WEBVTT
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We're going to take you back in time to Jana Monroe.
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Jana Monroe was the first FBI agent in the BAU.
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The public still wants a profiler to walk into a room,
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00:00:16.969 --> 00:00:19.210
close their eyes, and name the killer, as we've seen
5
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so many TV shows and movies. And Jana Monroe's career
6
00:00:23.129 --> 00:00:27.160
is a long argument against that fantasy. Again, as I mentioned,
7
00:00:27.179 --> 00:00:29.600
Monroe was the first female FBI agent assigned to the
8
00:00:29.660 --> 00:00:33.689
BAU at Quantico. In five years there, she worked on
9
00:00:33.729 --> 00:00:38.030
about 850 cases. The caseload included some big names like
10
00:00:38.090 --> 00:00:42.770
Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Edmund Kemper. She later held field
11
00:00:42.850 --> 00:00:48.130
office leadership, worked the aftermath of Columbine, and helped run 9-11.
12
00:00:48.420 --> 00:00:51.359
She also coached Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs.
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What she actually did is less cinematic and more useful.
14
00:00:55.500 --> 00:00:58.759
local agencies kept jurisdiction. Quantico was asked for one piece
15
00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:01.520
of work, a profile, an interview strategy, a read of
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00:01:01.539 --> 00:01:03.340
the crime scene, or a way to think about who
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the victim was to the offender.
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Monroe's definition is blunt.
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Profiling is an analysis of offender traits and characteristics inferred
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from behavior at the scene. It narrows who and what
21
00:01:15.569 --> 00:01:18.629
you're looking for. It does not identify a name. When
22
00:01:18.689 --> 00:01:22.129
investigators already have a suspect, the unit's value often shifts
23
00:01:22.150 --> 00:01:25.519
to interview approaches. soft or hard, because most of these
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offenders will not accept accountability.
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They compare atrocities. They redirect. They treat guilt as someone
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else's problem.
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The Rogers family case is the one she could tell
28
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from something close to beginning to end, which is rare
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for a profiler. In June 1989, Joan Rogers and her daughters,
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Christy and Michelle, drove from Ohio toward Disney World in
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00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:49.459
the ocean. Their bodies were found floating in Tampa Bay.
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00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:52.560
A handwritten note with directions to a causeway parking lot
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sat in the file.
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Everyone assumed Joan had written it.
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Monroe asked a question that sounds too simple to be professional.
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Had anyone compared the handwriting to Joan's or the girl's?
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No one had.
38
00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:07.260
The note was not a victim's errand. It was part
39
00:02:07.299 --> 00:02:10.610
of the offender's staging. The profile she built with Bill
40
00:02:10.669 --> 00:02:12.729
Hagmeier was not a seance. It was a list of
41
00:02:12.789 --> 00:02:16.289
likely traits designed to stop investigators from chasing the wrong man.
42
00:02:17.110 --> 00:02:19.710
And that is the method. Victimology first.
43
00:02:20.150 --> 00:02:22.240
Why this person in this place in this way?
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00:02:22.659 --> 00:02:25.500
Then sequence. What the offender had to know. What he risked.
45
00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:29.310
What he took time to do. And then the inference.
46
00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:36.349
Organized versus sloppy. Local versus transient. Sexual versus instrumental. The
47
00:02:36.389 --> 00:02:39.669
product is a smaller haystack. DNA, witnesses, and street work
48
00:02:39.689 --> 00:02:43.849
will have to find the needle. Monroe has been clear
49
00:02:43.889 --> 00:02:46.810
about the cost. The work sits in a basement office
50
00:02:46.849 --> 00:02:51.060
at Quantico. The diet is other people's worst hours. She
51
00:02:51.099 --> 00:02:52.759
has said she did not realize how much she had
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00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:55.819
suppressed until she wrote Hearts of Darkness. The book is
53
00:02:55.860 --> 00:02:58.479
dedicated to victims and families, not to the mystique of
54
00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:03.360
the unit. Profiling is a clinical adjacent craft, pattern recognition
55
00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:05.819
under uncertainty, offered to people who still have to make
56
00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:08.719
it a rest. Treat it as magic, and you'll miss
57
00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:11.099
the only thing it was built to do, make the
58
00:03:11.139 --> 00:03:16.409
next question better. That's it for now, folks.
1
00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:05.940
We're going to take you back in time to Jana Monroe.
2
00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:10.839
Jana Monroe was the first FBI agent in the BAU.
3
00:00:14.199 --> 00:00:16.870
The public still wants a profiler to walk into a room,
4
00:00:16.969 --> 00:00:19.210
close their eyes, and name the killer, as we've seen
5
00:00:19.269 --> 00:00:23.089
so many TV shows and movies. And Jana Monroe's career
6
00:00:23.129 --> 00:00:27.160
is a long argument against that fantasy. Again, as I mentioned,
7
00:00:27.179 --> 00:00:29.600
Monroe was the first female FBI agent assigned to the
8
00:00:29.660 --> 00:00:33.689
BAU at Quantico. In five years there, she worked on
9
00:00:33.729 --> 00:00:38.030
about 850 cases. The caseload included some big names like
10
00:00:38.090 --> 00:00:42.770
Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Edmund Kemper. She later held field
11
00:00:42.850 --> 00:00:48.130
office leadership, worked the aftermath of Columbine, and helped run 9-11.
12
00:00:48.420 --> 00:00:51.359
She also coached Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs.
13
00:00:52.579 --> 00:00:54.840
What she actually did is less cinematic and more useful.
14
00:00:55.500 --> 00:00:58.759
local agencies kept jurisdiction. Quantico was asked for one piece
15
00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:01.520
of work, a profile, an interview strategy, a read of
16
00:01:01.539 --> 00:01:03.340
the crime scene, or a way to think about who
17
00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:04.780
the victim was to the offender.
18
00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:07.239
Monroe's definition is blunt.
19
00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:12.549
Profiling is an analysis of offender traits and characteristics inferred
20
00:01:12.579 --> 00:01:15.549
from behavior at the scene. It narrows who and what
21
00:01:15.569 --> 00:01:18.629
you're looking for. It does not identify a name. When
22
00:01:18.689 --> 00:01:22.129
investigators already have a suspect, the unit's value often shifts
23
00:01:22.150 --> 00:01:25.519
to interview approaches. soft or hard, because most of these
24
00:01:25.579 --> 00:01:27.329
offenders will not accept accountability.
25
00:01:28.379 --> 00:01:31.299
They compare atrocities. They redirect. They treat guilt as someone
26
00:01:31.340 --> 00:01:32.040
else's problem.
27
00:01:32.980 --> 00:01:35.719
The Rogers family case is the one she could tell
28
00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:38.560
from something close to beginning to end, which is rare
29
00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:43.120
for a profiler. In June 1989, Joan Rogers and her daughters,
30
00:01:43.159 --> 00:01:45.959
Christy and Michelle, drove from Ohio toward Disney World in
31
00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:49.459
the ocean. Their bodies were found floating in Tampa Bay.
32
00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:52.560
A handwritten note with directions to a causeway parking lot
33
00:01:52.620 --> 00:01:53.480
sat in the file.
34
00:01:54.379 --> 00:01:56.159
Everyone assumed Joan had written it.
35
00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:00.120
Monroe asked a question that sounds too simple to be professional.
36
00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:03.459
Had anyone compared the handwriting to Joan's or the girl's?
37
00:02:03.900 --> 00:02:04.519
No one had.
38
00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:07.260
The note was not a victim's errand. It was part
39
00:02:07.299 --> 00:02:10.610
of the offender's staging. The profile she built with Bill
40
00:02:10.669 --> 00:02:12.729
Hagmeier was not a seance. It was a list of
41
00:02:12.789 --> 00:02:16.289
likely traits designed to stop investigators from chasing the wrong man.
42
00:02:17.110 --> 00:02:19.710
And that is the method. Victimology first.
43
00:02:20.150 --> 00:02:22.240
Why this person in this place in this way?
44
00:02:22.659 --> 00:02:25.500
Then sequence. What the offender had to know. What he risked.
45
00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:29.310
What he took time to do. And then the inference.
46
00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:36.349
Organized versus sloppy. Local versus transient. Sexual versus instrumental. The
47
00:02:36.389 --> 00:02:39.669
product is a smaller haystack. DNA, witnesses, and street work
48
00:02:39.689 --> 00:02:43.849
will have to find the needle. Monroe has been clear
49
00:02:43.889 --> 00:02:46.810
about the cost. The work sits in a basement office
50
00:02:46.849 --> 00:02:51.060
at Quantico. The diet is other people's worst hours. She
51
00:02:51.099 --> 00:02:52.759
has said she did not realize how much she had
52
00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:55.819
suppressed until she wrote Hearts of Darkness. The book is
53
00:02:55.860 --> 00:02:58.479
dedicated to victims and families, not to the mystique of
54
00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:03.360
the unit. Profiling is a clinical adjacent craft, pattern recognition
55
00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:05.819
under uncertainty, offered to people who still have to make
56
00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:08.719
it a rest. Treat it as magic, and you'll miss
57
00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:11.099
the only thing it was built to do, make the
58
00:03:11.139 --> 00:03:16.409
next question better. That's it for now, folks.
