FBI method of profiling

Federal Bureau of Investigation
Common name	Federal Bureau of Investigation
Abbreviation	FBI
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agency information Badge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Flag of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Motto Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity Agency overview Formed July 26, 1908; 108 years ago (1908-07-26) Employees 35,104 (October 31, 2014) Annual budget US$8.3 billion (FY 2014) Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Jurisdictional structure Federal agency (Operations jurisdiction) United States Legal jurisdiction As per operations jurisdiction. Governing body U.S. Department of Justice Constituting instrument United States Code Title 28 Part II Chapter 33 General nature Federal law enforcement Civilian agency Operational structure Headquarters J. Edgar Hoover Building Northwest, Washington, D.C. Sworn members 13,260 (October 31, 2014) Agency executives James B. Comey, Director Mark F. Giuliano, Deputy Director List of FBI Directors, Other directors Child agencies FBI Academy FBI Laboratory Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) Counterterrorism Division (CTD) FBI Police (FBIP) Major units 5 Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) Law Enforcement Bulletin Unit (LEBU) Hostage Rescue Team (FBI) (HRT) Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) FBI Police National Security Branch (NSB) Field offices 56 (List of FBI Field Offices) Notables People John Edgar Hoover, Director, for being the founding director William Mark Felt, former Federal Agent, for whistle blowing, Watergate scandal Joseph Leo Gormley, Forensic Scientist, for expert testimony Significant Operations COINTELPRO Special Intelligence Service Website www.fbi.gov

The FBI method of profiling is a system created by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) used to detect and classify the major personality and behavioral characteristics of an individual based upon analysis of the crime or crimes the person committed. One of the first American profilers was FBI agent John E. Douglas, who was also instrumental in developing the behavioral science method of law enforcement.

The process this approach uses to determine offender characteristics involves:

To profile serial murderers, it is first necessary to link crimes to a type of common offender. To accomplish this, the type of offender is determined based on classes of action committed at the crime scene. This classification should be reliable and empirically tested in order to assign offenders to one particular group. The classification system should also meet the assumptions of a typology. To specify the characteristics that define a typology, the characteristics must occur together frequently, and be distinct from the characteristics specific to another type.

Much criticism surrounding the FBI process of profiling focuses on the validity of the classification stage. In particular, the criticism targets the organized versus disorganized dichotomy and its theoretical and empirical foundations and assumptions. This approach has become commonly used in the classifications of violent serial offenders. The only available study that examines the reliability of the classification system involved the reading of a sexual-homicide case summary. In this study, inter-rater reliability was found to be between 51.7% and 92.6%.

This study, although dated, does provide limited support for the reliability of the FBI sexual-homicide classification system. However, this form of reliability contributes little to the usefulness of the offender profiling system if the classification is not effective. The FBI classification system is derived from a single interview-based research study with a small sample of apprehended serial killers who operated in North America.