Zombie CSU (33 page)

She gave me the basics of how forensic psychology works: “Wherever the legal system and psychology intersect, you have forensic psychology. While most practitioners (psychologists, psychiatrists, licensed social workers) are clinicians with a specialization in forensic issues, this applied discipline actually involves a range of specialties in the civil and criminal arena. These include consulting on criminal investigations, assessing threats of violence in schools or workplaces, determining the fitness of a parent for guardianship, developing specialized knowledge of crimes and motives, evaluating the effects of sexual harassment, and conducting forensic research. Whether police will request a consultation depends on what type of situation they’re dealing. For the court, forensic psychologists are often asked to evaluate a person’s present psychological state for competency to participate in the legal process. They may also evaluate a defendant’s mental state at the time he or she committed an offense. In addition, psychologists appraise behaviors such as malingering, confessing, or acting suicidal.”

When mounting an investigation, police often require some kind of psychological sketch to help them find out what kind of person they’re looking for. I asked Dr. Ramsland how that works.

“Only occasionally does a psychologist do profiling,” says Ramsland, “since the FBI offers this service, but some do develop a relationship with specific police departments to assist. Still, most are not experts in any type of serial crime. Profiling is basically assessing the facts one has from a specific crime scene or series of related scenes. There’s no formula; it’s specific to the type of crime and to what occurred. The popular but erroneous assumption that forensic psychologists track down serial killers derives from fiction, not real life. Although psychologists may interview serial killers as research or preparation for a court case, they are not detectives, and most are not profilers. Nevertheless, the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) does provide training in criminal psychology to agents who will act as crime scene consultants. A good profile is an educated attempt to provide investigative agencies with clear parameters about the type of person who committed a certain crime or series of crimes, based on the idea that people are slaves to their unique psychology and will inevitably leave clues. From a crime scene, a profiler can assess whether the person is an organized predator as opposed to having committed an impulsive crime of opportunity (disorganized).

“A police chief usually decides whether or not to involve the FBI or engage a consultant, and then offers everything they have to that person to assist in the evaluation. That person then will speak to the task force involved to let them know the results. Whether they follow it or not generally depends on their attitude. A profile is just a tool in the arsenal; it does not solve crimes, it only helps to narrow down the pool of suspects with behavioral parameters, based on what’s known about the behavior of a perpetrator from the crime scene. It is not a generic blueprint against which to measure anyone. it is not a science. It is an educated estimate based in probability.”

When asked how a profile is constructed, Dr. Ramsland said, “To devise a multi-dimensional profile, psychological investigators examine such aspects of the crime and crime scene (usually murder but other types of crime as well) as the weapon used, the type of killing site (and dump site, if different), details about the victim, method of transportation, time of day the crime was committed, and the relative position of items at the scene. The basic idea is to acquire a body of information that shows common patterns for a general description of an UNSUB (unknown subject) in terms of habit, possible employment, martial status, mental state, and personality traits. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not necessary that the offender be a serial criminal. Profiling can be done from a single crime scene, and since 70–75% of murders are situational, developing a way to profile without reference to repeated patterns is useful. Profiles have also been devised in product tampering, serial bombing, serial rape, kidnapping, and arson.”

How does information and evidence gathered at the crime scene aid the forensic psychologist? Ramsland says, “Probing for an experiential assessment of a criminal from a crime scene (or series of crime scenes) involves, first and foremost, a detailed victimology. In other words, the profiler must learn significant facts about the victim’s life, especially in the days and hours leading up to his or her death. A timeline is drawn up to map their movements, and investigators study all of their personal communications for signals to where they may have crossed paths with a viable suspect. It’s important to know their state of mind and their mental health assessment and history, as well as their risk level (with a prostitute’s risk being much higher, obviously, than a woman in her own home).

“Once the victim’s details are known, the crime scene and offender’s methodology are evaluated for how best to categorize him (or her). Profilers will look at whether a weapon was brought in or taken out, the state of the crime scene(s), the type of wounds inflicted, the risks an offender took, his or her method of committing the crime and controlling the victim, and evidence that the incident may be staged to look like something else. In addition, there may be indications that the offender did not act alone.”

I asked if profiles worked in all (or even most) cases. Ramsland says no, but adds, “Profiles work best when the offender displays obvious psychopathology, such as sadistic torture, postmortem mutilation, or pedophilia. Some killers leave a ‘signature’—a behavioral manifestation of an individualizing personality quirk, such as positioning the corpse for humiliating exposure, postmortem biting, or tying ligatures with a complicated knot. This helps to link crime scenes and may point toward other types of behaviors to look for. What a profile can offer that’s helpful are the offender’s general age range, racial identity, ideas about the modus operandi, estimates about living situation and education level, travel patterns, the possibility of a criminal or psychiatric record, and probable psychological traits. A profile may also describe a fantasy scenario that drives the person or even pinpoint an area where he or she probably resides. This is all based on deductions about the specific crime from what is already known about offenders and deviancy.”

The Zombie Factor

I asked Dr. Ramsland to give us a rough idea of how profiling might apply to the zombie attack scenario we’re using in this book.

“Naturally I’d need a victimology to do it right, but some of the behavioral clues indicate the following: It’s likely there’s mental illness involved, with the possibility of a
delusion
that the person is a mythical monster, such as a werewolf, vampire, or zombie. He could also be high on drugs, such as crack, which can trigger unprovoked aggression, and the attack does occur in the parking lot of a drug manufacturer. His obliviousness also supports a drugged state or substance abuse, as does his appearance, which indicates unhealthy eating habits. He probably lives in the area, within walking distance of the parking lot, since he walked away rather than getting into a vehicle, and he wore no shoes. His attack seems unplanned and he leaves obvious evidence that can be linked to him (bite mark, saliva), so he’s probably more disorganized than organized. In that case, we would expect his residence to be somewhat chaotic and possibly not very clean. He might be responding to external stimuli, such as the moon or weather conditions. He could have a record in a local psychiatric institute, or have escaped from a prison, so these institutions should be checked. Police should also look at records of similar attacks, especially the same night, to try to pinpoint a zone of comfort for this offender.”