Land useLand useLand use is the human use of land. Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as fields, pastures, and settlements. It has also been defined as "the arrangements, activities and inputs people undertake in a certain land cover...
- Neighbourhood demographics
- Routine activities of victims
- SingularitiesSingularity theory-The notion of singularity:In mathematics, singularity theory is the study of the failure of manifold structure. A loop of string can serve as an example of a one-dimensional manifold, if one neglects its width. What is meant by a singularity can be seen by dropping it on the floor...
- DisplacementForced migrationForced migration refers to the coerced movement of a person or persons away from their home or home region...
Incorporating these factors in a profile can lead to a geographic pattern where it sheds light on an offender’s mobility, method of transportation, ability to navigate boundaries and most importantly, the possible residential location. It is important to recognize such spatial intentionality, to determine the offender’s comfort zone and their desire to commit crimes in locations where they feel a sense of familiarity. However, the reality may be more complex since an offender may have multiple spatial anchor points, such as home, workplace or the residence of their significant other.
Tools
Geographic profiling is an investigative tool that can be seen as a strategic information management system to assist police with the large volume of information throughout an investigation. It concentrates its focus on the geographical aspect of the crime and was developed in response to the demands of solving serial crimesSerial crime
Serial crime is generally defined as crimes in a serial or repetitive nature. However, according to criminologists, a habitual offender or a career criminal is not a serial criminal...
. In response, Rossmo developed a computerized geographical profiling technique called criminal geographical targeting (CGT) which assess the spatial characteristics of crimes. It scans the geographic coordinates of the offender’s criminal area and produces a topographic map, which assigns probabilities to different points for the location of the offender’s home base.
Further tools employed by geographic profilers include specialized software systems, such as Rigel, CrimeStat or Gemini. Similarly, system inputs are crime location addresses or coordinates, often entered through a geographic information system
Geographic Information System
A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...
(GIS). Output is a jeopardy surface (three-dimensional probability surface) or color geoprofile, which depicts the most likely areas of offender residence or search base. These programs assist crime analysts and investigators to focus their resources more effectively by highlighting the crucial geographic areas.
ICIAF
Geographic profiling is a sub-type of offender or criminal profiling (the inference of offender characteristics from offence characteristics). It is therefore related to psychological or behavioral profiling. If psychological profiling is the "who," geographic profiling is the "where." All certified geographic profilers are members of the International Criminal Investigative Analysis Fellowship (ICIAF), a professional profiling organization first begun by investigators trained by the FBIFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
in the mid-1980s. Furthermore, the Geographic Profiling Analysis (GPA) training programme ensures that geographic profiling analysis remains a recognized law enforcement tool; a meaningful certification for crime analysts and detectives; maintain a standard of quality through adequate qualifications in law enforcements; and finally to establish an ethical code of conduct.
Criticisms
Although geographic profiling is a useful tool for assisting investigations, like any other models there are numerous limitations:- It only considers offender geographical behaviour, which fails in comprehending the complete range of potential human behaviour and emotion
- It cannot distinguish between two or more offenders operating in the same area, which may lead to mistakes
- It operates under the assumption that offenders live near or within easy reach of the crime site, and fails to acknowledge the exceptions of criminals who make their first strike far away from the home base
- Although computer systems can be highly sophisticated, it cannot include the mass amount of details involved in a case, nor can it understand why a criminal behaves in such a manner
See also
- Rossmo's formulaRossmo's formulaRossmo's formula is a geographic profiling formula to predict where a serial criminal lives. The formula was developed by criminologist Kim Rossmo.-Formula:...
, a geographic profiling formula to predict where a serial criminal lives - Crime mappingCrime mappingCrime mapping is used by analysts in law enforcement agencies to map, visualize, and analyze crime incident patterns. It is a key component of crime analysis and the CompStat policing strategy...