Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

Hello again,
In my story there is a serial killer. He has killed in Utah, Nevada and California. Because of the interstate nature of his crimes, would the FBI take over the case?

Can and/or do state and local LEO's ever call in an FBI profiler to help them get a handle on what type of person they're looking for?

If no FBI, would the states co-operate with each other or just pass the info on to the next state hit and be glad the killer left their area?

I've read a couple of John Douglas's books on profiling and it seems like a good detective could pretty much do the job on his own, just from experience. What do you think?

Thanks in advance for your insight, I appreciate the time and trouble you go to to help us out.
Penny

Hello again,
In my story there is a serial killer. He has killed in Utah, Nevada and California. Because of the interstate nature of his crimes, would the FBI take over the case? Probably not. Locals usually set up a task force as in the Green River Killer

Can and/or do state and local LEO's ever call in an FBI profiler to help them get a handle on what type of person they're looking for? Usually the FBI calls us asking if they can do a profile. Personally, I've yet to find one of much value. I've had them do profiles for me several times (they always contacted me, not the other way around) and never once did I find the need to refer to it. You follow leads in a case, not look for people who are loners, etc., etc., etc.

If no FBI, would the states co-operate with each other or just pass the info on to the next state hit and be glad the killer left their area? Yes. Inter-agency cooperation is almost always high among locals.

I've read a couple of John Douglas's books on profiling and it seems like a good detective could pretty much do the job on his own, just from experience. What do you think? The FBI is legendary for self promotion. Again, I've never found a profile useful

Thanks in advance for your insight, I appreciate the time and trouble you go to to help us out.
Penny

Answers embedded.

Hello again,
In my story there is a serial killer. He has killed in Utah, Nevada and California. Because of the interstate nature of his crimes, would the FBI take over the case?

No, not usually; the interstate nature may give the FBI a way to get involved, but unless they are asked to step in, there's an interest due to the murderer/victim/etc, or there is a nexus to terrorism then probably not. The only other exception I can think of would be if the police agencies refused to work together on it, but I would say that a vast majority of agencies pool resources by setting up a Task Force (like RDS stated) so that wouldn't be an issue.


Can and/or do state and local LEO's ever call in an FBI profiler to help them get a handle on what type of person they're looking for? I don't use profilers sorry

If no FBI, would the states co-operate with each other or just pass the info on to the next state hit and be glad the killer left their area? Definitely share with each other.

Thanks in advance for your insight, I appreciate the time and trouble you go to to help us out.
Penny

Answers in bold.

There is no "interstate nature" to the crimes. A crime with an interstate nature is one (such as transporting drugs) that begins in one state and ends in another. Presumably, your murders are completed in the state where they begin -- and thus there is no reason (or even legal justification) to call in the FBI.

There is no "interstate nature" to the crimes. A crime with an interstate nature is one (such as transporting drugs) that begins in one state and ends in another. Presumably, your murders are completed in the state where they begin -- and thus there is no reason (or even legal justification) to call in the FBI.

FBI — Columbus Man Pleads Guilty to Interstate Travel to Commit Murder (http://www.fbi.gov/cincinnati/press-releases/2009/ci010509.htm)

Article seems to do well in expressing what I meant by the interstate nature as well as what was said about working together with the state and municipal police in a task force or shared investigation to put the guy away for longer (or life + some, lol).

Oh while looking for that I came across this:

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2009/april/highwayserial_040609

not profilers, but may be useful for what you were asking EGPenny

FBI — Columbus Man Pleads Guilty to Interstate Travel to Commit Murder (http://www.fbi.gov/cincinnati/press-releases/2009/ci010509.htm)

Article seems to do well in expressing what I meant by the interstate nature

No, it doesn't. You need to look at the language of the statutes involved -- in this case, USC 2261 and USC 924. The crime described is one where two people who live on one side of a state line go across that line for the specific purpose of robbing a particular drug dealer who lives on the other side of that line, who gets killed during the robbery. Serial killers do not typically have a specific victim in mind in advance, and then cross a state line to get to that identified victim. The most you can usually expect is that a multi-state serial killer travelled about in different states and happened to commit a crime of opportunity while in each state. As you cannot show that the commission of the murders was the specific reason the killer for crossing the state line, you don't have an interstate crime. Consider this: you take a trip to Disney World in Florida, and while down there you shoplift an expensive pair of sneakers from a sporting goods store. Is this a crime with an "interstate nature", because you happen to live in another state? No, of course not; this is a simple crime of theft against the laws of Florida only, and the FBI will not be called in.

Just from a historical viewpoint, I can't recall them ever getting involved in a serial killer. They didn't with Ted Bundy, did they? And he killed women in several states. The Green River Killer committed murder in Washington and Oregon, although mostly Washington and they had nothing to do with that.

Usually, the only time a federal court deals with murder is when it's on a federal reservation of some kind. Or it's a civil rights case after the fact.

Once again, thank you so much. I appreciate your answers and they answered mine, completely. Now it's time to go tweak my story. :rolleyes5: Egpenny