Profilers: Leading Investigators Take You Inside The Criminal Mind - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1591022665 ISBN 13: 9781591022664

Publisher: Prometheus, 2004

Synopsis

In this compilation of expert articles, internationally recognized homicide investigators, most of them pioneers in developing the science and the art of profiling, share their insights gained from years of experience tracking the perpetrators of some of the most notorious crimes. Among the subjects discussed are: dealing with hostage situations, child abduction and murder in the David Meirhofer case, interviewing Jeffrey Dahmer, autoerotic murder, the challenges of creating psychological profiles, the use of forensic linguistics to track the Unabomber, assaultative eye injury ("enucleation"), and geographic profiling.A must for readers of true crime, forensic investigations, and murder mysteries, this unique collection of revealing articles offers a chilling and unparalleled glimpse into the workings of the criminal mind.

About this title

About the Author

John H. Campbell, Ph.D., is a professor in the criminal justice department at St. Cloud State University, the former Unit Chief of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, and the coauthor (with Don DeNevi) of Into the Minds of Madmen.

Don DeNevi is the author, coauthor, or editor of thirty-five books, including Profilers: Leading Investigators Take You Inside the Criminal Mind and Into the Minds of Madmen: How the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit Revolutionized Crime Investigation (both with John H. Campbell).

From the Inside Flap

Many people have heard about criminal investigative analysis, or profiling, thanks to its popular portrayal in television and movies. Although these media adopt the general approach to profiling, artistic license skews public perception of this meticulous process. In reality, profiling came into its own as a well-respected area of analysis after many painstaking reviews of unusually violent crime cases. Law enforcement agencies use criminal investigative analysis to identify and apprehend violent and often serial offenders by spotting vital suspect and crime scene characteristics, patterns of behavior and activity that help investigators anticipate the criminal's next step or spot likely victims. Although the terms used have evolved over the years, the process has not.

In PROFILERS, editors John H. Campbell and Don DeNevi offer a compelling selection of accounts that clarifies criminal investigative analysis, offering thorough reviews of cases and in-depth explanations of methodologies. These articles - by top homicide profilers in the FBI and other law enforcement agencies - bring together for the first time an informative yet riveting mix of styles and approaches to criminal profiling.

The first few chapters provide a much-needed historical perspective on profiling, focusing on the nuts and bolts f the process and using these tools in solving crimes involving, for example, mutilated victims of sexual murderers. In a fascinating probe into the mind of the rarest of criminals - the cannibal - Robert K. Ressler offers his interview with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. One chapter reviews in detail bizarre cases of autoerotic fatalities, and another chapter is an early examination of psychological profiling.

The remainder of this spine-tingling work centers on more contemporary uses of criminal profiling, including how forensic linguistics helped to capture the Unabomber, James R. Fitzgerald explains in detail how his unique efforts at the new science of linguistics analysis helped identify the mysterious bomber - efforts previously unused in criminal investigation. In chapter 17, Michael R. King stresses the need for cooperation among law enforcement officials in solving cold cases. To illustrate his point, King depicts in fine detail the murderers he has interviewed, including one who killed his sister-in-law and her daughter because he thought God told him to do so. Other chilling chapters profile those who rape and murder elderly women, those who abduct and kill children, those who gouge out their victims' eyes, and those who murder by fire.

This one-of-a-kind, enthralling compilation is a must-read for all who are amazed by or even just a bit curious about how psychology, behavioral science, and careful crime scene analysis converge to help capture serial criminals - before they claim their next victims.

Reviews

A bone-chilling conversation with Jeffrey Dahmer is just one highlight from this anthology of seasoned examinations of one of law enforcement's grimmest challenges. Campbell and DeNevi's second collaboration (after Into the Minds of Madmen) casts a wide net; although famous profilers like John Douglas contribute several of the 28 essays here, most are written by accomplished but little-known specialists. The result is a no-nonsense, technically oriented but readable look at how cops grapple with the worst felonies, including hostage taking, serial rape and murder, and child abduction/murder. The contributors take a measured tone toward the lethal predators they examine, as in Robert Ressler's discussion of his Dahmer interviews: "We must never forget that... there are many Jeffrey Dahmers walking among us." James Fitzgerald gives an account of using forensic linguistics to decode more than 200 of the Unabomber's writings, such as elusive marks like "indented writing," marks left by writing on another piece of paper over the examined one. FBI Special Agent Mary Ellen O'Toole offers a useful overview of the often misunderstood science of profiling ("Contrary to the current television and movie depictions..., a successful profiler is not psychic"). Other chapters offer updates on multidisciplinary approaches to cold cases and geographic profiling innovations. This is a rigorous and disturbing collection, accessible but compiled with law enforcement professionals in mind. Illus.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Prometheus
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1591022665
• ISBN 13: 9781591022664
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 377
• Editor: Campbell John H., Denevi Don