How To Become A Criminal Profiler Complete Career Guide

Criminal profiling profession is a mixture of criminal investigation and psychology. The criminal profilers assist law enforcement and government agencies that pursue perpetrators. The criminal profilers have a background in forensics and psychology. Through their background, the criminal profiler looks for personality traits and characteristics of criminals. In a nutshell, the criminal profilers search for human traits for crime scenes and find out the reason behind humans’ committing the crime.

Criminal profiling is a combination of analyzing the physical and behavioral evidence, reconstructing the crime from the begging to the end and coming up with most scientific determination possible with the evidence available.

Criminal Profiler Job description

The prime responsibility of a criminal profiler is to make a psychological profile of a criminal suspect. In the criminal profile, the traits and behaviors of the suspects are mentioned. The profile carries information about the behavior of the suspected criminal, his conduct during the crime and typical patterns that he or she follows during the crime. This profile helps the law enforcing agencies to identify and catch the suspect quickly.

A criminal profile is created by:

Examining the evidence from the crime
Interviewing witnesses and victims
Analyzing the crime scene

During the investigations, it is criminal profiler job to look for patterns that are being followed. For example, take an example of a robbery, the criminal profiler will have to look for methods used to invade the house and the patterns that were followed during the crime.

The profilers will than matching the patterns with already existing profiles. Comparing these profiles will help him, or her identifies similar ways through which he can identify the suspected criminals.

Psychological profiling also helps criminal profilers to understand human behaviors during crimes and the way humans respond to the legal system of the state. Criminal profilers work for local, state and federal law enforcement and government agencies. Apart from this, criminal profilers also work independently and render their services to lawyers and police department on contracts.

Criminal profilers with a doctorate can work in the field of academia and research. The findings of these researchers can be used in the area further to clarify the concepts of human psychology and crime. The criminal profilers can be called in courts to testify as an expert witness.

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Traits Of An Excellent Criminal Profiler

A criminal profiler uses both inductive and deductive reasoning to develop a profile of criminals based on the characteristics of the crime committed. The FBI stated the following traits to be present in a successful criminal profiler.

A criminal profiler must have skills

Critical thinking skill through logic and reasoning.
Strong intuition and analytical skills
Emotional detachment
Understanding of criminal minds and psychology
Active listening ability to understand what is and isn’t said
Complex problem-solving ability
Ability to apply scientific reasoning in the criminal investigation
Determination and persistence
Attention to details
The ability to convey information effectively
Ability to arrange complex material in a straightforward manner

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How To Become A Criminal Profiler Step By Step Guide

There are varieties of educational, experimental and career paths for becoming a criminal profiler. Some pursue criminal profiler programs while others join law enforcement agencies to pursue their career in the field.

In this section, we shall discuss the steps that you can take to pursue your care as a criminal profiler.

Graduate From High School

The candidates with interest in becoming criminal profiler have to complete their high school education. The students who have an interest in the subjects of psychology and government policies are highly advised to pursue their career in the field.

There is an internships program offered by the local police departments in many of the states. The students with interest in the field join these internship programs to enhance their chances of employment in the field.

Suppose you are one of those college students who have an interest in the profession of the criminal profiler. In that case, you are advised to look for these internship opportunities at your local police department.

Get a bachelor’s degree.

For the people who are planning to land at higher positions as criminal profilers must have a bachelor’s degree. Most of the federal and state law enforcement agencies prefer candidates with a bachelor’s degree.

There are wide ranges of programs that can qualify a candidate for the position of criminal profiler; however, the bachelor’s degree program must have majors like psychology, forensics, criminal justice or similar field. Aspiring students are highly advised to strengthen their grip on the subjects of law, criminal justice, crime scene analysis, psychology, forensics and sociology.

Attend Law Enforcement Academy

It was essential to understand that only a bachelor’s degree, you cannot help you become a criminal profiler. The job of criminal profiler requires an experience of several years in investigation and crime analysis. The typical path to gain this experience is to begin your career in local or state level law enforcement agencies. Not only it will help you become a criminal profiler, but it will also help you understand the basic principles of the criminal justice system.

Successful criminal profilers have extensive experience in the field of investigation; therefore, it is recommended to attend a training program in one of the law enforcement training academies. The qualification requirement for each academy is different. However, the general requirements for the candidates in most of the academies are to be a US citizen, possess a valid driving license and no felony convictions. The duration of the training program can be between three to five months.

It is important to note here that all law enforcement agencies do not have profiling divisions. So before you join the law enforcement agency, it is crucial to search for the agency and find out if the agency has a criminal profiling division.

Get Competitive

Getting a job in law enforcement agency does not necessarily mean that you have achieved the milestone of becoming a criminal profiler. There is massive competition for becoming a criminal profiler, and an aspiring candidate will have to meet the standards before he can be selected for criminal profiling.

To put yourself best in a position to become a criminal profiler, you will need to build a strong resume that demonstrates that you have education, experience and training necessary for the grueling task of a criminal profiler.

Relevant experience in the field is also essential to become a criminal profiler. You will need to work through the ranks of law enforcement agencies. For example, in law enforcement agencies, you will have to work as an investigator or a detective and work on violent crimes. During the job of an investigator or detective, you will have to handle many sorts of crimes. All these years of serving in law enforcement agencies will help you gain useful experience which will help you become a criminal profiler.

During your job in law enforcement agencies, you can expect interviews and several other assessment tests. Based on these assessments, the agency will decide about your compatibility for the job of the criminal profiler. Your record in the department shall be exceptional, which means that you must have well-written reports and successful arrests and prosecutions.

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Physical fitness requirements

As criminal profiling is a career of law enforcement, therefore it requires a certain level of physical fitness. If you are not in shape, consult your doctor and start improving your physical fitness so that your fitness doesn’t become a hurdle in your way to getting you a dream job. The requirements are different for each agency; however, if you exercise regularly and maintain your physical fitness, you are most likely to compete physically.

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Training

According to the FBI– the pioneer agency of criminal profiling, in addition to the law enforcement and police academy training criminal profilers receive professional training to polish their skills further and prepare themselves for the job of criminal profiling.

This professional training is conducted by various units such as the FBI’s behavioral unit and the national center for the analysis of violent crimes. Initial training includes 500 hours of training, and profilers are also expected to join national and international profiling organizations. Moreover, the profilers also attend seminars and continuing education courses for staying active in their fields.

Getting started

The job of the criminal profiler is incredibly attractive, with plenty of challenges to keep you busy and excited about your duties. Suppose you are motivated and willing to become a criminal profiler. In that case, there is no time like the present to get started on gaining the knowledge, training and experience that you will need for this great job of the Criminal justice system.