View of criminal profiling by laypeople, law enforcement, and judges: Is it helpful or harmful?

Abstract

Criminal profiling or criminal behavior analysis is a relatively new field that is still being expanded, so it needs to be critically examined. The public has been fed unrealistic information about profiling that has led them to want forensic evidence for most cases and this may affect their decisions on whether or not to convict an offender. Also, law enforcement and judges are more likely to having a different view than the public about criminal profiling. Judges and investigators are more likely to use a profile for helping narrow down suspects than to use it as evidence in court or to single out one individual responsible for the crime; which is how the public thinks profiles are used due to media portrayals. The media coverage has granted criminal profiling as interesting to the public, but it has also been shown that more research should be done to create legitimacy for the use of profiles in the court room and in investigations.