Criminal Investigative Analysis - Lecture Notes

Overview of the second lecture in the series on criminal investigative analysis.
Reminder to reach out to course administrators or instructors for questions.

Discussion on offender or criminal profiling.
  - Focus on the association between offender characteristics and crime commission.
  - Key point: individual characteristics correlate with whether crimes are committed but not necessarily with how they are committed.
  - Distinction made between profiling an offender based on character traits versus understanding crime commission behavior.

Introduction to the topic of geographic profiling.
Definition by Kim Rosmo: "analysis of crime locations in a linked crime series to predict the most probable base or residence of an offender."
- This involves analyzing the locations of crimes to deduce where the offender may reside.
Importance of recognizing the complexity hidden in this seemingly straightforward definition.

Crime Locations: Essential for geographic profiling.
  - Example: Analyzing a burglary requires pinpointing the residence of the crime.
  - Challenges arise with crimes like online fraud, making it harder to define a crime scene.
  - Investigating murder poses difficulties as the location of the body may not be where the crime occurred.
Linked Crime Series: Important aspect for geographic profiling.
- Definition requires at least five data points from crimes to establish reliability.
- Need to ascertain if different offences were committed by the same individual.
Offender’s Base or Residence: The hypothesis claims a connection between the offender's home base and crime locations.
- Challenges with transient offenders or those without a fixed residence.

Geographic profiling typically utilized when investigations are at a standstill.
  - Assists police in narrowing down search areas and prioritizing resources more efficiently.
  - Not used to pinpoint precise addresses but to identify possible areas of interest.
  - Employs software that simplifies analysis by giving visual outputs for potential offender locations.

Assumption that crime is not randomly distributed; rather, it has a relation to the offender's residence.
- The fundamental theory asserts that crime site selection relates to an offender's home base.
- Summary clue: location of crime is a major indicator of offender profiling design.

Environmental Criminology: Study of crime in relation to its location; how environmental factors affect crime rates.
- Reverse of profiling: focuses on changing locations to reduce crime incidence.
Rational Choice Theory: Describes offenders as rational actors calculating risks versus rewards.
- Concept of the journey to crime described as a curve representing distances offenders travel from their residences to crime sites.
- Notable phenomena include the buffer zone around residences where crimes are not typically committed to avoid recognition.
Routine Activities Theory: Crime requires three elements: motivated offender, suitable target, and lack of capable guardianship.
Crime Pattern Theory: Offenders have regular routines, making crimes likely to occur in familiar environments where opportunities exist.

Circle theory of environmental range: principle where geographic locations of crimes are mapped in a circle.
- Historical case highlighting Peter Sutcliffe and his body of offenses over a wide area.
- Statistical breakdown wherein 85% of serial murderers reside within their crime range.
Marauders vs. Commuters: Typologies concerning crime and residence.
- Marauders: Offenders commit crimes within their local area.
- Commuters: Offenders travel deliberately away from home to commit crimes, presenting limitations for geographic profiling in determining their residence.

Utilization of software offers potential for narrowing suspect lists based on mapped crime locations.
- The GP Smart system permits officers to analyze single crime scenes while considering multiple related locations.
- Current research indicates improved suspect ranking and potential in narrowing down investigative leads.
Comparison of research findings from various regions (New Zealand, US, UK) suggests differing efficiency rates in geographic profiling applications, with New Zealand showing higher search costs in some studies.

Discussion of ethical implications surrounding privacy and information collection.
- Necessity for balancing law enforcement efficiency with civil liberties.
Risks of potential racial profiling arising from excessive data gathering through policing and investigations.
Importance of maintaining public trust while using profiling techniques in law enforcement.

Encouragement to critically engage with the material covered regarding the practical and ethical implications of criminal profiling.
Final remarks about the return for the second half of the course and continued exploration of criminal investigative practices.