When you teach forensic psychology, the question students ask the most is how do I become a profiler? This question also appears on the frequently asked questions section of the FBI website.

Given the popularity of the CBS drama criminal minds, the how do I become a profiler question is going to be asked more than ever. The aim of this article, therefore, is to address whether becoming a criminal profiler is a realistic career aspiration.

Criminal Profiling in the USA

The FBI doesn’t actually have employees with the job title profiler. However, special agents at the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) at Quantico, Virginia do construct profiles of unknown offenders as well as offering case management advice, threat assessments and interviewing strategies to law enforcement agencies both home and abroad.

You cannot simply apply to the FBI and immediately become a NCAVC agent. A basic requirement is three years service as a FBI special agent. However, such is the competition for places, successful candidates tend to have up to 10 years of service behind them along with experience investigating violent and sexual crimes and abductions.

In terms of educational requirements an advanced degree in a Behavioral or Forensic Science is often listed as preferred qualification.

It is possible to work at the NCAVC without being a special agent. these professional support positions include Intelligence Research Specialists, Violent Crime Resource Specialists, and Crime Analysts. These are essentially research positions so an in-depth knowledge of research methodology, data collection and analysis is required.

Whether you are applying to become a NCAVC agent or a research specialist you can expect to have complete a range of written and psychometric tests.

Criminal Profiling in the UK

If you think getting into profiling work in the USA seems a difficult proposition, the chances of doing it in the UK are even more remote.

In 1995 Gary Copson conducted a comprehensive survey of police use of profiling, which among other things addressed the questions, who are the profilers? What are their qualifications? What do they actually do?

Who are the profilers

The Copson study found that profilers define themselves as having relevant expertise for a particular criminal
investigation, although this expertise is not confined to one profession or academic discipline.

In total 29 profilers were identified in the course of the study, the make-up of which was as follows:

4 forensic psychiatrists

5 academic psychologists

4 clinical psychologists

6 forensic psychologists

3 therapists (unspecified)

4 British police officers

1 British police scientist

1 British police data system analyst

1 American law enforcement agency

Qualifications

Psychiatrists are qualified doctors of medicine who undertake postgraduate training in psychiatry. Psychologists have both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in their specialist area and may have secured chartered status through the governing body that oversees their professional development. Police officers who undertake profiling work have usually studied psychology as a postgraduate.

What do they do?

As with any form of profiling, the principal aim is to generate a behavioural composite of an unknown offender so that it tells you something about the personality of the individual.

In the Copson study 184 accounts of profiling are documented. In 111 of these cases the profiler put his/her advice into writing. An analysis of the content of these written reports revealed 10 main areas of advice.

Features of the offence

Character of the offence

Origins of the offender

Present circumstances of the offender

Criminality of the offender

Geography of the offender

Predicted future behaviour of the offender

Interview strategies to be adopted

Threat assessment

Specific police recommendations.

So you still want to be a criminal profiler?

Good for you, but bear in mind that very few people get to do it as a form of career.

My advice would be to concentrate on doing well within a broader field e.g. psychology, while at the same time pursuing your interest in profiling as often as you can. For instance doing a profiling related final year project or dissertation.

You can find out more about pursuing a career in profiling by visiting http://www.all-about-forensic-psychology.com/fbi-profiler.html

By: David A Webb

We all know that almost all things can be found in the internet today, right. The internet has become a vital part in our day-to-day activity; in fact, we rely on the internet for almost everything. The government has also tapped this technology to give out information and access to the public records. Yes, we can access public records via the internet just go to the appropriate government division that holds the documents that you need.

Criminal records are a part of the public records this too can be accessed by the people. If for example they need criminal records of a person for their evaluation before they get hired from a job they are applying or you are to check the background of the nanny you want to hire. Public records are the best resources for you to look into. These can contain anything and everything regarding the person’s personal background, from birth records, marriage records, divorce records, death records, business contracts, property records, tax records and other offenses.

However, while access can be free for criminal records, on the other hand, access to any state criminal records are not possible. Because of some various reasons and the law, which governs the sourcing of information from state to state varies, access, can become difficult for some criminal records. All the records that are considered by the Federal government to be non-public will be stored in the Federal office and can be accessed only by criminal law firms, state prosecutor office, FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

Even when access can be approved, criminal public records can only give you an overview of the docket. Other information such as witnesses and other statements, which are sensitive in nature, is not revealed this is to protect the witnesses. This is one of the major reasons why such certain documents cannot be accessed online. In addition, some of the things that you cannot access are the juvenile records, and those records that are sealed by the judge. This is for first time crime offenders. Other agencies of the government may allow you to look at the criminal records of an individual you will be closely monitored by the federal state and make sure that you follow the rules and guidelines in accessing this sensitive materials. They make sure that the confidentially and privacy of those people involve will not be violated and information will not leak out in any way.

By: Cristy Chui

With consumer fraud on the rise, federal and local law enforcement agencies crack down increasingly on individuals and groups suspected of this crime. But what is consumer fraud to begin with? Generally, there is no universal definition of consumer fraud, which is usually prosecuted under federal mail or wire fraud statutes. The reason prosecutors love to use these statutes in fraud cases is because both apply to ‘’scheme to defraud”. Obviously there is an unlimited number of ways to defraud others, which will guarantee that criminal defense lawyers handling fraud and white collar crime cases will never be hungry.

Actually, the law is quite liberal to the requirements of proving a fraudulent scheme. The government doesn’t have to show that defendant actually swindled or tricked anyone, only that he devised the plan with the capacity to defraud.

The mail fraud statute is a power tool in the arsenal of federal prosecutors because it makes it a crime to commit fraud by using mails and it’s hard to envision any sort of business activity without using mail. So, in an average scenario, if a person is engaged in fraud and uses mail to promote the plan, the activity is controlled by the mail fraud statute, even where the mailing is done within one state. Moreover, you don’t even have to physically mail anything so long you cause someone else to use mail to promote your fraudulent scheme. One example: you defraud Mr. X to buy something from you and Mr. X mails you payment.

Another power tool is the wire fraud statute that makes it a crime to wire information in furtherance of the scheme be an interstate or foreign communication. In a similar fashion, you don’t have to personally wire anything so long the wire communication is from the victim of the fraud, or even a third party, and it is done in furtherance of the fraudulent scheme. In the past, the wire fraud statute was used against businesses engaged in a ”boiler room” operation to solicit customers by phone from across the country as well as in cases involving false advertisement on radio and TV.

This said, mailing or interstate or foreign wire communication is not criminal unless it has some nexus to the scheme, and is either ”incident to an essential part of that scheme” or in some way furthers the scheme.

A good question is when consumer fraud will become of interest to federal prosecutors. In most cases, where schemes involve only a few isolated incidents and losses to the victims are relatively minor, cases will end up state criminal courts. Other cases, where defendants acted on a larger scale against general public of numerous victims and where damages are substantial, will likely be investigated and prosecuted by federal authorities.

Corporations are often targets of consumer fraud investigations. A corporation is not a physical entity and it acts through its officers, employees, and agents and it may be responsible for their criminal acts if such acts are done within the scope of employment and with intent to benefit the corporation or further the corporate business. Does participation by a corporation in a scheme to defraud automatically make its officers criminally liable? No, however, to establish such liability, prosecutors will have to show that corporate officers consciously promoted the scheme.

By: Joseph Potashnik