Real-life Crackers guilty of quackery, says psychologist

THE "crackers" who try to help police solve murders by penetrating the minds of serial killers have been branded "worthless" purveyors of bad science by a leading psychologist.

Criminal profilers, such as the Fitz character portrayed by Robbie Coltrane in the TV series Cracker, were said to be "dragging down" psychology and almost on a par with fortune tellers.

Consultant psychologist Dr Craig Jackson, co-author of a damning critique of the profession which is to be published in a legal journal, argued that, while criminal profiling may be surrounded by a media-driven mystique, it is unscientific and potentially harmful.

He said: "Behavioural profiling has never led to the direct apprehension of a serial killer or murderer, so it seems to have no real-world value. There have been no clinical trials to show that behavioural profiling works and there have been major miscarriages of justice."

Profiling involves building up a picture of an as-yet unidentified suspect from the offender's methods, choice of victim and clues left at the crime scene. Britain's best known criminal profiler is Paul Britton, who has been involved in high-profile cases such as the Fred and Rose West killings and the murders of James Bulger, schoolgirl Naomi Smith and Rachel Nickell.

Dr Jackson told the British Festival of Science, which opened yesterday at Aston University in Birmingham: "As psychologists, we have concerns that the 'science' of behavioural science is dragging us down.

"This is an appeal to use better science in this field, otherwise it will go the same way as para-psychology and reading tea leaves or tarot cards."

Behavioural profiling was adopted by the FBI in 1972 and made famous by former agent John E Douglas, who inspired the Jack Crawford character in Thomas Harris's Hannibal Lecter novels. He was given great credit for his work in the hunt for serial killer Dennis Rader, known by the nickname he gave himself - BTK (bind, torture, kill).

However, according to Dr Jackson and his fellow experts, the profiling contributed little.

Meanwhile, profilers are keen to distance themselves from their portrayal as tortured geniuses in shows such as Cracker, while stressing the advances in the service.

A spokesman for the National Policing Improvement Agency, which supplies profilers to forces, insisted they had an valuable role to play.

He said: "The aim of behavioural investigative advice is not by itself to solve a criminal investigation, nor to lead to the apprehension of a serial killer."Every contribution from behavioural science has the single goal of providing the investigating officer with an additional perspective and supporting decision-making through a serious crime investigation.

"Behavioural investigative advisers will attend the relevant crime scenes, receive a briefing from the senior investigative officer, request and collate all relevant case materials, including victim and witness statements, crime scene photographs, pathology report, pathology photographs, relevant intelligence, etc."

And he added: "Any comparison between the 'Cracker style' criminal profiling popularised in the media and contemporary UK practice is inaccurate and misleading."