3 ms·

Firefighter arson is a relatively well known phenomenon. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fires-set-by-firefighters-a-long-standing-problem-experts-say-1

Firefighter arson is a relatively well known phenomenon. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fires-set-by-firefighters-a-long-standing-problem-experts-say-1.3563183 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fires-set-by-firefigh... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefighter_arson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefighter_arson

lainga 3y ago
Oh my goodness, that FBI behavioural profile on the second link. "We're looking for a suspect who's depressed... alcoholic... and HOMOSEXUAL"
- lelanthran 3y ago
  > Oh my goodness, that FBI behavioural profile on the second link. "We're looking for a suspect who's depressed... alcoholic... and HOMOSEXUAL" I count a total of 14 traits that they looked at[1]. Why is that one, and only that one, significant in your opinion? [1] Including the trait of being white. And male.
  - rovolo 3y ago
    "White male, age 17–25" is an entire trait. "Homosexual" is a *part* of a trait: "Alcoholism, childhood hyperactivity, homosexuality, depression, borderline personality disorder, and suicidal tendencies". It's significant because of the other descriptors it's grouped with in that trait. It would be weird to have "homosexual" as a trait on its own, but it's obviously weird to group it with these other descriptors in a single trait.
    - kwere 3y ago
      doesnt that sound like looking for [generic loser] to pin down and move onto other cases?
      - rovolo 3y ago
        This report [1] is specific to "Firefighter Arson", so they're looking for things to screen for during hiring for firefighters. The section you'll be interested in is on page 20: "PREVENTION OF FIREFIGHTER ARSON". They list some actions departments have taken: background checks for arson; requiring an affidavit the applicant hasn't conducted arson; "scared straight" lectures on the consequences of being jailed; and screening firefighters with a questionnaire. But yeah, the profiling section some sound like a way to pathologize arson. I found the motivation section and case studies more interesting. The only corroboration from the case studies is for the age; there's no evidence included for the personality traits. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20190811142354/https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/tr-141.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20190811142354/https://www.usfa....
  - lainga 3y ago
    Not much, I just thought they had taken that one out of DSM-5
- AlgorithmicTime 3y ago
  [dead]
maze-le 3y ago
That, but organized by a whole volunteer department in this case...
mardifoufs 3y ago
I'm curious, how do they actually figure out who is behind a forest fire? Or even suspect that it was a criminal act in the first place. Finding who is behind a burnt house is one thing, but a whole forest is a lot of terrain to cover for proof!
- lazyasciiart 3y ago
  They don't need to cover the whole forest, usually the fire is first seen when still small. But it's a lot of work, I don't know how often they are successful: https://www.nwcg.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pms412.pdf https://www.nwcg.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pms412... (I also know that forensic fire investigation for house fires/criminal investigations is basically a made up art with extremely unreliable results - not sure how much that overlaps with wildfire investigations).
- eastbound 3y ago
  I’ve always wondered, even in criminal cases, even here in France. Do they pin it on someone? Crime is prone to be pinned onto someone, it calms the populations, and it doesn’t matter whether he did it because he’s in jail, so of course he’s angry. I personally know someone whose lawyer asked him for a large sum in cash in the 7 minutes before a trial, in the antichamber of the court.
- P_I_Staker 3y ago
  You don't. Just grab some shlub and do some whitch doctor bullshit to convict them.
  - kwere 3y ago
    just play nice cop for an hour and people with that profile will confess JFK killing

lainga 3y ago

Oh my goodness, that FBI behavioural profile on the second link. "We're looking for a suspect who's depressed... alcoholic... and HOMOSEXUAL"

lelanthran 3y ago
> Oh my goodness, that FBI behavioural profile on the second link. "We're looking for a suspect who's depressed... alcoholic... and HOMOSEXUAL" I count a total of 14 traits that they looked at[1]. Why is that one, and only that one, significant in your opinion? [1] Including the trait of being white. And male.
- rovolo 3y ago
  "White male, age 17–25" is an entire trait. "Homosexual" is a *part* of a trait: "Alcoholism, childhood hyperactivity, homosexuality, depression, borderline personality disorder, and suicidal tendencies". It's significant because of the other descriptors it's grouped with in that trait. It would be weird to have "homosexual" as a trait on its own, but it's obviously weird to group it with these other descriptors in a single trait.
  - kwere 3y ago
    doesnt that sound like looking for [generic loser] to pin down and move onto other cases?
    - rovolo 3y ago
      This report [1] is specific to "Firefighter Arson", so they're looking for things to screen for during hiring for firefighters. The section you'll be interested in is on page 20: "PREVENTION OF FIREFIGHTER ARSON". They list some actions departments have taken: background checks for arson; requiring an affidavit the applicant hasn't conducted arson; "scared straight" lectures on the consequences of being jailed; and screening firefighters with a questionnaire. But yeah, the profiling section some sound like a way to pathologize arson. I found the motivation section and case studies more interesting. The only corroboration from the case studies is for the age; there's no evidence included for the personality traits. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20190811142354/https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/tr-141.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20190811142354/https://www.usfa....
- lainga 3y ago
  Not much, I just thought they had taken that one out of DSM-5
AlgorithmicTime 3y ago
[dead]

maze-le 3y ago

That, but organized by a whole volunteer department in this case...

mardifoufs 3y ago

I'm curious, how do they actually figure out who is behind a forest fire? Or even suspect that it was a criminal act in the first place. Finding who is behind a burnt house is one thing, but a whole forest is a lot of terrain to cover for proof!

lazyasciiart 3y ago
They don't need to cover the whole forest, usually the fire is first seen when still small. But it's a lot of work, I don't know how often they are successful: https://www.nwcg.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pms412.pdf https://www.nwcg.gov/sites/default/files/publications/pms412... (I also know that forensic fire investigation for house fires/criminal investigations is basically a made up art with extremely unreliable results - not sure how much that overlaps with wildfire investigations).
eastbound 3y ago
I’ve always wondered, even in criminal cases, even here in France. Do they pin it on someone? Crime is prone to be pinned onto someone, it calms the populations, and it doesn’t matter whether he did it because he’s in jail, so of course he’s angry. I personally know someone whose lawyer asked him for a large sum in cash in the 7 minutes before a trial, in the antichamber of the court.
P_I_Staker 3y ago
You don't. Just grab some shlub and do some whitch doctor bullshit to convict them.
- kwere 3y ago
  just play nice cop for an hour and people with that profile will confess JFK killing