Ukrainian Experience In The Usage Of Profiling For Revealing Criminal Offenses

Profiling, as a modern technology, is widely employed in operational-investigative activities of law enforcement agencies for the detection and investigation of criminal offenses. This system, comprising social and psychological techniques, facilitates the diagnosis of personal characteristics, peculiarities of hidden motives, and the assessment of information. Moreover, it enables the prediction of scenarios, behavioral patterns, and communication styles in various situations. Criminal profiling holds particular significance in crafting a psychological portrait of a suspect involved in a series of crimes. However, the use of profiling in law enforcement presents certain challenges. Although a psychological profile and its utilization cannot serve as direct evidence in legal proceedings, they are successfully used in search, detective, and investigative activities to identify criminals and prevent crime. When employing the profiling technique to interact with individuals crossing state borders, operatives have the opportunity to identify criminal intentions or instances of criminal activity. Additionally, profiling can be applied to prevent illegal actions and ensure public safety at transportation infrastructure facilities and during cultural events.

Research Problem Formulation.In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the psychological aspects of criminal offenses and behavior in Ukraine.This is due to the increasing scope of scientific research in this field, as well as the practical need of law enforcement agencies.
The issue of the use of psychological knowledge in the activities of the criminal police units of the National Police of Ukraine, particularly in operational-investigative activities, has been a concern for both theorists and legal practitioners.Operational-investigative activities play an important role in preventing and solving crimes as a special type of law enforcement practice.Over time, the world criminological practice has increasingly shown that certain operational-investigative activities in law enforcement agencies require the use of specialized psychological knowledge.This knowledge is known as a system of specialized psychological support within the law enforcement sphere 1 .
Nevertheless, the psychological aspects of diagnosing and assessing the personality of a criminal are insufficiently addressed in operationalinvestigative activities, leading to challenges in the detection and prevention of criminal activities at various stages of criminal offenses.
Analysis of Recent Researches and Publications.Profiling as a technique has attracted the interest of the scientific community both in Ukraine and abroad.This topic is covered in the works by: Yu.Antonian, O. Anfinohenov, This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Disclaimer
The funder had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Contributors
The author contributed solely to the intellectual discussion underlying this paper, case-law exploration, writing and editing, and accept responsibility for the content and interpretation.

Declaration of Competing Interest
The author declare that they have no conflict of interest.At the same time, there is a lack of research on the use of profiling in the operational units of domestic law enforcement agencies, and some aspects of this issue are still under discussion.
Article Purpose is to study problematic issues that arise in the process of disclosing and investigating criminal offenses, and also to determine the role and significance of profiling as a modern technology in the operational and investigative activities of law enforcement agencies.The article is aimed at analyzing the theoretical aspects and practical possibilities of using profiling in operational activities, particularly in the compilation of psychological profiles of suspects and the reconstruction of crime events.The article will discuss the main components of profiling and its importance for ensuring state security and public order.In addition, the article emphasizes the effectiveness of profiling as a method of combating crime.
Main Content Presentation.In the process of disclosing and investigating criminal offenses, a range of problematic issues arises, necessitating the use of modern technologies.One such technology capable of assisting law enforcement professionals, including operational officers and investigators in their professional activities, is profiling.It is concurred with O. Bohucharovа that operational-search activity, as a specific type of legal practice, despite being to some extent covered by the general (methodological-methodical) part of legal psychology, is a distinct form of legal application, a type of professional legal activity with its own specific legislative regulation, distinctive goals, forms, directions, and tasks, specific subjects and objects of activity, special forces, measures, means, methods, and more 2 .
Profiling is a system of socio-psychological techniques for diagnosing personal characteristics, and hidden motives, and the assessment of communicated information.It is based on evaluating the non-verbal, verbal, and sub-verbal behavior of the subject, with a focus on predicting scenarios of situational development, relationships, actions, behavior models, and human communication.Criminal profiling, in turn, involves creating a psychological portrait (describing basic character traits, personality types, and potential mental deviations) of an individual suspected of committing a series of crimes 3 .
Profiling can be applied in various spheres of social life, including ensuring state security and public order.In the contemporary development stage of society, profiling is a widely utilized method employed by security services in national airports to identify individuals capable of committing criminal acts.In addition to expert profilers, security services also employ technical profiling, such as video surveillance cameras and polygraph testing.Criminal profiling is a permissible and lawful tool that allows for the most effective allocation of limited resources by law enforcement agencies 4 .
One of the most promising options for using the profiling methodology in operational-investigative activities is to draw up a psychological portrait of a wanted unidentified person who has committed a crime, which is carried out at the stage of collecting operationally relevant information about certain actions within the framework of an operational-investigative case.Ключові слова: профайлінг, психологічний портрет, кримінальний профайлінг, о п е р а т и в н о -р о з ш у к о в а діяльність.
Drawing up a psychological portrait is a widely used technology in psychology; however, in the psychology of operational-investigative activities, law enforcement officer faces certain difficulties when using it.A psychological portrait and its application are not direct evidence in proceedings but can be successfully applied during the investigation, as well as in conducting operational-investigative measures and investigative actions to expose the guilty parties and prevent crimes.
In conditions of uncertainty, using a psychoprofile allows for formulating and verifying hypotheses, as well as predicting the time and place of a new crime; refining and narrowing down the circle of suspects, and identifying the necessary individual from this group.This is especially important at border checkpoints, where border guards, while processing and allowing thousands of people daily, need to be proficient in profiling techniques.They should also have specific psycho-criminal profiles of individuals who may be involved in illegal activities 5 .
The private aspect of profiling may involve the reconstruction of a crime scene conducted by a profiler specialist during the collection of operationally significant information about a crime committed by an unidentified person.
Profiling is applied not only to identify unknown criminals but also for the prevention of unlawful actions 6 .
Profiling provides the opportunity to obtain objective information about the potential danger of subjects and can be effectively used for preventive measures in maintaining public order to prevent terrorist acts and other unlawful intentions.
Profiling includes the following main components: -general characteristics: muscle tone, motor activity, attempts to maintain a certain distance and spatial position concerning the police, monitoring of one's own behavior and the behavior of the police; -facial expression, including eyebrows, eyes, gaze, lips, facial muscles; -position of hands (gestures); -language, sounds, breathing; -vasomotor reactions: skin color, salivation, sweating, tears.
Each of these components has typical manifestations.The analysis of all nonverbal communication systems indicates that they undoubtedly play a significant auxiliary (and sometimes independent) role in the communicative process.
With the ability not only to enhance but also to weaken verbal influence, all nonverbal communication systems help identify such a crucial parameter of the communicative process as the intentions of its participants 7 .
One of the methods of verifying, obtaining, or confirming information or suspicion of a crime being prepared or committed is conducting interviews (filtration and verification measures, reconnaissance questioning).
An interview is a conversation in which questions are asked, and answers are given.In ordinary language, the word "interview" denotes a one-on-one conversation, where one person acts as the interviewer, and the other as the

UKRAINIAN EXPERIENCE IN THE USAGE OF PROFILING FOR REVEALING CRIMINAL OFFENSES
Profiling, as a modern technology, is widely employed in operational-investigative activities of law enforcement agencies for the detection and investigation of criminal offenses.This system, comprising social and psychological techniques, facilitates the diagnosis of personal characteristics, peculiarities of hidden motives, and the assessment of information.Moreover, it enables the prediction of scenarios, behavioral patterns, and communication styles in various situations.Criminal profiling holds particular significance in crafting a psychological portrait of a suspect involved in a series of crimes.
However, the use of profiling in law enforcement presents certain challenges.Although a psychological profile and its utilization cannot serve as direct evidence in legal proceedings, they are successfully used in search, detective, and investigative activities to identify criminals and prevent crime.When employing the profiling technique to interact with individuals crossing state borders, operatives have the opportunity to identify criminal intentions or instances of criminal activity.Additionally, profiling can be applied to prevent illegal actions and ensure public safety at transportation infrastructure facilities and during cultural events.
interviewee.In turn, the interviewer asks questions, and the interviewee responds.
During the interview, the operative officer has the opportunity to ascertain the criminal intentions of an individual crossing the state border or establish facts of criminal activity.However, for the effective implementation of this measure, it is necessary to utilize a leading profiling methodology that has proven its effectiveness abroad.Profiling helps to compile the characteristic traits of the offender, identify the behavioral signature of the criminal, and recognize verbal and non-verbal cues 8 .
In the conditions of the war in Ukraine, the number of cybercrimes has significantly increased.Profiling, which is an important tool in the investigation of crimes, including informational ones, allows for the classification of cybercriminals, understanding their habits and technical skills, and aims to identify the perpetrator.
Given the significant increase in the number of cybercrimes, investigating cybercrimes is a highly relevant task.Of course, not all methodologies of classical profiling can be applied to cybercrimes, but according to American investigator and cybersecurity expert R. Yepes (Yepes, 2016), the fundamental methodology of "why + how = who" can be utilized in profiling cybercrimes.Determining the motive and method of committing the crime contributes to the identification of the perpetrator.
Investigators and operational staff can develop profiles of suspects based on the analysis of details of cybercrimes.For this, they must not only be profiling experts but also specialists in information technology, cybersecurity, and digital forensics.The tasks of a cyber police officer include identifying a list of suspects (whether they operated externally or are insiders), studying the attack from a technological perspective, determining the hacker's skill level, and investigating the victim and the attack's motive.Examining these issues helps narrow down the list of suspects.However, without an understanding of information technology, a profiler cannot accurately identify the cybercriminal.
According to Shinder (Shinder, 2010), in the process of profiling, most cybercriminals can be described by the following characteristics: -a certain level of technical knowledge; -disregard for the law; -need for the risk ; -pleasure derived from manipulating others; -motives for the crime include money, emotions, political or religious beliefs, sexual satisfaction, and a desire for entertainment 9 .
Currently, this field of knowledge is actively used in the commercial sphere.In law enforcement activities, profiling methods are employed to ensure public safety at transportation infrastructure facilities, during cultural and mass events.However, employees do not take into account the variety of techniques offered by profiling and their potential use in the process of investigating criminal cases 10 .
Conclusions.In connection with the intense military conflict with Russia, which illegally annexed part of Ukraine's territory and continues to commit terrorist acts, threatening national security, it is necessary for law enforcement units to possess and effectively utilize all available modern methods to combat various types of crime, including military criminals, terrorists, saboteurs, and other criminal elements.
This requires active implementation of intellectual strategies, profiling methods, development of new technologies, and continuous improvement of the professional skills of operational personnel.To effectively counter such threats, it is necessary to promote cooperation and information exchange among various law enforcement agencies, and involve experts from different fields such as forensics, psychology, and information security.
By using profiling as an additional tool in the prevention and counteraction of crimes, it is possible to accumulate forensic information from crime scenes (violations of state borders) and establish the psychological characteristics of criminals.This includes identifying signs of criminal series occurring in different locations (illegal migration), creating a psychological profile of the criminal (profiling) to identify potential suspects (descriptive characteristics), and analyzing patterns that can help predict future crimes and/or potential victims (predictive criminal profiling), especially in the fight against terrorism 11 .
The application of modern methods in combating crime will not only contribute to the detection, investigation, and prosecution of criminals but also facilitate the prevention of new crimes, ensuring national security and stability in Ukraine.