Jennifer Chase's Blog, page 74

The Beginning of Criminal Profiling…

I've received many questions about profiling from readers.  It seems that many people are interested in this technique and how it actually works.  I can't blame them because it's an intriguing concept and that's why I studied it along with my criminology.

In my books Compulsion and Dead Game, Emily Stone and her partner Rick Lopez use a technique of criminal profiling to catch their child murderers and pedophiles.

Many years back, before television's CSI and most weekly forensic shows, I was home with the flu watching daytime television.  I came across a talk show that was interviewing FBI profiler, John Douglas.  The show was mainly talking about missing and abducted children, but it was extremely fascinating.  It was the first time that I had been exposed to the concept of criminal profiling and what it actually entailed.  

We seem to hear the word "profiling" used in many different contexts.  For the most part criminal profiling is a behavioral science and an investigative tool that helps law enforcement to find a direction for the investigation and to outline the behaviors and motivations of a particular type of suspect.  It is a technique that is inferred from offender traits that include physical and/or behavioral evidence.  A criminal profile is complied from the physical evidence at the crime scene, victimology, and behavioral evidence. 

There are five important traits that a good criminal profiler must ALWAYS possess:

1.      Analytical & Critical Thinking

2.      Objectivity

3.      Deductive Reasoning

4.      Patience

5.      Tenacity 

John Douglas began working on the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) in 1977 and there he taught hostage negotiation and applied criminal psychology at the FBI Academy.  He created and managed the FBI's Criminal Profiling Program.  This was literally a new method of discipline, a useful tool for the capture of serial criminals. 

Douglas is most known for working with his colleague Robert Ressler as they began interviewing serial killers and other violent sex offenders at various prisons.  The fictional character of Jack Crawford in the book/movie Silence of the Lambs was based on Douglas.

Criminal profiling has proved to be an effective tool when tracking down serial criminals.  There has been some debate on the accuracy of this discipline.  If investigators use this application to keep their investigation working in the forward direction, it will keep the integrity of the investigation intact.  Sometimes law enforcement can be plagued with dead ends and lack of leads, but a criminal profile will help keep the motivation and attention in the spotlight where a new lead may be possible.  

Here are some great books by John Douglas I have in my own research library that are worth checking out:

Mindhunter

Obsession

The Cases That Haunt Us

Crime Classification Manual

The Anatomy of Motive

Blog: www.authorjenniferchase.com/

Website: www.jenniferchase.vpweb.com/

Crime Watch Blog: www.emilystonecrimewatch.wordpress.com/

Book & Crime Talk: www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-chase/

Books: Compulsion = Dead Game = Silent Partner = Screenwriting

How Long Does it Take to Write a Novel?

This is a good question.  It's a solid, straight to the point question about writing.   It's a question I've been asked quite a bit lately. 

 How long does it take to write a novel? 

I've heard answers from it takes a lifetime to however long it takes you to read a book times a five hundred.  These responses make me laugh and are honest, but sometimes the length of writing a novel basically depends on what the writer really wants to do and the type of story. 

Does the writer really want to write and finish a novel or not?

For me, I like to think about the story I'm going to write for a while and make just some general notes to get those creative juices flowing.  It helps me to see if there's a story worth developing or not.  I make notes on the basic storyline, characters, suspense, and research needed.  In fact, I have several stories simmering in this process right now.  Sometimes I pick up articles, magazines, books, and miscellaneous pieces of information off the Internet to add to my research files. 

I write a fairly extensive outline for all my novels.  This is a process that works well for me and I've fine-tuned it with my last two books.  When I decide which story I'm going to write, I begin the outline process.  This becomes my choppy first draft of my book.  After this process, I begin the actual chapter writing.  This part of my writing process is fun and it's a breeze for me because I've already run my story backwards and forwards with my outline to make sure that the story progresses, as it should.  Sometimes there is some tweaking of the story or a particular character, but everything goes along smoothly for me by this time.         

For example with my novel Dead Game, the writing process went basically like the list below writing 6 days a week approximately 8 hours a day, sometimes more or less.  Keep in mind, I did take some breaks in between some of the writing process and allowed the manuscript to sit and my mind to clear.

Extensive Outline – 4 to 6 weeks

Additional Research and/or Interviews – 1-2 weeks

Actual Chapter Writing – 2 months

Revisions – 1 month

Sent out manuscript to an editor – 3 weeks

Changes to manuscript (updated to changes) – 1 to 2 weeks

Final proof edit to an editor – 1 week

Final read through – 1 to 2 weeks

The rest is history!  That's how I was able to write and complete Dead Game.  Every writing project is a little bit different and it will take more or less time based on how well I prepared the outline and how much research is needed.

A writer needs to find what works for them and then organize the time to fit their lifestyle and schedule.  First and foremost, you need to write something everyday and you'll be well on your way to complete that novel.     

Blog: www.authorjenniferchase.com/

Website: www.jenniferchase.vpweb.com/

Crime Watch Blog: www.emilystonecrimewatch.wordpress.com/

Book & Crime Talk: www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-chase/

Books: Compulsion = Dead Game = Silent Partner = Screenwriting

Computer Thief Unknowingly Creates His Own Mug Shot

We all have been made aware through cable news stories, magazine articles, and our own friends about the crimes that can be committed using a computer.  There is the growing menace of cyberbullying, through which (mostly) young people leave cruel remarks on Facebook or post embarrassing videos on YouTube.  Viruses can infect your computer and steal personal information such as your credit card numbers, driver's license, or any other details you have ever submitted to a website and suddenly your identity is no longer your own.  The laws and the court system are struggling to keep up with the new ways in which criminals are finding to use technology to commit acts that harm our sense of security and sometimes our very lives.

What about the possibility of your computer being used actually to catch a criminal in the act?  That's exactly what happened this week in Oakland, California when a taxi driver who had stolen an Apple MacBook was arrested after being caught on camera using that very item.

The owner of the MacBook had installed software called "Hidden" which took photographs of the thief using the computer on his sofa, in bed, and even while driving.  The man unknowingly created his own crystal clear mug shot every time he looked at the screen.   The program also captured screenshots of the thief changing accounts and logging into his Facebook account.

Joshua Kaufman, the rightful owner of the MacBook, created a blog entitled "This Guy Has My MacBook" and posted the photos he received online for the entire online audience to see.  With the help of the Oakland Police Department after two months of going it alone with his blog, the thief was apprehended.

In my second novel, Dead Game, I feature a character who uses the virtual world to lure his victims to their deaths.  This work of fiction shows the dark side of technology, while Mr. Kaufman's smart thinking shows us one way in which our computers can help us find justice.

Back to Forensic Basics with the Body Farm

Today's post is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. 

The body farm refers to a research facility where human decomposition is studied in different settings, conditions, and environments.  The invaluable research gains a more accurate understanding of the human decomposition process. 

As ghoulish as it sounds, learning to properly develop techniques to extract information from decomposition remains, such as the time and circumstances of death, prepares investigators, law enforcement and forensic anthropologists to pinpoint and reconstruct the chain of events of a crime. 

It's a fascinating scientific process.  Bodies are studied out in the open, buried in debris and brush, inside small structures, inside cars, and various other conditions.  This can help to facilitate investigations in order to locate and capture the perpetrator.  The more forensic professionals know about human decomposition, the more cases that can be solved in the process.   

 

There are five basic decomposition stages; all depend upon the environmental conditions and temperatures:

1.                  Fresh

2.                  Putrefaction

3.                  Black putrefaction

4.                  Butyric fermentation

5.                  Dry decay

For example, the body begins to lose heat from the average core temperature of 98.6 degrees F.  It falls to the surrounding environment, indoors or outdoors.  As a general rule under normal conditions, the body will lose approximately 1.5 degrees every hour after death.

There are five known body farm facilities in the Unites States:

University of Tennessee at Knoxville

The original "body farm" is the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility.  In 1971, Anthropologist Dr. William M. Bass was the official state anthropologist for Tennessee and consulted on many cases involving human remains.

It consists of a 2 ½ acre wooded plot surrounded by razor wire fences.  At any time, there are number of bodies placed in different settings left to decompose, varying conditions and environments.  Bodies are obtained from various sources from unclaimed bodies from the morgue to individuals who have voluntarily donated their bodies for research.  Approximately, 120 bodies are donated to the facility every year.  

Western Carolina University

This facility is part of the Western Carolina Human Identification Laboratory.  The research "body farm" area is the size of a garage and can accommodate approximately six bodies at a time.  In addition, they also train cadaver dogs at this facility.   

California University of Pennsylvania

This is a remote facility located 45 miles southeast of the city of Pittsburgh.  It has access to over 200 acres generously donated.  This facility also conducts crime scene investigation training and other related activates. 

Sam Houston State University

This is a state-of-the-art research and training facility designed to advance academic and technical knowledge in the application of forensic science disciplines to crime scenes.  Bodies are willed and donated.  This facility is a 247 acre of land that is adjacent to the Sam Houston National Forest.  It is a contained outdoor facility with a variety of environmental conditions, including fluvial environment.  Webcams are located at various locations of the outdoor facility to monitor timing of post-mortem activities on and off campus.

Texas State University

The Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State is a human decomposition research laboratory where questions related to outdoor crime scenes and decomposition rates are investigated.  Most of the facility is around 7 acres, but the Freeman working ranch as approximately 4,200 acres available for research practices.  They accept body donations.  The overall research is to assist law enforcement and the medico-legal community in their investigations. 

Jennifer Chase

Award Winning Author & Criminologist

 

Blog: www.authorjenniferchase.com/

Website: www.jenniferchase.vpweb.com/

Book & Crime Talk: www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-chase/

Books: Compulsion = Dead Game = Silent Partner = Screenwriting

Fingerprints — Important Piece of Evidence

Fingerprints have been studied for uniqueness, identification and criminal importance for more than one hundred years.  The significance of fingerprints and the criminal justice system can't be undervalued; they can implicate the guilty by linking a criminal to the victim and the scene of the crime and exonerate the innocent.  Through technology and expertly trained fingerprint examiners, the fingerprint can be the single most important piece of evidence for solving a crime.   

Fingerprints became an important identification of criminals in a criminal investigation when a book written by Sir Francis Galton from England titled "Fingerprints" was published in 1892.  It has been discovered that the earliest known fingerprints were used by the Chinese in the 700s for identification purposes to establish identity of documents on clay tablets. 

In 1924 by the act of congress, the Identification Division of the F.B.I. was established and consolidated fingerprint files.  By 1946, the F.B.I. had processed over 100 million fingerprint cards.  These cards were maintained manually and by 1971 had doubled.  It was not until the mid 1980s that the Automated Fingerprint Identification System was established (AFIS).

Fingerprints play an extremely important role in crime scene investigations. 

Why? 

Fingerprints are considered to be an infallible means of identification.  No two fingerprints are exactly alike.  However, since fingerprints are extremely valuable, they are also an extremely fragile pieces of evidence.  In crime scene evidence recovery, it is essential that fingerprints be located, processed, and recovered first.

In this last century, a high profile case such as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy benefited from this procedure; a palm print was discovered underneath the stock of the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle that belonged to Lee Harvey Oswald.  In another high profile case, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the crime lab made an important discovery of latent fingerprints on the rifle found to belong to James Earl Ray.

In 1684, Marcello Malighi, a professor of anatomy from the University of Bologna, took note of the ridges, spirals, and loops in the fingerprints.  It was not until 1904 did the United States began the use of fingerprints as identification in the Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas.  It seems amazing that a hundred years passed until fingerprints began to be used to identify criminals.

What exactly are fingerprints? 

Every human being has friction ridges located on the hands and feet.  These friction ridges have a specific detail on the gripping surfaces with an enhanced quantity of nerves and pores.  These tiny raised peaks and valleys are located on the tips of the fingers along with sweat pores.  This gripping skin has been described as similar to the tread of an automobile tire.  The friction skin has a structured dermis layer with the friction layer of skin that includes the sweat pores.  There are extra pores that remain moist and help the skin to remain soft and pliable, which presents better frictional characteristics of the print.

For more information about fingerprints, check out these books:

Contrast: An Investigator's Basic Reference Guide to Fingerprint Identification Concepts

By Craig A. Coppock

Friction Ridge Skin: Comparison and Identification of Fingerprints

By James F. Cowger

Techniques of Crime Scene Investigation

By Barry A.J. Fisher

 
Jennifer Chase

Award Winning Author & Criminologist




Blog: www.authorjenniferchase.com/

Website: www.jenniferchase.vpweb.com/

Book & Crime Talk: www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-chase/

Books: Compulsion = Dead Game = Silent Partner = Screenwriting

Search Dogs Helping Find Victims in Joplin

The stories that have been coming out of Joplin, Missouri over the past week have been heartbreaking, inspiring, and terrifying.  As everyone knows, the city was struck by the deadliest tornado in United States history on May 22.  As of the writing of this post, the death toll from the EF-5 tornado had risen to 142 with more than 100 people still unaccounted for.

Among the countless stories of heroism and of people driving from hundreds of miles away to offer their services or just a shoulder on which to cry, police dogs have been playing an important role in searching for residents of Joplin, both alive and dead, who are trapped beneath the rubble.  These specially trained canines are able to detect human scent and have been brought from throughout Missouri and neighboring states to put their skills to work.

Readers of this blog and people who know me are well aware of my passion for dogs and my desire to share the amazing work they do in so many capacities, in addition to being wonderful companions and valued members of the family.  They are able to help in ways that humans or even the finest of technology is not.  In the midst of so much destruction and heartache, sometimes it is nice to look at these moments that were made possible by dogs and that bring some sense of joy or at least peace.

My thoughts are with all of the people of Joplin as they deal with their collective grief and then begin the rebuilding process.  I cannot imagine what it is like to face a scene of devastation that occurred in a few brief minutes of time.  The people of Joplin are demonstrating great courage and a beautiful sense of community that I know will serve them well as they move forward.

Photography Sunday — California Dreamin…

 

I find myself drawn to the beaches in California year round.  My camera captures the subtle changes of light, sky, and water.  This particular day I couldn't help but snap a few shots of a lone surfer walking down the shoreline in search of the perfect wave. 

I may have found some thrilling waves down the other end of the beach. 

Everyone have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!  Be safe, have fun, and stay inspired to all the beauty that surrounds us.

Has Crime Gone to the Dogs?

In researching my latest novel Silent Partner, I found myself immersed in the police K9 training world.  I wanted to create a main "cop" character that was also a K9 unit.  This was a challenge, but I felt that it made for an interesting storyline and added another dimension to the plot. 

There are a few misconceptions about police dogs.  The most common one is that these dogs are mean and vicious.  That's completely false.  Most of these dogs are family dogs when they're not working.  They are loving, friendly, loyal, and love their doggie toys and humans just like any other dog.

These dogs are first run through what's called the "courage test" to make sure that they are indeed balanced and have the disposition to become a police patrol dog.  Not all dogs pass this test.  The ones that don't pass still go to good homes as a family or security dog.  The next step is that these dogs are run through general obedience and agility training.  Once these dogs are trained and matched with a human partner, the real training and bite work begins.  All these dogs are rewarded their favorite toy after each bite during training.  It's all about fun for them. 

I found myself mesmerized watching these courageous dogs train with their partners.  With the different personalities of police officers, there are different personalities of dogs as well.  I loved to see new K9 units begin their training and evolve into an efficient, impressive, crime fighting team.  The bond that develops between police officer and dog is like no other.  The loss of a K9 partner is deep and lifelong.   

Many of these patrol dogs are cross-trained for scent work, such as tracking, narcotics or bomb detection.   I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the 160-hour narcotic training course with my highly driven Labrador retriever Trucker.  It was an experience that I will not likely forget.  We learned as a team to detect heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana.  We searched locations such as cars, warehouses, trailers, houses, outdoor vicinities, prisons, schools, and many other types of structures. 

I would strongly recommend for anyone interested in how police K9 works is to watch a local police K9 demonstration or attend a police K9 competition. 

Check out Silent Partner and find out how I've incorporated these fearless heroes in the story.

Emily Stone Now Has Her Own Crime Watch Blog!

Emily Stone tracks down child predators and serial killers in Compulsion and Award Winning Dead Game.  She cares about the safety of others and the injustice of unsolved cases.  She gathers all of the detailed crime scene information and finds the bad guys – all anonymously for the cops.

Could Emily Stone have her own blog?

She does now!

You will find crime and safety tips, cold cases, crime statistics, information about the missing, and much more.  I will continue to update it regularly.  Stop by.  I would love to hear from you.

Stay safe!

Check it out:

 http://emilystonecrimewatch.wordpress.com/

13 Little Known Facts About Author Jennifer Chase

 

"Curiosity is often that annoying voice in my head.  I always want to know why or what happened…"

It's friday before a nice long 3-day weekend.  I thought I'd lighten things up a bit with some fun.  Actually, poking fun at my expense.

Here's some little known facts about me: 

Absolutely loves writing when it's raining outside.
Could have been an FBI special agent.
Gets her best creative ideas when driving, vacuuming, walking on the beach, or taking a shower.
Never wears shoes when she's writing.
Has been spotted singing in a Karaoke bar once or twice.
Can communicate well with the Labrador retriever.
Secretly enjoys Harry Potter movies.
Always listens to classical piano music when writing thriller-oriented chapters of her books.
Has been accepted as an "honorary member" of a police department.
Earned a 4.0 GPA for her bachelor's degree in police forensics.
Actually likes brussel sprouts.
Still has a few Nancy Drew Mysteries on her bookshelf that she won't ever part with.
Hates the taste of coffee — but loves coffee ice cream.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Blog: www.authorjenniferchase.com/

Website: www.jenniferchase.vpweb.com/

Crime Watch Blog: www.emilystonecrimewatch.wordpress.com/

Book & Crime Talk: www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-chase/

Books: Compulsion = Dead Game = Silent Partner = Screenwriting