[1] His dissertation research resulted in a new criminal investigative methodology called geographic profiling, based on Rossmo's formula.
The Rigel product is developed by the software company Environmental Criminology Research Inc. (ECRI), which Rossmo co-founded.
In 1998, his analysis of cases of missing sex trade workers determined that a serial killer was at work, a conclusion ultimately vindicated by the arrest and conviction of Robert Pickton in 2002.
A retired Vancouver police staff sergeant has claimed that animosity toward Rossmo delayed the arrest of Pickton, leaving him free to carry out additional murders.
His unsuccessful lawsuit against the Vancouver Police Board for wrongful dismissal exposed considerable apparent dysfunction within that department.