John Douglas, who helped establish FBI 'profiling' unit, to speak at JSU
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True crime fans alert: Retired FBI agent John Douglas, who headed the agency's Investigative Support Unit — the team behind criminal "profiling," in pop culture parlance — will speak Oct. 18 at Jacksonville State University.
Douglas will appear at a free event sponsored by the Department of Criminal Justice & Forensic Investigation,
The author of "Mindhunter," which was recently made into a Netflix series loosely based on his experiences, Douglas is known for advancing the use of criminal profiling in prominent cases.
"Douglas' ability to link behavior and evidence makes him the lawman serial killers fear," according to an online announcement of the event at JSU. "He knows their secrets, has learned the patterns of their bizarre rituals and is always armed with the information needed for the police to capture these criminals and put an end to their vicious murders."
"Mindhunter" presents an account of the initiation of profiling at the FBI loosely based on a period of time when Douglas and fellow agent Robert Ressler interviewed what are now referred to as serial killers in prison, seeking insight into their motivations and patterns of behavior.
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Douglas is often cited as the inspiration for the character Jack Crawford in Robert Harris' books, "Red Dragon" and "The Silence of the Lambs," and the movies and TV shows that followed.
He is co-author of a number of books about cases he has investigated. After retirement, he continued to consult on a number of cases, including some high-profile ones such as the still-unsolved JonBenet Ramsey murder.
Douglas' presentation at JSU is slated for 7 p.m. Oct. 18 in the Ken & Jenny Howell Auditorium (Room B10) in Merrill Hall.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: FBI's "Mindhunter," John Douglas, to speak at Jacksonville State
