Page "Geographic profiling" Paragraph 2

While the use of spatial analysis methods in police investigations goes back many years ( think of detectives gathered around a large city map with pins stuck in it ), the formalized process known today as geographic profiling originated out of research conducted at Simon Fraser University's School of Criminology in British Columbia, Canada, in 1989.

The leading developer of geographic profiling is Dr. Kim Rossmo, a former detective with the Vancouver, Canada Police Department.

His goal was to create a map by analytical crime mapping to display the most likely location of where the serial offender lives.

Geographic profiling model is based on the assumption that offender ’ s are more likely to select their victims and commit a crime which would be centered near their home address.

The technique has now spread to several U. S., Canadian, British, and European law enforcement agencies.

Originally designed for violent crime investigations, it is increasingly being used on property crime.