HOW TO PROFILE

Profiling

What is profiling?

Profiling is the collection of data and then making a prediction based on that data.

After 9/11, the word profiling became more associated in a bad way with racial or cultural profiling. But profiling as a job as I do, and will show you is not a bad thing it is finding the puzzle pieces and putting them together.

We can profile a criminal, a judge in court, a jury, a potential date, a new employee, or employer. Where there is a person, you can profile.

Profiling:

There are many Factors to consider in Profiling:

If it is a crime then Crime Scene information.

The location of the crime - inside or outside. Where exactly? If outside hidden or displayed? By bushes or a pool? If inside - what room? Living room, kitchen, bedroom? Does it look like a surprise attack or were they known to the victim?

Time of the offense.

Witnesses? What did they see? Hear? Smell?

Police reports

Location of the body of the body as mentioned above is important. Has it been moved? Did he/she resist?

Anything missing from the scene?

Neat or messy crime scene? Was the scene cleaned up by the culprit or attempted to or did they not care? Did theyhave knowledge of crime scene clean up techniques?

Neighborhood composition - demographics of the neighborhood. Gangs? Robberies? Other criminal issues?

Rural or urban

Hidden or open body - as referenced above did the culprit hide the bpdy totally like in a freezer or burying it or partially like under a rug or is it out in the open as if begging to be found?

In home, etc.

Composition of area - Farmland or suburbia or urban or marsh or mountains, etc.

Medical Autopsy

Mode of death - Each choice tells a story - strangulation, gun shot, stabbing, poison, etc.

Crime investigation:

Evidence - what might be left behind? Receipts, photos, etc?

DNA - under fingers, left on body, etc.

Fingerprints, etc.

Profile of the victim(s) Now we look more Indepth at the victim him or herself:

Physical traits:

What is their age?

What is their sexual orientation?

Their physical description (height, weight, hair, eyes, etc.)

Their race

What was the clothing they were last wearing?

Their marital status?

Their attitude aka Adjustment - had they been happy? Had they had problems? Had anyone made threats? Were they afraid of anyone? etc.

Did they have children?

What was their reputation? Were they liked? Well respected? Hated?

Are there any divorces, current or past?

What about their friends, enemies?

Then we look at their Lifestyle:

Did they do a lot of Alcohol or drugs? If so, which kind?

What were their normal daily activities?

Were there any recent changes to these activities?

What were their interests and activities?

Did they participate or gamble in Sports?

What Hobbies did they particiapte in?

What was their general Demeanor and did it change in the days before their death?

What was their Occupation?

Their current occupation, just prior to death.

And their previous occupation(s)?

Did they have special training?

Had they been in the military?

What was their education?

How many years in school?

Did they graduate?

Any college and if so how much and what was studied?

What schools were attended (based on age)

Their Intelligence (IQ) if known.

Their Demographics.

Their residence - what kind of place - house or apartment or room? Rent or own? What is the neighborhood like?

Where have they lived in the past?

The neighborhood composite.

Their Medical History:

Physical - what shape were they in? Were they healthy? Any illnesses?

Mental - any mental issues? Depression?

Dental - even dental issues can prove useful - and especially can be useful in identifying bodies under certain circumstances.

Psycho-sexual:

Fears - are there any know phobias?

Sexual history - This is good in eliminating DNA evidence in cases where rape has occurred.

Personality - were they outgoing or shy? The life of the party or a bookworm? Everything you learn brings you closer to solving the puzzle of their death.

Court History: Hvae they been to court for any reason - civil or crimainl or as a witness?

Arrests? Have they ever been arrested whether charged or not?

Past court cases

Pending cases?

Last activities of Victim

Where were they? What were they doing before they were killed and where was that and ideally ho was the last person to see or talk to them?

School? Home? Work? Shopping?

Route taken (if not home)? How did they get to where they had been if they were not home? Did the walk, drive, Uber, bus, etc.?

Friends, acquaintances? Were they with anyone or did they meet anyone?

Social activities? What social activates did they do?

What does the residency look like? Are they neat? Messy? In between?

Where is the crime scene?

Armed with this info and your basic characteristics you can profile your criminal:

As to their: All of the information you have gathered will allow you to predict the following of the criminal: Granted it is not as simple as I make it sound; there is another component to putting this information together with statistical analysis and a wee bit of intuition to make the predictions, but without the profiling information gathered one is flying blind.

Age range

Possibly race

Employment history and type can be surmised

Arrest record or whether they have one

Predicting whether "he" will strike again and possibly where or the type of location he/she will hit again

Sex of the offender

Marital status

Sexual history

How and sometimes even where to catch him/her

The basics of profiling can be transferred to other situations such as court, romance (watching body language).

Profiling is about gathering information, processing it, and coming up with a highly probable hypothesis.