There are two types of criminal profiling used in law enforcement today: inductive and deductive. Inductive profiling uses information from offenders of similar crimes to determine the probable characteristics of the perpetrator for the crime at hand. Deductive profiling uses information and evidence of the current crime to, in effect, mentally reenact the crime and determine psychological characteristics and motives of the criminal whom they are investigating. Law enforcers have long debated which technique is more effective, as both involve very different processes. In recent times, both methods have come under scrutiny as public awareness of these methods increases. Criminal profiling is supposed to be used only in cases of extreme or notable violence, such as in ritual or serial killings, or when the criminal is thought to be psychologically unstable.

The validity of criminal profiling depends on its level of scientific integrity, especially when being used as evidence in a criminal prosecution. Much of the information derived from the profiling process is inferred, so it can be very subjective. It is important for investigators to use as much objective evidence as possible when developing their criminal profile. While historically similar incidents can be a good reference for the current investigation of crimes, the character profile of the criminal inferred from this information may not necessarily be accurate. Much of the information derived from criminal profiling may be considered probabilistic in nature, and thus not empirical enough to hold up in court.

A less scientific and more controversial aspect of criminal profiling is racial profiling. Criminal profiling is officially used for determining the psychological characteristics of a criminal as evidence for a fair trial. Classic criminal profiling is commonly used by federal investigators, but racial profiling on the other hand is more commonly associated with lower-level law enforcers who use race or ethnicity to determine whether or not an individual is criminally suspect. Law enforcers may use statistical evidence or personal prejudices to decide whether or not to engage with certain individuals. This method of criminal profiling has become controversial because of its use of past, subjective inferences rather than present, suspicious activity to determine whether a particular individual may or may not be a criminal. Its critics also call it criminal racism.

In one case of racial profiling gone awry, a Cambridge police officer arrested black Harvard professor Henry Gates outside his own home in July of 2009. Gates, who had just returned from a trip overseas, arrived home to find his own door stuck. The officer, a Sergeant James Crowley, was dispatched to Gates’ home, and eventually arrested Gates for disorderly conduct. The story was widely covered by news outlets, and refreshed racial profiling as a discussion topic. Supporters of Crowley defend his actions as appropriate for police officers responding to a potential break-in, while others claim that the officer would have reacted differently had Gates been white.

Many people argue that racial profiling is in direct conflict with Fourth Amendment rights. The amendment, which deals with a citizen’s right against illegal searches, states that no ones property should be searched without proper probable cause. Critics of racial profiling do not consider ethnicity to be reason enough to establish criminal activity and believe that no one should be especially targeted because of ethnic or racial orientation.

Supporters of racial profiling, members of the law enforcement community that value criminal prosecution for petty or serious crimes over the civil rights of citizens, contend that racial activity is a useful and proven tool for determining criminality. Many also argue that racial profiling may in fact be a necessary branch of law enforcement and that proper examination of sociological trends may determine which people are more likely to commit crimes.

The Atlas Vampire Case

In 1932, in a small apartment in Stockholm, the dead body of an unnamed 32-year old woman was discovered by residents approximately 48 hours after her murder. The ensuing investigation showed that the woman, a prostitute, had been killed by a crushing blow to the skull. Given that murders of prostitutes were not especially rare; the story would not have been likely to attract significant media attention were it not for a peculiar note in the autopsy report. It appeared as though the killer, or someone else, had apparently been drinking the woman’s blood, thus earning the murderer his famous “vampire” title. No witnesses came forward with information regarding the disturbing case, and the absence of forensic technology prevented detectives from tracking down potential suspects. Therefore, this spine-chilling crime remains unsolved.

The John Middleton Clayton Murder

The notorious unsolved murder of John Middleton Clayton is one of the best and most extreme examples of dirty, dangerous politicking in American history. An Arkansas politician, Clayton was contesting his defeat in an 1888 Congressional election when he was ruthlessly gunned down by an unknown man, likely a hired hit man, while at home in his boardinghouse. Following his death, the House of Representatives found that Clayton’s political opponent had committed election fraud, and named him the winner of the election leading to suspicion that his opponent had orchestrated his murder. Despite strong suspicions, suspects were never named and the conspirators were never revealed.

Black Dahlia

Few nauseating murders have attracted as much consistent sensationalized attention as that of Elizabeth Short, better known as the Black Dahlia. A young American woman, Short disappeared in Los Angeles on January 9, 1947, and her revoltingly mutilated body – spliced in half at the waist and completely drained of blood – was discovered six days later. Perhaps the creepiest and most recognizable mark of the Black Dahlia case is the Glasgow Smile – a laceration stretching from both sides of Short’s mouth to her ears – that her murderer had carved into her face. Most disturbingly of all, some have speculated that Short was still alive when she received these injuries. Many blame the failure to solve the case on journalists, who sensationalized facts and withheld key information from police in order to pursue their stories. The case has never failed to attract attention, and police have named hundreds of suspects and received at least fifty criminal confessions.

Alexander Litvinenko

Elusive spy stories have always managed to captivate public attention, and the poisoning of Russian Federal Security Service operative was no exception. Litvinenko was poisoned with polonium, perhaps the first person ever to suffer such a fate, and died in a hospital days later. Despite rampant theories citing members of the Russian KGB and several investigation attempts, no individuals have been charged with Litvinenko’s merciless murder, and the nature of this mystery helped amass fear and hysteria regarding the growing popularity of biological and chemical weaponry.

D.B. Cooper Hijacking

D.B. Cooper remains infamous for being the only man in American history to hijack an airplane and get away with it. On November 24, 1971, Cooper boarded a plane and, following lift-off, claimed to have explosives strapped to his body. He demanded parachutes and $200,000 in ransom money when the plane landed in Seattle, for which he released the other passengers. After re-embarking, Cooper jumped off the plane, and was never seen again. Many sketches were put together and a massive manhunt was undertaken, but no trace of Cooper was found until 1980, when part of his ransom money was found near the Columbia River. No passengers or crew members were hurt, but D.B. Cooper’s remarkable feat, and the intrigue surrounding him, has made him something of a real-life James Bond.

JonBenét Ramsey

The shocking case of a privileged six-year-old girl found dead in her basement became a national tragedy and a captivating, unsolved mystery. Born into an upper-middle-class family, Ramsey was found strangled in her basement on Christmas day, 1996. The inability of police to solve the case has been blamed largely on police ineptitude, and despite nearly fifteen years of investigations, no arrests have been made and no one has come forth in her murder. JonBenét’s case has garnered significant media attention, and has been described as “the perfect murder” because police have managed to find so few leads, despite fairly significant evidence.

Jack the Ripper

The unsolved crimes of Jack the Ripper have made him culturally emblematic – attracting flocks of tourists to London hotspots to be immersed in the fear and mystery of his activities. Over the course of eight weeks in 1888, a man committed at least five murders of prostitutes, and blatantly admitted to the crimes in letters submitted to London newspapers, signed “Jack the Ripper”. The disgustingly mangled remains of the women’s bodies – some with surgically removed organs- were the products of some of the most brutal murders recorded in history. Despite years of investigation, the most famous madman ever, the man named Jack the Ripper, has never been unmasked.

The Zodiac Killer

There is perhaps no more disturbing kind of serial killer than he who treats murder as a twisted game. For nearly a decade, the Zodiac Killer terrified the citizens of North California, and taunted policemen and detectives with personal phone calls and cryptic, coded messages offering clues to his identity. The killer claimed responsibility for multiple murders, and yet eluded capture.

Oscar Romero

Some of the most intriguing unsolved murders spark conspiracy theories, as is the case of Oscar Romero. A Salvadorian Archbishop, Oscar Romero was shot while performing a small service on March 24, 1980. Some believe the United States government orchestrated the killing, while others blame the country of El Salvador. At his funeral, a deadly bomb was detonated, heightening belief in a massive conspiracy. Despite rampant theories, the perpetrators of this assassination of a major public figure have never been identified, allegedly due to massive government cover-ups.

Tupac Shakur

Unsolved gang murders are regrettably common, but the most baffling of these drive-by shootings involves one of the most famous rap artists of all time. Tupac Shakur, a multi-platinum recording artist, was riding in the front passenger seat of a friend’s car when a white Cadillac pulled up next to him on Las Vegas Boulevard on September 7, 1996. Several of the Cadillac’s passengers fired shots into Tupac’s car, striking him several times. Despite the incredible amount of press attention surrounding Tupac, the shooters have never been identified, though were presumably members of a rival gang.

1. “Gimme the Dough!”

The owners of a New York pizzeria were understandably surprised when two men in masks robbed them at gunpoint. The two robbers reportedly demanded that the owners hand over the bag they were holding, which the robbers had expected to contain the pizzeria’s daily bank deposit. The robbers were disappointed to find out that the bag of dough they had stolen was in fact a bag of pizza dough, not cash.

2. Idiot Nerd Steals Bag, Is Photographed

A man in Wisconsin noticed a family of four posing for a photograph at a national landmark, and decided to take advantage of the family’s temporary distraction by sneaking behind them and stealing a bag of their possessions. The criminal was quickly caught and arrested when police looked at the picture, in which he was clearly visible. Additionally, the man was caught wearing jorts.

3. Bank Robber Figures He Can Afford New Wallet

In Washington D.C., a man after robbing a bank, forgot his wallet at the crime scene. The man handed the teller a note, which explained to her that he was holding up the bank. She handed him the cash, along with an exploding dye packets, and the man took off. When the dye packet started to go off, the man ditched the packet, along with his identification.

4. Dull Man Steals Sharp Knives

In 2008, a Grand Rapids, MI man attempted to steal hundreds of dollars in hunting knives from the retailer Meijer. When employees confronted the man, he fled but did not make it very far: he tripped during his escape and accidentally stabbed himself in the midsection. The man was hospitalized and charged with burglary.

5. Drunk Driving Laws Exist, Vermont Man Disagrees

A man who had been charged and convicted of seven DUI’s was released from jail after nineteen years. After a night of heavy drinking in celebration of his release, he thought it might be wise to drive home. He was pulled over and arrested for driving under the influence. The man has not yet commented on the irony.

6. Man Steals “Replicar” to Cover Tracks

One California man, after stealing some surveillance cameras from a local business, decided it might be best to ditch his white Mitsubishi pickup… for another white Mitsubishi pickup truck. The man was arrested soon after.

7. Tattoo Foils Incognito Man

Sterling F. Wolfname thought his name was cool enough to get it tattooed on his head. When police were looking to question Wolfname about a beating (which resulted in the death of the victim), Wolfname claimed to be someone else. The police were unconvinced and Wolfname was arrested.

8. Man Wants to Be Billionaire, Writes Check to Self

In 2008, a man in Texas, Charles Ray Fuller, attempted to cash a check at a Chase bank in Fort Worth. The check, which was made out for $360 billion and was not even in Fuller’s name, belonged to the account of his mother-in-law. Police became suspicious, and he was arrested for theft, as well as possession of marijuana and an illegal firearm. Fuller, 21, did not see anything unreasonable about cashing a check worth over seven times Bill Gates’ net worth.

9. Weed-Man

A 21-year-old Oregon man, Calvin Hoover, who had just spent the night at a local pub getting sloshed, dialed 911 after someone had broken into his truck and stole his coat, cash, and stash of weed. He made sure to give the dispatcher every detail, including the fact that he was missing an illegal substance. Police later found him wandering near his car and arrested him for driving under the influence, and kindly suggested he omit the weed from his theft report.

10. Permanent Disguise Backfires

Two men in Iowa who attempted to rob the apartment of another man clearly forgot to take a class on proper disguise techniques. The victim called police after they had tried to enter his home and described them as wearing hooded sweatshirts and a unique facial concealment. The criminals were later pulled over during a routine traffic stop, and were discovered because rather than purchasing ski masks or face-paint, the men decided to darken their faces with Sharpies. They were arrested for attempted burglary, and were probably stuck with discoloration for days.

“I’d say this job is about half statistics and half psychology,” Karen says. “First you gather all the available information and look for patterns. Then you have to ask and answer your own difficult questions about those patterns. What’s going on in the neighborhood socially and economically? Is there a certain age group that’s getting in trouble? What might be causing that? The answers are rarely simple.”

A Day in the Life of a Criminologist

6:25 a.m. Karen’s day begins with a manila folder full of reports on a specific neighborhood where the crime rate has grown at an alarming rate over the past six months. “Looks like the neighborhood’s reaching a very negative tipping point,” Karen says. “Consistent rise in burglaries, and a spike in assaults and homicides during the past six months. If we want to salvage what’s left of this community and prevent it from continuing this downward spiral, we’ll need to figure out what’s going on.”

Karen continues to study statistics and crime scene reports from the afflicted neighborhood.

9:00 a.m. Karen seeks out more information about the neighborhood. “For starters, I’m willing to bet things aren’t going well financially,” she says.

9:45 a.m. Karen discovers that several major employers in the area closed down about six months prior. “Looks like a call center moved out of the area, then a warehouse closed its doors just a month later. The average education level in the neighborhood is high school or less, so the loss of those two large employers likely put a strain on many of these people who were already struggling to make ends meet. It makes sense that we’d see an increase in robberies and break-ins. People are getting desperate, resorting to crime.”

11:00 a.m. Karen grabs an early lunch and decides to have a look at the neighborhood herself.

11:30 a.m. In the affected neighborhood Karen observes broken windows, abandoned buildings, proliferation of gang graffiti, and a high concentration of liquor stores. An alarming number of loitering citizens are wearing gang colors, including several large groups of children aged 10-15. Karen takes notes on everything she sees indicative of larger problems in the neighborhood.

3:00 p.m. Karen is back at her desk, compiling the data and her own observations into a report. “This area was struggling already, but now it looks to me like money has just stopped flowing into this community. Many of the few remaining businesses aren’t going to be good for the area in the long term. The liquor stores and the storefronts advertising payday loans, which tend to prey on people who desperately need cash. I see economic despair here, and I think that has helped gangs flourish.

“My job may seem a bit grim from outside, but I find it fascinating. A criminologist sees some of the darker aspects of society, but the goal is to ultimately understand crime, reduce it, and develop long-term strategies for improving the lives of citizens.”