Essential Information
Serial defense Program: When a citizen become aware of a series of sex offenses or homicides are occurring in their area and takes assertive actions for their own self-defense or the defense of their loved ones.
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Serial offender: A person (of any gender) who alone or together commits two or more violent crimes motivated by sexual or homicidal motivations.
Initial point of contact: This is the location where the offender first has contact with their victim and initiates their crime. These places can be both public and private places. Wherever these places are, the offender may prefer to move their victim to a more secluded location to commit additional crimes where they can have an abundance of time to commit unspeakable crimes and their chance of being interrupted in minimal.
Violence turning point is the exact moment in which a predator, who has masqueraded in a guise of normalcy, suddenly erupts and engages in violent behavior. This point allows the offender to inflict serious bodily harm and commit any number of violent crimes from abduction, sexual assault and murder. This is especially the case when the offender has used a confidence approach whereby they present themselves in a friendly manner, only to change into the monsters they are, once they have selected the date, time and place for their violent acts.
Aura: The offender has a withdrawal from reality. It may not be noticed by those closest to them, but life has lost all meaning for the killer. Their senses are heightened, and violent fantasies begin to form. There is almost a compulsion that urges them to act on their thoughts and feelings.
Trolling: The offender starts to search for their victim as well as looking for a place to commit the crime or dump their body. This phase can last for months or just days, until the would-be serial killer has found the perfect victim and moves on to the next phase.
Wooing: The offender works on gaining the victim’s trust to put them at ease before attacking them. The killer may give the victim the sense of being charming, wanting to help the victim or in some cases harmless and in need to help. This phase is experienced by only the most organized serial killers.
Capture: The offender reveals his/her true self as a killer. The victim becomes incapacitated, whether subdued unconscious, restrained or trapped somewhere.
Murder: This is the phase where the actual murder takes place. Organized offenders may choose to kill their victims slowly, causing them much suffering and torture before they die. Disorganized offenders are more likely to kill their victims instantly and commit further acts on their corpses.
Totem: The thrill of the entire event begins to dissipate for serial killers. Serial killers are known to take a souvenir from their victims, such as the clothing, jewelry, identification, and other items they can use at a later time to relive the victims and the crimes.
Depression: After the commission of the crime, the serial offender experiences depression and feels the fantasy was not either not properly fulfilled or guilt over what they have done. Some may even kill themselves in this phase. Serial offenders who can live through this phase will soon begin to experience the violent fantasies of the aura phase and the entire cycle will repeat.
Triggering mechanism: A stressor that provokes the offender into the mindset down a path towards committing a violent crime. These stressors can be hours, days or weeks prior to a crime. Items such as losing a job, a significant relationship demise or change or an economic hardship.
Pre offense behavior: An escalation of the offender’s behavior leading to the violent offense. The offender may do things to decrease any inhibitions via use of alcohol or drugs. The offender may have frequent flare-ups, displays of temper and abusive behavior. This may also be a buildup of tensions that the offender feels a need a release.
Post offense behavior: Physical and/or mental changes in the offender observed by others close to the offender (family or co-workers) that can be measurable after the offense has been committed. Things such as weight loss, increased stress, depression, severe flare-ups and abusive temper, substance abuse, absence from work or usual social activities preoccupation with the case.
Stalking: This is a course of conduct that either the stalking victim is aware or unaware of. When the victim is aware, the victim is made to feel threatened, frightened and harassed.
When the victim is unaware, the offender observes the potential victim to decide when the victim will be the target of their violent behavior.
Target of Opportunity: This refers literally at a potential victim being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This could be when a person is stalking or frequenting and positioned in an area where they knew a victim would enter to commit their crime. This could also be an offender who is committing a burglary when the victim suddenly appears. The offender then violently acts out against the victim.
Escalation of the crime: When the offender begins to see the mistakes of his/her past crime and improves upon their ability to commit their next crime without the mistakes made in prior crimes. The offender literally looks to perfect their technique. This also refers to an offender who grew bored with their past crime(s) and feels the need for greater violence. This could start out as an offender who initially engaged in indecent exposure of themselves, voyeurism of another person and escalating to sexual assault or homicide. This escalation can take anywhere from a few hours (during one crime) or over several crimes and several victims over a period of weeks, months or years.
Homicidal Triangle: These are activities that usually occur during the early years of a serial killer and usually only discovered when a killer has been apprehended and cooperative to converse with law enforcement. The three activities are bedwetting, cruelty to animals and starting fires.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Victims and survivors of a violent crime are never to blame for being thrust into the equation. It is always the offender who has 100% of the blame.
High Risk: This refers to when a potential victim where their occupation or behavior places themselves in a particular place and time that can be a found in a routine fashion and their ability to protect themselves is hindered. As an example, a potential victim who takes the same route as they walk to and from work.
Another example is a person who works in an establishment where the history of their work has set a predictable schedule and thereby brings attention to themselves from an offender.
Low Risk: This is when the potential victim does not have an occupation or behavior and literally has done nothing to place themselves in a pattern or routine that brings themselves to the attention of an offender.
Primary target: The initial victim the offender has sought out to perpetrate his/her crime on.
Secondary target(s): If the initial victim is not present, the offender may chose another target (usually at the same crime scene) or if there are additional and unintended people present at the crime scene, the offender may victimize those individuals because they are present.
Availability: When a potential victim lives their life or partakes in one or more activities where they lend themselves more susceptible to being highly visible to an offender.
Situational Awareness: The ability of a potential victim to be completely aware of their presence in a particular environment in the present and immediate future. This person has the ability to anticipate danger and take appropriate actions to avoid or mitigate that danger.
Preoccupation/Distraction: When a potential victim is self-absorbed in an activity where they are completely unaware of the likelihood for danger to themselves.
Complacency: The mental status when a potential victim’s lifestyle, habits or routine has placed them in a mindset where they are oblivious to the danger or potential for danger or either an environment or a person. The person feels they could never be the victim of a crime and grossly underestimates the offender’s capacity for evil.
This can also occur when the potential victim takes no active part in any activity or preparation for their own defense.
Misjudged expectation: This occurs when the victim expects a person (based on their looks, dress, or conversation) is excluded from being a threat to their safety. In the case of Edmund Kemper, women who were hitchhiking felt more at ease getting into his vehicle because he had a sticker from the college where the women were disappearing from. In short, the offender is expected to look scary but for whatever reason does not look or act the part of being a monster because the offender blends in with society.
Warning Signs: Charm and charisma are two warning signs of predatory behavior.
J.D.L.R. “Just does not look right”: This is when the defender’s observations (sight, sound, smell, taste, etc.) tells them something is not right, and they need to take immediate action to ensure their safety.
Aggravating Factors: Items or activities the victim may or may not intentionally have done that may have led them to be targeted by the offender.
Tactics & Techniques:
This section will provide proactive and reactive tactics designed to combat the serial offender. These tactics can help anyone to avoid or mitigate a serial offender. The techniques will illustrate the physical responses and actions needed to effectively overcome a violent offender. Although the initial discussions describe the techniques in a written format, in the near future video will be added to clearly delineate how each physical technique is to be performed.