Geographic Profiling 
asked by lauren on November 17, 2006 2:45 AM
As any police officer who has ever walked a beat or worked a crime scene knows, the street has its hot spots, patterns, and rhythms: drug dealers work their markets, prostitutes stroll their favorite corners, and burglars hit their favorite neighborhoods. But putting all the geographic information together in cases of serial violent crime (murder, rape, arson, bombing, and robbery) is highly challenging. Just ask the homicide detectives of the Los Angeles Police Department who hunted the Hillside Stranglers, or law enforcement officers in Louisiana who tracked the brutal South Side rapist.Geographic Profiling introduces and explains this cutting-edge investigative methodology in-depth. Used to analyze the locations of a connected series of crimes to determine the most likely area of offender residence, geographic profiling allows investigators and law enforcement officers to more effectively manage information and focus their investigations.This extensive and exhaustive work explains geographic profiling theories and principles, and includes an extensive review of the literature and research in the areas of criminal profiling, forensic behavioral science, serial violent crime, environmental criminology, and the geography of crime. For investigators and police officers deployed in the field, as well as criminal analysts, Geographic Profiling is a "must have" reference.
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For those who don't know the name, Rossmo is the detective / mathematician whose pioneering work on criminal profiling in Canada has helped re-shape the way investigators worldwide track down serial offenders. By mathematically studying the location and distribution of crimes, Rossmo developed a way of pinpointing the most likely location of the offender's home base. This book explains his work.
Written as a textbook, "Geographic Profiling" is clearly organized, packed with well-documented research, and is both theoretical enough to satisfy university researchers and practical enough to inform the rest of us. The book can at times be dense and a little tough to wade through, but it's worth it.
Even though you might gulp when you see the inexplicably high price tag on this book, if you're interested in understanding geographic profiling and the different ways that temporal and spatial crime distribution can assist in investigation, pick up a copy. You'll be glad you did.
Written as a textbook, "Geographic Profiling" is clearly organized, packed with well-documented research, and is both theoretical enough to satisfy university researchers and practical enough to inform the rest of us. The book can at times be dense and a little tough to wade through, but it's worth it.
Even though you might gulp when you see the inexplicably high price tag on this book, if you're interested in understanding geographic profiling and the different ways that temporal and spatial crime distribution can assist in investigation, pick up a copy. You'll be glad you did.
reviewed by fusionz on November 20, 2006 11:56 PM
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This book is a real innovation in the field of crime research. The area of criminal profiling is populated by no shortage of Walter Mittys with no empirical grounding, so is it refreshing to find a text that cements the theories of this complex and fascinating area with empirical analysis of real cases. The text is well written and opens up a new area of criminal behaviour analysis to students and police officers alike. This book will undoubtedly become a key text in the field of criminal profiling and a welcome replacement to the long list of dull criminal psychology books that do not tell you anything useful, because the ivory tower authors have no practical experience.
reviewed by ronmiller on November 21, 2006 10:43 AM
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This book is packed with information and offers a complete summary of pertinent research on serial arson, serial homicide, rape, and crime paths. It is the bible of geographic profiling. You won't find a more informative, well-researched, or complete book anywhere.
reviewed by 90210 on November 23, 2006 9:14 AM
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I use this book in my Geographic Profiling course and the students read it and keep it(they don't sell it after the final exam). The bibliography alone is worth the price of the book. Rossmo presents an excellent piece of cutting-edge research that is written to effectively communicate with a broad audience.
reviewed by glassysurf on November 24, 2006 12:38 PM