“The Gilgo Beach Serial Killer- a Want Crime or a Drive Crime?”
/“The Gilgo Beach Serial Killer- a Want Crime or a Drive Crime?”
By Joseph Pangaro, CSO, CPM
The recent arrest of a suspect in the “Gilgo Beach” serial murder case in Long Island, N.Y., clearly demonstrates the power of modern police investigative techniques. Combining technology with dogged traditional police work has resulted in the identification and arrest of a suspected dangerous serial killer.
The questions of how and why this person allegedly committed these heinous crimes will be addressed in the course of time. The detectives will attempt to interview the suspect as best as they can depending on many factors to include if he has an attorney who will let him be interviewed, which is unlikely given the gravity of the charges and the potential for more charges looming ahead.
While the opportunity to interview this particular killer might be limited going forward, the reality for every criminal investigator is that you never know when you will have the opportunity to interview the next serial killer and you need to be ready.
We have all seen examples where a suspect is arrested for a very serious crime, and they initially waive their Miranda Rights and talk to investigators; actually, it is quite common. It is only after they are processed and get an attorney that the conversation stops.
In some instances, and the Gilgo case might be one of them, the attorney representing the suspect might see it as advantageous to let the client talk to investigators. They will review the police evidence and strength of the case. If it looks like the suspect is boxed in tight by evidence the tactic might be to exchange information for a more acceptable sentence, or other benefit to the suspect, for talking.
In states that have a death penalty, this might be more likely since the killer can bargain for their life by giving up more victims, the location of victims and other aspects of the crime. Bringing closure to the victim’s families is a powerful bargaining chip in many of these kinds of cases and prosecutors have made these deals in the past.
What I want to address here is this; If you find yourself face to face with a suspect in a very serious crime, such as homicide, serial or otherwise, or a sexual predator who has attacked multiple victims, you want to be prepared for the interview so you can advance the case properly and professionally and get the information you need.
This brings me to the concept of breaking down the suspect into one of two kinds of criminals and their motivations; specifically, the “want” motivated criminal and the “drive” motivated criminal.
These two motivations affect all of us in our daily lives. There are many things that we may want and are willing to do certain things to get them such as working overtime, taking a part-time job, or sacrificing in other areas so we have the resources to get the things we want.
For most people who want something, they have a calculus they employ to see what they are willing to do to get the things they want. If the effort is not worth their trouble, they usually put off the want. It’s the same for some criminals.
If a person wants new electronics, a computer, a game system or iPad, but they don’t have the resources to buy them, they might consider stealing these things by committing a burglary, theft, or robbery. Many criminals also have other needs such as drug, alcohol, or gambling habits that they want to satisfy. Committing crimes might be an option, but if the risk is too high, they can put off that “want” until conditions improve. A “want” crime then can be controlled by the individual as they weigh the pain vs reward aspect of getting the want satisfied.
The other kind of criminal motivation is “drive crime”.
A drive-based crime is one that is much harder for the individual to ignore. We look to human nature here to see what falls under the concept of a drive in a human being.
In general, we humans have several sets of drives built into us, the drive to eat, the drive for sex, the drive for safety and shelter and the drive for connection to other people. These drives keep our species alive; they help us to make community connections and they are built into us for those exact purposes.
For criminal investigators, these drives can also help us understand the motivations and actions of a criminal act such as a serial rapist or serial killer. In these people, the drives to sustain ourselves gets perverted and twisted and often result in the brutalization and victimization of innocent people as they act out to satisfy not just the drive but also the darker side of the drive.
The drive for sex has been at the root of many crimes we see as investigators from the act of rape, which is actually about power more than sex, to child molestation, and ultimately to psychosexual crimes of murder, sadism, and other violations of innocent people to gratify and satiate the drive of the killer.
In recent times we have seen the emergence of the “Incel” criminal, who are groups of people, male and female, who feel they are involuntarily celibate and not happy about it. I wrote about this aspect of a “drive” crime in a previous article. These people afflicted with the Incel ideology have acted out in mass killings in the U.S. and Canada.
The important takeaway here for the investigator is to recognize these two basic types of motivations and try to identify if the suspect they have to interview fits into either category of a “want” criminal or a “drive“ criminal. The value of making the distinction will be found in the interview phase. Understanding the basic motivation of your suspect will help you ask the right questions and use the right line of questioning, tactics and techniques to elicit information, confessions and admissions.
As you delve deeper into understanding human motivations, especially in criminal actions, you will find that while I have identified these two basic categories, want and drive, there are many more layers to explore.
Being a great interviewer means understanding the person you are to interview, what makes them tick, what is their perspective of the world and what pushed them to commit their crimes, then connecting with them to get the information you need.
To learn more about this concept look for my books “The Investigation” and “The Interview” from Blue360Media.com where I break these concepts down even further.
We owe it to our victims to be prepared and ready to get the information we need to bring justice to them and hold the guilty to account.
Joseph Pangaro is a 27-year veteran of law enforcement. He retired in 2013 at the rank of Lieutenant and currently serves as the Director of School Safety and Security for a large school district in NJ. He is also the owner of Pangaro Training and Management, a company that provides training to the public and private sector on a host of topics. Email: JPangaro@Yahoo.com
