Overview
Police investigators must often determine whether multiple crimes have been committed by the same offender. In ideal situations, this decision is based on an analysis of physical evidence left at crime scenes, such as DNA, fabric fibers, and/or fingerprints. However, despite what is portrayed in the popular media, such evidence is not always available to be processed (Davies 1991). Given this, the police have had to establish alternative methods for linking serial crimes. One of the most commonly used approaches is behavioral linkage analysis.
When using this form of analysis, an attempt is made to link crimes based on the behaviors that offenders engage in while committing their offenses. Specifically, the goal is to identify patterns of behavior across an offender’s crimes that meet two criteria: behavioral stability and behavioral distinctiveness (Canter 1995). Behavioral stability...
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Bennell, C., Woodhams, J., Mugford, R. (2014). Linkage Analysis for Crime. In: Bruinsma, G., Weisburd, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_533
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