Behavioral Science Unit
The Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) is an instructional component Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Training Division at Quantico, Virginia. The unit, under the official name of Behavioral Research and Instruction, currently works on developing and providing programs of training, research, and consultation in the behavioral sciences—understanding who criminals are, how they think, why they do what they do—for the FBI and law enforcement communities.[2]
Badge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Contents
History 1974 1976 1979 Flag of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 1984 1985 Common name Federal Bureau of Investigation 1997 Abbreviation FBI 2008 Motto Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity 2018 Agency overview Functions Training Formed July 26, 1908 FBI Academy Employees 35,104[1] (October 31, 2014) Law Enforcement [1] Research Annual budget US$8.3 billion (FY 2014) Databases Jurisdictional structure Evil Minds Research Museum Federal agency United States Legacy (Operations The Term "Serial Killer" jurisdiction) Criminal Profiling Operations United States In Popular Culture jurisdiction References Legal As per operations jurisdiction jurisdiction History Governing U.S. Department of Justice body Constituting 1974 United States Code Title 28 instrument The FBI establishes the Behavioral Science Unit. The agents Patrick Part II Chapter 33 Mullany and Howard Teten form the unit, which was originally made General nature • Federal law enforcement of 10 agents, in response to the rising wave of sexual assault and Headquarters J. Edgar Hoover Building [3] homicide during the early 1970s. Northwest, Washington, D.C.
1976 Sworn 13,260 (October 31, 2014)[1] members FBI Supervisory Special Agents John Douglas and Robert Ressler, [1] members of the Behavioral Science Unit, begin work on compiling a Unsworn 18,306 (October 31, 2014) centralized database on serial offenders.[4] Douglas and Ressler travel members to prisons across the United States in order to interview serial Agency Christopher Wray, Director predator and obtain information about:[4] executives David Bowdich, Deputy Motives Director Planning and preparation List of FBI Directors, Other Details of the crimes Disposal of evidence (e.g. bodies and murder weapons) directors Child agencies FBI Academy 1979 FBI Laboratory After interviewing thirty-six incarcerated serial predators, Agent Criminal Justice Douglas and Agent Ressler complete their database on serial Information Services (CJIS) offenders.[4] Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG)
FBI profilers begin working out in the field and providing Counterterrorism Division consultations on active cases.[4] (CTD) FBI Police (FBIP) 1984 Major units 5 The Behavioral Science Unit split into two units, on remaining the Field offices 56 (List of FBI Field Offices) Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) and the Behavioral Science Notables [3] Investigative Support Unit (BSISU). The BSU is responsible for People training cadets in behavioral science at the FBI National Academy in John Edgar Hoover, Quantico, VA, while the BSISU is responsible for in-field Director, for being the investigation and consultations.[3] founding director William Mark Felt, former Federal Agent, for whistle 1985 blowing, Watergate scandal The National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) is Joseph Leo Gormley, established in the Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI Academy.[5] Forensic Scientist, for The NCAVC replaces the Behavioral Science Investigative Support expert testimony Unit (BSISU), and works to give behavioral-based investigative and Programmes operational support, in regards to research and training, to federal, FBI Ten Most Wanted state, local, and international law enforcement agencies which are Fugitives conducting investigations of unusual or repetitive violent crimes, FBI Most Wanted Terrorists terrorism, and other serious crimes. National Incident Based Reporting System The FBI creates the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program Uniform Crime Reports (VICAP). VICAP is a system of records, containing Agents Douglas Significant and Agent Ressler's completion of data of serial offenders, COINTELPRO [2] operation(s) containing: Special Intelligence Service Crime scene descriptions Website Victim and offender descriptive data (e.g. names and identifying features) www.fbi.gov Laboratory reports Criminal history records Court records News media references Crime scene photographs and statements.
VICAP data consists of cases involving homicides, missing persons, unidentified victims, and sexual assault.[5] This information is collected to help profiles identify and match violent crime cases based on modus operandi, signature, and disorganization or organization of the crime scenes to then help investigators understand, track, and apprehend serial offenders.[3]
1997 The Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) created as part of the National Center for the Analysis of iolentV Crime (NCAVC).[6]
2008 The Behavioral Science Unit opens the Evil Minds Research Museum, where the FBI houses artifacts from serial killers and other offenders.[7]
2018 The Behavioral Science Unit remains a part of the FBI Academy under the official name of Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit.[8]
Functions
The Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit is comprised of agents with advanced degrees in the behavioral science disciplines of psychology, criminology, sociology, and conflict resolution.[2] Today, members of the Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit provide programs of research, training courses, and consultation services in the behavioral sciences.[2]
Training
FBI Academy The Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit conducts specialized and applied training in behavioral-based topics for new FBI agents at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA, including:[2]
Understanding Terrorist Mindsets and PoliceResponse Countering Violent Extremism Relational Policing Practices Informative and Emerging Technologies Global Hostage-Taking Applied Behavioral Science and Criminology for Law FBI Academy Image Source: ABC News Enforcement Operations Juvenile Crime and Behavior Conflict and Crisis Management: Theory and Practice Law Enforcement in the Future: Foreseeing, Managing, and Creating the 21st Century Juvenile Crime and Behavior Managing Death Investigations Psycho-Social Behavior, Mindset, and Intelligence Trends of Violent Street and Prison Gangs Stress Management in Law Enforcement Problem Solving and Crisis Intervention Psychology of Perception and Memory Psychopathology
Law Enforcement The Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit offers training in the behavioral sciences to domestic and international law enforcement officers, U.S. military officers, and other governmental and academic personnel.[2] Any such law enforcement officers or agencies must submit a written request to their local FBI field office in order to set up a training session, which depends on The Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit's resource availability and FBI training priorities.[2]
Research
Databases The Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit develops and facilitates relevant programs of training, research, and consultation in the behavioral sciences for the FBI workforce, military intelligence, and law enforcement.[8]
A necessary resource for this job is a central body of information and applied research in specialty areas on significant behavioral science issues.[2] The Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit compiles research programs (such as VICAP) containing evidence to help improve behavior analyses; this evidence is reviewed by an outside board of scientific and academic experts to ensure that research is valid and is scientifically and academically accepted.[5] These structured professional judgment tools are used to identify and measure human belief states, cognitive behavior, potential threat, or deception.[2]
These research databases are used by the Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit for specialized and applied training courses and by intelligence analysts for in-field services.[5]
Evil Minds Research Museum The Evil Minds Research Museum, located in the FBI Academy, collects items and artifacts that were owned, created, or used by serial killers–ideally their personal possessions–that were seized through search warrants or donated by their families.[7] All access to the museum is restricted to FBI agents, police personnel, and special guests of the Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit.[7]
These personal possessions give FBI profilers a different perspective into a criminal's mindset.[7] In this research, the FBI intends to develop a better understanding of offender motivation, personality, and intent in order to assist and enhance profiling investigative techniques.[7] Legacy
The Term "Serial Killer" FBI agent Ressler, a member of the original Behavioral Science Unit, is credited with coining the term "serial killer" in the year 1974.[5]
Ressler was lecturing at a British police academy in Bramshill, England, when he overheard an officer describing some crime (sexual assaults, robberies, arsons, burglaries, and homicides) as occurring in a series.[9] Ressler said that the police officer's description reminded him of a movie-industry term “serial adventures”—short episodic films featured in theaters on Saturday afternoons during the 1930s and 1940s which relied on cliffhanger endings to draw audiences back each week.[9] Cliffhanger endings ensure that a single "serial adventures" never has a satisfactory conclusion, and as Ressler said each ending built off of the previous episode's tension.[9]
Ressler believed that, similar to "serial adventures," the conclusion of each crime in the series only increased the criminal's tensions and desires.[9] The crime never satisfies the criminal's ideal fantasy, so serial criminals are instead agitated toward repeating their crimes in an unending “serial” cycle, hence the terms "serial killer" and "serial rapist".[5]
Criminal Profiling Criminal profiling, also known as offender profiling, is the process of viewing a crime and crime from a behavioral perspective in order to identify behavioral tendencies, personality traits, geographic location, demographics, and biographical features of an offender.[5]
One of the earliest recorded criminal profiles was assembled by Metropolitan Police in Whitechapel, London, during the Jack the Ripper case.[4] Upon request from the Police Department, the Police surgeon Thomas Bond offered a basic profile of Jack the Ripper based on his post mortem examination of the canonical victims.[4] Based on the killer's anatomical understandings, the surgical skill of the brutal mutilations, as well as the sexual nature of the murders, Bond surmised that the serial killer (who later came to be known as Jack the Ripper) was a male with basic medical knowledge harboring misogynistic rage.[4]
The first known successful (though only semi-accurate) criminal profile was the one compiled by the psychiatrist James Brussel on New York City's Mad Bomber in 1956.[10] After 16 years of fruitless investigation into bombings cases, theNew York Police Department (NYPD) requested the assistance of Brussel.[10] Though the media dubbed Brussel "The Sherlock Holmes of the Couch," many of Brussel's predictions related to physical and biological descriptors—that he wore a buttoned- Thomas Bond (British Surgeon) [10] up double-breasted suit or that he was a foreigner—had been inaccurate. Some Image Source: Thomas Bond Wiki psychological aspects of Brussel's profile that were based on Brussel's experience Page and expertise were accurate—that he suffered from paranoia—and assisted the NYPD in their investigation.[10] Though criminal profiling dates further back than the Behavioral Science Unit, it was the unit's adoption of psychological profiling techniques along with Agents Ressler and Douglas' work interviewing serial killers across the United States and compiling a database holding this information that established criminal profiling as an acceptable investigative tool.[4] Prior to their work, criminal profiling had never been used during an active investigation; instead it was often a last resort in cold cases.[4]
Today, there are multiple techniques and methods of criminal profiling.[8] The FBI's method of criminal profiling, used by the Behavioral Analysis Unit and taught by the Behavioral Research and Instruction Unit at the FBI Academy, is known as criminal investigative analysis (CIA).[4] There are 6 steps involved in the process of creating a criminal profile with the method of criminal investigative analysis:[8]
Profiling inputs Decision process models Crime assessment Criminal profiling Investigation Apprehension
In Popular Culture
The 2017 Netflix television series Mindhunter,[1] dramatizes the origin of the BSU, though the story is set in 1997.
The CBS television series Criminal Minds[1] follows a team of BAU profilers who analyze and apprehend unknown subjects (UNSUB).
In the NBC television series Hannibal, the FBI profiler Will Graham is recruited by the head of the BSU to assist in the investigations of prolific serial killers. References
1. "Frequently Asked Questions" (https://www.fbi.gov/about/faqs). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 2016-09-02. 2. "Federal Bureau of Investigation - FBI Academy - Behavioral Science" (https://www2.fbi.gov/hq/td/academy/bsu/bsu. htm). www2.fbi.gov. Retrieved 2018-09-19. 3. DeNevi, Don; Campbell, John H.Into the Minds of Madmen: How the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit Revolutionized Crime Investigation (https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=HeWAq-OGmx8C&oi=fnd&pg=PA9&dq=behavio ral+science+unit+fbi&ots=QNZcxERjUS&sig=zuLpkTMZ5Xc3AWfZ2YFh_xZF6JA#v=onepage&q=behavioral%20sci ence%20unit%20fbi&f=false). Prometheus Books. ISBN 9781615922468. 4. "The Birth of Modern Day Criminal Profiling" (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201505/the-bir th-modern-day-criminal-profiling). Psychology Today. Retrieved 2018-09-20. 5. "Behavioral Analysts" (https://www.fbi.gov/audio-repository/news-podcasts-inside-bau-profilers.mp3/view). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 2018-09-20. 6. "Fact Sheet - Criminal Profiling Program | Bureau of Alcohol, obacco,T Firearms and Explosives" (https://www.atf.go v/resource-center/fact-sheet/fact-sheet-criminal-profiling-program). www.atf.gov. Retrieved 2018-09-20. 7. "Behavioral Science Unit – Part II" (https://www.fbi.gov/audio-repository/news-podcasts-inside-behavioral-science-un it-2013-part-ii.mp3/view). fbi.gov. Retrieved 2018-09-20. 8. "FBI — BRIU" (https://web.archive.org/web/20151010084015/https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cirg/investigations-and-op erations-support/briu). 2015-10-10. Retrieved 2018-09-23. 9. "Origin of the Term 'Serial Killer' " (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201406/origin-the-term-s erial-killer). Psychology Today. Retrieved 2018-09-20. 10. "Criminal Profiling: The Original Mind Hunters" (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201712/cri minal-profiling-the-original-mind-hunters). Psychology Today. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
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