◆ SpookStack

early 30’s), divorced or separated, working at marginal employment (la- borer, etc.), high school education, poor self-image, living in the immediate area of the rapes, and being involved in crimes of voyeurism (peeping tom). It was likely that the police had talked to the rapist in the past due to his being on the streets in the neighborhood in the early morning hours. Three days after receiving the pro- file provided to them, the requesting agency developed approximately 40 suspects in the neighborhood who met the age criteria. Using additional infor- mation in the profile, they narrowed their investigation to one individual and focused their investigation on him. He was arrested within a week. This case demonstrates how psychological profil- ing can be of assistance. The role of the police officer in American society has never been ac- curately defined. Daily, it seems, police are burdened with new responsibilities and are required to be experts in re- sponsibilities already assigned to them.! There has, in recent years, been an increase in the public’s aware- ness of the nature of police work. This additional insight has been provided primarily through the use of the media (TV, books, newspapers), however, this awareness is largely focused upon the police function of investigating crimes. Studies have indicated that criminal investigations actually occupy less than 15 percent of the police de- partment’s time.? The irony of this is that the function of investigating and solving crimes is extremely important to the public at large and is a major gage by which departments are rated by city officials who provide funding. This is especially true when a crime is committed which is so bizarre and shocking to the community that the public demands swift and positive action. As the crime rate grows in this country and the criminals become more sophisticated, the investigative tools of the police officer must also become more sophisticated. One such sophisticated tool does exist and may help answer the question commonly voiced by police and others at the scene of a violent crime, “Who would do a thing like this?” This tool is the psychological assessment of crime— profiling. The solution of crimes is the most difficult task for the police. The officer must arrive at the scene of a crime, work backward in an effort to recon- struct that crime, formulate a hypoth- esis of what occurred, and then launch an orderly and logical investigation to determine the identity of the criminal. During this process, items of evidence are carefully collected, identified, ini- tialed, logged, and packaged for later examination, perhaps under laboratory conditions. The purpose of this article is to acquaint the police officer with the fact that there are certain clues at a crime scene which, by their very nature, do not lend themselves to being collected or examined, and to familiarize the offi- cer with the concepts of profiling. Clues left at a crime scene may be of inestimable value in leading to the so- lution of the crime; however, they are not necessarily items of physical evi- dence. For example, how does a police officer collect rage, hatred, fear, love, irrationality, or other intangibles? These aspects may be present at the crime scene but the untrained officer will miss them. Nothing can take the place of a well-executed investigation; however, the use of psychology to as- sist in the assessment of a crime is an additional tool which the police officer should use in solving crimes. The purpose of the psychological assessment of a crime scene is to produce a profile; that is, to identify and interpret certain items of evidence at the crime scene which would be indicative of the personality type of the individual or individuals committing the crime. The term “profile” is defined in Webster’s Dictionary of the American Language (1968)* as “a short, vivid 36 biography briefly outlining the most outstanding characteristics of the sub. ject.” The goal of the profiler is to provide enough information to investi- gators to enable them to limit or better direct their investigations. For example, in one case, a profile provided enough information that officers recalled an in- dividual whom they had already ques. tioned that fit the profile description. When they returned to the individual, he confessed. The officer must bear in mind that the profile is not an exact science and a suspect who fits the description is not automatically guilty. The use of profiling does not replace sound inves- tigative procedures. Profiling is not a new concept. During World War li, the Office of Stra- tegic Services (OSS) employed a psy- chiatrist, William Langer, to profile Adolf Hitler. Langer assembled all that was known about Hitler at the time, and based upon the information he received, attempted a long-range “di- agnosis,” as well as some predictions about how Hitler would react to defeat.‘ Police officers are often carefully trained in the techniques of crime scene searches. Forensic scientists constantly provide law enforcement personnel with the results of research which enable officers to maintain and update skills in gathering physical evi- dence. The concept of profiling works in harmony with the search for physical evidence. Behavioral scientists are busy in their attempts to research and catalog nonphysical items of evidence, such as rage, hatred, fear, and love. However, these attempts are usually oriented toward therapy rather than fo- rensic applications.° Nonetheless, the results may be applied to teach police officers to recognize the existence of these emotions and other personality traits in a crime scene. Once recog- nized, police may then construct a pro- file of the type of person who might possess these emotions and/or per- sonality traits.