Violent Criminal Apprehension Program
Violent Criminal Apprehension Program | |
---|---|
Active | 1985–present |
Country | United States |
Agency | Federal Bureau of Investigation |
Part of | National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime |
Location | FBI Academy |
Abbreviation | ViCAP |
The Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP)
ViCAP was created in 1985 by the
It is designed to track and correlate information on violent crime, especially murder. The FBI provides the software for the database, which is widely used by state and local law enforcement agencies to compile information on:
- sexual assault cases
- solved and unsolved homicides, especially those involving a kidnapping or if they are apparently motiveless, sexual or random, or suspected to be part of a series
- missing persons, where foul play is suspected
- unidentified persons, where foul play is suspected
Cases fitting these categories can be entered into the system by law enforcement officials and compared to other cases in an attempt to correlate and match possible connections. ViCAP has been a tool in solving many cases, including cases decades old and cases in widely separated states. ViCAP is particularly valuable in identifying and tracking
The aforementioned pattern that links serial homicides is what is commonly referred to as "signature". ViCAP operates under the knowledge that serial homicides are almost always sexually- and control-driven with a consistent evolving signature present in each murder.[citation needed]
In the summer of 2008, the ViCAP program made its database available to all law enforcement agencies through a secure internet link. This allows for real time access to the database and allows agencies to enter and update cases directly into the database.[1]
References
- ^ a b "FBI—Investigations & Operations Support". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
- ^ "Convicted Killer Linked to 90 Murders FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program Connects Cases to Prolific Serial Killer". FBI News. FBI. 2018-11-27. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
External links
- www.fbi.gov
- Highway Serial Killing Initiative and ViCAP Podcast
- Behavioral Analysis Unit 2 and ViCAP Podcast