Forensic Linguistics and Criminal Profiling

Criminal profiling involves every piece of evidence surrounding a crime scene. Forensic document examination is important to criminal profiling because an individual's use of language, both written and verbal, reveals a great deal about personal history, subconscious intentions, and background.

Forensic document examination and the use of forensic linguistics is the process of applying knowledge and theories of linguistics to ransom notes, threatening messages, extortion letters, and other crime-related communications. Regardless of whether the communication is typed, handwritten, electronic, or verbal, forensic linguistics uses the style, tone, and other linguistic elements as criminal profiling tools to see inside the mind of the document's creator.  Even the briefest of texting and Twitter threats can be analyzed using forensic linguistic methods.

Forensic linguistics and forensic document examination give investigators another scientific criminal profiling tool that is accepted in federal court --AGI practitioner James Fitzgerald was the first person ever qualified to testify in federal court on the authorial attribution of threats. Instead of relying on assumptions, using forensic linguistics methods to examine documents leaves little room for defensive argument. This discipline is widely used and accepted in both psychology and law enforcement. 

When using forensic linguistics as a tool of forensic document examination, the researcher looks for patterns in language as well as inconsistencies in those patterns. In conversations, an investigator might notice clues in conversational turns, how frequently an individual re-introduces a topic, how quickly a person responds, whether or not speakers talk over each other, etc. 

Academy Group practitioners solve threat cases using forensic linguistics and teach forensic document examination courses. To inquire about training through the Academy Group, contact Martin Rehburg at 703-330-0697.