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56 FBI L. Enforcement Bull. 17 (1987)
Motive-Based Offender Profiles of Arson and Fire-Related Crimes

handle is hein.journals/fbileb56 and id is 117 raw text is: Motive-Based Offender Profiles of Arson and Fire-Related Crimes By DAVID J. ICOVE, Ph.D, P.E. Senior Systems Analyst Behavioral Science Investigative Support Unit National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime FBI Academy Quantico, VA and M. H. (JIM) ESTEPP Fire Chief Prince George's County Fire Department Upper Marlboro, MD In the Washington, DC, metro- politan area, investigators from the Prince George's County, MD, Fire De- partment (PGFD) periodically meet with specialists from the FBI's National Cen- ter for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC). The subject of these con- ferences concerns a timely research project into the motivation of persons involved in fire-related crimes. The study is based on the analysis of data from 1,016 interviews of juve- niles and adults arrested for arson and fire-related crimes, primarily during the years 1980 through 1984, by the PGFD's Fire Investigations Division. The offenses include 504 arrests for ar- son, 303 for malicious false alarms, 159 for violations in bombing/explosives/ fireworks laws, and 50 for mis- cellaneous fire-related offenses. NCAVC researchers consider this the largest-existing comprehensive data base of interviews for arson and related offenses. The overall purpose of this computer-assisted analysis was to create and promote the use of motive- based offender profiles of individuals who commit incendiary and fire-related crimes. Specifically, the study identifies and develops a statistically significant offender profile based on the motive for the crime as determined by experi- enced PGFD fire investigators. Historically, the earliest large-scale scientific study detailing the motives of arsonists, published in 1951, used 1,145 subjects,' while the most recent, in 1984, studied 225 adults.2 Prior re- search on arsonists and fire-related criminal offenders, including that con- ducted by the FBI, failed to address completely the broad issues confront- ing modern law enforcement. Of pri- mary concem are the efforts to provide logical, motive-based investigative leads for incendiary crimes. Further- more, even though several common motives for arson exist, recent criminal justice literature taken from FBI studies repeatedly cites the profiles of the pyromaniac and professional arsonist.3 For purposes of this and previous FBI studies on firesetters and fire-re- lated offenders, a motive is cited as an inner drive or impulse that is the cause, reason, or incentive that induces or prompts a specific behavior.' For legal purposes, the motive is often helpful in 'The overall purpose of this computer-assisted analysis was to create and promote the use of motive-based offender profiles of individuals who commit Incendiary and fire-related crimes. April 1987 / 17

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