This is the one area where I was clearly able to spot before any training in body language.
Note: Everybody acts differently depending on the situation. To say it more concretely, if you see a man you see acting in the way I describe below, he could be acting that way because he HATES kids and becomes nervous around them. I only offer this as a guide to be more aware and careful with your own kids.
I first learned to spot shoplifters while working at a grocery store. I then noticed the same behavior with potential pedophiles after I had my own kids.
The spot or tell is clearly seen when you know what to look for. The first time I saw this I was working in the meat department after school. Everybody had to pass by the meat counter to enter the store and almost immediately I could pick out potential shoplifters. I got so good at it all I had to do was give a quick call to the manager up in the office, he had a one way mirrored window and could watch the shoplifter from his lofty perch. I made the call a couple of times a week, and I only worked there for 2-3 hours an evening.
What to look for? 90% Gestures and 10% eyes.
Both the shoplifter and pedophile uses very little gestures.
Their movements are controlled and planned to the point where it always appearedto me as unnatural.
With the shoplifter they will pick up a few things, but it is all for show- and you can tell it is for show by the way they hold items higher and away from their body- then they pick up the thing they are going to pocket and you can tell by how they reach for it and the speed of their arms and hands. They appear to be browsing but the scan of the store is unnatural and their eyes will even pay much more attention to other people in the store than the actual merchandise. If you want to identify the shoplifter simply concentrate on the lack of gestures and controlled movements.
The pedophile is similar in many ways. When they see a object of their affection they also get "tight" and gesture less. They most often quickly look away, for fear someone will see them watching someone else. They will glance around more, and often will focus on adults closest to who they really want to look at, so they can use their peripheral vision to watch the child. It looks slightly unnatural compared to how others there are acting. They glance at many different people so it does not look obvious that they would be looking at a child, but they will hold the gaze a slight beat or two more than the others he is glancing at. Children are fast and move in a nonstop way, this works to the pedophiles advantage and disadvantage. It allows them to scan, but if you are looking for it, it gets them caught because their gaze settles a beat too long. If you want to identify the potential pedophile simply concentrate on the lack of gestures.
What to do with this information? Nothing and Everything.
I rarely get involved with shoplifters, people are crazy and willing to do all kinds of stupid things for drugs, etc. I can spot undercover security as clearly as the shoplifter (they look both too natural and unnatural; and even though they do not interact with others working at the store you can tell by the way hold eye contact a beat too long, or quickly avoid eye contact with clerks; etc.). A couple of times I've done is a quick double take at the shoplifter, show disgust, and simply walk away- this is enough for security to pick up on them and at least notice them. Other times I have starred at them, I've even acted like security browsing items in the same isle. It all depends on the situation.
Potential pedophiles are a different ball game. I can never be sure why they are acting strangely so I am immediately on guard. I study the person and determine the level of threat. I see if they are alone. If they are alone I'll make it a point to be closer to the individual so I can more closely examine the situation. In my 20 years of being able to see this behavior I've seen 10 or so people that put me on high guard. Of course I can do very little other than make my presence known subtly and not so subtly, and take responsibility for each and every child in the area.
Note: This only works with the strangers. It does not work at all with those who have mastered the art of being placed in an authority position with our children (teachers, camp leaders, etc).
There is also another thing I need to mention, not ALL pedophiles act the same way. We obviously need to be careful and always be on the guard, especially with those we place our trust of our children in.◦
Sunday, June 14, 2009
One Way to Spot a Pedophiles or Shoplifter in Real Life with Their Body Language
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6 comments:
So you deem it a crime to look at children? How quaint...and no wonder so many people have been made to feel guilty for looking. Your actions in the supermarket as described by you undoubtedly turned away more potential customers than shoplifters...
I am also well-versed in this 'science'. One of it's cardinal rules is to employ it within the parameters that have been determined useful for it...that is, as an aid to increase the effectiveness of traditional surveillance techniques.
Alerting the co-worker to place potential targets of interest under closer surveillance from his superior vantage point is a good example of using the technique within it's established parameters.
Your omission of data regarding your rate of false-positive readings doesn't do much to elevate the concept of Bio-movement reading to a science, but mean success-failure ratios are already well-documented enough to forgive your omission, or the more likely possibility that you/your operatives failed to keep such records.
Though the question of whether this is an ethical method of target identification remains unanswered, in the 'supermarket' context no harm would ever come of it if applied transparently. At best the store would nab itself a few shoplifters who slipped through the defenses of their 'undercover' agents on the floor.
However, your admission that you would leave your meat-counter post to trade facial expressions and engage in other jedi mind tricks with customers who had yet to steal anything is clear evidence that you are misapplying the technique as a deterrent. This particular niche field is notorious for being misapplied in this manner. If it were an effective deterrent the general public would be trained to use it and many of us would be out of a job...need I say more?
I could go on at length about the technical and ethical transgressions of your 'pedophile alert' technique, but it seems more ultimately productive to mention that Bio-mechanical reading is not Mind-reading. Furthermore, it is destructive and (I believe) ethically unsound to attempt to employ it as a deterrent, which is what your entire story essentially boils down to. When guilt is preemptively assigned on a broad-sweeping generalized basis as you are doing, the result is a rapid degeneration into a police state. This would still hold true if your method was regarded in the field as durable...
This is why (and I feel a reminder is extremely warranted in this case) it is NOT illegal to 'act' like a shoplifter. More importantly, it is not illegal to look at children. A person who habitually turns up on the corner across the street from an elementary school to do so is indeed encouraging the authorities to take a closer look at him, and rightly so...but what you are promoting is a far cry from 'probable cause'.
Finally, I've just consulted my criminal code and DSM-IV for confirmation. Both are current editions, and I can find nothing in either that states it is illegal to 'be' a pedophile. Furthermore, the DSM gives no indication whatsoever that 'being' a pedophile is mutually-exclusive with an irresistible compulsion to engage in acts legally-defined as 'pedophilic' in nature.
In light of that, you are essentially accomplishing nothing beyond levying false accusations at people who have committed no crime. By doing this, you are paving the way for Totalitarianism, pure and simple.
On a personal note, that you do so under the guise of concerned parenthood is mystifying to say the least. As a parent to the third power among other things, I'm far more suspicious of people who threaten to "take responsibility for each and every child in the area" than I am of a person who is brave enough to smile at my kids in a supermarket checkout line, despite the implied guilt that hysteria-driven people like yourself are trying to hang around their neck.
Just keep in mind, sport, that people can be very unpredictable. I can tell you now that if you pulled any of your crap on me, I would not hesitate to slit your gut from dick to sternum.
Leave the law enforcement to those properly trained if you know what's good for you.
In a grocery store setting, the likelihood that you run across shoplifters is high, especially with young people. Having worked in retail myself for a number of years, I have learned to spot suspicious behavior and keep an eye out for those who might want to steal (either through shoplifting or by force).
However, how often does a pedophile roam the aisles of a grocery store? I imagine that pedophiles need to buy groceries, too, but what is the proportion of pedophiles in a normal cross-section of society? If the media is to be believed, there are pedophiles hiding around every corner and behind every bush. And according to your article, it would seem that the proliferation is high enough to keep you looking for them. The problem is (and you've already pointed this out), the behaviors you prescribed to a "potential pedophile" can also be attributed to other things. Perhaps a person looks at the adult closest to a child because he's interested in the adult and not the child at all?
There are so many holes in your theory that it's laughable. By your definition, anyone could be a "potential pedophile." With a shoplifter, you can observe the person stealing; how can you verify that a "potential pedophile" is indeed a pedophile? X-rays to see if the guy is sexually excited by not looking at a child?
"potential pedophile"? What does that mean? Like other sexual orientation , you either ARE or AREN'T.
How do you know these people who act strange are pedophiles?
Wow. So many pedophiles commenting on this site. What's up with the "parent" who says that pedophilia isn't legal. Sick, sick, son of a whore. He is without a doubt a child rapist.I know how to spot a pedophile, someone that is angry about an article on how to spot a pedophile.
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