A bank robbing candidate for geographic profiling : Cancrime

View Halfway house holdups in a larger map

James Freeman is a serial screwup. He's also a drug-addicted bank robber. And he appears territorial, perhaps to the point that geographic profiling could be used in future to catch him. The map above shows that Freeman may not have strayed far when he escaped from a federal halfway house in Kingston, Ontario Oct. 1 and allegedly began robbing banks.

Parole records reveal what authorities describe as Freeman's "dismal" and "terrible" conditional release history. He keeps getting out, despite the fact that assessments peg him as a high risk to commit new, violent crimes. Note that these records show that Freeman had fouled up on early prison release roughly three months before his latest escape and new charges. In the first week of October, when Freeman was supposed to be under supervision at the Corrections Canada halfway house attached to minimum-security Frontenac Institution in Kingston, he took off and two nearby banks were robbed. He's charged with both holdups. The first robbery was Oct. 3 at a CIBC branch in a big-box shopping mall. It's just over 2.5 kilometres from the halfway house to the CIBC, straight down a major road where the halfway house is located. Two days later, a Bank of Montreal branch across the street from the mall was robbed. No one was hurt in the holdups, but Freeman's records show that he isn't averse to terrorizing clerks and customers when he stages holdups, using knives and other weapons. Geographic profiling, a technique pioneered by a Canadian, Kim Rossmo, uses the locations of a connected series of crimes to help investigators find the perpetrator. It has been used successfully to catch bank robbers. The technique shows that many crooks don't stray far from a familiar hunting ground, whether they're serial killers, rapists or bank robbers.

Here are five National Parole Board decisions that expose Freeman as a complete failure when it comes to rehabilitation. Every time he's been released early from prison under supervision, he has fouled up. He has resisted treatment, has drug addictions and has ongoing mental health problems. (Every time you see "Page 2" in the top right corner, you're at the beginning of a new parole decision).

Here's my story that was published in the Kingston Whig-Standard after Freeman's arrest:

A federal convict on early release from prison with ties to motorcycle gangs and who had disappeared from a halfway house has been charged with two bank holdups in Kingston committed over three days.
James Christopher Freeman, who has a lengthy history of violence and repeated failures on early release, was arrested Tuesday and charged with two counts of robbery and obstructing police.
The CIBC branch at the Kingston Centre was robbed Oct. 3 and the nearby Bank of Montreal branch on Bath Road was robbed Oct. 5 by a man wearing a yellow construction helmet.
Freeman, 33, was at the halfway house inside Frontenac Institution on Bath Road after he was freed from prison on statutory release. It is automatic freedom granted to most inmates so that they can serve the final third of their sentences in the community under supervision.
The National Parole Board imposed a special condition, ordering Freeman to live at the halfway house, because of concern about the risk he posed.
“You have a violent criminal history that includes convictions for aggravated assault and robberies and the most recent clinical report from March 2008 concludes that you pose a high risk for violent re-offending,” states a National Parole Board document dated Sept. 22.
The board revoked Freeman’s statutory release in the decision, marking the third time he had fouled up while free from prison, by taking drugs, violating conditions and committing new crimes.
The board wrote that Freeman has a “terrible conditional release history.”
Freeman was released from prison June 11 this year, under supervision. He disappeared from a community facility on June 19 and turned himself in to police on June 26. A search turned up tobacco and ecstasy hidden inside his body.
Investigators discovered that Freeman had staged his suspension and return to prison so that he could smuggle the contraband into the penitentiary.
He was convicted of possession for the purpose of trafficking and had 45 days added to his sentence.
Parole records note that Freeman has a number of mental health problems, may have old drug debts with a motorcycle gang and has a history of using knives and other weapons in robberies.
An assessment in March this year noted he has not taken any prison programs to address his problems and has “high scores on the Psychopathy Checklist.”
He was back in the halfway house this fall and disappeared on Oct. 1, two days before the first bank holdup.
Corrections did not issue a release when Freeman disappeared Oct. 1.
“We don’t when it comes to community offenders who go unlawfully at large,” said Holly Knowles, a spokeswoman for Corrections Canada. “We notify the appropriate police agency and it’s up to them whether a public notification is appropriate.”
Kingston Police did not issue a release about Freeman.
His latest prison sentence is a seven-year, one-month term for 13 crimes, including two robberies and a variety of property crimes including break and enter and theft.
His sentence was scheduled to expire Oct. 29.