 | arizona association of crime analysts |
What is crime analysis?
Crime analysis is the identification, analysis and reporting of methods, patterns and trends in criminal activity. Crime Analysis can:
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Types of Crime Analysis
Administrative Crime Analysis involves long-range projects. Tasks include providing economic, geographic and law enforcement information to police management, city hall, city council, and neighborhood/citizen groups. Its purpose is financial, organizational, political, and legislative. It is critical to budget, personnel, public information, and legal issues.
Strategic Crime Analysis is concerned with operational strategies and seeks solutions to ongoing problems. It provides information for resource allocation purposes, including patrol scheduling and beat configuration. Its purpose is to identify unusual crime activities over certain levels or at different seasonal times, identify unusual community conditions, provide police service more effectively and efficiently by matching demands for service with service delivery, reduce and/or eliminate recurring problems, and assist in community policing or problem-oriented policing.
Tactical Crime Analysis deals with immediate criminal offenses to promote quick response. It provides information to assist operational personnel in the identification of specific crime trends and in the arrest of criminal offenders. The primary goal is to identify crime trends and patterns/series. Tactical information links offender and modus operandi information from a number of offenses in an attempt to provide investigative leads, help solve crimes, and clear cases after apprehension and arrests. Intelligence Analysis examines data about individuals or organizations involved in crimes to understand how these persons or networks can be deterred or disrupted from criminal activity. Collection and examination of data related to where these subjects live, work and frequent, as well as their actions, motives and plans are synthesized into information used to interrupt or inhibit criminal activity. Processes can include analysis of repeat offenders or victims, commodities, communications, social media and associates. |
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Crime Analyst Skills
While every agency utilizes their analysts in different ways, and therefore, will request a different skill set, there are certain skills that every analyst should possess. A good analyst will have:
- A solid understanding of criminal behavior
- Through knowledge of their jurisdiction
- Knowledge of research methods
- Ability to collect, manage, collate, and query data
- Ability to understand and synthesize crime information
- Critical thinking skills
- Ability to calculate descriptive, inferential, and multivariate statistics
- Able to create meaningful charts and graphs based on data
- Understanding of demographic analysis
- Strong writing skills
- Presentation skills
- Strong computer skills, including databases, desktop publishing and word processing, spreadsheets, and statistical packages
- Ability to use a Geographic Information System (GIS) and understanding of spatial analysis
- Well developed interpersonal communications skills