Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit

“Put yourself in the position of the hunter.” 

The serial criminal offenders that John Douglas profiles are individuals who look at their victims as prey. To understand better how they chose their victims, Douglas advises a process of learning to think as they would. Seeking to understand the environs and the pool of potential victims reveals the mindset and point of the view of the offender. 

“It’s the thrill of the hunt that gets these guys going.”

According to Douglas, the process of choosing a victim excites the offender. The perpetrator uses observation and nonverbal cues to select the most vulnerable individual in a crowd. The perpetrator typically acts as soon as a window of opportunity opens, lest the perpetrator miss the chance to leave with the victim with minimal notice and fuss.  

“But it is the ways they are different, and the clues that they leave to their individual personalities, that have led us to a new weapon in the interpretation of certain types of violent crimes, and the hunting, apprehension, and prosecution of their perpetrators.” 

At the core of Douglas’s career at the FBI is this process of developing and improving the strategy of profiling. Douglas believes crime scenes and the choice of victim reflects the individuality of the offender. From studying the clues that have been left behind, Douglas is able to build a profile of the perpetrator. This profile assists law enforcement with every step of the criminal process, from location of the subject to effective interrogation techniques and trial tactics.