Real-Life Decision Making
Profilers deal in probabilities, not certainties. Since every piece of
evidence is open to interpretation, they have to choose the interpretation
that seems to fit best. It's rarely an easy call.
"You can deny someone life and liberty based on the decisions you make,"
says Brent Turvey. He is the author of a textbook on criminal profiling. "If
you don't weigh that fact into your deliberations, then you're nothing
more than a brigand [bandit]."
Despite the enormous stresses placed on them, profilers have to make most
decisions entirely on their own. "You have to deal with the burden of knowledge,"
Turvey says. "You will be working on cases that you cannot share with anyone,
ever. What you are doing for a living is not appropriate dinnertime conversation."
Complicating matters further is our endless fascination with profilers.
Books, TV shows and popular films portray profilers as crime-solving geniuses
with an uncanny ability to see into the psyches of violent criminals.
Sometimes, the media's glare can distract profilers from their real
job. "Because these movies and TV programs build the expectation that there
is a 'super-cop' or a 'super-profiler,' the ego of so
many profilers out there becomes super large," says Turvey. "'Glory-hound'
or 'showboat' are two words that come to mind."
Many profilers spend as much time writing books, commenting for TV
and serving as script consultants as they do working on actual cases. That
sometimes raises serious dilemmas.
You're a leading criminal profiler, specializing in abduction cases.
You have just co-authored a book on your illustrious career.
While on a book tour, you receive word that the 22-year-old son of a famous
political dynasty has disappeared from the family's estate. Since one
of their children has already been kidnapped before, everyone suspects it's
another abduction. Police have taken in the estate's groundskeeper for
questioning -- a middle-aged man about whom little is known.
The next day, a public relations representative from your publishing house
calls. A highly rated newsmagazine program wants to interview you for a segment
on the disappearance. The PR rep pressures you to accept the invitation, noting
that exposure on the program could help boost sales of your book.
This happens all the time, according to Turvey. "Say you get called upon
by the media to comment on a case. Say it's a case you're working
on. Then you shouldn't comment on it, professionally. If it's a
case you're not working on, you also shouldn't comment on it, because
you don't know enough about it." That is, unless you are given relevant
information from a reliable source.
You know that profilers can often be guilty of indulging in speculation.
Sometimes, they can even aid and abet in serious miscarriages of justice.
Take the case of Richard Jewell, the security guard who happened to fit
the profile of the 1996 Olympic bomber. Though investigators eventually cleared
Jewell, his life was nearly ruined by the media frenzy surrounding the case.
You point this out to the PR rep. He assures you that the newsmagazine
producers have access to key evidence, which they will be happy to share with
you, and urges you to go on the program. You suppose that you can simply be
cautious in what you say, rather than aggravate your publishing company and
the program's producers by declining the invitation.
What do you do?