Geographic Profiling

by D. Kim Rossmo

Overview

Geographic Profiling explores this cutting‑edge investigative methodology for determining the most probable area of an offender’s residence by analyzing the locations of a series of connected crimes. Geoprofiling allows police detectives and law enforcement officers to prioritize suspects, focus their investigations, and manage information overload. This extensive and exhaustive work explains the underlying theories and operational principles of the methodology. To provide context, extensive reviews of the research on serial murder, rape, and arson, stranger child murder, behavioral/psychological profiling, linkage analysis, and the geography of crime are included.

As any police officer who has walked a beat or worked a crime scene knows, streets have hot spots, patterns, and rhythms. Understanding the varied geographic information in a crime series can be challenging. Renowned expert Kim Rossmo explains the concepts and applications of geographic profiling, and in this second edition updates his groundbreaking book with informative and engaging figures, tables, and examples. A range of applications are discussed including suspect prioritization, database searches, tactical response plans, missing person investigations, clandestine grave identification, and the role of geography in wrongful conviction reviews. Dr. Rossmo discusses the nature of police inquiries, criminal evidence, investigative challenges and failures, and more. The book explores the application of geographic profiling to violent and property crime, single offenses, epidemiology, counterterrorism/insurgency, and even earthquake epicenter and pirate base prediction. Fascinating new case studies include the Golden State Killer, Operation Lynx, the Zodiac Killer, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the DC Snipers, and the Austin Midnight Assassin.

Geographic Profiling is a must‑have reference for detectives, crime analysts, and law enforcement officers who want to follow the geographic clues in their cases. Its clear presentation makes it ideal for college courses, police training, university scholars, and students of true crime.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032329291
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/02/2025
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	538
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Kim Rossmo is a professor and the Director of the Center for Geospatial Intelligence and Investigation in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Texas State University. He has researched and published in the areas of criminal investigations and the geography of crime. He was the Detective Inspector in charge of the Vancouver Police Department’s Geographic Profiling Section, which provided investigative support in serial murder, rape, bombing, and arson cases for agencies around the world. His books include Geographic Profiling and Criminal Investigative Failures. Dr. Rossmo was awarded the Governor General of Canada Police Exemplary Service Medal.

Table of Contents

1	Introduction	1
2	Serial Murder	5
2.1	Serial Murder	5
2.1.1	Definitions and Typologies	6
2.1.1.1	Characteristics	9
2.1.2.	Incidence, Population, and Growth	10
2.1.3.	Theories	16
2.1.4.	Victimology	26
2.2	Child Murder	30
2.3	Murder and Distance	33
3	Serial Rape and Arson	35
3.1	Serial Rape	37
3.2	Serial Arson	45
4	Forensic Behavioural Science	49
4.1	Investigative Difficulties	49
4.2	Police Strategies	52
4.2.1	Linkage Analysis	53
4.2.1.1	Physical Evidence	54
4.2.1.2	Offender Description	55
4.2.1.3	Crime Scene Behaviour	57
4.2.2	Other Investigative Tactics	64
5	Criminal Profiling	67
5.1	Development of Profiling	69
5.2	Organized and Disorganized Crime Scenes	71
5.3	Applications of Profiling	73
5.4	Critiques	74
5.5	Evaluation Studies	76
5.6	Profiling and Probability	80
5.7	Expert Testimony	81
5.8	Future of Profiling	85
6	Behavioural Geography	87
6.1	Movement and Distance	87
6.2	Mental Maps	89
6.3	Awareness and Activity Spaces	90
6.3.1	Anchor Points	91
6.4	Centrography	91
6.5	Nearest Neighbour Analysis	94
7	Geography of Crime	97
7.1	Geography and Crime Studies	98
7.1.1	Journey-to-Crime Research	99
7.2	Environmental Criminology	111
7.2.1	Routine Activity Theory	112
7.2.2	Rational Choice Theory	114
7.2.3	Crime Pattern Theory	116
8	Target and Hunt	123
8.1	Target Patterns	123
8.1.1	Place and Space	123
8.1.2	Hunting Grounds	126
8.1.3	Target Backcloth	127
8.1.4	Crime Sites	128
8.1.5	Body Disposal	129
8.1.6	Learning and Displacement	132
8.1.7	Offender Type	134
8.2	Hunting Methods	135
8.2.1	Target Cues	135
8.2.2	Hunting Humans	138
8.2.3	Search and Attack	139
8.2.4	Predator Hunting Typology	142
9	Predator Patterns	145
9.1	Spatial Typologies	145
9.2	Geography of Serial Murder	151
9.2.1	Methodology	152
9.2.1.1	Serial Killer Data	152
9.2.1.2	Newspaper Sources	152
9.2.1.3	Offender, Victim, and Location Data	154
9.2.2	Serial Killer Characteristics	155
9.2.2.1	State Comparisons	156
9.2.3	Case Descriptions	157
9.2.3.1	Richard Chase	160
9.2.3.2	Albert DeSalvo	160
9.2.3.3	Clifford Olson	161
9.2.3.4	Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi	162
9.2.3.5	Peter Sutcliffe	169
9.2.3.6	Richard Ramirez	163
9.2.3.7	David Berkowitz	164
9.2.3.8	Jeffrey Dahmer	165
9.2.3.9	Joel Rifkin	165
9.2.3.10	John Collins	166
9.2.3.11	Aileen Wuornos	167
9.2.3.12	Ian Brady and Myra Hindley	167
9.2.3.13	Jerry Brudos	168
9.4	Serial Murder Characteristics	168
9.4.1	Offenders	168
9.4.2	Victims	170
9.4.3	Locations	173
9.4.4	Crime Parsing	178
9.4.5	Clusters	179
9.4.6	Trip Distance Increase	181
10	Geographic Profiling	185
10.1	Mapping and Crime Analysis	185
10.2	Geography and Crime Investigation	188
10.3	Offender Residence Prediction	195
10.3.1	Criminal Geographic Targeting	195
10.3.2	Performance	202
10.3.3	Validity, Reliability, and Utility	204
10.3.3.1	Validity	204
10.3.3.2	Reliability	208
10.3.3.3	Utility	209
10.4	Geographic Profiling	211
10.4.1	Profiling Considerations	212
10.4.2	Operational Procedures	216
10.4.2.1	Information Requirements	216
10.4.2.2	Requesting A Geographic Profile	218
10.4.3	Understudy Training Program	220
10.4.4	The Rigel Computer System	222
11	Investigative Applications	225
11.1	Strategies and Tactics	225
11.1.1	Suspect Prioritization	225
11.1.2	Police Information Systems	226
11.1.3	Task Force Management	227
11.1.4	Sex Offender Registries	228
11.1.5	Government and Business Databases	228
11.1.6	Motor Vehicle Registrations	229
11.1.7	Patrol Saturation and Stakeouts	229
11.1.8	Response Plans	230
11.1.9	Mail Outs	231
11.1.10	Neighbourhood Canvasses	231
11.1.11	News Media	232
11.1.12	Bloodings	233
11.1.13	Peak-of-Tension Polygraphy	233
11.1.14	Fugitive Location	233
11.1.15	Missing Bodies	234
11.1.16	Trial Court Expert Evidence	234
11.2	Jack the Ripper	235
12	Conclusion	241
	Appendices	245
Appendix A	Serial Murder Data Set	245
Appendix B	Data Coding Forms	251
	Glossary	255
	Bibliography	267
	Index	335

Editorial Reviews

Rossmo (Vancouver police department) examines the spatial patterns produced by the hunting behavior and target locations of serial violent criminals. Hunting behavior refers to victim search and attack processes engaged in by an offender, and target locations are the various geographic sites connected to a crime series. The methodology determines the most likely area of offender residence, while managing the large volume of information typically generated in major crime investigations. The author concludes with case descriptions of some of the most notorious serial killers in America, and the application of geographic profiling to police strategies such as task force management and neighborhood canvasses. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"…a gift of genius with immense potential for both 'front-line' criminal investigators and academic criminologists … an illuminating foundation for future research."
-Gregg McCrary, FBI Behavioral Science Unit(retired)

"D. Kim Rossmo, has concisely put his numerous years of experience as a law enforcement officer and criminologist into a very important and readable book for fellow practitioners…a leader in the field of geographical profiling for many years…a must read for law enforcement and criminal justice professionals alike."
Crime & Justice International

"This is a thoroughly researched and carefully documented book with a bibliography exceeding 65 pages. The bibliography may well be the most extensive in the field, certainly so to this reviewer. For the serious researcher, the book is a 'must have' for the bibliography alone…This book explains the solid foundation on which geographic profiling has helped solve crimes, and includes contact information for qualified geographic profilers the author has trained. An entire chapter is devoted to practical applications of this new technique that address the information management problems presented by many major investigations."
—R. E. (Ron) MacKay, Insp., RCM Police (retired), Canadian Society of Forensic Science, 47th Annual Meeting, 2000

"…a gift of genius with immense potential for both 'front-line' criminal investigators and academic criminologists … an illuminating foundation for future research."

—Gregg McCrary, FBI Behavioral Science Unit (retired)

"D. Kim Rossmo, has concisely put his numerous years of experience as a law enforcement officer and criminologist into a very important and readable book for fellow practitioners…a leader in the field of geographical profiling for many years…a must read for law enforcement and criminal justice professionals alike."

—Crime & Justice International

"This is a thoroughly researched and carefully documented book with a bibliography exceeding 65 pages. The bibliography may well be the most extensive in the field, certainly so to this reviewer. For the serious researcher, the book is a 'must have' for the bibliography alone…This book explains the solid foundation on which geographic profiling has helped solve crimes, and includes contact information for qualified geographic profilers the author has trained. An entire chapter is devoted to practical applications of this new technique that address the information management problems presented by many major investigations."

—R. E. (Ron) MacKay, Insp., RCM Police (retired), Canadian Society of Forensic Science, 47th Annual Meeting, 2000

From the Publisher