
The Serial-Killer Detector (2017) - hotgoldminer
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/27/the-serial-killer-detector
======
Nzen
tl;dr a short biography of Thomas Hargrove, leader of the Murder
Accountability Project (MAP). He is a former crime reporter who has often
involved statistical analysis of crime databases in his work. MAP provides
geographic profiling, paired with other similarities to highlight potential
serial killers.

The article begins with Hargrove's biography, expands into some previous
attempts, and concludes with a contrast of another member of MAP's board, who
began a similar effort with the FBI in 1983. Throughout, this article relays
some aspects and categories among serial killers and their victims.

This reminds me of a recent discussion [2] about another statistical source:
real-time health data. Some alleged the data sinks aver on the grounds that
such streams could engender legal liability. One of the interviewees alludes
to this, but false positives are presumably more expensive in this case. Which
sort of sucks. I don't envy police, and certainly not whichever county is dead
last in unsolved murders, as that's apt to be a poorer community making the
same sorts of compromises we all need to make but on a more emotionally
charged scale [3].

[1] [http://www.murderdata.org/p/how-to.html](http://www.murderdata.org/p/how-
to.html) [2]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15717136](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15717136)
[3]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9juReoJxI0?t=29m35s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9juReoJxI0?t=29m35s)

------
jamestimmins
Interesting to read about an organization working on a hard problem, but that
hasn't yet solved it. I wish it gave more evidence about his 'algorithm' that
showed the patterns. It didn't sound like his data background was advanced, so
I'd hate to think that he's using an underpowered tool to solve an important
problem. I keep wondering if someone with a solid understanding on data
science could speed up his work considerably.

------
ALee
Interesting because the University of Chicago's Crime Lab does work like this
to track the epidemic and virality of murder as it happens across Chicago.
Worth a listen on an amazing podcast I highly recommend called Hidden Brain:
[https://www.npr.org/2017/02/21/512035150/on-the-knifes-
edge-...](https://www.npr.org/2017/02/21/512035150/on-the-knifes-edge-using-
therapy-to-address-violence-among-teens)

