The Science of Criminal Profiling Book

At most crime scenes something is left behind by the perpetrator. It could be a hair strand, a fingerprint, fiber from their clothing, a shoe print, or some form of DNA.

But where no clues are visible, the offender still leaves hints. It might be the interaction with the victim, the setting, the time. Criminal profilers have become expert at building on these clues to construct an imprint of the perpetrator's character and the manner in which he or she went about committing the crime. This is the MO — the modus operandi. Particularly in the case of serial crime, an MO can be established to aid the investigators in targeting likely suspects and pinpointing the next likely action or location. This in-depth analysis of the science of criminal profiling takes you step-by-step through profiling procedures — the characters, the theories, the psychology, the crimes — to demonstrate how today's homicide teams approach the toughest cases. It is essential reading for anyone interested in crime investigation and the criminal mind. He might think he's vanished without a trace, but the criminal almost always leaves an array of clues that hint at his identity and psychological makeup. It's the job of the criminal profiler to build a portrait of the type of person who committed the crime — a profile that will help police find their needle in a haystack. The Science of Criminal Profiling reveals the techniques profilers use to analyze criminal behavior, the origins and limitations of the practice, as well as the way some of history's most infamous criminals have been caught.