geographical profiling

• uses information around the location of the crime scene to make inferences about the offender‘s home - crime mapping
• crime mapping can also create hypotheses about the offender’s MO
• works with the assumption that serial offenders will restrict their ‘work’ to geographical areas they are familiar with
• by understanding the spatial and geographical patterns, investigators can make educated guesses about where the offender is likely to strike next - jeopardy surface
• canter and larkin - models of offenders

  1 - marauder - operates in close proximity to their home

  2 - commuter - likely to have travelled a distance away from their usual residence
• spatial decision making can offer the investigation important insight into the nature of the offence

  eg. if it was planned or spontaneous
• circle theory of environmental range - canter and larkin


  based on the study of many cases which showed that if a circle is drawn around all linked crimes, the offender will be based somewhere within the cirole
• rassmo 


  general criminals offend close to their home and the number of offences drops off with increasing distance from the base
• ✔️ can be applied to a wide range of offences
• ✔️ scientific - based on research and psychological theories
• X western bias - investigative psychology based on research carried out in the west