02/06/06
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Supervisory
Special Agent Mark Safarik
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When
the phones ring in the FBI's Behavioral
Analysis Units, it's a safe bet the callers
on the other end have a grim story to tell.
Investigators from all over the world dial
up the small, highly trained cadre of agents
in Quantico, Virginia—known informally
as profilers—for help and advice when
leads in their criminal cases turn cold
or fray into infinite and troubling possibilities.
That
was the case two years ago when detectives
in a Detroit suburb investigated the rape
and murder of a 92-year-old woman who had
been stabbed multiple times in her bed.
The lead detective, David Wurtz of the Oakland
County Sheriff's Office Special Investigations
Unit, had suspicions, but little else to
go on. Then he re-read an article he'd picked
up at a seminar, about the characteristics
of people who commit crimes like the one
he was investigating.
"It
was like 'bang,' right on the money with
what we had," Wurtz said.
The
article was written by Mark Safarik, an
FBI special agent for 22 years and former
police investigator who has spent the last
10 years researching cases of elderly women
who were raped and murdered. Through his
empirical study of 128 cases in 30 states
over a 24-year period and at least 100 other
elder sexual homicides, a picture emerged
of potential offenders: single, a history
of alcohol abuse, close proximity to victim,
prior criminal record, poorly educated,
not financially independent, unable to maintain
health relationships with women. Safarik's
research shows the average age of offenders
is 27; the average age of victims is 77.
"It's
not a profile. It's really more of a constellation
of behavioral, personality, and physical
characteristics," says Safarik, one
of seven supervisory special agents in the
Behavioral Analysis Unit that focuses on
adult victims. Other units specialize in
crimes against children, terrorism, and
threat assessment.
Reached
by phone, Safarik briefed Det. Wurtz in
Detroit on his research of offenders; in
a chilling way, the picture the agent painted
reminded the detective of man he first suspected—a
neighbor of the slain woman who was unemployed,
had a history of crime, and a chronic alcohol
problem. A DNA test on the suspect linked
him to the crime and he was arrested and
later convicted.
Calls
like the one from Detroit to the Behavioral
Analysis Units are not uncommon. In 2005,
Safarik and other agents in his unit covered
more than 300 leads for assistance and held
168 case consultations with law enforcement
agencies around the world. In 37 of those
cases, personnel provided on-site help to
investigators at crime scenes. Cases are
continuously triaged, giving preference
to active serial murder cases or kidnappings.
Together, the units, which operate at the
FBI Academy as components of the National
Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime
(NCAVC), worked on 655 cases, many of them
on-site.
In
addition to working cases, the units train
others in law enforcement, science, and
academia on ways to sleuth cases. The units'
research, like Agent Safarik's, is often
published in peer-reviewed journals. Last
fall, the units hosted the FBI Serial Murder
Symposium in San Antonio, which drew 150
experts from around the world.
Meanwhile,
the profile of an agent in the Behavioral
Analysis Units generally points to a seasoned
FBI investigator with an analytical mind,
a keen understanding of psychology and human
behavior, and a lot of experience working
cases. And a strong stomach.
"We
look at the extreme end of human behavior,"
Safarik said. Despite that, agents like
Safarik enjoy the challenges and rewards
of working some of the most interesting
cases in law enforcement.
Links:
The National
Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime
