Art in the Strangest Places

So I'm looking at a map; talking to the dots. The dots in this instance represent crimes and I must use the mundane and mechanical to determine what the dots are telling me...

Superficially, they tell me dates, times, locations, and what crime has been committed. But it cannot tell me the next set of events, nor can it tell me how it felt to be victim or criminal. It does not tell me motivation...

I start by using statistics, then GIS mapping systems; I might even throw in an algebra or calculus equation to be sure...

But the art comes by building a picture through imagination. I determine the set of motives based on method of operation (MO), I then use this information to determine what kind of person I am dealing with. Breaking and entering, no evidence, little damage, identified target items for theft with little effort searching...I'd say an experienced burglar, probably male, comes from the dominant ethnicity of the neighborhood if their were no witnesses and it was day time, maybe a risk taker...probably 29-35, been arrested before for various crimes, and will steer from violence unless cornered.

The above comes from knowing the creature...experience. There are other things; I've learned to treat repetitive predators like spiders. I will always tell a detective to ask himself: "what kind of spider is he?" If he has a hunting ground that victims stray into then he's a "webber" and he is comfortable operating in the area because he frequents the area or lives there...he even knows the residents and business persons who live around there. If he has no preferred ground then he's nomadic and hunts wherever he can find prey; say like a wolf spider or the like.

Then there's tracking criminal organizations like cartels, gangs, and terrorists. Developing alternative futures to determine the next set of actions your target may take is something you learn over time. You get better as you go along and can get a "feeling" rather than hard data to support your conclusions. Its difficult to get others to believe in your intelligence product when they know that half of it is done on a hunch; but once they know that your are operating on well developed instinct they learn to respect your artistic ability.