Crime Pattern and Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Crime Pattern and Environment - Essay Example It is a process where the detectives try to trace the path of the criminal using specialised tools. They cover an entire area where the crime has been taking place and put it on radar, tracing the possible movements of the criminal through previous precedents. It involves the mental psychology of the criminal as well as once the criminal has committed a crime and moved on to another area, the detectives then try tracing the path from one place to another, understanding the movement of the criminal in order to catch him. Originally it was applied in cases of serial murder, rape and bombings, it is now frequently being used in robbery, burglary, arson and fraud cases as well. This methodology evaluates the location of connected serial crimes in order to figure out the most probable area for the criminal activity. The idea was propounded by Kim Rossmo, who in 1995 wrote a doctoral dissertation on this aspect. This methodology was then taken into practice by the Vancouver Police Department. Rossmo was Vancouver based detective who pioneered this methodology. He then developed a computer programme known as Criminal Geographic Targeting which is used as a tool to trace criminals. Geographical profiling helps to analyse the abundance information via geographical links in order to apprehend the movement of the criminal. It involves having a large pool of information as the first step to gain an understanding on the whereabouts of the criminal. Once the information arrives at the hands of the investigators, geographical profiling helps the detectives to marrow down the area within which the crime has been taking place for better accuracy. â€Å"Geographic-profiling consists of both quantitative (objective) scientific geographic techniques and qualitative (subjective) components e.g. a reconstruction and interpretation of the offender’s mental map.’ The primary geographic technique is a computerized system known