The ICIAF is comprised of two divisions: the Criminal Investigative Analysis Division and the Geographic Profiling Division. Within each division are members comprised of Full Fellows, Associate Fellows, Understudies, Affiliate Fellows, and Honorary members.
Full Fellows generally include those members in good standing who attended and completed the invitational, in-residence course of training at the FBI’s Academy in Quantico, Virginia, commonly known as the FBI Police Fellowship Program, between 1984 and 1991. Additionally, these members include those who have completed the criminal Investigative Analysis Division’s Understudy Program and have also completed a one-year probationary period. Other Full Fellows are members of the FBI/ATF who have successfully completed the Criminal Investigative Analysis Division’s Understudy Program Board of Examination or the NCAVC training program and have successfully completed a one-year probationary period. Other Full Fellows are those who are employed profilers with the NCAVC and have been selected to become a Full Fellow by a simple majority vote of the membership.
Associate Fellows are members who have completed the Criminal Investigative Analysis Division’s Understudy Program Board of Examination or the NCAVC Training Program, but have not yet completed the one-year probationary period.
Understudies are those members who are currently enrolled in either the Criminal Investigative Analysis Division’s Understudy Program or the Geographic Profiling Division’s Understudy Program but have not yet completed the program.
Affiliate Fellows are those members of the ICIAF who have provided and continue to provide specialized advice or other services to criminal or geographic profilers that are not otherwise available within the Fellowship (e.g., forensic scientists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and researchers).
Honorary members include those individuals who have been nominated to the Voting Membership by a member of the association at a general meeting, and have been approved by the Voting Membership via Ordinary Resolution. Additionally, upon retirement or transfer from employment as a violent crime analyst, a member in good standing may elect to become an honorary member.³
Understudy Program
To qualify for the ICIAF Understudy Training Program, first and foremost the candidates must be sponsored by an ICIAF Full Fellow. The candidates are selected by their respective agencies, and must possess the following requirements:
- The candidate must be a sworn officer of a national or provincial/state level police agency.
- The candidate must have a minimum of 10 years of experience doing basic police work (patrol, investigation).
- The candidate must have several (2 or more) years of experience in investigating crimes of interpersonal violence (preferably sex crimes and/or homicide).
- The candidate must have earned a reputation within the agency as being a highly competent investigator.
- The candidate must have earned a reputation for having excellent interpersonal skills.
Understudy candidates who enter the program complete three phases of training which are supervised by the ICIAF Education Director:
Academic Phase – During this phase of training, the candidate must demonstrate proficiency in certain areas of study (usually through the reading assignments and course work), which is assessed by the candidate’s “sponsor”, who is a Board Certified Criminal Investigative Analyst. These specific topics include the following:
- Sexual Assault Offenders and Typology
- Sexual Homicide
- Forensic Pathology
- Crime Scene Reconstruction
- Homicide Investigation
- Equivocal Death Analysis
- Child Abduction and Molestation
- Interviews and Interrogations
- Normal and Abnormal Behavior (Psychiatry & Psychology)
- Analysis Construction
- Threat Assessment
- Arson and Bombing Analysis
- Instructor Development
- Media Relations and Pro-Active Strategic Media Releases
- Blood Spatter Analysis
- Computer Aided Case Linkage Systems (ViCAP, ViCLAS, etc.)
- Forensic Laboratory Procedures and Capabilities
- Scientific Content Analysis – SCAN (Statement Analysis)
- Forensic Sciences – Use and Limitations
These topics may (and often do) require that the understudy complete several courses to demonstrate sufficient proficiency, depending on his or her individual background and experience.
Internship Phase – During this phase (that can overlap the latter part of the Academic Phase), the candidate conducts supervised work on cases received through his or her home agency and from three other agencies, to achieve a minimum case experience level of 200 cases, which must include work on multiple cases of sexual assault, sexual homicide, child sexual abuse, equivocal death analysis, arson/bombing analysis, threat assessment and statement analysis.
In addition, the candidate must complete three (3), one-month long internships, working under the supervision of Board Certified Criminal Investigative Analysts, the final internship of which should be held at the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) when feasible.
Upon completion of both the Academic Phase and Internship Phase and upon receiving the recommendations of the candidate’s sponsor and the profilers from the internship agencies, the candidate can then proceed to the Board Examinations.
Examination Phase – During this phase, a three-member examination board is established consisting of at least two Board Certified Criminal Investigative Analysts and one other member of the Fellowship, which may be another certified analyst or an Associate Fellow – who is generally someone in the academic/medical field who has earned a doctor of philosophy degree (Ph.D.) in Psychology or Biology, or is a medical doctor (M.D.) with a specialty in psychiatry.
During the examination process, the candidate receives a case for analysis for which he or she has never been exposed, and is required to complete an analysis of the case entirely of his/her own accord (the candidate is prohibited from consulting with another profiler, but is permitted to consult with forensic experts, when desired). This case has been previously profiled by one of the examination board members and has also been solved; therefore, the examination board members, but not the examination candidate, know the personality characteristics of the offender.
The candidate is required to prepare a written report of his or her analysis, using the same standard format of any official report that would be provided to an investigative agency requesting assistance.
Following the examination board members’ receipt of the candidate’s written report, the candidate is required to appear before the board (in person or through technology) to orally defend the report, and to answer questions related to all areas of competency. This component of the examination, the oral defense process, generally extends from four to seven hours.
Assuming the candidate successfully completes the board examination, he or she then enters a one-year probationary period, after which time the candidate is considered a Board Certified Criminal Investigative Analyst.
If you are interested in becoming an ICIAF Criminal Profiler, we suggest you have your agency head contact us via the website so that we can forward your request to the Education Director for evaluation.