Abstract
In 1986, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) entered into a unique joint venture with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by detailing a veteran special agent to what was then the Behavioral Science Unit (BSU), a component of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC), located at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The ATF agent began an intensive 9-month training program at the NCAVC in the relatively new discipline of Criminal Personality Profiling. Known as the NCAVC Police Fellowship Program, the training was offered to selected criminal investigators and detectives from throughout the United States and abroad (i.e., Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands), and certain US Federal law enforcement agencies. At the end of the training, the ATF agent remained at Quantico to provide criminal profiling services—primarily related to arson and bombing crimes—to ATF, the FBI, and other Federal, state, local, and international law enforcement agencies upon their request. Additionally, this first agent and the ones who followed partnered with their FBI colleagues to conduct research into the behaviors and motivations of arson and bombing offenders, resulting in a number of foundational publications in the field (Sapp, Gary, Huff, & James, 1994; Sapp, Huff, Gary, & Icove, 1995; Sapp, Huff, Gary, Icove, & Horbert, 1994; Sapp, Huff, Gary, Icove, & James, 1993; Sapp, Huff, Kelm, & Tunkel, 2001). Thus began a partnership, little known in mainstream media, that has lasted 30 years. The current author, an ATF Special Agent and FBI-certified Behavioral Analyst, was assigned to the BSU’s successor, the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU)—for nearly 18 years.
Published Version
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