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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 31, 2001
She's blond, telegenic and was one of the first women trained to work as a criminal profiler at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va.
Still, Dayle Hinman said her work with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is nothing like the way Hollywood depicts the job on the Profiler TV series or in the film Silence of the Lambs.
"The media portrays profilers as someone who gets a magical intuition, or you can walk in right out (of the police academy) into the FBI's behavioral sciences division," said Hinman, who is preparing to retire after more than 26 years in law enforcement. "But it's not just the brilliance of one person (that solves crimes)."
TV viewers get a closer look at Hinman's work tonight when Court TV unveils Body of Evidence: From the Case Files of Dayle Hinman, a special outlining two cases in which she helped local law enforcement track down killers.
The show, which Court TV executives say could serve as the pilot for a series, focuses on an unidentified woman killed in Lake County and Shauna Card, a 17-year-old killed in her Orange County home.
Using the kind of true-crime storytelling perfected by cable shows, producers combine interviews with Hinman and the investigating officers with crime scene photos and more to retell each story.
"It gives me the opportunity to highlight Florida cases . . . (and) gives the viewing audience a better perspective," Hinman said. "I think the public will have a chance to see how complicated a police investigation is."
Unfortunately, Body of Evidence is torn between the realities of criminal profiling and featuring Hinman, which leaves viewers unsure how much a profiler contributes.
As the Lake County case unfolds, for example, Hinman seems to be the focus: She's shown jogging, explaining the case details, conferring with investigating officers and visiting the crime scene.
But Hinman worked with another profiler, who is not mentioned. And the case's major break came when DNA from another rape was matched to DNA recovered at the Lake County scene.
"All we were doing was giving some direction (into the) behavior traits of the (killer)," said Wayne Porter, who coordinates the activities of the FDLE's three profilers and worked with Hinman on the case. "Profiling is only one of many tools."
Often, profilers are called in when investigations stall, working mostly on violent crimes with a sexual dimension, Porter said. He said FDLE profilers might see an average of 40 cases annually.
Hinman said she pushed producers to include the Lake County case because the victim still has not been identified. "Hopefully, her family or someone who knows this woman can get back to us," she said.
Court TV developed the idea for the show over the past two years, hoping to create a true-crime program that appeals to females, said Lynne Kirby, the channel's vice president of development. Court TV airs reruns of Profiler, which began on NBC and features a telegenic blond star.
"Dale projects a quality of savvy and experience . . . kind of a super detective," Kirby said. "We expect that Dayle will pop as a star for us."
Said Hinman: "I don't see this as the Dayle show at all. I see this as a way to highlight everything (profilers) do."
Body of Evidence: From the Case Files of Dayle Hinman airs at 10 tonight on Court TV. Grade: C.