Offender Profiling Series
Profiling
Property Crimes
Edited by David Canter & Laurence Alison (2000)
back to Profiling
Property Crimes
Profiling Property Crimes
Simon Merry
Crime Analysis: Principles for Analysing Everyday
Serial Crime
In pursuit of 'intelligence led policing' the paper
brings together psychological principles underpinning the understanding
of crime to present an operational system for analysing volume crime.
The account commences with an abridged history of crime analysis chronicling
the longevity of the Modus Operandi system and the pins-in-map approach
of more recent times. Drawing from research on temporal, spatial and crime
scene behaviour the system defines the disciplines of Comparative Case
Analysis, Suspect Identification and Target Profiling. The system, which
is operational in at least one British Police Force, is illustrated by
studies of house burglary and can be applied to any serial crime ranging
from murder to cycle theft. The system organises mental processes and
is supported by data handling and mapping technology rather than being
driven by the latest commercially developed software.
Simon Merry completed
a BA degree in Social Science with the Open University before obtaining
his MSc in Investigative Psychology at the University of Liverpool. He
is a Superintendent with Dorset Police and is a part-time PhD student
conducting further research into the crime of house burglary. He has been
responsible for transferring academic research into the operational policing
sphere.
