Criminal Profiler Job Description

Criminal profilers help solve crimes by giving law enforcement officers an idea of how criminals think and why they commit certain crimes. The job of a profiler includes reviewing evidence, determining the processes used by criminals during a crime, making an assessment about a crime based on the evidence reviewed, writing reports that are used by police to find perpetrators and testifying in court.

Evidence Review

When working on a case, criminal profilers obtain all the evidence available for their review, including photographs from the crime scene, notes taken by investigators and reports made during the autopsy of a victim.

Determining Processes

A profiler looks at the evidence for patterns that were used by the criminal. They try to develop theories about the motive for the crime and whether it is similar to other crimes that may lead to the same perpetrator.

Assessing the Crime

Criminal profilers use evidence collected by the police and crime scene investigators to re-create how the crime occurred. The crime is reconstructed through the eyes of both the criminal and the victim, and the acts that were involved in the crime are put into a sequence. Profilers are interested in what may have triggered the crime, why and how the crime was carried out, what kinds of weapons were used and what was done after the crime.

Profiling the Criminal

By using all of the information collected at the crime scene, along with the assessments that were made about the crime and the criminal, profilers come up with possible characteristics that can help the police identify possible suspects. This information can include the criminal's age, gender and race---as well as information about the perpetrator's job, familial relationships and habits.

Writing Reports

Profilers write detailed reports that are given to the police to help them narrow down suspects based on the possible characteristics of the person who committed the crime. In some cases, if a profile does not generate viable leads, profilers may amend it by re-examining the evidence---and looking at any evidence that was collected after the profile was created. When suspects are found in a case, the police will use the information from profilers' reports to conduct effective interrogations.

Testifying in Court

When a criminal is caught and brought to trial, profilers may be called to testify in court about their analysis of the crime, how their profile was formed and why the defendant fits the characteristics of the profile.

References

• Mount Holyoke College
• www.all-about-forensic-psychology.com
• American Psychological Association