Improving the Advice Given to Investigators by Criminal Profilers

In the UK, Behavioural Investigative Advisors (BIAs) contribute to serious crime investigations by offering profiles of unknown offenders, a process known as criminal profiling. BIAs tend to include the rationale behind their opinions in the profiling reports they produce, but often fail to provide adequate support for their reasoning (e.g., references to published research, which supports their claim). BIA reports generally meet quality assurance criteria and are regularly peer-reviewed by other BIAs who provide constructive feedback on the report. The reports are also perceived as being useful. BIAs should articulate exactly what they used to support their opinions and reporting guidelines and templates should be put in place to encourage high quality, standardized report writing.