Peter Collins (psychiatrist)

Peter Ian Collins (born 1953) is a Canadian forensic psychiatrist. He is an expert on violent crime and has worked with criminal justice agencies in Canada and throughout the world, including INTERPOL, the FBI and U.S. Department Of Homeland Security, the Australian Federal Police and Europol. He frequently testifies as an expert witness on [...] [...], pedophilia, child [...], stalking, [...] assault, paraphilias, the insanity defense, [...] by cop, police crisis negotiations and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Life and career

Collins obtained his Bachelor’s degree in psychology from The University of Western Ontario in 1975 and his Masters degree in applied criminology from the University of Ottawa in 1978. He earned his Medical degree from McMaster University in 1983. Collins completed his postgraduate medical training in Psychiatry at the University of Toronto in 1989.

Collins took a position at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, now part of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in 1989. His clinical appointment is with the CAMH Law and Mental Health Program. In 2004 he was promoted to Associate Professor at University of Toronto with the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, and is also an Affiliate Professor with the Forensic Sciences Program at Nebraska Wesleyan University.

When the the Royal Canadian Mounted Police established their Violent Crimes Analysis Section (later named the Behavioural Analysis Branch), in June 1990, Collins became a consultant, in December 1990, and continued with this position until 2008. As a member of the Behavioural Analysis Branch he was involved in the project that developed the Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System (ViCLAS) with Inspectors Ron MacKay(retired), Keith Davidson and Greg Johnson.

Collins became an in-house consultant to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), in 1995, and is currently the Coordinator of the Forensic Psychiatry Unit of the Behavioural Sciences and Analysis Services of the OPP. He is also a consultant psychiatrist to the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist to the Profiling Unit of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

In 1997, Collins was elected a member of the International Criminal Investigative Analysis Fellowship. In 2000, Collins was appointed a member of the INTERPOL Specialist Group on Crimes against Children. Collins is currently a Lieutenant-Commander in the Canadian Forces (Reserves) and recently served as the psychiatrist for the coalition forces in Southern Afghanistan.

In his capacity as a forensic psychiatrist with the RCMP and OPP Collins has been consulted, internationally, on numerous [...] investigations, including serial [...] cases, [...] homicides and child abductions. He has written on [...] by cop and also coined the term gynandromorphophilia with Ray Blanchard to describe the [...] preference for transvestites, transsexuals, and she-males. Collins is often asked to comment on newsworthy topics involving psychiatric and [...] controversies. Following the 1993 raid on works by artist Eli Langer depicting children in sexualized themes, Collins stated that pedophiles would "love to have their hands on this." Collins was critical of police profiling done in the Digna Ochoa [...].

At the request of the Department of Justice, Collins testified before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness – Bill C-2: An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Protection of Children and Other Vulnerable Persons) and the Canada Evidence Act - Ottawa, Ontario, 2 May 2005. He has also been involved in two joint presentations, on the topic of Child [...], to Members of Parliament - House of Commons, Ottawa, in June 1999 and April 2002. In April 2006 he presented to the Counter [...] Training Working Group – Institute of Intergovernmental Research & U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. on the topic of Source Development and Recruitment.

In the private sector Collins is a consultant with: Hennes Paynter Communications in Cleveland, Ohio; Source Security Investigations in Halifax, Nova Scotia; Investigative Solutions Network in Pickering, Ontario; and Behavioural Science Solutions Group Inc in Orillia, Ontario.

Selected publications

Books

• Cornish JL, Murray KA, Collins PI (1999). The criminal lawyers' guide to the law of criminal harassment and stalking. Canada Law Book, ISBN 9780888043207

Book Chapters

• Collins, P., Smerick, P. & St-Ives, M. (2009) The Psychology of Criminal Harassment. In The Psychology of Criminal Investigations: the search for the truth. Eds. Michel St-Ives & Michel Tanguay. Carswel: Toronto, Ontario.
• Collins, P., Smerick, P. & St-Ives, M. (2007) Psychologie du harcèlement criminel. In Psychologie de l’enquête criminelle: la recherché de la vérité. Eds. Michel St-Ives & Michel Tanguay. Les éditions Yvon Blais: Cowansveille, Quebec.
• Collins, Peter I. (2005) Child [...] Abuse and the Paraphilias. In Medical & Legal Aspects of Child [...] Exploitation: A Comprehensive Review of Child [...], Child Prostitution and Internet Crimes. Eds. - Sharon W. Cooper, Richard Angelo P. Giardino, Victor V. Veith and Nancy D. Kellogg. GW Medical Publishing: St. Louis, MO.
• Kuch, K. and Collins, P. (2000). Psychological Injury After Motor Vehicle Accidents. In Personal Injury Litigation: Guidance From Health Care Professionals edited by The Honourable Mr. Justice Ted Matlow, Canada Law Book: Aurora, Ontario.
• Collins, Peter I. (1998) Preface Workplace Violence in Healthcare Toolkit: A Guide to Establishing a Prevention and Training Program by Judy L. Jacobs & Wayne D. Porter, McGraw-Hill: Burr Ridge, Illinois.

Articles

• Mohandie, K, Meloy, J.R. & Collins, P.I. (2009) [...] by Cop Among Officer-Involved Shooting Cases – Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol. 54, No. 2, pp 456-462.
• Collins, Peter, [...] Facilitated [...] Assault – The Challenge of “Date [...] Drugs” Part III. (2003). The Ontario Provincial Police Review, Vol. 38, No.3, pp 13.
• Collins, Peter, [...] Facilitated [...] Assault – The Challenge of “Date [...] Drugs” Part II. (2003)The Ontario Provincial Police Review, Vol. 38, No.2, pp 21.
• Collins, Peter, [...] Facilitated [...] Assault – The Challenge of “Date [...] Drugs” Part I. (2003) The Ontario Provincial Police Review, Vol. 38, No.1, pp 13.
• Collins, Peter I., Johnson, Gregory F., Choy, Alberto, Davidson, Keith T., MacKay, Ronald E. (1998). Advances in Violent Crime Analysis and Law Enforcement: The Canadian Violent Crime *Linkage Analysis System - ViCLAS - Journal of Government Information - Vol.25, No.3. pp. 277-284.
• Collins, Peter (1998). Legal Application of Collateral Material, Canadian Association of Violent Crime Analysts Newsletter - Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 16-19.
• Van Allen, James & Collins, Peter. (1998) Stalking, The Ontario Provincial Police Review, Vol. 32, No.2, pp. 16-17
• Kuch, Klaus & Collins, Peter. (1997). Psychological Injury after Motor Vehicle Accidents, Advocates Quarterly - A Canadian Journal for Practitioners of Civil Litigation, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 176-187.
• Blanchard, Ray & Collins, Peter I. (1993). Men with [...] Interest in Transvestites, Transsexual and She-Males. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Vol. 181, No. 9, pp. 570-575.
• Collins, P.I., Scharf, N., Persad, E. (1989) "What's New in Psychopharmacology" Modern Medicine of Canada Vol. 44, No. 11, pp. 1066-1074.

Manuals

• Contributor to A Handbook for Police and Crown Prosecutors on Criminal Harassment -

Department of Justice Canada, 2nd Edition, March 2004.

• Contributor to Manual for Investigators of Child [...] Abuse – The Interpol Specialist Group on Crimes Against Children, 2nd Edition, 2003.
• Contributor to A Handbook for Police and Crown Prosecutors on Criminal Harassment -Department of Justice Canada, September 1999.
• Contributor to [...] Exploitation of Children – Guidelines for Law Enforcement - Criminal Intelligence Service Canada / Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 1999.
• Contributor to The Investigators Guide to Child [...] Crime - Procedure and Investigative Techniques - Ontario Provincial Police, 1999.

Reports

• Collins, Peter, Threat Assessment in [...] Victimisation of Children – Final Report of the National Working Group in Pursuit of Child-Centred Intervention Strategies, Royal Canadian Mounted Police / Solicitor General Canada / Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, 1999.

External links

• Peter Collins profile via Hennes Paynter Communications
• Peter Collins profile via Ontario Women in Law Enforcement