"Criminal profiling is the process of deducing distinctive personality characteristics of individuals responsible for committing crimes." (Swanson) A process that Swanson, Chamelin, and Territo claim has a history of fifty years can actually be dated back more than double that time. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first documented act of criminal profiling involves Dr. Thomas Bond, the surgeon who performed autopsies on the five women killed by Jack the Ripper. Bond said that only one person who was physically strong, nice and bold had committed all five. He thought the man would be calm and harmless-looking, middle-aged and well-dressed, probably wearing a cloak to hide the bloody effects of his attacks in the open. He would be a loner, without a real occupation, eccentric and mentally unstable. He may also suffer from a condition called Satyriasis, a sexual deviance. Most likely, anyone who knew him would have realized that his head wasn't in the right place. (Ramsland) Unfortunately Jack the Ripper was never brought to justice and profiling moved from the autopsy table to the couch, now in the hands of psychiatrists. Actual profiling took a backseat for the next fifty years as the science was studied. Doctors would interview killers to better study the tendencies of those men, including 1960s assassin Charles Starkweather and a 1930s German serial killer Peter Kurten. The United States Office of Strategic Services even requested a profile of Adolf Hitler in 1942. Dr. Walter C. Langer found that: Hitler was meticulous, conventional, and modest about his body. He was robust and considered himself a standard bearer and a trailblazer. He had manic phases, but did little exercise. He was in good health, so it was unlikely he would die of natural causes, but he was deteriorating mentally. He wouldn't try to escape to some neutral country. Hitler always walked diagonally from corner to corner when crossing a room, and whistled a marching tune. He feared syphilis, germs and moonlight and loved severed heads. He detested the learned and the privileged, but loved classical music, vaudeville and the opera of Richard Wagner. He also liked circus shows that put people in danger. He showed strong streaks of narcissism and sadism and tended to speak in long monologues rather than have conversations. He had difficulty forming close relationships with anyone. Since he seemed delusional, it was possible that his psychological structures would collapse in the face of imminent defeat. The most likely scenario was that he would take his own life, because he had already threatened him before, although he could have convinced one of his henchmen to do it for him. (Holmes) Of course the emblematic case involving criminal profiling dates back to the mid-1950s with the "Mad Bomber" of New York. George Metesky began his career on November 16, 1940 when he placed a pipe bomb in a toolbox placed on the windowsill in Consolidated Edison's office. Followed up a year later with another device in the eaves of another Con Edison building. He then took a four-year break before which he declared: "I will not build any more bomb units for the duration of the war - My patriotic feelings made me decide this - I will later bring Con Edison to justice." He assumed his post again on March 29, 1950 at Grand Central Station and continued to pollute the city with 30 bombs over the next six years.(Pagewise) Traditional policing methods were failing, and the public was clamoring for a solution. The investigators decided to turn to criminal profiling, and in particular to Dr. James Brussel. After examining the case and the Mad Bomber's letters, Dr. Brussel discovered that the Mad Bomber was a male, middle-aged, meticulous, largely self-taught, Slavic and Roman Catholic, with an Oedipus complex, living in Connecticut . He would have worked for Consolidated Edison or one of its subsidiaries. Dr Brussel insisted to skeptical police that to ferret out the bomber, the case and profile would have to be widely publicised. He also suggested that Con Edison search its archives for past employees..."and when you get him...he'll be wearing a double-breasted suit. And he'll be buttoned up." (Pagewise) It was this profile plastered in every newspaper that ultimately led to Metesky's capture. Not from a neighbor as one might assume, rather it was Metesky's response to the profile that led to his capture. During this period, the bomber intensified his attacks and wrote more letters. He also called Dr. Brussel directly – a feat of intelligence in itself since the doctor's number was not in the list. Dr. Brussel thought it was only a matter of time before the bomber's arrogance got the better of him. (Madden) Meanwhile, Con Edison assigned several members of its administrative staff to sift through its vast files of "problem" employees for anyone who fit the profile. As an employee named Alice Kelly rifled through the stacks of files, she came across a file for one George Metesky of Waterbury, Connecticut. He had worked for United Electric & Power Company. It fit the profile, so Kelly took a closer look. Metesky had suffered an on-site accident at the factory where he worked. He attributed his subsequent tuberculosis to that accident, a claim that could not be proven. After his disability claim was denied, Metesky had written several angry letters to the company, one promising revenge for the company's "vile actions." (Madden)In response to an open letter published in the Journal-American, the shooter provided details of the incident that injured him. In doing so, he made the kind of arrogant mistake that Dr. Brussel had predicted. The attacker speculated that documentation of his accident had long been lost in the archives of the utility giant he hated. He did not know that Alice Kelly had found his dossier or that the police would soon discover that the locations and dates in the Metesky dossier matched those he had provided to the newspaper. (Madden)A few nights later, neighbors were shocked when police arrived and arrested Metesky. Dressed in a bathrobe, he amiably and politely confessed to being the attacker. He revealed that FP stood for "Fair Play". Police asked Metesky to change clothes before arresting him. He obeyed, and when they took him away he was wearing a double-breasted, buttoned suit. (Madden) It would be decades before profiling became a standard investigative tool. Profiling first made its way into the FBI with the arrival of Howard Teten, who joined the FBI in 1962 and developed the concept throughout the 1960s. While working a previous job as a police officer in California, Teten had been promoted to crime scene specialist while taking some criminology classes. The lessons had a more psychological than sociological orientation. Teten brought the same mentality to the FBI and developed a training course in applied criminology. He and his partner, Pat)