Crime scene in criminal profiling

The criminal profiling techniquecriminological profile) was created by the F.B.I and its Behavioral Sciences Unit as a tool to aid investigations. It basically consists of a technique to describe behavior and characteristics (physical, psychological, geographical, social ...) probable perpetrators of a murder or a series of murders. Subsequently, due to its lack of standard methodology, different related concepts have been generated that are used interchangeably as Criminal investigative Analysis, offender profiling, behavioral evidence analysis, criminal profile.

To perform criminal profiling, the profiler must analyze various elements of the crime, including the analysis of the crime scene. This work tries to take a look at this analysis, showing what would be the phases, the questions that must be raised and the information that can be extracted for the elaboration of the profiling. This PiscologíaOnline article shows crime scene in criminal profiling. Specifically, the typology of crime scenes, police and forensic work and their analysis for profiling are detailed. We also show a classification of crime scenes widely used by the F.B.I.

Index

1. Typology of crime scenes
2. Police technical inspection at the crime scene
3. Forensic evidence at the crime scene
4. Crime scene for criminal profiler
5. The organized or disorganized dichotomy of the F.B.I.

The crime scene is, as the name suggests, the place that the murderer has chosen to kill his victim. The scenes can be various if the killer has used several places from when he catches his victim until he leaves her. He can catch her in one place, torture her in a second, kill her in a third and transfer her to a room to abandon her there (Jiménez, 2006). There are several crime scene typologies depending on the criteria we use to classify them.

First of all, following Turvey (2008), we can establish a crime scene location typology, taking into account the environment in which it is found, thus we would have:

• Indoor scene: Those that occur inside a structure such as houses, apartments, buildings, warehouses ...
• Vehicle scenes: Those that are produced inside transport vehicles such as cars, trucks, boats, trains ...
• Outdoor scenes: Those that occur in the open in parks, forests, deserts ...
• Underwater scenes: Those that occur in the aquatic environment such as swamps, rivers, wells, sea ...

In the investigation, a very specific crime scene is essential, which is the scene where the body is found, this is a scene that can provide very valuable data for the investigation both at the level of forensic evidence, as well as for the criminal himself profiling. Turvey advises visiting this scene to establish spatial relationships within the scene itself as well as with other crime scenes that may exist. Later we will see what kind of questions the profiler should ask about this and other scenes. Add regarding this scene, that it is necessary to determine if the corpse was abandoned in that scene and therefore both attacked in another or if, on the contrary, the scene where the corpse is found is also the scene primary.

Taking into account the contact that occurs between the aggressor and the victim, Turvey (2008) distinguishes three types of scenes:

• Primary scene: It is where there is greater contact between the aggressor and the victim, where more time is invested and where the greatest number of attacks on the victim are carried out. Due to these characteristics it is an important scene at the level of forensic evidence and criminal profiling. It is possible, as we have commented above, that it is also the scene where the corpse is found.
• Secondary scene: It is a scene where interaction between the aggressor and the victim is established, but in less quantity than the primary one. If it is the scene where the corpse is abandoned, it is both a secondary scene and the scene of abandonment of the body. Within the same crime there may be several secondary scenes.
• Middle scene: it is an intermediate scene between the primary scene and the scene of abandonment of the body. It is a type of secondary scene that generally serves to move the corpse from the primary scene to the scene where the body is to be left. It is important to analyze the transference that can occur from the primary scene to this scene and between it and the scene of abandonment of the body.

As mentioned above, it is very convenient to physically visit these scenarios by the profiler. Further on, we will point out the questions that must be posed to carry out criminal profiling in relation to the crime scene.

The study of the crime scene, with all that it encompasses, is what is normally known as a technical police inspection. Also visual inspection or judicial recognition, when it is the Judicial Authority itself that carries it out. The work carried out at the crime scene is of the utmost importance and will have an impact on the rest of the crime investigation process.

When the police arrive at the scene of the crime, the first thing you do is a general observation of the situation, fixing said observation by means of photographs or videos of all places of the scene. From here, all the time that the researcher needs to pay attention to everything that is considered relevant should be used. An important aspect in the technical police inspection is time, the examination of the crime scene must be done as early as possible (Verdú et al. 2006).

It is important to cordon off the area and establish the crime scene space, allowing only personnel who have to do something in it to enter that area. Obviously the priority is to safeguard the safety of possible victims alive and of the agents themselves. For this reason, it is essential not only to secure the area, but to establish the actual death of the victim, otherwise a medical team must be present at the site. Faced with this situation, it is essential that health workers report all the changes that they have made on the scene of the crime to be taken into account, changes of position of the victim, removal of object, footprints, contact with zones... It's basic preserve the scene from possible disturbances and contamination.

At this time, work will also be carried out to identify both the victim, possible witnesses and any person involved in the incident, obviously also the possible aggressor.

This phase of identification, security and protection of the scene continues until the arrival of the officers in charge of the investigation. The officers in charge of the scene must document all the activities and observations that take place at the scene: entrances and exits, positions, objects, weather and lighting conditions, witness statements, assessment of possible requests for search warrants, requisition, limits of the scene...

The officers in charge of the scene should also assess what resources of the forensic police they will need to collect evidence at the scene.

Work at the scene of a crime must be slow, extensive and scrupulous (Verdú et al. 2006).

The team in charge of the technical police inspection must establish the characteristics of the crime, adjusting it as much as possible to the criminal type in question. priori, they should provide initial information on the possible avenues of investigation that should be established to avoid possible destruction of evidence or leakage of the guilty / s.

The scientific police limits his field of work for the collection of evidence. Depending on whether they are closed or open scenes, they are usually used different techniques:

Closed scenes

• Point-to-point method: the investigator goes from one object area that may contain one clue to another in no particular order.
• Zoned method: the scene is divided into zones like grids.

Open scenes

• Spiral method: from an initial and central point of the scene, it proceeds in a spiral outwards.
• Grid method: the researchers divide the scene into stripes or grids and approach them at the same time. It is also possible to grid the scene as if it were an archaeological site. Doing it in a circular shape is also appropriate for large areas and with that geometry. This type of method is carried out when you have to work on a large surface.

As a general rule, technicians should collect evidence that may be more perishable first, using a method of processing and collecting evidence from least intruder to most intruder.

The manipulation of physical evidence It must be done correctly and in the best possible conditions so that valid and reliable results can be obtained from said evidence.

As mentioned above, scene security should focus, among other things, on ensuring non-contamination of the indications, for this, a professional, leisurely and especially meticulous work is necessary on the part of the officers in charge, of the scientific police and of all those people who may be at the scene at any time (court personnel, forensic, etc.).

Once the trace has been collected using the appropriate procedure, it must be packaged for subsequent shipment to the laboratory. Once again, the packaging phase must also be ensured by good practice as it can make a well-collected important trace becomes unusable when arriving at the laboratory due to being wrong packed.

In this packaging phase, the sign must be properly documented by means of labeling and reports. From here, it is necessary to establish a chain of custody for the security, control and transport of the evidence.

From the crime scene / s, the scientific police will collect a series of indications that will be essential for the development of the investigation. For the purposes of a criminal investigation, It will be considered an indication or vestige, all that object, instrument, rest, footprint, mark, signal... that is used and / or produced in the commission of an act, liable to be collected and from whose analysis data will be obtained on the existence of the criminal act, on the identity of the author of the facts, on the modus operandi, etc.

The signs can be classified basically in: biological, footprints and non-biological. Next we are going to carry out a brief review of the indications that more information can contribute in the performance of a criminal profiling, as well as what information can be obtained from them.

Biological

• Blood: In addition to identification issues, traces of blood at the crime scene can provide information valuable regarding how and with what instrument the aggressor injured the victim, how the events occurred, displacements, modus operandi criminal, sadistic behavior, revenge... It is important to carry out a study of the blood stains and the information they can provide. Bloodstains can be classified by their production mechanism:
• Projection: those that are generally produced by the action of gravity or by splashing a stain. Depending on the height to which they fall and the position, the shape of the stain will be different, so the Oblique drops of blood indicate movement, also informing us of the direction in which it is produced.
• Runoff: the runoff is the morphology that the stain acquires as a consequence of the action of the gravity, allowing to verify if the corpse or object containing the stain has been modified from its position.
• Contact: They are the stains that totally or partially reproduce the shape of the object that has been in contact with the blood.
• Impregnation and cleaning: these last two forms are the result of the imbibition of a tissue by blood, so that it only adopts barely interpretable forms. They occur when an object or body is cleansed of blood.

Other information on the blood can be obtained from the study of the speed of the drops, which can provide data on the bleeding person's situation, position at the scene, instrument of aggression... Also the morphology and quantity can inform the type of wound in terms of the arterial or venous origin of the blood.

The search for blood must be carried out on the victim, scene, suspect, vehicle... Direct observation or forensic techniques such as UV lights or orientation reagents (luminol) can be used to search for blood. Since obtaining blood tests can be done even if the aggressor has tried to erase traces of blood, it will be necessary to know this fact to assess the possibility of having forensic awareness on the part of the aggressor, as well as experience, degree of perfectionism, time at the scene of the crime... The information obtained from the study of blood stains should be used in the profile, as it can provide us with data on the modus operandi and victimology.

• Semen and vaginal fluids: In addition to questions of identification by DNA tests, the existence of this type of biological traces can inform us of the sex of the aggressor, of involvement of a sexual motivation, sexual behaviors performed, type of relationship with the victim, sadism, forensic awareness, experience criminal ...
• Other biological fluids (sweat, feces, vomit, tears ...): In addition to identification issues, the existence of this type of traces should be assessed by the profiler. to obtain data regarding ritualistic, sadistic, humiliating behavior to the victim (defecating on his Body). For example, the existence of vomit near the mutilated corpse may indicate that the aggressor does not have experience in this activity, which at one point has felt disgust and disgust that has forced him to barf.
• Hairs, hair, nails, peeling skin: In addition to identifying information, the existence of these traces can give us information about modus operandi, sadistic behavior, method of control of the victim, defensive behaviors of the victim, force of the aggressor, ritualistic behavior (example: washing or cutting the victim).

Footprints

Fingerprints can provide valuable information to the profiler regardless of identifying issues. It can provide data on the modus operandi, degree of planning of the aggression, forensic awareness, victimology, criminal experience or criminal record... In the case of bites, it could also indicate anger, sadistic behavior ...

Non-biological evidence

• Toxic, drugs, medications: The existence of these traces at the scene must be contrasted with those found in the autopsy to know if were used, if they were in the victim's body and if it is possible that it was also used by the aggressor. This could give us information about the modus operandi, method of approach or control of the victim (example: control it with a paralyzing drug), degree of planning of the aggression, pharmacological knowledge of the aggressor, degree of use of physical violence by the aggressor, victimology (example: diseases of the victim), sadistic or go to...
• Explosives and fuels: In the case of profiles on terrorists or arsonists, this type of evidence will contribute to the profiler information on modus opernadi, offender technical knowledge, planning, motivation...
• Dresses and accessories: The existence of dresses or accessories can give us data on the victimology, modus operandi (example: the victim is forcibly undressed), information about the aggressor (example: a tie that does not belong to the victim is used to strangle the victim the same).
• Documents, recorded voices, videos: It seems evident that the analysis of this type of traces is very valuable for the realization of the criminal profile. Documents and voices can tell us sex, origin, educational level, emotional and psychological state, planning. The videos can also provide physical data of the aggressor, modus operandi, relationship with the victim ...

This list is not intended to be exhaustive or exclusive, the profiler must assess all evidence found at the crime scene, evaluating not only the data or forensic results of each of them, but also knowing how to relate to the crime scene, where they appear, position, status, tests performed and not performed, etc. For this it is evident that you need to have extensive knowledge about the forensic techniques that are carried out at the crime scene itself as well as in crime laboratories, on the results they can provide and on the interpretation that can be made of these data.

So far it would be the technical scientific research, but the information is very interesting for the profiler resulting from the procedural investigation, specifically the data that can be analyzed from the reconstruction phase of the acts. As Burón (2003) indicates, the reconstruction of the events is carried out by transferring the investigating judge to the place of commission of the event. punishable, adopting the appropriate measures to reproduce the event on the scene where it occurred, with the assistance of defendants, witnesses, etc.

The objective, as we have said, is to acquire knowledge of the way in which the events happened. The police in this situation are engaged in videotaping the reconstruction and advising the judge on aspects of the reconstruction. It therefore seems very appropriate that the profiler can access the report and / or graphic document of the reconstruction of the events since it would be the closest possible way to know what happened. However, as we will see later, the profiler must critically analyze not only technical scientific research but also reconstruction of the facts, contributing, doubting and, where appropriate, rejecting information based on their expert knowledge of behavior and criminal psychology.

With all the data from the police technical inspection, the preliminary reports of the investigators and the reconstruction of the facts, the profiler must analyze the information that is relevant for the elaboration of his criminal profiling.

To do this, Turvey (2006) previously recommends performing what he calls an "equivocal forensic analysis", which would be something like the critical review of the entire body of physical evidence, questioning and revising the conclusions and hypothesis.

The profiler must critically review the results and conclusions of the investigation, without taking anything for granted, analyzing the possible contradictions, prejudices and preconceived theories that researchers may have included in the investigation. The profiler must guarantee objectivity and scientific rigor of your criminal profiling.

The questions to be asked and answered in relation to the data obtained from the analysis of the crime scene would be (we will talk about scene but taking into account the typologies above described):

Linking people to the scene

Forensic data such as fingerprints, blood, DNA... They can provide data on the relationship of certain people to the crime scene. On some occasions they can provide data on physical characteristics, race, sex... of the aggressor. It is also necessary to link the aggressor and the victim with the scene, considering if it may have any meaning for any of them, if it is a chosen or opportunistic scene, what relationship can the scene have with each of them (it is the workplace of the victim, it is a place frequented by It is a completely unknown place for the victim, it belongs to the geography of the aggressor's daily routines, it is a secluded and difficult place. access...). You have to try to link what kind of people can be related to the scene.

Scene characteristics

In relation to the above, it is necessary to describe the characteristics of the scene to individualize it within an environment and a geographic behavior of the criminal. We must answer some questions:

• How big is the scene?
• How do you get there, on foot, by car, public transport?
• Who frequent this scene, what kind of people, what activity is carried out in it, what is the socioeconomic level of its inhabitants ???
• Is it a place known to specific people? Can anyone access it?
• What and how many entry and exit routes does that scene have?
• How does the victim and aggressor get to her?

In short, we have to fit the scene as a fundamental piece within the crime, individualizing it, relating it to a type / s of person / s, activities, geography, accessibilities, emotions ...

A scene can be opportunistic but that does not mean that it is unimportant, that it does not relate to the victim, the aggressor or both. The scene is not aseptic, it is not neutral, it is a fundamental part of the contact between the aggressor and his victim, it is the scene where they interact and therefore knowing her we can know in part the aggressor.

From the perspective of Investigative Psychology of Dr. Canter's team, of environmental criminology and of the psychogeographic profiles, the crime scene is of vital importance in relation to the geographic behavior of the criminal. In such a way that with the geographical analysis of the different crime scenes together with the correlation of certain characteristics of the crimes, it would be possible to establish an area where the aggressor can reside and an area where they would act in the future. As this is a work from a more deductive than inductive position in criminal profiling, we are not going to expand on these research perspectives, although it was necessary to mention them to make clear the importance that the scene has in the behavior criminal. However, I recommend the reader to know them.

Analyze approximation method

With the data provided by the crime scene analysis we can establish the approach method used by the aggressor. The approach method refers to the form or strategy that the aggressor uses to approach the victim (Turvey, 2006). Several approximation methods can be used:

• Surprise: The aggressor approaches the victim, surprising her in a moment of vulnerability, when the person is busy, distracted or sleeping.
• Deception: The aggressor approaches the victim, deceiving her to gain her trust.
• Suddenly: As Turvey explains, the authors Burgess and Hazelwood who establish this classification, speak of the lightning or sudden approach, referring to the fact that the The aggressor approaches the victim and immediately begins the attack on her, in which case, we should talk more than about the approach method of the attack method that we will see more go ahead. In this case, Turvey tells us that the sudden approximation could be considered surprise.

Analyze attack method

With the data provided by the crime scene analysis, we can establish the attack method used by the aggressor. The attack method refers to the mechanism used by the aggressor once he has approached the victim to dominate him, generally with force or verbal threat (Turvey, 2006). Can be:

• Verbal threat: after approaching the threat verbally to get him to do what he wants.
• Use of force with or without a weapon: after approaching, he physically attacks her to get her to do what she wants, he hits her to render her unable to react.
• Verbal threat and use of a weapon: after approaching her, he verbally threatens to attack her with a weapon if she does not do what she wants.

Analyze control method

With the data provided by the crime scene analysis, we can establish the attack method used by the aggressor. Once the aggressor has approached the victim, he has attacked her to dominate her and prevent her reaction capacity, he needs time and the victim's collaboration to be able to attack her. In order for the aggressor to consummate her aggression, she can manipulate and subdue she must have the victim under control and thus not have to devote time or resources to her defensive reactions. This control can be done in several ways:

• Using force: hitting the victim to render him unconscious, tying him up, using shackles ...
• Verbal threats: threatening to hurt or kill her if she is not still.
• With the presence of weapons: presence of a pistol, knife, iron bar ...

The analysis of the approach, attack and control method can also be included in the evaluation of the modus operandi of the aggressor, but with forensic data and analysis What is done from the crime scene, we can obtain data that help us understand how the first contacts and the immediate aggression that are carried out on the victim are. These data will provide us with specific behavioral and psychological characteristics to carry out our criminal profiling.

Analyze Precautionary Actions

Precautionary acts are also often referred to in the field of criminology as forensic conscience. These are actions carried out by the aggressor, before, during and after the crime to hide, confuse and mislead to the investigators regarding how the events occurred and mainly aimed at preventing their identification of him. In this case, not the presence, but rather the absence of certain indications or traces that should be in the crime scene can tell us that the aggressor has altered the scene to make it difficult to arrest and investigation.

Precautionary acts can range from wearing masks or disguises to hiding your identity, wearing gloves or condoms, scene fire, selection of unknown victims, cleaning the blood... The existence of these precautionary acts can inform us based on the class and complexity of said acts of a certain level of knowledge in medical, forensic, police, chemical issues... can indicate a level of improvement, planning, improvisation...

Precautionary acts are generally acquired and developed with the experience accumulated by the aggressor, thus in his first crime, the acts of precaution are almost non-existent, hence it is very important to analyze the first crimes well to find data that can be masked in futures. The fact that he may be "registered" by the police means that he must erase all forensic evidence that may lead to his identification.

The proliferation today of numerous television series on forensic and criminal investigation topics makes it more difficult to establish prior criminal experience in function of precautionary acts, since in these series a "novice" criminal can learn many precautionary acts that in other circumstances would take a long time learn.

Analyze the possible simulation of scenes

To rig or simulate the crime scene would be closely related to precautionary acts only that the simulation in this case involves a much more complex, planned and global alteration of the scene by of the aggressor. It is not so much about removing evidence as it is about altering the evidence to direct the police to the wrong lines of investigation. The aggressor manipulates the evidence and adds traces to make it look like the scene of a crime other than the one that happened. For example, a husband who kills his wife and simulates the scene of a robbery in the house with the result in addition to the death of his wife.

To detect the scene simulation, the profiler must analyze and assess each of the forensic evidence and results of the scene, analysis individualized and joint, discovering possible contradictions and inconsistencies, taking into account that people can simulate but tests no.

You have to have a vision of each clue within the scene, where it is located, position, how it relates to the rest of clues, coherence with the reconstruction of the event, consistency with the rest of forensic results, consistency with our criminal profiling data, consistency with our knowledge and experiences on behavior and psychology criminal... Perhaps it is the part of the analysis of the crime scene that can be more difficult to carry out, but it is essential to carry out our criminal profiling in a correct way.

Perhaps the most famous and used classification in the criminal profiling technique regarding the crime scene, is the one that is related to the typology of criminals carried out by the F.B.I and the Behavioral Sciences Unit, specifically the organized-disorganized criminal classification.

After analyzing many crime scenes and delinquents, they came to the conclusion that the killers could be classified into organized killers and disorganized killers. Ressler, profiler of the F.B.I explains in his book serial killers, that there are murderers who show a certain logic in what they do, they are methodical, they plan their crimes, they are intelligent and socially competent, they would be the so-called murderers organized. On the other hand there would be the impulsive murderers, few intelligent, who are incapable of planning their crimes, usually related to schizophrenic disorders, would be the murderers disorganized.

From the psychopathological point of view, the organized one would be related to psychopathic people and the disorganized one with psychotic disorders. Ressler and the F.B.I profilers used the organized-disorganized terminology so that law enforcement could use it without regard for psychopathological nuances.

The profilers of F.B.I argue that the differences between an organized and disorganized crime scene lie in the same differences found in the personality of organized and disorganized criminals. That is, who is organized in his normal life, will be organized when he perpetrates his crimes, and who is disorganized in his day to day, will tend to be disorganized in his crimes. These degrees of organization and disorganization may be evidenced at the crime scene (Holmes & Holmes, 2009).

Next, in the table in the image below, is a table taken from the Holmes & Holmes book that compares the differences between an organized assailant crime scene and a disorganized assailant crime scene.

In general terms, the differences in the different scenes are based on the fact that an organized scene will give the feeling of having been more planned, the steps and modus operandi deployed by the criminal obey more to a careful plan than to an attack of aggressiveness and violence sudden. The disorganized person acts almost without premeditation on the scene, he does not control anything that he does, however the organized person has thought about what he has to do, there is little improvisation and all his movements seem to have been rehearsed before, he controls everything it happens.

The organized criminal uses a weapon that he has generally carried with him, it is part of his plan, the disorganized uses a weapon of opportunity from the same scene and quite possibly leaves it there.

The organized person personalizes his victim, he needs a person to humiliate, control, attack, the aggressor interacts, communicates with her, has a meaning, while For the disorganized, the victim is depersonalized, she is an object with which she does not want to have any relationship, she is not worth anything except being the target of her anger, of his aggressiveness. This is perceived in the scene, in the manipulation and injuries of the victim.

The organized aggressor plans his escape, erases or tries not to leave traces that give him away, controls his escape and this is perceived in the "order" and "cleanliness" in which he leaves the scene, while the disorganized one, in his psychotic lack of control, is not able to perform precautionary acts, he flees in a hurry, leaves numerous footprints, traces and clues.

However, in real practice it is difficult to find aggressors and therefore scenes totally organized or totally disorganized, rather what is usually given are scenes and behaviors mixed. Perhaps the disorganized scene of a crime perpetrated by a psychotic during an outbreak is easier to find and distinguish than a purely organized scene, in which you can possibly find many organized signs sometimes mixed with elements disorganized. This forces the profiler not to try to find the pure scenes that adapt to their stereotypes, but to find only what evidences have shown, fleeing from corseted, waterproof and exclusive classifications that make the criminal lose the rigor and objectivity profiling.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Crime scene in criminal profiling, we recommend that you enter our category of Legal psychology.

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