The NCAVC was conceived in 1981 by FBI agent and offender profiler Robert K Ressler during a conversation with then Quantico director Jim McKenzie.
In November 1982, following a meeting between members of the Criminal Personality Research Project advisory board and other specialists, the concept of a single[2] (NCAVC) was put forward.
The proposal was unanimously adopted seven months later by a conference held at Sam Houston State University's Center for Criminal Justice in Huntsville, Texas.
The delegates agreed that the NCAVC should be founded at the FBI Academy in Quantico and run by the agents of the Behavioral Science Unit.
Typical cases for which NCAVC services are requested include child abduction or mysterious disappearance of children, serial murders, single homicides, serial rapes, extortions, threats, kidnappings, product tampering, arsons and bombings, weapons of mass destruction, public corruption, and domestic and international terrorism.