Up to Markowitz's Rant
Robin, word of advice: relax. Profiling is a tried and true method of predicting, explaining, and elaborating on the behavioral evidence of the perpetrator of a crime or a series of crimes. The purpose of profiling is to provide law enforcement agencies with some indication of who they are looking for, especially in instances where physical and circumstancial evidence is lacking. The purpose of profiling has never been to take the place of other types of evidence nor to undermine evidence gathered but to supplement it. The case involving Richard Jewell is most unfortunate and Mr. Jewell deserves to seek recompense for his misfortune. But, when searching for the perpetrator of a bombing, it is rather common to look at those who are involved with reporting the sighting of a bomb. Past experience has shown law enforcement officials that, with some frequency, these reporters are actually the perpetrators. Unfortunately, Mr. Jewell was not only a reporting party, he also fit the type of person who most likely would have planted the bomb. In the face of evidence which did not readily identify the perpetrator, law enforcement officials acted on the behavioral evidence. This hastiness to identify the perpetrator should not demean the overall effectiveness of profiling. By the way, Wayne Williams was not convicted solely on the basis of profiling. He was identified due in large part to the profile. He was convicted based on substantiating physical and circumstantial evidence which reinforced Williams' identification thus imprisoning a serial murderer who might have continued his killing streak were it not for the profiling efforts of the FBI.
Copyright © 1997 by J.D. Woods jdwood@mail.wm.edu All Rights Reserved.
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