Файл: [D._Kim_Rossmo]_Geographic_Profiling(BookFi.org).pdf

Chapter 10, Color Figure 2

    Vancouver robberies—GeoProfile.

© 2000 by CRC Press LLC

Chapter 11, Color Figure 1

    Lafayette South Side Rapist—Jeopardy surface.

© 2000 by CRC Press LLC

Chapter 11, Color Figure 2

    Lafayette South Side Rapist—GeoProfile.

© 2000 by CRC Press LLC

© 2000 by CRC Press LLC

11.1.9 Mail Outs

Information regarding the offender can be mailed or delivered to those
households and businesses located within the peak area of the geoprofile.
This is accomplished through the geographic prioritization of postal or zip
codes; postal workers in the appropriate letter carrier walks can then delivery
the information packages at commercial rates, allowing thousands of pre-
mises to be covered for only a few hundred dollars. The purpose of this
approach is two-fold. First, people are more likely to respond to an individ-
ualized request stating the offender resides in their neighbourhood than they
are to generalized television broadcasts or newspaper stories. Second, this
method generates high quality information as it comes from those individuals
in a better position to know the offender from either home or work. Less
focused methods often produce low quality responses and information over-
load problems. The mail-out tactic is viable only if the offender description
information is sufficient and reliable; preferably, a suspect composite sketch
is available. Personality details generated from a psychological profile can
also be included.

11.1.10 Neighbourhood Canvasses

A thorough police canvass in the area where a victim was abducted, attacked,
or dumped is a useful and proven investigative approach. Such efforts may
also be directed within the neighbourhood of probable offender residence.
Prioritized areas can focus door-to-door canvassing, interviews, grid
searches, information sign posting, and community cooperation and media
campaigns. Police departments have used this approach to target areas for
leaflet distribution, employing prioritized letter carrier walks for strategic
household mail delivery. LeBeau (1992) notes the case of a serial rapist in
San Diego who was arrested through canvassing efforts in an area targeted
by analysis of the crime locations. The Vampire Killer, serial murderer Rich-
ard Trenton Chase, was caught in the same manner after a psychological
profile predicted he would be living near a recovered vehicle stolen from one
of the victims (Biondi & Hecox, 1992).

Neighbourhood canvasses and grid searches sometimes cover vast areas.

John Joubert left the body of his first victim, a young newsboy, in high grass
beside a gravel road outside of Omaha (Ressler & Shachtman, 1992). This
was 4 miles from where police located the victim’s bicycle, resulting in an
extensive building-to-building search. A circle with a radius of 4 miles has
an area of 50 square miles (130 km

2

). Methods to geographically prioritize

searches of this size have obvious value.

© 2000 by CRC Press LLC

11.1.11 News Media

Investigative media strategies may use a geographic profile in attempts to
generate new tips. Summary results or full profiles can be released, depending
on the details of the specific case and the status of the investigation. Because
of the risk of displacement, both spatially and temporally, this approach needs
to be carefully considered. Factors such as the number of crimes, the rate of
offending, the reliability of suspect descriptions, and the availability of other
investigative initiatives must be assessed. Television shows, including

CrimeStoppers

, news broadcasts, and special crime programs are the most

effective medium because of their visual nature and large coverage. Newspa-
pers and magazines can also be used. Mainstream media might be supple-
mented with neighbourhood newspapers and community postings in key
locations. Media strategies involving geographic profiling and surveillance
activities should not be conducted at the same time as the former will hinder
the latter. An optimal approach would first involve surveillance, followed by
a media campaign.

During 1995, a series of 32 armed robberies targeting primarily insur-

ance agencies plagued Vancouver, British Columbia. Three investigative
strategies were predicated upon the geographic profile. First, a search was
conducted of the Vancouver Police Department’s Records Management
System for known robbery offenders, matching the criminals’ descriptions,
who resided within the top 5% of the geoprofile. This failed to produce
viable matches; it later turned out that neither offender had a previous
conviction for robbery.

Second, a simplified geoprofile, displaying only the top 2% (0.7 mi

2

),

was generated for patrol officers. Previous research found robbers usually
return home after the commission of their crime; it was therefore suggested
that in addition to responding to a crime scene after the report of a new
robbery, patrol members should also search the most likely area of offender
residence, with particular attention paid to logical routes of travel. This tactic
also was unsuccessful; the offenders were using stolen cars and no reliable
vehicle descriptions were ever obtained (the geoprofile was used by police
units to search for stolen automobiles that might be “laid down” prior to a
new robbery). The third tactic involved releasing the results of the geoprofile
on television through 

CrimeStoppers

. This approach was helpful in that the

robberies immediately stopped. Detectives identified the offenders by reas-
sessing their tips. The primary robber’s address was located within the top
1.5% of the peak geoprofile area. 

Figures 10.2

, and Chapter 10 Colour 

Figures

1

 and 

2

 show, respectively, the crime sites, jeopardy surface, and full geopro-

file for this case. The residence of the offender is marked with a blue dot in
Chapter 10 Colour 

Figure 2

.