Geographic profiling

Prvi vtis pove veliko o človeku. Razgovor za službo, sklepanje novih poznanstev, sprejemni izpiti … Vsak izmed nas se je že kdaj srečal s situacijo, v kateri je moral postaviti prvi vtis ali pa si je na podlagi njega ustvaril mnenje o nekom. Lahko rečemo, da vsak poskuša ugotoviti lastnosti drugega na podlagi informacij, ki so na voljo v določenem trenutku. Na primer na podlagi videza, hobijev, poznanstev, izobrazbe, kulture … si lahko ustvarimo neki okvirni profil, kamor postavimo osebo. Na neki način je vsak izmed nas na določeni točki postavljen v vlogo nekakšnega profilerja ali pa je profiliran. Policija si pri preiskovanju zločinov pomaga z različnimi postopki, med katere spada tudi profiliranje. V diplomskem delu smo se osredotočili na eno izmed tehnik profiliranja, ki se uporablja predvsem pri preiskovanju kaznivih dejanj, kjer je storilec neznan. Ta tehnika se imenuje geografsko profiliranje. Je dokaj sodobna tehnika profiliranja, ki med seboj povezuje serijska kriminalna dejanja. Zanimale so nas njene prednosti in slabosti ter splošna uporabnost geografskega profila pri analizi kriminalnih dejanj. Pri tej tehniki profiliranja je v zadnjih desetletjih prišlo do napredka, k čemur je pripomogel razvoj tehnologije, interneta in programov na področju kartiranja zemljevidov. Da je geografski profil sploh možno izvesti, je pomembno imeti večje število že znanih kaznivih dejanj, ki jih je predvidoma storil isti storilec. Za lažje osredotočanje pri preiskovanju je pomembno tudi to, da prepoznamo, za kakšen tip storilca gre. To razberemo glede na njegovo gibanje po prostoru in tako lahko predvidevamo njegov naslednji korak. Večina ljudi, tudi storilcev, se počuti varneje v bližini svojega doma, saj tako operirajo na območju, ki ga poznajo in kjer imajo občutek varnosti. Z izvedbo geografskega profila odkrijemo najverjetnejšo možnost, kje se storilec nahaja oz. kje deluje. Za nastanek in obstoj geografskega profiliranja so pomembni zemljevidi, ki so danes s pomočjo tehnologije dokaj natančni in obsegajo velika območja. S pomočjo tehnologije in programov za ustvarjanje zemljevidov se lahko podatki nenehno izpopolnjujejo in tudi veliko hitreje ažurirajo, kot so se v preteklosti na mapah oz. kartah, torej na risanih zemljevidih. Danes najdemo že kar nekaj dobrih programov za kartiranje kriminala. Programi temeljijo na matematičnih funkcijah, ki določajo območje ogroženosti in vrnejo prikaz v večdimenzionalni sliki oz. zemljevidu. Da geografski profil nastane, je treba izpolniti več predpostavk. Uporaba in izvedba geografskega profila sta dokaj zapleteni in potrebujeta natančno in obsežno znanje izkušenih preiskovalcev kaznivih dejanj. First impressions tell us a lot about a person. From job interviews to meeting new people, everyone has been in a situation where they had to make a first impression or did, on the basis of it, form their opinion on someone else. It could be said that each person tries to estimate another’s attributes on the basis of limited information that they have at hand. For exampleon the basis of one’s look, hobbies, connections and education we can create a rough profile of a person. This means that everyone is at some point put in the role of a profiler, or is profiled himself. The police use profiling as one of their many methods of enforcing the law. In my dissertation, I focused on one of the techniques of profiling that is used when the perpetrator is unknown - geographic profiling. It is a relatively modern technique that aims to connect various instances of criminal behavior. I was intersted in its advantages and disadvantages, as well as the general applicability of a geographic profile when analyzing criminal behavior. This technique has developed in the last decades - this corresponds with the development of technology, the internet and mapping programs. In order to create a geographic profile, we need to have a variety of criminal acts that are perpetrated by the same actor. For an easier research focus it is also important to recognize the type of perpetrator we are profiling. This depends on their spatial movements, which allow us to anticipate their next steps. As most people, criminals also feel safest close to their home - this allows them to operate on a well-known area and maintain a feeling of security. Geographic profiles allow us to uncover the most likely options of a perpetrator’s location and their area of operation. Technologically improved maps and programs are crucial for the creation and existence of geographic profiling, as they can cover larger areas. The developments in mapping programs and technology allow us to continuously improve our data and update them faster than on paper maps. Today, there are many good programs for crime mapping available - they are usually based on mathematical functions, which assign vulnerability zones and return a multidimensional image or map. Multiple prerequisites need to be fulfilled for the creation of a geographic profile. The usage of such profiling is very complex and requires precise and extensive knowledge of experienced crime analyists.