I’m sure you’re reading this.
Criminal profiles of convicted arsonists suggest to me that you are loving the attention you’re getting.
Some people get attention for saving lives; for discovering a ground-breaking cure; for achieving phenomenal feats of physical endurance; for exemplary acts of kindness or heroism.
You light fires.
Maybe you like hurting small animals, too. Who knows?
What is likely, is that you are a white male, aged between 17-26.
You probably had an unstable childhood, with a distant father and an over-protective mother.
Did you do well at school? Unlikely.
Are you married? Even more unlikely.
It’s possible you have an unhealthy fascination with the emergency services, and have a low-paying job, few friends, if any, and a lack of stable personal relationships coupled with poor social skills.
When you really take a good, hard look at yourself, you’re not a happy person, are you.
You think life has dealt you an unfair hand. You blame everyone else for your problems.
How am I going so far?
Have I got you pegged?
You are not uncommon.
In fact, you are one of the most easily profiled criminals police come across.
And let me tell you now, they are on to you. You don’t think they’re watching your every move, waiting for you to strike again?
Do you seriously think this community is going to let you get away with inciting fear among us? No chance.
What really concerns me is how likely it is that you have a mental illness.
Which is why I’m going to give you a break.
I’m not asking for you to hand yourself in and surrender your body to the mercy of the community who have plenty of their own ideas about what they would like to do to you.
I’m not asking that you express remorse and take your punishment ‘like a man’.
I am simply asking you to stop lighting fires.
What I would also like is for you to seek help.
In your quest for notoriety by setting things ablaze it is you, ultimately, who will get burnt.
It’s not too late for you to change.
