James R. Fitzgerald

Last updated
James R. Fitzgerald
Born (1953-06-24) June 24, 1953 (age 70)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Police career
Department Behavioral Analysis Unit
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Service years1987–2007 [1]
StatusRetired
Rank Supervisory Special Agent
Other workConsultant
Website jamesrfitzgerald.com

James R. Fitzgerald (born June 24, 1953) is an American criminal profiler, forensic linguist, and author. He is a retired FBI agent and best known for his role in the UNABOM investigation, which resulted in the arrest and conviction of Ted Kaczynski. [2] [3]

Contents

Law enforcement career

Fitzgerald's career in law enforcement began in 1976 as a police officer in Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania. In 1987, after eleven years of local police work culminating in his promotion to the rank of sergeant, he was recruited by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Upon graduation from the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, Fitzgerald was assigned to the New York Field Division's Joint Bank Robbery Task Force. In 1995, Fitzgerald was promoted to Criminal Profiler at the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, which would later become the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, or BAU. Through myriad investigations of homicide, serial rape, extortion, kidnapping, and workplace violence, Fitzgerald refined his skills in forensic linguistics and threat assessment, specialties that were used in the UNABOM investigation. In an interview with NPR, Fitzgerald said the Unabomber's writings were a "pivotal factor" in cracking the Unabomber's case. He further claimed that he and his colleagues used the writing in the Unabomber manifesto to help pinpoint the age and geographic origin of their suspect. [4]

Fitzgerald was also responsible for developing training programs and tools to improve the threat assessment capabilities of the FBI. Among these is the Communicated Threat Assessment Database (CTAD), [5] an exhaustively indexed repository of data consisting of every communicated threat encountered in the course of FBI investigations.

Later career

Fitzgerald has remained active in the fields of criminal profiling and forensic linguistics since retiring from the FBI in 2007, holding positions as adjunct faculty at both Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, Stockton University in Pomona, New Jersey, and California University of Pennsylvania in California, Pennsylvania. He continues to work as a private consultant and technical advisor to free media productions, such as Criminal Minds and Sleepy Hollow . Fitzgerald served as a consulting producer in the Discovery Channel's 2017 miniseries Manhunt: Unabomber , [6] which features actor Sam Worthington as James "Fitz" Fitzgerald, described by Fitzgerald as "a composite character" of many investigators in the Unabomber case. [7]

Television

Publications

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References

  1. ↑ Carlin, Shannon (1 August 2017). "'Manhunt: Unabomber' Puts James Fitzgerald's Impressive FBI Career In The Spotlight". Bustle. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  2. ↑ Davis, Pat. "The Historian's Spotlight - James Fitzgerald". FBI National Academy Associates. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  3. 1 2 Nevitt, Cindy (25 December 2015). "Stockton professors minds behind 'Criminal Minds'". Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved 2017-07-16.
  4. ↑ "FBI Profiler Says Linguistic Work Was Pivotal In Capture Of Unabomber". NPR.org. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  5. ↑ Fitzgerald, James (2007). "The FBI's Communicated Threat Assessment Database". FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. 76: 6–9.
  6. ↑ Park, A.D. (21 July 2017). "'Manhunt: Unabomber' Star Sam Worthington Tells Us About Playing the FBI Agent Who Took Down The Ultimate Serial Killer". Maxim. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  7. ↑ Urquhart-White, Alaina (9 August 2017). "How Accurate Is Fitz In 'Manhunt: Unabomber'? Here's What The Real James Fitzgerald Thinks Of His Fictionalized Self". Bustle. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
  8. ↑ Silberman, Dan (24 September 2013). "LMN Premieres First Original Series 'Killer Profile'". A&E Networks. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  9. ↑ Bricker, Tierney (19 September 2016). "The Case 0f: JonBenét Ramsey Investigators Believe They Solve the Murder, But No One Will Be Arrested: Here's Why". E! Online. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  10. ↑ "Manhunt: UNABOMBER". Discovery Press Web. Retrieved 2018-01-02.
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