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couver Police Department Geographic Profiling Section (GPS). If it is deter-
mined that a profile is appropriate, then an official letter of request must
be sent to the Chief Constable. This letter should indicate the serious nature
of the crimes, the fact that an initial discussion with the GPS has already
occurred, and that all costs involved in the preparation of the profile will
be covered. The Vancouver Police Department provides this service at no
charge to requesting law enforcement and prosecution agencies, but any
expenses incurred must be borne by the requesting agency.

A case information package should be prepared and forwarded to the GPS.
The accuracy of the profile is determined by the quality of the information
on which it is based. This package should include the following:

•

 A list of all locations connected to those crimes believed to be part

of the series (e.g., victim encounter sites, crime scenes, body dump/victim
release sites, offender directions of travel, etc. This list should be in chro-
nological order, and include complete address information, and date, week-
day, and time of offence;

•

 A street map with all crime locations precisely marked;

•

 Case summaries;

•

 A criminal profile (if available);

•

 The investigating officer’s business card; and

•

 Any other relevant information.

Further information may be required (e.g., crime scene photographs, demo-
graphic data, bus routes, etc.). If necessary, the GPS will advise the investi-
gating officer of what additional information is required. All GPS casework
is kept strictly confidential.

The requesting agency must decide if they wish to have the geographic
profile prepared on-site. An on-site profile is more thorough, accurate, and
complete, and is recommended in more serious cases. All travel and accom-
modation expenses (e.g., airfare, taxis, airport tax, hotel, meals, etc.) are the
responsibility of the requesting agency, and must be reimbursed to the GPS
within 30 days of expenditure.

In most cases the GPS will prepare a written report, complete with colour
maps, indicating the area of most probable offender residence. This will be
mailed, by normal post (unless otherwise specified), to the investigating
officer. While this report explains the theory, process, and output of geo-
graphic profiling, and suggests certain investigative strategies, it is recom-
mended that the officer consult with the GPS if there are any questions or
if further explanation is required. If additional crimes occur or new infor-
mation comes to light, an update on the profile may be necessary. When
the offender is apprehended, the GPS would appreciate being notified so

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that the accuracy and utility of the geographic profile can be assessed. It is
important to realize that a profile is only one tool of many, and the request-
ing agency is responsible for intelligently combining it with the other tech-
niques available to an investigation. If there are any questions regarding
geographic profiling, the GPS can be contacted directly.

Not every case may be geographically profiled. While a preliminary

review is necessary to determine suitability, generally a profile may be devel-
oped when the following conditions have been met:

1. A series of crimes has occurred that have been linked together with a

reasonable degree of certainty (i.e., they are likely the responsibility
of the same offender);

2. There are at least five crime sites in the series (although in some

circumstances it may be possible to provide an assessment with fewer
locations); and

3. The investigation is of a serious enough nature to justify the time and

effort required to produce the profile.

A geographic assessment may be appropriate in those instances where a

full profile cannot be prepared, for example, in cases involving only a few
crime sites. Time-distance-speed calculations, journey-to-crime estimates,
mental map interpretations, Thiessen polygons, and other methods of anal-
ysis have been successfully used in both geographic profiles and assessments.
Thiessen polygons (also known as a Voronoi or Dirichlet polygons) define
catchment areas around central positions, and any point within a given
polygon is closer to its centre than to any other “competing” centre. The
technique can be applied in cases involving certain offender hunting styles.
For example, plotting the locations of playgrounds as Thiessen polygon cen-
tres may determine the probable residence area for a pedophile. This method
was employed to determine the catchment regions around high schools in
St. Catharines, Ontario, for the Green Ribbon Task Force investigation of the
abductions and murders of two teenage girls. The killers, Paul Bernardo and
Karla Homolka, identified through DNA, resided near the school attended
by the second victim. The geographic profile correctly predicted an offender
residence area of 10 square kilometres (0.5% of the total hunting area).

10.4.2.2 Requesting a Geographic Profile

A geographic profile takes approximately two weeks to complete, though
response time depends upon current case load. Requests are prioritized
according to level of community risk — murder over rape, current cases over
historical ones, active offenders over intermittent criminals. The process of
profile preparation follows a set outline, the main steps of which include:

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1. Thorough perusal of the case file, including investigation reports,

witness statements, autopsy reports, and criminal profile (if available);

2. Detailed examination of crime scene and area photographs;
3. Interviews with lead investigators and crime analysts;
4. Visits to each of the crime sites, when possible;
5. Review of neighbourhood and demographic information;
6. Study of street, land use, and transit maps;
7. Analysis; and
8. Report preparation.

The Vancouver Police Department established the world’s first geo-

graphic profiling capability in 1990, with a mandate to provide services to
the international police community. It has assisted in over 100 investigations,
involving 1500 crimes, for agencies such as Scotland Yard, the FBI, the New
York Police Department, and the RCMP. Requests have come from across
Canada and the U.S., as well as from Britain, Germany, Belgium, Greece,
South Africa, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. The
service is now also available from the RCMP, the Ontario Provincial Police,
and the British National Crime Faculty. Their profilers successfully completed
an intensive understudy training program in Vancouver, the details of which
are described below. Several other agencies have expressed interest in setting
up similar units. Currently, the possibility of the Police Fellowship of Profilers
(ICIAF) also becoming the international professional body for geographic
profilers is being examined.

Contact details for qualified geographic profilers

67

 are listed below:

Detective Inspector D. Kim Rossmo
Geographic Profiling Section
Vancouver Police Department
312 Main Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6A 2T2 Canada
Telephone: (604) 717-3247

Corporal Scot M. Filer
Geographic Profiling Unit
Pacific Region ViCLAS Centre
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
“E” Division Headquarters
4949B Heather Street

67 

The RCMP will be adding an additional geographic profiling position to its Behavioural

Sciences and Special Services Branch at Ottawa Headquarters in late 1999.

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Vancouver, British Columbia
V5Z 1K6 Canada
Telephone: (604) 264-2955

Detective Sergeant Brad J. Moore
Geographic Profiling Unit
Behavioural Sciences Section
Ontario Provincial Police
General Headquarters
Lincoln M. Alexander Building
777 Memorial Avenue
Orillia, Ontario
L3V 7V3 Canada
Telephone: (705) 329-6487

Detective Sergeant Neil Trainor
Serious Crime Analysis Section
National Crime Faculty
Foxley Hall, Bramshill
Nr. Hook, Hampshire
RG27 0JW
England, United Kingdom
Telephone: (01256) 602660

10.4.3 Understudy Training Program

The Geographic Profiling Understudy Program is designed to provide com-
prehensive training to members of those agencies wishing to establish their
own geographic profiling capability. Modeled after the FBI Police Fellowship
training, the program commenced in September 1997 at the Vancouver Police
Department Geographic Profiling Section, and the first successful graduates
completed their studies in the fall of 1998.

The following criteria were established as a general guide to assist police

agencies in the selection of suitable understudy candidates. Applicants
should:

• Have extensive service involving patrol duties and at least 3 years

recent experience in the investigation of crimes of interpersonal vio-
lence, including homicide or sexual assault, and have a documented
and superior level of investigative skill in this area;

• Have demonstrated an ability to work effectively with outside police

and other law enforcement agencies;

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• Have demonstrated above average oral and written communication

skills;

• Have a documented high level of interpersonal skills;
• Agree to remain in geographic profiling duties, on a full-time basis,

for at least 5 years following a 2-year understudy program;

• Be willing to travel on short notice (as both an understudy candidate

and a geographic profiler);

• Have the ability to dedicate long hours to academic pursuits as

required (both as an understudy candidate and as a geographic pro-
filer);

• Be mathematically competent with an ability to master basics of prob-

ability and statistics;

• Be computer literate and have the ability to accurately read maps;
• Have a documented high level of self-motivation and the ability to

work without supervision;

• Have the ability to learn psychological and geographical concepts and

techniques;

• Have a demonstrated ability to grasp abstract concepts and complex

scenarios;

• Have a documented aptitude for thoroughness in conducting complex

investigations;

• Have demonstrated a balance of tenacity and open-mindedness in his

or her duties;

• Have demonstrated a proficiency in public speaking and presenting

lectures to both small and large groups; and

• Have a high level of credibility in the police community, particularly

with investigative units both within and outside their own agency.

Suitable candidates embark upon a year of study under the tutelage of a

mentor who must be a fully qualified geographic profiler. The training pro-
gram is divided into four blocks:

1. Probability, statistics, and computer systems;
2. Violent and sexual crime, and offence linkage;
3. Violent sexual offenders and criminal profiling; and
4. Quantitative spatial techniques and geographic profiling.

The first three blocks are done through distance education, under the

supervision of the understudy’s mentor. The fourth block (four months) is
a residency at the mentor’s agency, involving both reviews of previous files
and casework in active investigations. The sequence of the training blocks is