criminologist

A criminologist (Danish: kriminalist) is a person with professional expertise in crime and its investigation, typically with a background in law, criminology or practical police work. In Danish usage the term covers two related but not identical meanings: a legal one, denoting a lawyer who works with criminal law, and a more practice-oriented one, derived from German professional terminology, denoting an expert in criminal matters, including investigators and profilers.

In the sense in which Krimidex uses the term — among other places in articles about individuals such as Bernd W. Trier — it is the latter meaning that applies. Here 'kriminalist' denotes a person with specialised, practical insight into criminal cases, investigative methods and criminal behaviour, often without that person necessarily being a lawyer in the classical sense.

The term is not regulated by statute under Danish law and does not exist as a protected title. It is a professional and descriptive designation used in specialist literature, in the media and in true crime coverage for people whose work is closely tied to criminal investigation or criminal analysis.

In the Northern European and particularly the German tradition, 'Kriminalist' carries strong connotations of the experienced, practising investigator — in contrast to the purely academic criminologist. This distinction is relevant when the term is encountered in translated or German-influenced contexts, as is the case with several of the personal profiles on Krimidex.