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Introduction

Canadian police have reported 29 more cases of homicide in 2021 as compared to 2020 (Statistique Canada, 2022). Among most of the cases i.e, 788 were recorded 277 cases were reported to be held in Ontario. According to the basic assumption, the trend of crimes being committed by serial killers is high and very prevalent in some provinces of Canada like Ontario. This assumption has been deeply studied by Niles (2021). The researcher highlighted the reason behind the occurrence of the incidences of serial crimes that draw a connection between geographical locations. The homicide rate in Canada has increased to 2.06 homicides per 100,000 population. A theory named Smiley Face Murder Theory has been formulated in Canada which illustrates the number of deaths of young men in Northeastern states of the United States. These deaths constitute the homicide occurring in the provinces of Canada such as Ontario and were likely to form a pattern in which several young men were murdered and a smiley face graffiti was recovered near their dead bodies (Drake et.al., 2010). A total of 22 such smiley graffiti was recovered which indicates the linkage of serial homicide with the victims. This report will, therefore, analyse the crime pattern, will draw maps between the crimes, and will determine the crime analysis process. The report will further demonstrate tactical crime analysis and the various elements included under it. The report will also include the analysis of the case of ‘Smiley face killer’, the lack by the police in the determination and assessment of the criminal, and various other steps that the police could have taken. The report will also deal in brief with the investigation procedure of the police. 

Crime Analysis

Crime Analysis is the qualitative or quantitative method of study of crimes to analyse the reason behind the crime and to apprehend various social or demographic factors that lead to the development of crime in the state (Department of Justice, 2023). Crime analysis involves both data and methods that can be applied to assess the reason and pattern of the crime. Quantitative data analysis refer to the numeric categorization of the data collected and qualitative data analysis means analysing the various situational observation in case of the crime. For example, in the case of the ‘smiley face serial killer’, a qualitative method of data analysis was used and a pattern was formed according to which a smiley was discovered near drowning bodies (Fennelly, 2022). Furthermore, criminal analysis has also been identified to be a process of comprehending all the available data that are gathered from the crime scene and then drawing a pattern from them. This includes steps like information analysis, scene analysis, analysis of a criminal's history, and crime mapping. Additionally, it is an important area to be considered to prevent the occurrence of crime in the future (Piza & Arietti, 2022). Crime patterns refer to the type of crimes that are repeated regularly. The analysis of crime patterns can be judged after analysing the behaviour of the criminal which involves cracking his mindset, and the situation that led him to become a criminal. Tactical crime can help in analysing a crime pattern by drawing differences and similarities in the incidence of different crimes. Therefore, the current paper will focus on understanding the different processes involved in tactical crime analysis.

Tactical Crime Analysis

 The primary process involved in the investigation of crime is crime analysis (Vanitha & Murali, 2017). Crime analysis helps in the deduction of irrelevant facts and the inclusion of substantial evidence of the crime. This helps in drawing leads in the crime investigation. Crime analysis of various types such as Intelligence analysis, Tactical crime analysis, strategic crime analysis, criminal investigation analysis, and administrative crime analysis (Department of Justice, 2023). For this study, the tactical crime analysis method will be used to understand the crime scene.

Tactical Crime analysis is the process of applying logical reasoning to the crime to understand the pattern followed by the criminal. In this, the local police aim at identifying the criminal based on several incidents happening and the common variable found out of them. This is of major help to the police and acts as a major lead that helps to identify the criminal (Hart, 2021). These methods help to draw an algorithm and connect the various dots in criminal databases. This prepares the police for future threats.

Background of the Smiley Face Killer

From the time between 1997 to 2008, the police authorities of midwestern and northeastern states of America almost discovered 50 dead bodies of young men from different water bodies and various similarities were drawn in the pattern of their death. The origin of this theory can be traced to the incident of the disappearance of a 19 years old named boy Patrick McNeil on February 16 1997 from New York City (Bleakley, 2021). Detectives like Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte were employed to investigate this matter and they eventually concluded that the deaths were committed in a pattern and foul play was also done ( Crime Investigation, 2023). From the various bodies recovered from the water bodies a smiley graffiti was found and that ultimately gives a name to the serial killer as a smiley face killer. This smiley graffiti was regarded as a sign of a serial killer. As time passed, many victims were recognised as prey of smiley face killers and subsequently the phenomena went to the whole of Canada and Europe. The victims were generally college-going white males and they were also found in any water bodies near their college or university. Gannon and Anthony named the investigation theory the smiley face theory and claim that the victims generally indulged in the habit of intoxication and drugs. Although the detective saw a pattern of crime in this incident, the authorities completely opposed the idea and declared that we have not found any evidence that complements the smiley face theory hence, this is a hypothesis. The authorities declared the deaths as accidental drowning, suicide, gang initiation, misleading motif, and unconnected murders. However, the researchers at the Centre for Homicide Research continue researching and analysing the database of water-related deaths and named that database as Non-recreational outdoor drowning deaths database which contains data on 150 cases of deaths related to drowning in the US (Center for Homicide Research, 2021).

Crime Analysis Process:

  1. Data Collection: It refers to the process of collecting specific data from the crime scene and reports and other relevant documents. It is used by an analyst to determine the type of criminal activity, and who can be the potential criminal in the scenario. It refers to the analysis of various factors such as geographical factors, physical evidence, tie factors, and suspect description factors (Gottlieb & Arenbery, 1992). In the research of Campbell, Ashworth and Redmayne (2019), data collection involves the assessment of the present facts to draw out a rough identification of the perpetrator. 
  2. Data Collation: After the collection of the relevant data, the data is then indexed and sorted. The data is sorted to provide meaning to the data set. After the data is collected emphasis on the summarising of the data is done to process the criminal profiling.
  3. Data Analysis: It refers to the examination of the information and processing of it in order to get the desired results and to recognise the pattern in criminal activity. It helps to know the Modus operandi. There are various types of crime patterns such as geographical concentration patterns, specific recurring patterns, series detection, target profile analysis, future analysis, and analysis of future suspects. At this stage, there is a presence of suspects and no concrete identification of the perpetrator is found. 
  4. Data Dissemination: It refers to the distribution of the crime analysis information to the higher authorities which aids the development of the further course of the investigation and continuation of the investigation. It helps to enhance communication between the people and the organisation. In this step, communication is done within the department and with the public. This water-related read awareness and get information in case a suspect is under the purview of the department or the public.

Techniques used under Tactical Crime Process:

  1. Crime mapping: It is an important area of research for any analyst. It helps to understand the reason behind the regular occurrence of similar sorts of crime in the area. It helps the analyst to identify the region of occurrence of crime, trend and pattern. Technological techniques available in any geographical area are also used in the stipulation of the issue (Jendryke & McClure, 2019).
  2. Identification of crime pattern: Several techniques are used by the analyst to identify the crime pattern. First is the identification of any crime location means to identify the location where the crimes are generally taking place. Second, is the crime pattern detection and analysis of future forecasting of the crime, and then is the identification of hotspots where crime generally takes place. Lastly, it involves the analysis of the predator’s approach towards the crime (Catlett et. al., 2019).
  3. Victimology: It refers to the study of victims. Many crime analysts consider it important to study the victims to identify the mindset of the criminal. This can be done through a framework like the forensic victimology framework (Markiewicz, 2021). 
  4. Bullitines: It refers to the collecting, reviewing and recording of all the data that further serve as reading material. It contains the data and the various criminal events in a sequence form (Ilijazi, 2019).
  5. Criminal Profiling: Criminal profiling is done to enlist the suspects and provide the investigator with the basic information about the geographical location, characteristics of the crime, the logic behind the crime, and analysis of other relevant information of the offender ( Butkovic et. al., 2019).

Analysis of the Smiley Face cases:

Keith, the smiley face killer usually left a message with a smiley face near the dead bodies to convey the message that a smiley face must not be lost in any conditions. This message by the serial killer depicts his nature and reason behind committing the crime that he was emotionally imbalanced and was not able to express his emotions. Also, it might be possible that he was emotionally avoided by the community ( Schug, 2022). By the study of the crime and tactical crime analysis as well as the techniques used in the process of criminal analysis. The criminal left the smiley on the crime spot to draw a crime pattern and to get recognized in society. Soon after the appointment of Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte as detectives on the case of the Smiley face killer they get involved in the process of data collection, coalition, analysis and dissemination. They did an in-depth study of the victims targeted by Keith and released that he just targeted only young white males who were college-going students. They also observed that generally their dead bodies were found in the water bodies near the colleges and universities.

Data collection was done by the detectives by analysing the crime spot that was the water bodies and the observation they released that the young men were first tortured and then their bodies were dumped into the water bodies near the colleges in which they studied. Victimology was also assessed by the detectives to know that serial killers generally targeted victims who were young and were indulged in the habit of intoxication and drugs. After the collection of the data, the data was collated and the detectives after sorting it in a format realised that the killer usually left graffiti near the dead body.

If I were a criminal analyst, I would have first followed the step of data collection that generally contains the assessment of the crime hotspot, interviewing the suspect, and analysing the forensic report and then I would have sorted the data collected into the format, which eventually the detective also did and they after doing sorting released that the killer usually targets the young white men, who were intoxicated, torture them, then dump their body in the water body near their college or university. Then, while collecting the data and interviewing the suspects I would prepare a bulletin of the report that contains evidence to support my notion that the murders were committed by a serial killer, in the above scenario the two detectives did not prepare and does not provide substantial evidence to support their notion. Next, I would have also done a psychological assessment of the criminal to be aware of the prospect of the crimes. The involvement of psychological assessment in tactical crime analysis aims at studying the motive, behaviour and background of the perpetrator. Further, it is observed that the data dissemination techniques of the detectives were likely to be ineffective; that was the probable reason behind the authorities stating the smiley face theory as just a hypothesis and not a real-world crime scenario. If I were an analyst I would have laid a proper emphasis on maintaining a record of the evidence, preparing case briefs, and bulletins, and then must have passed the data to the authorities to support my smiley face theory.

Conclusion

This case study has reflected the subsequent crime trend in the provinces of Canada such as Ontario and has helped to understand the subsequent procedure followed by the police in investigating matters related to a serial killers or homicide in the country. The central emphasis of this report is to understand the process involved in tactical crime analysis, how it aids police investigation and what procedures a crime analyst must follow to successfully establish a link between the crime, its pattern, and the psychology behind the commitment of the crime by the criminal. The study shows that the role of the police and other law enforcement agencies like the FBI have advanced throughout the decades. It also depicts that the psychological assessment of the victims plays a crucial role in the matters of serial killers because generally, the serial killers are themselves a victim of society’s harsh reality and that way they turn into a preparator. The technological advancement in various factors such as geographical factors has made it easy to assess, analyse, and capture criminals. Harrison (2023) aims to emphasize the role of female serial killers like Amy Archer-Giligan or Nannie Doss who have inducted the advancement in scientific enquiry and criminal profiling as a medium to catch perpetrators. The case of the smiley face killer needed to be seen from the psychological aspect. Moreover, if the whole procedure of tactical crime analysis would have been followed then it would have been easy to assess, analyse and capture the criminal. 

References

Bleakley, P. (2021). Muddy water: critiquing the historical criminology method in the investigation of the smiley face murders theory. Middlesex University. https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/31047/1/HistCrim%20Smiley%20ACCEPTED.pdf

Butkovic, A., Mrdovic, S., Uludag, S., & Tanovic, A. (2019). Geographic profiling for serial cybercrime investigation. The digital investigation, 28, 176-182.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diin.2018.12.001

Campbell, L., Ashworth, A., & Redmayne, M. (2019). The Criminal Process (5th ed.). Oxford University Press. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6t2ZDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Campbell,+L.,+Ashworth,+A.,+%26+Redmayne,+M.+(2019).+The+Criminal+Process+(5th+ed.).+Oxford+University+Press.++&ots=uc7eBfjzSZ&sig=s6AWxmgIdwdZ_rbIwo7kcEQ2FJ0&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Campbell%2C%20L.%2C%20Ashworth%2C%20A.%2C%20%26%20Redmayne%2C%20M.%20(2019).%20The%20Criminal%20Process%20(5th%20ed.).%20Oxford%20University%20Press.&f=false

Catlett, C., Cesario, E., Talia, D., & Vinci, A. (2019). Spatio-temporal crime predictions in smart cities: A data-driven approach and experiments. Pervasive and Mobile Computing, 53, 62-74.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmcj.2019.01.003

Centre for Homicide Research. (2021). Drowning the smiley face murder theory. http://homicidecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Research-Brief-on-Smiley-Face-Murder-Theory-FINAL.pdf

Crime Investigation. (2023). The smiley face killer. https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/article/the-smiley-face-killer

Department of Justice. (2023). An introductory guide to crime analysis and mapping. https://cops.usdoj.gov/ric/Publications/cops-w0273-pub.pdf

Drake, D. S., Bebernes, C. M., Wheeler, B. J., Stelflug, E. Z., Espenson, P. D., Van Auken, A. M., ... & Anderson, B. J. (2010). Drowning the smiley face murder theory. (Research Brief).http://homicidecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Research-Brief-on-Smiley-Face-Murder-Theory-FINAL.pdf

Fennelly, L. J. (2020). Crime analysis. In Handbook of loss prevention and crime prevention (pp. 201-205). Butterworth-Heinemann. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-817273-5.00018-1

Gottlieb, S. Arenberg, S. (1992). Crime Analysis: From Concept to Reality. Office of Criminal Justice Planning. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/137374NCJRS.pdf

Harrison, M. A. (2023). Just as deadly: The psychology of female serial killers. Cambridge University Press. https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=S1KmEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=Harrison,+M.+A.+(2023).+Just+as+deadly:+The+psychology+of+female+serial+killers.+Cambridge+University+Press.+&ots=uqBHmkU6ai&sig=eSXzyUws-RJ_YoW7X1RqSV7-8bw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Harrison%2C%20M.%20A.%20(2023).%20Just%20as%20deadly%3A%20The%20psychology%20of%20female%20serial%20killers.%20Cambridge%20University%20Press.&f=false

Hart, T. C. (2021). Investigating crime pattern stability at micro-temporal intervals: Implications for crime analysis and hotspot policing strategies. Criminal Justice Review, 46(2), 173-189. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734016821996785

Ilijazi, V., Milic, N., Milidragovic, D., & Popovic, B. (2019). An assessment of police officers’ perception of hotspots: what can be done to improve officers’ situational awareness? ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 8(6), 260. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi8060260

Jendryke, M., & McClure, S. C. (2019). Mapping crime–Hate crimes and hate groups in the USA: A spatial analysis with gridded data. Applied Geography, 111, 102072.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2019.102072

Markiewicz, W. (2021). Heuristic analysis in the process of detecting serial offenders, part two-Victimology and Crime Scene Reconstruction through the lenses of Abductive Reasoning. Edukacja Humanistyczna, (2), 65-77.https://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.desklight-70a4dfda-0141-4629-875f-b28a8bba7aec

Niles, C. (2021). The geographical tendencies of serial killers in the United States. Sociology and Criminology Undergraduate Theses. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/sociuht/4

Piza, E. L., & Arietti, R. A. (2022). Crime Analysis and Policing. Criminology and Criminal Justice. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.716

Schug, R. (2022). Personality disorder traits, Rorschach performance, and neuropsychological functioning in the case of a serial killer: the importance of a multilevel approach in the assessment of personalities associated with extreme and repetitive violence.Journal of Personality Assessment, 104 (4), 559-571. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2021.1942023

Statistique Canada. (2022). Homicide in Canada, 2021. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article/00015-eng.htm.

Vanitha, R., & Murali, B. (2017). A study on Crime analysis and its types. International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology, 6(7), 13391-13395. https://doi.org/10.15680/IJIRSET.2017.0607144

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