NCJ Number
134615
Journal
CJ The Americas Volume: 5 Issue: 1 Dated: (February-March 1992) Pages: 1,18
Date Published
1992
Length
2 pages
Annotation
The National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC), established in 1984, was designed to increase collaboration between criminal justice agencies on all levels and to create a framework for a national system to track and identify violent criminals.
Abstract
The Center is divided into the Behavior Science Unit of Instruction and Research, and the Investigative and Support Unit. The latter consists of the Profiling and Consultation Department and the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP). VICAP, implemented by the FBI in 1985, allows the 17,000 police departments across the country to communicate with each other via a national database on homicides and kidnappings. VICAP gathers data on modus operandi and forensic evidence from violent crime scenes. A police department with an unsolved murder or abduction fills out a VICAP questionnaire pertaining to the physical evidence of the crime. The questionnaire is fed into the computer, which identifies 10 cases in the database that are most similar. VICAP analysts then try to determine whether the unsolved crimes are part of a series. Even inner-city random gangland homicides should be reported to VICAP since weapons are often used repeatedly in drug and gang confrontations. VICAP's confidentiality policy guards against copycat crimes or the flight of an unapprehended criminal who learns he is being pursued. Multi-Agency Investigative Meetings are held to develop a comprehensive approach to apprehending criminals.