Geographic Profiling

Geographic profiling is an investigative methodology that analyzes crime locations to determine the most probable area of offender residence. It can also be defined as a spatially based information management tool for serial crime investigation. The process provides an optimal search strategy by making inferences from the locations and geometry of connected crime sites.

Specifically, geographic profiling uses the sites of a linked series of crimes to determine the most probable area of offender residence through the production of [Page 206]probability surfaces (“jeopardies”). These are integrated with street maps of crime areas to produce what are referred to as geoprofiles. A sophisticated computer system called Rigel accomplishes this through an algorithm that describes the spatial nature of the criminal hunt process. More generally, geographic profiling is ...