HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) is a department of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's
National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime The National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) is a specialist FBI department. The NCAVC's role is to coordinate investigative and operational support functions, criminological research, and training in order to provide assistanc ...
(NCAVC) that uses behavioral analysts to assist in criminal investigations. The mission of the NCAVC and the BAU is to provide behavioral based investigative and/or operational support by applying case experience, research, and training to complex and time-sensitive crimes, typically involving acts or threats of violence.


History and structure

The Behavioral Analysis Unit was originally called the
Behavioral Science Unit The Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) is the original name of a unit within the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Training Division at Quantico, Virginia, formed in response to the rise of sexual assault and homicide in the 1970s. The unit was ...
. The Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) was created in 1985 as part of the
National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime The National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) is a specialist FBI department. The NCAVC's role is to coordinate investigative and operational support functions, criminological research, and training in order to provide assistanc ...
(NCAVC), itself established in 1985. The IOSS (Investigations & Operations Support Section) is a branch of the FBI's overall CIRG Critical Incident Response Group. IOSS provides personnel and training to assist in investigations throughout the country, and at US embassies worldwide. IOSS supports other CIRG groups within the FBI, FBI Headquarters and Field Offices, FBI legal attaches (at embassies abroad), and all US law enforcement agencies. IOSS is divided into two main sections: the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) and the Operations Support Branch (OSB). The NCAVC consists of five Behavioral Analysis Units, or "BAU"s: * Behavioral Analysis Unit 1 (counterterrorism, arson and bombing matters) * Behavioral Analysis Unit 2 (threats, cyber crime, and public corruption) * Behavioral Analysis Unit 3 (crimes against children) * Behavioral Analysis Unit 4 (crimes against adults, ViCAP) * Behavioral Analysis Unit 5 (research, strategy, and instruction) The headquarters for the BAU is located in
Quantico, Virginia Quantico ( or ; formerly Potomac) is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 480 at the 2010 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, DC, bordered by the Potomac River to the east a ...
. The NCAVC also includes the ViCAP. ViCAP (Violent Criminal Apprehension Program) is a database available as a tool to all law enforcement agencies nationwide. It compiles facts, statistics, and particular details regarding violent offenses (including rape, assault, and murder), and maintains them in an online database for the purpose of linking a known offender or known offense to previous crimes, victims, or offenders. It is a pattern database, allowing users to see patterns in M.O., signature, or
victimology Victimology is the study of victimization, including the psychological effects on victims, the relationship between victims and offenders, the interactions between victims and the criminal justice system—that is, the police and courts, and c ...
, helping to tie crimes to offenders and offenders to crimes for the purpose of solving cases involving violence. The Operations Support Branch (OSB) contains three main units: * Crisis Management Unit * Special Events Management Unit * Rapid Deployment & Technology Unit


Operation

The BAU receives requests for services from federal, state, local, and international
law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEAs ...
. Responses to these requests for BAU assistance are facilitated through the network of field NCAVC coordinators. BAU services can consist of on-site case consultations, telephone
conference call A conference call is a telephone call in which someone talks to several people at the same time. The conference call may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the call or set up so that the called party merely listens into ...
s, and/or consultations held at the BAU with case investigators. BAU assistance to law enforcement agencies is provided through the process of "criminal investigative analysis." Criminal investigative analysis is a process of reviewing crimes from both a behavioral and investigative perspective. It involves reviewing and assessing the facts of a criminal act, interpreting offender
behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as we ...
, and interaction with the victim, as exhibited during the commission of the crime, or as displayed in the
crime scene A crime scene is any location that may be associated with a committed crime. Crime scenes contain physical evidence that is pertinent to a criminal investigation. This evidence is collected by crime scene investigators (CSI) and law enforcemen ...
. BAU staff conduct detailed analyses of crimes for the purpose of providing two or more of the following services:
crime analysis Crime analysis is a law enforcement function that involves systematic analysis for identifying and analyzing patterns and trends in crime and disorder. Information on patterns can help law enforcement agencies deploy resources in a more effective ...
, investigative suggestions, profiles of unknown offenders,
threat analysis An alert state or state of alert is an indication of the state of readiness of the armed forces for military action or a state against natural disasters, terrorism or military attack. The term frequently used is "on high alert". Examples scales ...
, critical incident analysis, interview strategies, major case management, search warrant assistance, prosecution and trial strategies, and expert testimony. In addition to the above services, the BAU staff produced the ''Child Abduction Response Plan'' to assist investigators faced with these investigations. Recently, the BAU released "The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective" report to guide school administrators, teachers, parents, and law enforcement in identifying and evaluating threats in schools. The BAU maintains a reference file for experts in various forensic disciplines such as odontology,
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
, psychiatry,
entomology Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arac ...
, or pathology.


References in popular culture

The BAU was brought into mainstream culture by television shows such as ''
Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was revived in 2022. It ...
'', which depict an elite group of "FBI agent profilers" who travel the country assisting local law enforcement on diverse cases. The CBS weekly drama series ''
Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was revived in 2022. It ...
'' and its spinoff, '' Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior'' both feature the BAU.
Thomas Harris William Thomas Harris III (born 1940/1941) is an American writer, best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter. The majority of his works have been adapted into films and television, the most notab ...
' Hannibal Lecter novels and the corresponding films ('' Manhunter'', '' The Silence of the Lambs'', '' Hannibal'', and '' Red Dragon'') featured the
Behavioral Science Unit The Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) is the original name of a unit within the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Training Division at Quantico, Virginia, formed in response to the rise of sexual assault and homicide in the 1970s. The unit was ...
(BSU), which later created and developed what eventually became known as the BAU. It is also seen in the NBC television show based on the novels, '' Hannibal'', and the CBS television show ''
Clarice Clarice is a female given name, an anglicization of the French Clarisse, derived from the Latin and Italian name Clarissa, originally used in reference to the nuns of the Roman Catholic Order of St. Clare, whose own name ultimately derives f ...
''. The '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' episode " Signature" ( season 9, no. 12, January 8, 2008) heavily features a member of the BAU. Additionally, in season 5 of the HBO show '' The Wire'', two detectives visit the BAU team in Quantico for a profile of the "fake" serial killer they are investigating. In October 2017, the Netflix show '' Mindhunter'' was released, which details the experiences of two BSU team detectives interviewing inmates with psychological disorders. In August 2017, the Discovery Channel series '' Manhunt: Unabomber'', based on true events, was released. It featured a member of the BAU who helped catch Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, through the use of forensic profiling.


Criticism

In order to generate profiles of offenders, members of the BAU use a concept known as psychological profiling. Belief in psychological profiling has often been supported by anecdotal evidence describing BAU profiles as a necessary key to solving a crime. A homeless man in North Carolina, for example, was apprehended after a BAU profile was issued for a case that the local police force had not been able to solve. Although anecdotal evidence such as this abounds in popular media, the concept of psychological profiling has not been empirically proven. In a number of studies, professional criminal profilers have been compared to other groups such as students, police officers, and clinical psychologists. In order to evaluate these groups, each participant was presented with the details of a previously solved crime. The profile written by the participant was then compared to a profile of the guilty party. In no study did the group of profilers outperform the other groups, and in some studies, they were clearly outperformed by both police officers and chemistry students. Despite these findings, members of the BAU continue to use psychological profiling. Public confidence in psychological profiling is also high and has been greatly promoted by TV shows such as ''
Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was revived in 2022. It ...
''. Some
forensic psychologists Forensic psychology is the development and application of scientific knowledge and methods to help answer legal questions arising in criminal, civil, contractual, or other judicial proceedings. Forensic psychology includes both research on various ...
, such as Robert Homant, have also dismissed the previously mentioned studies by stating that they lack external validity as they do not accurately represent the situations in which members of the BAU work.


References


External links


Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG)
��Includes the BAU
Behavioral Analysis Unit profile
(archived version) {{FBI