Ritualistic Crime and its Investigation
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
When you think of a "ritualistic crime," what do you see in your mind’s eye? Do you see movie-like visions of young, nubile woman, splayed upon an altar for evil, naked save for, perhaps, a few torn and tattered pieces of cloth; surrounded by a chanting, throbbing host of black-robed, rotten-toothed devil worshippers who are entreating their master, the Evil One, to arise? When their master arises, does he partake of the flesh of the victim of this debauchery? That may be what you would think of...after all, who has not seen that on television or in the movies? But what, in actuality, is a ritualistic crime? It might be the burglar who enters an unoccupied dwelling, and after taking all that he desires, will turn on all of the faucets after plugging all of the drains, with the intent of flooding out the house. That burglar may defecate in the bed of the owner, after having stabbed the pillow through with a knife. There are those burglars who have been known to sit down at the kitchen table and eat a meal, leaving the dirty dishes in the sink. Others have been known to defecate on a toilet...not in the toilet, but on the lid. What makes these acts, sometimes known as "signatures," ritualistic is that they will be committed in the same way every time the perpetrator does his criminal act. While the level of activity may increase, there will always be those elements that the actor needs to feel completion. You may well ask whether a ritual is only some act that is performed with criminal intent. This is not the case. If you look at the Mass of the Roman Catholic or Anglican Churches you will see "High Ritual." All religions have activities that are performed by the congregation and their leader, whether a priest, rabbi, or minister, in a way that speaks of religion, of tradition--in the way it will have been performed for centuries. Even in our daily lives, we see personal rituals being performed. If every morning you have to put your right sock and shoe on, then your left sock and shoe, you are performing a ritual. When, on your way to work, you feel compelled to stop at the same 7-11 store every day to buy a large cup of coffee, a buttered roll and the morning paper, you are performing a ritual. If every time a baseball player, when getting up to bat, must adjust himself, spit to the left, and make the sign of the cross, or he is sure that he will strike out, he is performing a ritual. None of these acts, any more than religious acts, are by any means criminal. We can conclude, therefore, that ritualism in itself is not criminal, but rather the intentions of the criminal who authored the ritual act are criminal.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Ritualistic Crime & Its Investigation
The book is also intended to be used by the serious student of alternative religions, to encourage an understanding of these religions, and those who practice them.
While no single book can examine every form of alternative religion, this book makes a serious effort to explain some of those most often seen. It is realized that the average law officer may only encounter any one of these religions used in a criminal manner only once or twice during a career. Therefore, this manual could be of help in understanding that which is uncommon. Often, an understanding of the criminal’s mind can aid in catching the criminal.
About the Author
George Corbiscello is beginning his fifteenth year as a law enforcement officer. He is presently assigned as a Senior Investigator, and is the Officer in Charge of his agency’s Gang Intelligence Unit. He is a nationally credentialed law enforcement officer, a certified law enforcement instructor, and is the president of the New Jersey Chapter of the East Coast Gang Investigator’s Association, as well as a former second-vice president of ECGIA. George was State Trustee for his local Fraternal Order of Police Lodge for nearly a decade, and prior to that he served two years as president of that local lodge. George is a reviewing editor of the National Gang Crime Research Center’s Journal of Gang Crime Research, and has written several articles, booklets, and brochures on various security threat groups. He has been a student of alternative religions, and the crimes some people commit in the name of religion, for about eight years. George has been a guest instructor at the New Jersey Brookdale Monmouth County, Community College, Camden County Community College, the Middlesex County Police Academy, and an instructor for the Monmouth County Police Academy as well as the New Jersey Department of Corrections County Corrections Officers Training Academy. He has instructed in Boston, New York, Chicago, and Florida for various law enforcement and criminological organizations.