Serial Arson Investigation

Serial Arsonist Conducting an arson investigation is a straightforward affair. The first thing to do is determine if the crime committed was actually arson, as arson has a strict definition. This can be especially difficult if the arsonist is skilled at his craft, and assume it’s a he because 94% of arsonists are young males (Baker, 2005). After investigating the scene and determining it was an arson, the next step is to determine what kind of arson it was, mass arson, serial arson, or spree arson. Once that it had been determined to be arson, and what kind of arsonist is being dealt with, the fun part starts, good old fashioned police work. This is where having a fusion center comes in handy.

Arson Defined and Classified
Defined
Arson is
like every other crime in that probable cause is needed for an arrest and proof beyond a reasonable doubt needs to be presented for a conviction. Arson requires a mens rea, criminal intent, to be classified as such. It must be proven that the suspected arsonist acted voluntarily, knowingly and purposefully when the fire was lit (Baker, 2005). In the U.S burning pretty much anything of value can be considered arson, such as a home, car, commercial or industrial buildings, crops, and forests.
Classified
The first thing that needs to happen for an arson investigation to take place is to figure out if it is arson at all. Fire use the Gilbert System of classification, which places them into one of five categories, natural, accidental, unknown, suspicious, and incendiary (Baker, 2005). If it is an accident it will not be considered arson, and I do not think you can get a warrant for Mother Nature, while suspicious and incendiary are both considered arson until otherwise proven.

Types of Arsonists There are three basic types of arsons, mass, spree, and serial.
A mass arsonist sets three or more fires in a short time in a small area. A spree arsonist lights three or more fires in different areas within a short time. A serial arsonist sets three or more fires over a longer period and larger area (Baker, 2005). An arsonist will fall into one of two typologies, organized or disorganized. An organized arsonist will be smarter and likely a normal member of society, while a disorganized arsonist is more likely to be an introvert and have no logic or reason to his fires. There are several motivations for arsonists, such as vandalism and excitement. The arsonist motivated by a need to damage something and cause mischief. Vandal arsonists are usually low income or troubled students that target low hanging fruit, such as garbage cans and bushes within walking distance of their home. A thrill-seeking arsonist lights fires because it excites him, he wants to see big fires and watch people react to them, taking pride in what he did. Excitement-attention seeking arsonists can escalate their habit much like a junky when using drugs, they will keep lighting bigger fires until they are caught (Baker,
2005). Arsonists can also be motivated by personal matters, such as revenge or profit. This arsonist has a grudge and wants to hurt a specific person by burning them or something they care about. If there was money to be gained via an insurance payout, the possibility of a profit motivated arson is high. Some arsonists just want to watch the world burn, such as a societal/institution-retaliation motivated arsonist. This arsonist wants to cause anarchy or bring down the system. He probably feels wronged by society or the government in some way, and is getting revenge by fire (Baker, 2005).

The Plan After I am sure I am dealing with arson, I am going to gather as much information at the scene as I can.
I need to know everything the Fire Marshal knows, and then I will talk to anyone at the scene, focusing on young white males. There is a 50-50 shot that the arsonist will return the scene, and 82% chance that the suspect is a white male (Baker, 2005). Hopefully there is an obvious motive for the arson, such as an angry ex-lover, or a failing business. Should it be a random dumpster or vacant lot fire, it will require a lot more research.
Next I need to look at the crime statistics for the area and see if there are any other recent fires in the area, focusing on ones that may be connected. This is where a fusion center would come in handy. I would go through any information from nearby precincts on arsons that could possibly be related to the one I am working on, as well as making sure I document anything I have learned in case someone else could use what I have
gathered. Any surveillance or traffic cameras in the area could be immensely helpful, as traffic footage was the key to unlocking Lt. Todd Thomasson’s arson investigation (Cazares, 2011). Lt. Thompson could run license plates of vehicles that drove by the scene at the right timeframe to get a list of suspects. This list of suspects led them to a high schooler who fit the profile of a vandal arsonist who was missing school on suspicious days. The Dallas PD placed him under surveillance and caught him in the act. The fusion center and Lt. Thomasson’s use of intelligence led policing caught this serial arsonist who had lit up to 20 fires in Dallas.
My goal would be to generate a list of suspects that have a record, preferably an arson conviction, that live in the area where the arson was committed. If there were other fires nearby recently then that could narrow or expand my search. Mapping out where the arsons occurred and marking convicted felons and arsonists on that map would help, as well as marking schools (Cazares, 2011). Statistic’s say that my arsonist will be a high school aged white male. I would wager that if I followed these steps, I could catch this arsonist eventually, unless he is some criminal arsonist mastermind, which is extremely unlikely.

Conclusion We live in a time where law enforcement has fantastic tools at its disposal as well as the policing process being extremely refined. Criminals are statistically dumb and predictable, although there are plenty of exceptions to the rule. It would be invigorating getting to go on a Criminal Minds or CSI style investigation where some evil British dude is torching buildings with delayed, self-destroying, timed incendiary devices in some elaborate revenge plot over something that happened in Spain 20 years ago. The reality is it was probably some punk white high schooler starting a dumpster fire while stoned, that was caught when he returned t