LiveWorld Transcripts

Borders.com presents

John Douglas
Former FBI profiler

November 24, 1998

Former FBI profiler John Douglas chats about his book, “Obsession” as well as his time as an FBI agent, including the Green River Murder cases in Seattle and some of the other major cases he was involved in.

Page 1 of 4

NetCafeLive: Welcome to NetCafeLive! Tonight we will be chatting with John Douglas, founder of the FBI's Investigative Support Unit, also co-author of best-selling "Mindhunter" and "Journey into Darkness." Brought to you by Borders.com and Talk City. Welcome John Douglas!

John Douglas: Glad to be here today. How are you?

CCCMyst: John, it's really great to have you with us tonight!

NetCafeLive: John, how did you get your start with the FBI?

John Douglas: I was recruited while in graduate school in New Mexico. I was in the Air Force for four years previously to then. The bureau requirement was a degree in any field and I needed a minimum of three years of professional work experience, this included my military time-I was 25 years of age. This was below the average age, most new agents with the bureau average 29 years of age. Being an FBI agent was not my career goal, I really wanted to be a veterinarian. At the time I was struggling financially living in a basement apartment. I liked the agent that recruited me and the work sounded exciting. Sixty days later after 3 bureau approved haircuts I was in Washington and enrolled in agent training. My career of developing criminal profiling for the FBI would come seven years later.

SillyLimey: Hello John, have you ever had to track a serial killer before? If so who?

John Douglas: Thanks slimy. The Green River Murder cases in Seattle. The Wayne Williams case in Atlanta was my first and got national attention for me and probably if there was any case it was that one that brought me attention in my work in criminal profiling for law enforcement agencies throughout the country. At the time I made a public statement saying that the killer would be an African American in his mid-20's and would be a police buff. He also would be someone that was interjecting himself into the police investigation. A police buff is someone who is not a sworn officer but someone that follows the investigation and knows the procedure. Wayne Williams fit that profile, but what made it controversial was the fact I predicted his race at the time. The bureau was scared that if I was wrong it would bring some derogatory press for the bureau and also there were historically very few Afro-American serial killers.

FLSurfer: You said you were in the USAF before joining the Bureau, so is that looked favorably upon? What about attending the USAFA?

John Douglas: Any of the military academies the bureau holds those graduates in very high regard. In fact when people ask me today for a sure fire way to get into the bureau I would say try any military academy and/or joining the ROTC and being a military officer, the bureau would look on that very favorably. The FBI has 80,000 applicants as we speak right now! And next year 1999 they will probably hire 700 agents. It is easier to get into Harvard University then to get into the FBI. The bureau would never tell a potential applicant this but someone that had 4-5 years of military experience as an officer would be an excellent candidate. Also anyone having a legal degree or accounting degree would also be looked on very favorably as well. The other areas where the bureau is seeking candidates is someone having expertise in computers as well as foreign languages. The bureau only hires U.S. National citizens- you must be a minimum of 23 years of age and you cannot be older than 37 years of age. You must be in excellent physical condition and be able to participate in a variety of athletic type exercises as well as qualify in the use of a variety of weapons. The length of training is approximately 15 weeks at the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia.

Page 1 of 4