The use of indicators is undervalued in law enforcement analysis. By indicators, I mean using sets of previously identified characteristics that help "diagnose" patterns of crimes.
Dictionary result for indicator:
noun
plural noun: indicators
1. a thing, especially a trend or fact, that indicates the state or level of something.
"car ownership is frequently used as an indicator of affluence"
synonyms: measure, gauge, barometer, index, mark, sign, signal; More
2. a gauge or meter of a specified kind. "a speed indicator"
Read more about indicators at:
Human Trafficking Indicators
INDICATORS: THE LINGUA FRANCA OF ANALYTIC TECHNIQUES
Monday, June 17, 2019
Friday, June 14, 2019
#11 Lessons From My Story
I will post a "lesson" from my life as an analyst once a week until I run out of them! Skip over these if they don't interest you. For those who read on, consider the power of your own stories and where they might take you. And if you want to follow these post threads, in the future click on the label "my story."
Lesson: Your analysis may be unwelcome.
Once I was meeting with a top commander to provide him with the statistical analysis he had requested. He was very angry with me, because he statistics did not reflect what he wanted to hear and could be interpreted as a policing failure.
I told this commander that he needed to know the facts to be prepared to deal with the media and community leaders. He did not like hearing that, either.
Your job as an analyst is to provide facts, not to twist them to please policy-makers.
Another way your analysis might be unwelcome is when your work makes more work for officers or investigators. If you uncover a significant problem, you may be viewed as a problem yourself!
Nevertheless, do your work with integrity. Don't hide anything. If you present more problems, come armed with possible solutions.
Stand up for the truth.
Lesson: Your analysis may be unwelcome.
Once I was meeting with a top commander to provide him with the statistical analysis he had requested. He was very angry with me, because he statistics did not reflect what he wanted to hear and could be interpreted as a policing failure.
I told this commander that he needed to know the facts to be prepared to deal with the media and community leaders. He did not like hearing that, either.
Your job as an analyst is to provide facts, not to twist them to please policy-makers.
Another way your analysis might be unwelcome is when your work makes more work for officers or investigators. If you uncover a significant problem, you may be viewed as a problem yourself!
Nevertheless, do your work with integrity. Don't hide anything. If you present more problems, come armed with possible solutions.
Stand up for the truth.
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
For Analysts: Talking to Decision-makers
In the blog post 6 Things To Think About While Discussing Requirements With A Decisionmaker, Kristan Wheaton, Professor of Intelligence Studies at Mercyhurst University, discusses something we don't emphasis enough in the analytical world: how to approach the decision-makers to get the best results possible.
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
—George Bernard Shaw
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
—George Bernard Shaw
Monday, June 10, 2019
ATTRIBUTES OF AN ANALYST: WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THE INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS JOB DESCRIPTION
ATTRIBUTES OF AN ANALYST: WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THE INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS JOB DESCRIPTION is an Australian research article worth reading.
From the article:
"CONCLUSION
The intelligence analyst plays an important role in any organisation as an advisor to the organisational decision makers. Analysts need to be well educated intellectual individuals whom are able to undertake complex research and analysis then importantly communicate the output of their analysis in an effective manner, such that their decision makers are able to make optimal decisions. The sample of job advertisements analysed in this study revealed a number of weaknesses. Firstly, the limited inclusion of educational requirements has the potential to dissuade graduates from applying for entry level intelligence positions. Secondly, the focus on using the generic public service attributes create a perception that many of entry level intelligence analyst roles are nothing more than clerical and administration roles. This may also dissuade potential graduate applicants from applying for those entry level roles. Finally it is possible that those individuals recruited as analysts on the basis of their fit with the generic attributes may lack the intellectual and cognitive attributes required for the role."
Based on my own research and experience, I think it is good for the profession to NOT limit job applicants to those with criminal justice backgrounds. The best analysts are those who have excellent thinking skills and initiative to learn on their own.
From the article:
"CONCLUSION
The intelligence analyst plays an important role in any organisation as an advisor to the organisational decision makers. Analysts need to be well educated intellectual individuals whom are able to undertake complex research and analysis then importantly communicate the output of their analysis in an effective manner, such that their decision makers are able to make optimal decisions. The sample of job advertisements analysed in this study revealed a number of weaknesses. Firstly, the limited inclusion of educational requirements has the potential to dissuade graduates from applying for entry level intelligence positions. Secondly, the focus on using the generic public service attributes create a perception that many of entry level intelligence analyst roles are nothing more than clerical and administration roles. This may also dissuade potential graduate applicants from applying for those entry level roles. Finally it is possible that those individuals recruited as analysts on the basis of their fit with the generic attributes may lack the intellectual and cognitive attributes required for the role."
Based on my own research and experience, I think it is good for the profession to NOT limit job applicants to those with criminal justice backgrounds. The best analysts are those who have excellent thinking skills and initiative to learn on their own.
Friday, June 7, 2019
#10 Lessons From My Story
I will post a "lesson" from my life as an analyst once a week until I run out of them! Skip over these if they don't interest you. For those who read on, consider the power of your own stories and where they might take you. And if you want to follow these post threads, in the future click on the label "my story."
Lesson: Learn from the whole world. (Don't be an isolationist. )
My grandfather was born in Canada and we had a cottage there during my early childhood. Canada is just across the Niagara River when you live in Buffalo - it is not considered by most Buffalonians to be a foreign country.
When I was working at the Buffalo Police Department as a crime analyst, it was no big deal for me to attend analyst meetings, even as far away as Toronto. It was important for my professional development, because the field of crime analysis was more accepted there than in New York State at that time. I was supported by and learned from Canadian analysts.
I had attended a colloquium organized by Robert Heibel from Mercyhurst College that included attendees from other nations interested in developing the intelligence analyst profession. There I met Mark Evans from the Police Services of Northern Ireland (PSNI). He was professionalizing the role of the analyst in policing in Northern Ireland (and later went on to receive an OBE from the Queen of England because of this work). I helped him arrange secondments with police agencies in the United States and Canada as an international exchange of ideas and insights.
In my work as a federal law enforcement analyst this would never of happened. There are so many restrictions on analysts at this level of service. While the two law enforcement analyst associations both have "international"in their names, I venture to guess that many analysts do not think about learning from the best practices of other countries.
I am so happy that I came from another professional background before I became a crime analyst and did not have the belief that any one country has all the answers.
Lesson: Learn from the whole world. (Don't be an isolationist. )
My grandfather was born in Canada and we had a cottage there during my early childhood. Canada is just across the Niagara River when you live in Buffalo - it is not considered by most Buffalonians to be a foreign country.
When I was working at the Buffalo Police Department as a crime analyst, it was no big deal for me to attend analyst meetings, even as far away as Toronto. It was important for my professional development, because the field of crime analysis was more accepted there than in New York State at that time. I was supported by and learned from Canadian analysts.
I had attended a colloquium organized by Robert Heibel from Mercyhurst College that included attendees from other nations interested in developing the intelligence analyst profession. There I met Mark Evans from the Police Services of Northern Ireland (PSNI). He was professionalizing the role of the analyst in policing in Northern Ireland (and later went on to receive an OBE from the Queen of England because of this work). I helped him arrange secondments with police agencies in the United States and Canada as an international exchange of ideas and insights.
In my work as a federal law enforcement analyst this would never of happened. There are so many restrictions on analysts at this level of service. While the two law enforcement analyst associations both have "international"in their names, I venture to guess that many analysts do not think about learning from the best practices of other countries.
I am so happy that I came from another professional background before I became a crime analyst and did not have the belief that any one country has all the answers.
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Business Email Compromise
Occasionally, I will be posting information on various crime types for law enforcement analyst awareness. Business Email Compromise (BEC) came to my attention when I worked as an Investigative Analyst in a federal law enforcement agency. It is a widespread scam that can be combatted by educating businesses.
"BEC, also known as cyber-enabled financial fraud, is a sophisticated scam that often targets employees with access to company finances and trick them—using a variety of methods like social engineering and computer intrusions—into making wire transfers to bank accounts thought to belong to trusted partners but instead belong to accounts controlled by the criminals themselves."
"Here are the most current and frequent BEC scenarios identified by the FBI:
Read more at:
How BEC scams became 2017’s most lucrative crime
International Business E-Mail Compromise Takedown
FBI Report: Global BEC Losses Exceeded US$12 Billion in 2018
"BEC, also known as cyber-enabled financial fraud, is a sophisticated scam that often targets employees with access to company finances and trick them—using a variety of methods like social engineering and computer intrusions—into making wire transfers to bank accounts thought to belong to trusted partners but instead belong to accounts controlled by the criminals themselves."
"Here are the most current and frequent BEC scenarios identified by the FBI:
- Business Executive: Criminals spoof or compromise e-mail accounts of high-level business executives, including chief information officers and chief financial officers, which result in the processing of a wire transfer to a fraudulent account
- Real Estate Transactions: Criminal impersonate sellers, realtors, title companies, or law firms during a real estate transaction to ask the home buyer for funds to be sent to a fraudulent account
- Data and W-2 Theft: Criminals, using a compromised business executive’s e-mail account, send fraudulent requests for W-2 information or other personally identifiable information to an entity in an organization that routinely maintains that sort of information
- Supply Chain: Criminals send fraudulent requests to redirect funds during a pending business deal, transaction, or invoice payment to an account controlled by a money mule or bad actor
- Law Firms: Criminals find out about trust accounts or litigation and impersonate a law firm client to change the recipient bank information to a fraudulent account."
Read more at:
How BEC scams became 2017’s most lucrative crime
International Business E-Mail Compromise Takedown
FBI Report: Global BEC Losses Exceeded US$12 Billion in 2018
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Free Cybercrime Training for Law Enforcement
The International Association of Police website has a page on free cybercrime training for law enforcement at this link.
Flyer for cybercrime training opportunities:
Cybercrime Training for Law Enforcement
Flyer for cybercrime training opportunities:
Cybercrime Training for Law Enforcement
Monday, June 3, 2019
Friday, May 31, 2019
#9 Lessons From My Story
I will post a "lesson" from my life as an analyst once a week until I run out of them! Skip over these if they don't interest you. For those who read on, consider the power of your own stories and where they might take you. And if you want to follow these post threads, in the future click on the label "my story."
Lesson: Unexpected opportunities come through networking.
Lesson: Do the difficult thing.
Lesson: It's all lessons!
In 2002, because of my connection to Robert Heibel, I was connected to and invited to teach at Mercyhurst North East, a two-year liberal arts college in North East, Pennsylvania. I developed and taught the courses “Introduction to Criminal Intelligence Analysis” and “Computer Skills for Crime Analysis,” one each in the spring and autumn sessions of 2003.
This was while I was working full-time as a crime analyst for the Buffalo Police Department and while I was finishing writing my first book.
So, two days a week, after working all day, I drove approximately 150 miles roundtrip, sometimes in lots of snow, to teach college for the first time. The irony was, I had never really attended college classes - almost my entire higher education had been done through independent studies and meeting with mentors. Besides a few group studies and residences, I had not had much experience on a campus. It was a big adjustment for me! The students and I adapted together. But it was unrealistic to continue driving so far after my day job, so I stopped teaching at this school after a year.
In 2004 I was invited to develop the course "Crime and Intelligence Analysis" by Al Lawrence, one of the readers of my final thesis for my Master's degree, for Empire State College, State University of New York Center for Distance Learning. I taught there, online from 2005 to 2011. As an independent learner myself, teaching online suits me better. I may do it again, someday.
It wasn't always easy working and teaching at the same time. Do the difficult thing, if it enhances your life. Learn lessons yourself by teaching others!
Teaching can be less formal than my story, but just as valuable. Teach your officers/investigators about what you can do. Teach what you have learned.
Lesson: Unexpected opportunities come through networking.
Lesson: Do the difficult thing.
Lesson: It's all lessons!
In 2002, because of my connection to Robert Heibel, I was connected to and invited to teach at Mercyhurst North East, a two-year liberal arts college in North East, Pennsylvania. I developed and taught the courses “Introduction to Criminal Intelligence Analysis” and “Computer Skills for Crime Analysis,” one each in the spring and autumn sessions of 2003.
This was while I was working full-time as a crime analyst for the Buffalo Police Department and while I was finishing writing my first book.
So, two days a week, after working all day, I drove approximately 150 miles roundtrip, sometimes in lots of snow, to teach college for the first time. The irony was, I had never really attended college classes - almost my entire higher education had been done through independent studies and meeting with mentors. Besides a few group studies and residences, I had not had much experience on a campus. It was a big adjustment for me! The students and I adapted together. But it was unrealistic to continue driving so far after my day job, so I stopped teaching at this school after a year.
In 2004 I was invited to develop the course "Crime and Intelligence Analysis" by Al Lawrence, one of the readers of my final thesis for my Master's degree, for Empire State College, State University of New York Center for Distance Learning. I taught there, online from 2005 to 2011. As an independent learner myself, teaching online suits me better. I may do it again, someday.
It wasn't always easy working and teaching at the same time. Do the difficult thing, if it enhances your life. Learn lessons yourself by teaching others!
Teaching can be less formal than my story, but just as valuable. Teach your officers/investigators about what you can do. Teach what you have learned.
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
7 Differences between complex and complicated
"Decision-makers commonly mistake complex systems for simply complicated ones and look for solutions without realizing that ‘learning to dance’ with a complex system is definitely different from ‘solving’ the problems arising from it." – Roberto Poli
7 Differences between complex and complicated is a blog post that might be a bit esoteric for some readers, but it had me thinking deeply about crime problems.
Read the article to see if it gets you thinking, too. I cannot summarize it but to say I believe crime occurs in complex systems, and that it would be helpful to recognize that, especially as we look more and more to artificial intelligence to predict crime accurately.
Another quote from Robert Poli in the post:
"Complicated problems originate from causes that can be individually distinguished; they can be addressed piece by piece; for each input to the system there is a proportionate output; the relevant systems can be controlled and the problems they present admit permanent solutions.
On the other hand, complex problems and systems result from networks of multiple interacting causes that cannot be individually distinguished; must be addressed as entire systems, that is they cannot be addressed in a piecemeal way; they are such that small inputs may result in disproportionate effects; the problems they present cannot be solved once and for ever, but require to be systematically managed and typically any intervention merges into new problems as a result of the interventions dealing with them; and the relevant systems cannot be controlled – the best one can do is to influence them, or learn to “dance with them” as Donatella Meadows rightly said."
A quote from the blog article:
"The complexity of a system is not dependent on the amount of available data or knowledge. We cannot transform complex systems into complicated ones by spending more time and resources on collecting more data or developing better theories."
Hmmm....
7 Differences between complex and complicated is a blog post that might be a bit esoteric for some readers, but it had me thinking deeply about crime problems.
Read the article to see if it gets you thinking, too. I cannot summarize it but to say I believe crime occurs in complex systems, and that it would be helpful to recognize that, especially as we look more and more to artificial intelligence to predict crime accurately.
Another quote from Robert Poli in the post:
"Complicated problems originate from causes that can be individually distinguished; they can be addressed piece by piece; for each input to the system there is a proportionate output; the relevant systems can be controlled and the problems they present admit permanent solutions.
On the other hand, complex problems and systems result from networks of multiple interacting causes that cannot be individually distinguished; must be addressed as entire systems, that is they cannot be addressed in a piecemeal way; they are such that small inputs may result in disproportionate effects; the problems they present cannot be solved once and for ever, but require to be systematically managed and typically any intervention merges into new problems as a result of the interventions dealing with them; and the relevant systems cannot be controlled – the best one can do is to influence them, or learn to “dance with them” as Donatella Meadows rightly said."
A quote from the blog article:
"The complexity of a system is not dependent on the amount of available data or knowledge. We cannot transform complex systems into complicated ones by spending more time and resources on collecting more data or developing better theories."
Hmmm....
Monday, May 27, 2019
Wayback Machine
We have so many tools available to us as analysts that it is easy to forget resources that we do not use often. For me, one of these resources was the Wayback Machine, which is run by The Internet Archive. It provides the ability to access historical web pages. The url is: https://archive.org/web/
There is also an interesting feature on the web page that may be of use that allows one to submit a url and "capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future."
"The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, the print disabled, and the general public. Our mission is to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge.
We began in 1996 by archiving the Internet itself, a medium that was just beginning to grow in use. Like newspapers, the content published on the web was ephemeral - but unlike newspapers, no one was saving it. Today we have 20+ years of web history accessible through the Wayback Machine and we work with 450+ library and other partners through our Archive-It program to identify important web pages.
As our web archive grew, so did our commitment to providing digital versions of other published works. Today our archive contains:
330 billion web pages
20 million books and texts
4.5 million audio recordings (including 180,000 live concerts)
4 million videos (including 1.6 million Television News programs)
3 million images
200,000 software programs
Anyone with a free account can upload media to the Internet Archive. We work with thousands of partners globally to save copies of their work into special collections."
Friday, May 24, 2019
#8 Lessons From My Story
I will post a "lesson" from my life as an analyst once a week until I run out of them! Skip over these if they don't interest you. For those who read on, consider the power of your own stories and where they might take you. And if you want to follow these post threads, in the future click on the label "my story."
I have never been an activist and am an introvert by nature, but once I learned of how the important work of law enforcement analysis was, I became its advocate. I could not help but have a vocal opinion and it seemed others shared, as well as valued, my perspective.
Lesson: Stretching out of your comfort zone can be rewarding, but it is not easy.
I was privileged to co-chair the International Association of Crime Analyst's original certification committee with Samantha Gwinn, which began in 2002. You can download a .pdf document that describes the process here.
It was intimidating to be part of a prolonged process involving very experienced and vocal leaders of the crime analysis field. We hotly debated what should and should not be included in the skill sets to become certified. (You won't read that in the document link!) I had my differing opinions - mainly that investigative/intelligence charting should be a skill set and that the certified person should be called a certified law enforcement analyst (CLEA) rather than a certified crime analyst. I, along with some others, took a firm stance on that despite some arguing amongst the panel. I am proud of that.
Now that I am retired, I can (happily!) go back to my behind-the-scenes-life, yet still advocate on my terms for what I believe in.
Where can you stretch yourself?
What do you want to stand up for?
How will you do it?
I have never been an activist and am an introvert by nature, but once I learned of how the important work of law enforcement analysis was, I became its advocate. I could not help but have a vocal opinion and it seemed others shared, as well as valued, my perspective.
Lesson: Stretching out of your comfort zone can be rewarding, but it is not easy.
I was privileged to co-chair the International Association of Crime Analyst's original certification committee with Samantha Gwinn, which began in 2002. You can download a .pdf document that describes the process here.
It was intimidating to be part of a prolonged process involving very experienced and vocal leaders of the crime analysis field. We hotly debated what should and should not be included in the skill sets to become certified. (You won't read that in the document link!) I had my differing opinions - mainly that investigative/intelligence charting should be a skill set and that the certified person should be called a certified law enforcement analyst (CLEA) rather than a certified crime analyst. I, along with some others, took a firm stance on that despite some arguing amongst the panel. I am proud of that.
Now that I am retired, I can (happily!) go back to my behind-the-scenes-life, yet still advocate on my terms for what I believe in.
Where can you stretch yourself?
What do you want to stand up for?
How will you do it?
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
MO Tracking to Find Crime Patterns Faster
It took me years of being a crime analyst to find a way that was (for me) working smarter rather than harder. While artificial intelligence and technological genius could make my method obsolete, those analysts working alone (without all the bells and whistles of large agencies and technologically advanced teams) might find this information helpful.
Click on this link and read the posts I wrote years ago called "The MO Project." Read from the first post and then those that follow in chronological order. The first post includes a link to a spreadsheet that helps explain the method of tracking crimes. This is also a method of thinking about crimes.
In the spreadsheet I included a list of categories of things I tracked as a crime analyst in a large, local police department:
Bank Robberies
Bar Related
Bootleg Goods
Cab/Taxi Driver Victims
Car Break-ins
Carjackings
Cemeteries
Commercial Crime
Construction Related
Counterfeit Money
Delivery Robberies
Disguises
Drugged/Intoxicated Victims
Elderly Victims
Fast Food Restaurant Related
Fraud/Scams
Gangs
Garage Burglaries
Gas Station Related
Graffiti
Handicapped Victims
Hate Crimes
Home Invasions
Homicides
Hotel/Motel Related
Juvenile Victims
Metal Theft
Parking Lot Related
Prostitution
Public Transportation Crimes
Purse Snatching
Religious Building Related
Repeat Offenders
Restaurant Related
Ruse Burglaries
School Related
Sex Crimes with Unknown Assailants
Shootings
Stolen Firearms
Theft from Coin Machines
Theft of Antiques/Collectibles
Theft of ATVs/Boats/Recreational Vehicles
Theft of Cigarettes
Theft of Computers
Theft of GPS Units
Theft of Jewelry
Theft of Pets/Animals
Vacant Dwelling Related
Vandalism
Weapon Possession
(So much crime - so little time! That is why you should find ways to be more efficient.)
Click on this link and read the posts I wrote years ago called "The MO Project." Read from the first post and then those that follow in chronological order. The first post includes a link to a spreadsheet that helps explain the method of tracking crimes. This is also a method of thinking about crimes.
In the spreadsheet I included a list of categories of things I tracked as a crime analyst in a large, local police department:
Bank Robberies
Bar Related
Bootleg Goods
Cab/Taxi Driver Victims
Car Break-ins
Carjackings
Cemeteries
Commercial Crime
Construction Related
Counterfeit Money
Delivery Robberies
Disguises
Drugged/Intoxicated Victims
Elderly Victims
Fast Food Restaurant Related
Fraud/Scams
Gangs
Garage Burglaries
Gas Station Related
Graffiti
Handicapped Victims
Hate Crimes
Home Invasions
Homicides
Hotel/Motel Related
Juvenile Victims
Metal Theft
Parking Lot Related
Prostitution
Public Transportation Crimes
Purse Snatching
Religious Building Related
Repeat Offenders
Restaurant Related
Ruse Burglaries
School Related
Sex Crimes with Unknown Assailants
Shootings
Stolen Firearms
Theft from Coin Machines
Theft of Antiques/Collectibles
Theft of ATVs/Boats/Recreational Vehicles
Theft of Cigarettes
Theft of Computers
Theft of GPS Units
Theft of Jewelry
Theft of Pets/Animals
Vacant Dwelling Related
Vandalism
Weapon Possession
(So much crime - so little time! That is why you should find ways to be more efficient.)
Friday, May 17, 2019
#7 Lessons From My Story
I will post a "lesson" from my life as an analyst once a week until I run out of them! Skip over these if they don't interest you. For those who read on, consider the power of your own stories and where they might take you. And if you want to follow these post threads, in the future click on the label "my story."
What skills and talents do you bring to the profession? Where does your passion for analytical work reside?
While I did not (and still do not) have high-level technical skills in information technology that many excellent analysts possess, I do bring a natural affinity for writing to the profession. Not simply writing skills, but an interest in writing, in communicating, in defining, in articulating, in helping via writing. I also have a passion for understanding and advocating for the profession itself.
I gathered a great deal of information on the field of law enforcement analysis, partially in preparation to finish my Master's thesis in 2001, and also including the practical advice many analysts had given me directly, and indirectly through a listserver, since I became a crime analyst on 9/2/1997. The field of law enforcement analysis was and IS rich with willing helpers - other analysts eager assist a struggling analyst. I felt very indebted to them.
I knew there were a number of analysts in my position, the lone analyst in an agency trying to do effective work with little on-site guidance and knowledge of analytical capacities and value. I decided that maybe I could write the book I wish I had had when I was started out, for them, the other isolated analysts.
As the saying goes, pay it forward, those good deeds done for you by others. I believe in that.
I decided to write a book for new analysts and told everyone I was doing so. That made me do it!
I asked another, more experienced analyst, to collaborate on this book for new analysts to give me more authority, since I had not been an analyst for very long. I wanted to call the book "Getting Started in Crime Analysis." I approached the Police Executive Research Foundation with the idea for my book, but ultimately it was not academic enough for them. That was okay with me, because I did not want to write an academic book - I wanted something practical for new analysts working in the field. There still are too few books out there specifically for those working in this profession, but back then there were none easily obtainable. Steve Gottlieb's 1994 book "Crime Analysis: from First Report to Final Arrest," seemed to be the only one that existed as far as I could tell, and I got my copy through his training class.
Because one of my secret ambitions was to be a best-selling novelist, I knew how to query publishers with book proposals and did so. The Haworth Press agreed to publish the book, and later it was sold to Routledge, its current publisher. The book is filled of out-dated urls but many of the basics in it hold water over time. There are better books out there now, but it served a good purpose back then.
"Introduction to Crime Analysis: Basic Resources for Criminal Justice Practice" by Deborah A. Osborne and Susan C. Wernicke arrived in my mail on my birthday in September 2003. The title was more academic than I wanted, but I was appreciative of the opportunity to be published and to be able to help others with the information shared by others that had helped me.
Here is a secret for you: If you hold back from writing things for the profession because you are afraid of criticism and being judged, know that I have NEVER had anyone complain to me directly about anything written that book, nor in my subsequent book, nor in any of the articles and book chapters I have written. I am sure there are critics, and there should be, but critics are NOT going to clamor to you with their complaints. Help someone by taking the risk to share information, ideas, and what is in your mind if that is what you are called to do.
Lesson: Pay it forward! What can you do to contribute to the profession with your unique set of talents, interests, and abilities? Don't be afraid!
What skills and talents do you bring to the profession? Where does your passion for analytical work reside?
While I did not (and still do not) have high-level technical skills in information technology that many excellent analysts possess, I do bring a natural affinity for writing to the profession. Not simply writing skills, but an interest in writing, in communicating, in defining, in articulating, in helping via writing. I also have a passion for understanding and advocating for the profession itself.
I gathered a great deal of information on the field of law enforcement analysis, partially in preparation to finish my Master's thesis in 2001, and also including the practical advice many analysts had given me directly, and indirectly through a listserver, since I became a crime analyst on 9/2/1997. The field of law enforcement analysis was and IS rich with willing helpers - other analysts eager assist a struggling analyst. I felt very indebted to them.
I knew there were a number of analysts in my position, the lone analyst in an agency trying to do effective work with little on-site guidance and knowledge of analytical capacities and value. I decided that maybe I could write the book I wish I had had when I was started out, for them, the other isolated analysts.
As the saying goes, pay it forward, those good deeds done for you by others. I believe in that.
I decided to write a book for new analysts and told everyone I was doing so. That made me do it!
I asked another, more experienced analyst, to collaborate on this book for new analysts to give me more authority, since I had not been an analyst for very long. I wanted to call the book "Getting Started in Crime Analysis." I approached the Police Executive Research Foundation with the idea for my book, but ultimately it was not academic enough for them. That was okay with me, because I did not want to write an academic book - I wanted something practical for new analysts working in the field. There still are too few books out there specifically for those working in this profession, but back then there were none easily obtainable. Steve Gottlieb's 1994 book "Crime Analysis: from First Report to Final Arrest," seemed to be the only one that existed as far as I could tell, and I got my copy through his training class.
Because one of my secret ambitions was to be a best-selling novelist, I knew how to query publishers with book proposals and did so. The Haworth Press agreed to publish the book, and later it was sold to Routledge, its current publisher. The book is filled of out-dated urls but many of the basics in it hold water over time. There are better books out there now, but it served a good purpose back then.
"Introduction to Crime Analysis: Basic Resources for Criminal Justice Practice" by Deborah A. Osborne and Susan C. Wernicke arrived in my mail on my birthday in September 2003. The title was more academic than I wanted, but I was appreciative of the opportunity to be published and to be able to help others with the information shared by others that had helped me.
Here is a secret for you: If you hold back from writing things for the profession because you are afraid of criticism and being judged, know that I have NEVER had anyone complain to me directly about anything written that book, nor in my subsequent book, nor in any of the articles and book chapters I have written. I am sure there are critics, and there should be, but critics are NOT going to clamor to you with their complaints. Help someone by taking the risk to share information, ideas, and what is in your mind if that is what you are called to do.
Lesson: Pay it forward! What can you do to contribute to the profession with your unique set of talents, interests, and abilities? Don't be afraid!
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative
"The National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) provides funding through a competitive grant program to support the jurisdictional reform of approaches to sexual assault cases resulting from evidence found in sexual assault kits (SAKs) that have never been submitted to a crime laboratory. SAKI is administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and aims to create a coordinated community response that ensures just resolution to sexual assault cases through (1) a comprehensive and victim-centered approach, (2) jurisdictional capacity building to prevent high numbers of unsubmitted SAKs in the future, and (3) supporting the investigation and prosecution of cases for which SAKs were previously unsubmitted."
Archived National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative webinars are available at this link, including a March 26, 2019 webinar Crime Analysts: Supporting Sexual Assault Investigations presented by Samantha Gwinn.
Article to read: A Serial Killer In Chicago? Investigations Delayed By Backlogs In Analyzing DNA
Archived National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative webinars are available at this link, including a March 26, 2019 webinar Crime Analysts: Supporting Sexual Assault Investigations presented by Samantha Gwinn.
Article to read: A Serial Killer In Chicago? Investigations Delayed By Backlogs In Analyzing DNA
Monday, May 13, 2019
The "Experts" are People, Too
When my son was a young boy, he was surprised to learn that his teacher actually lived in a house and had her own life.
Once I was married to a doctor; my sister likes to tell me how that cured her of her unquestioned respect for doctors' opinions!
Sometimes we have unexamined assumptions about authority figures in our work worlds and don't realize that they are very much like us.
Don't be afraid to ask experts for help. The "experts" are people, too. Just ordinary humans! That doesn't mean they will help you - but you will never know if you do not ask.
This also applies to law enforcement command staff. Working in a hierarchal profession, we can be intimidated by rank. Think about ways this might present obstacles to your work world. Start seeing everyone as a person, rather than a title or rank. What difference could this make for you?
Once I was married to a doctor; my sister likes to tell me how that cured her of her unquestioned respect for doctors' opinions!
Sometimes we have unexamined assumptions about authority figures in our work worlds and don't realize that they are very much like us.
Don't be afraid to ask experts for help. The "experts" are people, too. Just ordinary humans! That doesn't mean they will help you - but you will never know if you do not ask.
This also applies to law enforcement command staff. Working in a hierarchal profession, we can be intimidated by rank. Think about ways this might present obstacles to your work world. Start seeing everyone as a person, rather than a title or rank. What difference could this make for you?
Friday, May 10, 2019
#6 Lessons From My Story
I will post a "lesson" from my life as an analyst once a week until I run out of them! Skip over these if they don't interest you. For those who read on, consider the power of your own stories and where they might take you. And if you want to follow these post threads, in the future click on the label "my story."
pol·i·cy
/ˈpäləsē/
noun
a course or principle of action adopted or proposed by a government, party, business, or individual.
Lesson: Policy doesn't have to make sense.
Before I started working as a crime analyst, I began coursework for pursuing a Master's Degree in Policy Studies, with a Cultural Studies emphasis. I quit the program halfway through because I just could not grasp the policy aspect of the program. I struggled intellectually with analyzing policies, although my grades were good. I chose this degree program because, at that time (the early 1990s), it was the only one I could do with a few weekend residencies and mostly in-between independent studies - which was what I needed as a full-time working mother-of-four. This was before the wide-spread option of online degrees.
But once I started working at the Buffalo Police Department, I began to understand the nature of policy that had eluded me as I working in my previous job, wherein most policy I encountered seemed quite fair and sensible to me.
It did not make sense to me that there was so little analysis of crime. It appalled me as a mother that law enforcement was not systematically and intelligently analyzing crime and utilizing all the information available to make informed decisions to keep communities safe. To keep my family safe. To protect citizens.
It did not make sense to me that the same crime problems occurred in the same places over and over again without change over many consecutive years.
It did not make sense to me that the policing initiatives du jour depended on the grant-funding magic wand of the federal and/or state government and ended when the money was gone.
I just did not understand the world I had entered.
I then understood deeply that policy does not have to make sense.
Then I was able to finish my Master's Degree with an emphasis in Criminal Justice and write my thesis on crime analysis, which is posted on the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts website to download.
To download my thesis: Four Position Papers on the Role of Crime Analysis in Policing
Crime analysis, in whatever echelon of policing, under whatever other label you call it, makes sense.
pol·i·cy
/ˈpäləsē/
noun
a course or principle of action adopted or proposed by a government, party, business, or individual.
Lesson: Policy doesn't have to make sense.
Before I started working as a crime analyst, I began coursework for pursuing a Master's Degree in Policy Studies, with a Cultural Studies emphasis. I quit the program halfway through because I just could not grasp the policy aspect of the program. I struggled intellectually with analyzing policies, although my grades were good. I chose this degree program because, at that time (the early 1990s), it was the only one I could do with a few weekend residencies and mostly in-between independent studies - which was what I needed as a full-time working mother-of-four. This was before the wide-spread option of online degrees.
But once I started working at the Buffalo Police Department, I began to understand the nature of policy that had eluded me as I working in my previous job, wherein most policy I encountered seemed quite fair and sensible to me.
It did not make sense to me that there was so little analysis of crime. It appalled me as a mother that law enforcement was not systematically and intelligently analyzing crime and utilizing all the information available to make informed decisions to keep communities safe. To keep my family safe. To protect citizens.
It did not make sense to me that the same crime problems occurred in the same places over and over again without change over many consecutive years.
It did not make sense to me that the policing initiatives du jour depended on the grant-funding magic wand of the federal and/or state government and ended when the money was gone.
I just did not understand the world I had entered.
I then understood deeply that policy does not have to make sense.
Then I was able to finish my Master's Degree with an emphasis in Criminal Justice and write my thesis on crime analysis, which is posted on the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts website to download.
To download my thesis: Four Position Papers on the Role of Crime Analysis in Policing
Crime analysis, in whatever echelon of policing, under whatever other label you call it, makes sense.
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Getting the Job: How to Write a Masterpiece of a Resume
You want to be a crime analyst, investigative analyst, intelligence analyst, police analyst - whatever the law enforcement analyst title - and you will need a great resume for your job search. Student or seasoned professional, the best resume is key to getting in the door to your future place of employment.
You can get professional guidance on writing your resume through a variety of sources - books, articles, college business centers, and even by hiring someone to help you.
How to Write a Masterpiece of a Resume is posted online by the Rockford Institute. It is a good guide to resume writing- here is an excerpt:
"DO
DON’T
You can get professional guidance on writing your resume through a variety of sources - books, articles, college business centers, and even by hiring someone to help you.
How to Write a Masterpiece of a Resume is posted online by the Rockford Institute. It is a good guide to resume writing- here is an excerpt:
"DO
- Sell yourself – first and foremost.
- Always bear in mind the needs of your customer – the employer. What do they need to know to assess that you’re right for the job and will deliver for them?
- Customize your resume for each job application.
- Use keywords selected with your prospective employer in mind.
- Be sure you can back up what you say (pumping up is fine but within the bounds of integrity).
- Use dynamic, high-energy language.
- Tighten up sentences where you can. Space is at a premium.
- Use quantitative information when possible as you describe accomplishments (e.g., ($1 million portfolio, increased sales 30%, double revenues).
- Look at everything you’ve written in your resume and add action verbs wherever possible.
- Make your resume long enough to include all relevant information.
- Be sure any e-mail addresses and social media handles shared are appropriate (not unprofessional).
- Use the same version of your professional “screen name” consistently.
DON’T
- Be unduly modest. You are selling yourself, period.
- Wing it. Real preparation and homework is required – no matter how lucky you’ve been in the past.
- Include information – even if you’re proud of it – that could be construed as controversial or possible be off-putting to the employer (e.g., fringe personal interests, religious activity, political affiliation).
- List everything you’ve ever done. It’s better to leave an employer a little curious and more apt to interview you.
- Include salary information. It is appropriate for you to provide this information only when asked.
- Mention reasons for leaving jobs. You can have tactful, professional reasons ready for interviews.
- Include references. Provide them when requested, and be sure your references know that an inquiry is on the way.
- Try to be funny or cute – no matter how great your personality, these things don’t translate on paper.
- Include every single piece of information about yourself – this is not your resume’s job. If the employer wants to know more about you, they’ll ask you for an interview.
- Get wordy. Don’t use three examples when one will suffice.
- Be hyperbolic. Don’t use more than one power word or adjective in one sentence.
- Underestimate the power of reading the job posting carefully and doing all of your homework. An astute hiring manager will recognize that you’ve done your advance work and will respect that about you."
Good luck!!!!
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Reducing Crime Podcasts by Jerry Ratcliffe
"Reducing Crime" podcasts by Jerry Ratcliffe can be found at this link. Descriptions of the podcasts (and brief bios of participants) are included.
From SoundCloud:
"An occasional podcast featuring interviews with influential thinkers in the police service and leading crime and policing researchers working to advance public safety. Host: Professor Jerry Ratcliffe. Learn more at reducingcrime.com."
From SoundCloud:
"An occasional podcast featuring interviews with influential thinkers in the police service and leading crime and policing researchers working to advance public safety. Host: Professor Jerry Ratcliffe. Learn more at reducingcrime.com."
Friday, May 3, 2019
#5 Lessons From My Story
I will post a "lesson" from my life as an analyst once a week until I run out of them! Skip over these if they don't interest you. For those who read on, consider the power of your own stories and where they might take you. And if you want to follow these post threads, in the future click on the label "my story."
Thanks to my connection to academics early in my days as a crime analyst, I learned of the two associations for analysts, the International Association of Crime Analysts and the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts. Since I needed all the help I could get, I joined both of them right away.
I learned very quickly that the associations were different, that the crime analysts' association catered mainly to local level law enforcement, and the intelligence analysts' association was geared more to those at the state and federal level working on case investigations. Yet, for me, that seemed to be a barrier to the growth of the profession.
When I was a crime analyst at the local level, I did not know that I would someday work at the federal level of law enforcement. The work I did as a crime analyst was quite different that what I did as an investigative analyst but the skill sets were essentially the same.
Often during my career as a law enforcement analyst, I observed instances in which different echelons of analysts were oblivious of one another if not downright unsupportive. There was a sense of class differences, a willful lack of interest in those unlike them, and/or a blind assumption that all analysts should be or are doing the same thing. Which is utterly ridiculous and sabotaging to the greater good of all analysts.
The need for two associations is real because all analysts do not focus on the same things. At the local level, most often the analyst is faced with vast amounts of raw data that must be analyzed, interpreted, synthesized and utilized for many purposes such as providing statistics for police managers, identification of crime patterns for tactical problem-solving, and determining hot spots of crime for prevention efforts. At the state and federal level, more often analysts are working on specific investigations, researching criminal suspects using commercial and government databases, analyzing financial and communication records, looking for information that supports prosecuting individuals for specific crime activities that they may uncover in their analysis.
All aspects of analysis are important and helpful in policing efforts.
Lesson: Understand everything that analysts can do!
I was able to participate in a focus group with Dr. Jerry Ratcliffe that resulted in this report:
Integrated Crime Analysis and Intelligence: Enhanced Information Management for Law Enforcement Leaders
A quote from me on page 16 of the report:
"Analysts may employ nonlinear approaches to analysis by synthesizing information obtained in a number of methods to see a more complete “whole” of a crime problem. These methods may include crime mapping, statistical analyses, field observations of high-crime and low-crime areas, reading crime and intelligence reports, talking to officers, suspects, and victims, looking for evidence links, as well as gathering information on known offenders residing in or near the jurisdiction. Merging crime and intelligence analysis will provide a more accurate “whole picture” and improve the meaningfulness and utility of information generated by law enforcement analysts."
I wrote that before I worked at the federal level of law enforcement, where prevention is seldom
the focus of law enforcement policy. We are still in the infancy of using analysis and evidence for public safety improvement. You have the ability to move the ball forward, however slowly. I remember an old timer officer telling me once, changing policing is like changing the direction of an huge ocean-liner - it takes time.
Public safety depends on changing the direction.
Thanks to my connection to academics early in my days as a crime analyst, I learned of the two associations for analysts, the International Association of Crime Analysts and the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts. Since I needed all the help I could get, I joined both of them right away.
I learned very quickly that the associations were different, that the crime analysts' association catered mainly to local level law enforcement, and the intelligence analysts' association was geared more to those at the state and federal level working on case investigations. Yet, for me, that seemed to be a barrier to the growth of the profession.
When I was a crime analyst at the local level, I did not know that I would someday work at the federal level of law enforcement. The work I did as a crime analyst was quite different that what I did as an investigative analyst but the skill sets were essentially the same.
Often during my career as a law enforcement analyst, I observed instances in which different echelons of analysts were oblivious of one another if not downright unsupportive. There was a sense of class differences, a willful lack of interest in those unlike them, and/or a blind assumption that all analysts should be or are doing the same thing. Which is utterly ridiculous and sabotaging to the greater good of all analysts.
The need for two associations is real because all analysts do not focus on the same things. At the local level, most often the analyst is faced with vast amounts of raw data that must be analyzed, interpreted, synthesized and utilized for many purposes such as providing statistics for police managers, identification of crime patterns for tactical problem-solving, and determining hot spots of crime for prevention efforts. At the state and federal level, more often analysts are working on specific investigations, researching criminal suspects using commercial and government databases, analyzing financial and communication records, looking for information that supports prosecuting individuals for specific crime activities that they may uncover in their analysis.
All aspects of analysis are important and helpful in policing efforts.
Lesson: Understand everything that analysts can do!
I was able to participate in a focus group with Dr. Jerry Ratcliffe that resulted in this report:
Integrated Crime Analysis and Intelligence: Enhanced Information Management for Law Enforcement Leaders
A quote from me on page 16 of the report:
"Analysts may employ nonlinear approaches to analysis by synthesizing information obtained in a number of methods to see a more complete “whole” of a crime problem. These methods may include crime mapping, statistical analyses, field observations of high-crime and low-crime areas, reading crime and intelligence reports, talking to officers, suspects, and victims, looking for evidence links, as well as gathering information on known offenders residing in or near the jurisdiction. Merging crime and intelligence analysis will provide a more accurate “whole picture” and improve the meaningfulness and utility of information generated by law enforcement analysts."
I wrote that before I worked at the federal level of law enforcement, where prevention is seldom
the focus of law enforcement policy. We are still in the infancy of using analysis and evidence for public safety improvement. You have the ability to move the ball forward, however slowly. I remember an old timer officer telling me once, changing policing is like changing the direction of an huge ocean-liner - it takes time.
Public safety depends on changing the direction.
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Blog: Krebs on Security
The blog Krebs on Security will inform you on issues in cybersecurity and you will learn more about cybercrime there. It's a great learning resource if you are tasked with analyzing cybercrime as well as a tool for awareness for all of us using computers.
If you go to this link you can read all the posts about skimmers.
Read more:
How to Spot and Avoid Credit Card Skimmers
If you go to this link you can read all the posts about skimmers.
Read more:
How to Spot and Avoid Credit Card Skimmers
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Crime Analysis in the Fashion Industry
Detecting supply chain risk with a deep dive crime analysis is an interesting article about crime in the fashion industry, in just-style.com, which states that trade in the fake and counterfeit groups currently constitutes 3.3% of the global trade and is rising. In 2016 in the United States alone the of the fake goods was 509 billion dollars, according to the article.
Crime analysis can help identify risks through determining hot locations of such crimes.
Crime analysis can help identify risks through determining hot locations of such crimes.
Monday, April 29, 2019
Solvability Factors
To effectively manage your time as an analyst, you should consider the solvability of crimes. Unfortunately, we will never "solve" all crimes (find out the perpetrator(s)), and, even more unfortunate, we cannot prevent all crime. That said, don't spend too much of your precious time chasing crime problems that cannot be solved, unless your work leads to better efforts at prevention. Consider solvability factors. Realize that the investigators in your agency will lose respect for you if you produce analytical products for crimes they cannot solve due to a lack of solvability factors. Look at the Problem Solving Tool Guides if you have the kind of crime problem that could be prevented, even though solvability factors are few or non-existent. Then work with community police officers or police managers interested in developing problem-solving responses.
Solvability Factors:
Is there:
-A witness to the crime?
-Knowledge of a suspect’s name?
-Knowledge of where a suspect can be located?
-A description of a suspect?
-Identification of a suspect?
-Property with identifiable characteristics, marks, or numbers that can be
traced?
-Existence of a significant MO?
-Presence of a description which identifies a vehicle used in the crime?
-Positive results from a crime scene / evidence search?
-Belief that a crime may be solved with publicity and/or reasonable
additional investigative effort?
-An opportunity for but one person to have committed the crime?
Covington Police Department Memo on Use of Solvability Factors
Solvability Factors:
Is there:
-A witness to the crime?
-Knowledge of a suspect’s name?
-Knowledge of where a suspect can be located?
-A description of a suspect?
-Identification of a suspect?
-Property with identifiable characteristics, marks, or numbers that can be
traced?
-Existence of a significant MO?
-Presence of a description which identifies a vehicle used in the crime?
-Positive results from a crime scene / evidence search?
-Belief that a crime may be solved with publicity and/or reasonable
additional investigative effort?
-An opportunity for but one person to have committed the crime?
Covington Police Department Memo on Use of Solvability Factors
Friday, April 26, 2019
#4 Lessons From My Story
I will post a "lesson" from my life as an analyst once a week until I run out of them! Skip over these if they don't interest you. For those who read on, consider the power of your own stories and where they might take you. And if you want to follow these post threads, in the future click on the label "my story."
Partnerships with academia and the interns provided by them can help you expand in areas that are your weaknesses, as well as support and solidify your value as an analyst with your police managers. This is especially true at the local level of law enforcement; at the federal level, there is more concern for investigative secrecy due to the fact you are trying to build cases to prosecute. Local level analysts can reap the rewards of relationships with academia more effectively than analysts working "higher" up the law enforcement food chain.
Dr. Pamela Beal was my first academic ally - she was working with the University of Buffalo and connected me to GIS interns as well as generalists. I had many interns in my ten years at the Buffalo Police Department, and, in those first few years, they probably taught me more than I taught them. I learned how to map crime, all about Excel and pivot tables (the golden ticket of crime data analysis in my humble opinion), and everything in between - skills that I sorely needed to make up for my technical skill deficits.
Interns can also help as a force multiplier - they can do some time-consuming tasks (such as cleaning and organizing data) that will allow you to focus on meaningful analytical work.
A short time after I started working as a crime analyst, Robert Heibel contacted me from Mercyhurst College's Research and Intelligence Analyst Program, which is now known as Ridge College’s Institute of Intelligence Studies and Applied Sciences. Bob was an early advocate of academic programs to promote at the growth of the analyst in law enforcement as well as in national security. He wanted to place interns at my agency working under me, and did so. We became friends and later on he invited me to colloquiums where I met world leaders in the field. Connecting with him offered me many opportunities for professional growth, as I will discuss in future posts.
Lesson: Find your academic supporters!
To listen to my conversations with my first two academic supporters on Blog Talk Radio, go to:
Pamela Beal on Grafitti
Pam Beal on Reducing Street Prostitution
Robert Heibel: Knowledge Workers in Intelligence
Partnerships with academia and the interns provided by them can help you expand in areas that are your weaknesses, as well as support and solidify your value as an analyst with your police managers. This is especially true at the local level of law enforcement; at the federal level, there is more concern for investigative secrecy due to the fact you are trying to build cases to prosecute. Local level analysts can reap the rewards of relationships with academia more effectively than analysts working "higher" up the law enforcement food chain.
Dr. Pamela Beal was my first academic ally - she was working with the University of Buffalo and connected me to GIS interns as well as generalists. I had many interns in my ten years at the Buffalo Police Department, and, in those first few years, they probably taught me more than I taught them. I learned how to map crime, all about Excel and pivot tables (the golden ticket of crime data analysis in my humble opinion), and everything in between - skills that I sorely needed to make up for my technical skill deficits.
Interns can also help as a force multiplier - they can do some time-consuming tasks (such as cleaning and organizing data) that will allow you to focus on meaningful analytical work.
A short time after I started working as a crime analyst, Robert Heibel contacted me from Mercyhurst College's Research and Intelligence Analyst Program, which is now known as Ridge College’s Institute of Intelligence Studies and Applied Sciences. Bob was an early advocate of academic programs to promote at the growth of the analyst in law enforcement as well as in national security. He wanted to place interns at my agency working under me, and did so. We became friends and later on he invited me to colloquiums where I met world leaders in the field. Connecting with him offered me many opportunities for professional growth, as I will discuss in future posts.
Lesson: Find your academic supporters!
To listen to my conversations with my first two academic supporters on Blog Talk Radio, go to:
Pamela Beal on Grafitti
Pam Beal on Reducing Street Prostitution
Robert Heibel: Knowledge Workers in Intelligence
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Monday, April 22, 2019
Technical Training Disappointments
If you have been working as a law enforcement for a period of time, you will run into at least one of these problems. You are not alone!
What problems? The problems that arises once you get back to your office after attending training on specific software products. Here are two examples:
What problems? The problems that arises once you get back to your office after attending training on specific software products. Here are two examples:
- you are trained in a software to use to analyze telephone records but no investigator gives you records to analyze for a year - by that time you have forgotten how to use the software
- you learn how to analyze bank records using a specific software and, like the situation above, you have no bank records to analyze for a long period of time, thus no practice, and have to learn as you go while the requestor waits impatiently for your analytical results
Here is an example of another, similar problem:
- you learn at a conference presentation that a very cool and potentially highly useful analytical tool is already available on a commercial database system you have, but find out later that your IT system's firewalls won't allow you to use the tool
These are just a few examples of many scenarios involving technical training disappointments you may experience as an analyst.
What to do?
If possible, get some records from previous investigations to analyze for practice. Fo the IT issue - see if you can use the commercial database on a standalone computer.
And if you cannot solve your problem, understand that you did not create it.
Managers of analysts need to put in place the strategies of follow-ups to training. Help your analysts get what they need to be successful! Encourage your investigators to use the tools your analysts have. Understand your analysts' IT needs and make IT solutions a priority, as well as fund your analysts' needs for equipment.
Friday, April 19, 2019
#3 Lessons From My Story
I will post a "lesson" from my life as an analyst once a week until I run out of them! Skip over these if they don't interest you. For those who read on, consider the power of your own stories and where they might take you. And if you want to follow these post threads, in the future click on the label "my story."
When you begin working as an analyst in a law enforcement jurisdiction, it will take you years to learn what is "normal" crime - this limits your ability to discern that which is significant in your data sets.
When I began working as a crime analyst in a city dense with crime to analyze, I focused first on robberies. I recently read somewhere legit that 40% of robberies have unknown assailants - and even if that statistic is not exact, I found that paying attention to robberies, looking for robbery series (robberies committed by the same suspect(s)), was fruitful.
I began putting together a newsletter of crimes that I had analyzed in my non-techie, non-database-centered way - primarily in this mode because there were no accessible databases for me to use back then. However, I could review the daily crimes on our Intranet and collect them myself in my own spreadsheets.
One of the first series I identified was related to robberies of delivery truck drivers when they were outside of places making deliveries. There were ten such crimes in one month! Little did I know how irregular that was, because I did not know what was common and what was uncommon when I started. Fortunately, I was developing relationships within the department and a wise old officer who befriended me recognized the modus operandi and shared possible suspect information, which I could then pass on to detectives, along with dates, times, locations, weapons, vehicles, businesses affected, and suspect descriptions.
Lesson: Know your jurisdiction. Make no assumptions, even if you are an experienced analyst who has moved to a new job. You cannot know the norm of your crime until you have spent some time getting intimate with it. This is why hiring consultants or temporary analysts for local level law enforcement analysis is less likely to result in meaningful analysis. You need to build relationships with both the data and the people (social capital) in your agency. You need to be there.
Later, as an analyst at the federal level, working on major investigations, I needed to get familiar with what I was looking for and what mattered to investigators. It is not the same as working at the local level of policing as an analyst, but, similarly, it does take time to learn what matters. Each big case is different. Sometimes you have to learn about crimes that are unfamiliar to you. In my work situation, I had to get more intimate with the nuts and bolts of financial fraud schemes of all sorts. Being an analyst always involves continuous learning. You cannot be an effective analyst if you do not love to learn.
Here are some Problem Oriented Policing Guides to consider:
Analyzing Repeat Victimization
Robbery at Automated Teller Machines
Robbery of Convenience Stores
Robbery of Pharmacies
Robbery of Taxi Drivers
When you begin working as an analyst in a law enforcement jurisdiction, it will take you years to learn what is "normal" crime - this limits your ability to discern that which is significant in your data sets.
When I began working as a crime analyst in a city dense with crime to analyze, I focused first on robberies. I recently read somewhere legit that 40% of robberies have unknown assailants - and even if that statistic is not exact, I found that paying attention to robberies, looking for robbery series (robberies committed by the same suspect(s)), was fruitful.
I began putting together a newsletter of crimes that I had analyzed in my non-techie, non-database-centered way - primarily in this mode because there were no accessible databases for me to use back then. However, I could review the daily crimes on our Intranet and collect them myself in my own spreadsheets.
One of the first series I identified was related to robberies of delivery truck drivers when they were outside of places making deliveries. There were ten such crimes in one month! Little did I know how irregular that was, because I did not know what was common and what was uncommon when I started. Fortunately, I was developing relationships within the department and a wise old officer who befriended me recognized the modus operandi and shared possible suspect information, which I could then pass on to detectives, along with dates, times, locations, weapons, vehicles, businesses affected, and suspect descriptions.
Lesson: Know your jurisdiction. Make no assumptions, even if you are an experienced analyst who has moved to a new job. You cannot know the norm of your crime until you have spent some time getting intimate with it. This is why hiring consultants or temporary analysts for local level law enforcement analysis is less likely to result in meaningful analysis. You need to build relationships with both the data and the people (social capital) in your agency. You need to be there.
Later, as an analyst at the federal level, working on major investigations, I needed to get familiar with what I was looking for and what mattered to investigators. It is not the same as working at the local level of policing as an analyst, but, similarly, it does take time to learn what matters. Each big case is different. Sometimes you have to learn about crimes that are unfamiliar to you. In my work situation, I had to get more intimate with the nuts and bolts of financial fraud schemes of all sorts. Being an analyst always involves continuous learning. You cannot be an effective analyst if you do not love to learn.
Here are some Problem Oriented Policing Guides to consider:
Analyzing Repeat Victimization
Robbery at Automated Teller Machines
Robbery of Convenience Stores
Robbery of Pharmacies
Robbery of Taxi Drivers
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Intelligence Analysts
The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Intelligence Analysts is an article for competitive intelligence analysts but relates to the work you do as law enforcement analysts.
Reading and learning from other analyst disciplines can help you expand your analytical toolbox and help you think more critically about new ways and means to increase your value.
Read more:
The 7 Secrets of Good Business Analysts
6 Traits of Highly Effective Data Analysts
What Great Data Analysts Do — and Why Every Organization Needs Them
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Equity Analysts
Reading and learning from other analyst disciplines can help you expand your analytical toolbox and help you think more critically about new ways and means to increase your value.
Read more:
The 7 Secrets of Good Business Analysts
6 Traits of Highly Effective Data Analysts
What Great Data Analysts Do — and Why Every Organization Needs Them
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Equity Analysts
Monday, April 15, 2019
For Analysts: Teach Them to Fish
"...if you give a man a fish he is hungry again in an hour. If you teach him to catch a fish you do him a good turn." ~Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie
How many times does an officer, investigator, or agent come to you and ask you to do a search for something they could easily do themselves? What do you do when this happens?
Your main role as an analyst is to help; however, helping others do what they can do for themselves is a misuse of your time. You might want to do this occasionally as good public relations to prove your general attitude of helpfulness, but as a work policy you might run yourself ragged doing little tasks. You are training your co-workers to view you as less than you are. Your analytical capacity to do higher level, complicated, more value-added work will be underutilized.
What to do?
One solution:
Say yes but add the caveat - I will do it but I need you to watch me so that you can learn how to do it. After a few times your most persistent requestors will stop asking. Consistently show the requestors how to do their work. Teach them to fish!
How many times does an officer, investigator, or agent come to you and ask you to do a search for something they could easily do themselves? What do you do when this happens?
Your main role as an analyst is to help; however, helping others do what they can do for themselves is a misuse of your time. You might want to do this occasionally as good public relations to prove your general attitude of helpfulness, but as a work policy you might run yourself ragged doing little tasks. You are training your co-workers to view you as less than you are. Your analytical capacity to do higher level, complicated, more value-added work will be underutilized.
What to do?
One solution:
Say yes but add the caveat - I will do it but I need you to watch me so that you can learn how to do it. After a few times your most persistent requestors will stop asking. Consistently show the requestors how to do their work. Teach them to fish!
Friday, April 12, 2019
#2 Lessons From My Story
I will post a "lesson" from my life as an analyst once a week until I run out of them! Skip over these if they don't interest you. For those who read on, consider the power of your own stories and where they might take you. And if you want to follow these post threads, in the future click on the label "my story."
Expect the Unexpected: #2 Lessons From My Story
It took months and months, from the time to when I took the civil service exam to become a crime analyst, until I actually started. It took even longer to be hired to become Criminal Research Specialist (which had a later title name change to Investigative Analyst) for the United States Secret Service. I applied in a January then was not interviewed until September and then did not start work until the following June - approximately of a year and a half of waiting!
The lesson from this part of my story: have lots of patience!
Another lesson which astounded me when I became a crime analyst which persisted throughout my career: most people in your workplace don't know what you are supposed to do nor what you can do. It saddens me that, nearly twenty-two years later, this is still the reality for many law enforcement analysts.
When I started working at the Buffalo Police Department in 1997, I was the first crime analyst. One naive analyst for 20,000 Part One Crimes! Me, with no computer skills and no one to guide me on site. An overwhelming amount of crime to dig into with an Records Management System in development and no automation, except for a daily posting of crimes on an Intranet that I could read. Progress happens - now there are at least 18 analysts assigned to the county crime analysis unit which includes the city and its suburbs.
I was (fortunately) sent to a lot of training financed by grant funding, training no one else in the department was familiar with. This training saved me - I learned that crime analysis was real and that other crime analysts would help me as I tried to figure out what to do. Thankfully, because expectations were practically non-existent, I had a great deal of time to learn on the job. I joined a listserver, which I learned about from an academic working with the department, and connected to analysts from around the world; their advice helped me so much. This cyber-networking also helped me stay sane in the challenging work world that I found myself working in. I was not isolated. Others were experiencing my challenges - others had surmounted them.
Gil Kerlikowske was the Commissioner of my police department at the time I was hired; he would move on a year later to become Chief of Police in Seattle, then later the Drug Czar of the United States. It was his idea to hire a crime analyst, and then he left. That did not help me. Another mini-lesson here for analysts: when the leader who understand your role leaves, your role will be more difficult until a new law enforcement manager fills his or her shoes.
To have a job where you expect others to tell you what you should do, which is how most normal jobs operate, and instead find yourself in a job that you must invent based on the outside training you get, felt preposterous to me. How unexpected! I did not know this was possible!
Expect the unexpected as a law enforcement analyst - you won't be disappointed! It is the surprise that keeps on giving.
I recently watched the mini-series Manhunt on Acorn TV. In this show, based on a true crime story, the main character, DCI Colin Sutton (played by Martin Clunes of Doc Martin fame) heads an investigative team trying to solve a murder case. He works for the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) and his wife is an analyst with a local level police department. She offers to help him using her analytical tools but he is dismissive of her. Of course, it turns out he solves the case without her help, following his hunches despite those who don't believe he is doing his job right. Yet, I could not help but ponder the role of the analyst, not even believed in her marriage to a law enforcer. The misunderstood, unsupported, lonely life of an analyst...
Make sure you get support from others! You may have to look far and wide for it, but it is there.
Expect the Unexpected: #2 Lessons From My Story
It took months and months, from the time to when I took the civil service exam to become a crime analyst, until I actually started. It took even longer to be hired to become Criminal Research Specialist (which had a later title name change to Investigative Analyst) for the United States Secret Service. I applied in a January then was not interviewed until September and then did not start work until the following June - approximately of a year and a half of waiting!
The lesson from this part of my story: have lots of patience!
Another lesson which astounded me when I became a crime analyst which persisted throughout my career: most people in your workplace don't know what you are supposed to do nor what you can do. It saddens me that, nearly twenty-two years later, this is still the reality for many law enforcement analysts.
When I started working at the Buffalo Police Department in 1997, I was the first crime analyst. One naive analyst for 20,000 Part One Crimes! Me, with no computer skills and no one to guide me on site. An overwhelming amount of crime to dig into with an Records Management System in development and no automation, except for a daily posting of crimes on an Intranet that I could read. Progress happens - now there are at least 18 analysts assigned to the county crime analysis unit which includes the city and its suburbs.
I was (fortunately) sent to a lot of training financed by grant funding, training no one else in the department was familiar with. This training saved me - I learned that crime analysis was real and that other crime analysts would help me as I tried to figure out what to do. Thankfully, because expectations were practically non-existent, I had a great deal of time to learn on the job. I joined a listserver, which I learned about from an academic working with the department, and connected to analysts from around the world; their advice helped me so much. This cyber-networking also helped me stay sane in the challenging work world that I found myself working in. I was not isolated. Others were experiencing my challenges - others had surmounted them.
Gil Kerlikowske was the Commissioner of my police department at the time I was hired; he would move on a year later to become Chief of Police in Seattle, then later the Drug Czar of the United States. It was his idea to hire a crime analyst, and then he left. That did not help me. Another mini-lesson here for analysts: when the leader who understand your role leaves, your role will be more difficult until a new law enforcement manager fills his or her shoes.
To have a job where you expect others to tell you what you should do, which is how most normal jobs operate, and instead find yourself in a job that you must invent based on the outside training you get, felt preposterous to me. How unexpected! I did not know this was possible!
Expect the unexpected as a law enforcement analyst - you won't be disappointed! It is the surprise that keeps on giving.
I recently watched the mini-series Manhunt on Acorn TV. In this show, based on a true crime story, the main character, DCI Colin Sutton (played by Martin Clunes of Doc Martin fame) heads an investigative team trying to solve a murder case. He works for the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) and his wife is an analyst with a local level police department. She offers to help him using her analytical tools but he is dismissive of her. Of course, it turns out he solves the case without her help, following his hunches despite those who don't believe he is doing his job right. Yet, I could not help but ponder the role of the analyst, not even believed in her marriage to a law enforcer. The misunderstood, unsupported, lonely life of an analyst...
Make sure you get support from others! You may have to look far and wide for it, but it is there.
Thursday, April 11, 2019
Monday, April 8, 2019
10 steps to effective intelligence-led policing (ILP)
10 steps to effective intelligence-led policing (ILP) is a PoliceOne.com article by Cole Zercoe.
Step "10" in this article is an important one - if police management changes and the new commanders are not committed to ILP, it will, in effect, die... unless it is already solidly embedded in the agency's practices. You cannot have ILP without police management commitment.
"10. COMMAND COMMITMENT
Finally, a long-term, sustainable ILP initiative is obviously dependent on the support of leadership – even through a change in leadership. The BJA found this to be a primary concern among all 10 agencies they surveyed, and many of them addressed this issue by having an internal succession plan that ensured the incoming leadership had already committed to the ILP programs. In other agencies, leadership tenure was long enough that the ILP initiatives became institutionalized."
Chattanooga, TN 's PD seems committed to ILP.
Read:
New Chattanooga Police Chief David Roddy outlines plans for department
WTVC NewsChannel 9
Published on Jun 4, 2015
Step "10" in this article is an important one - if police management changes and the new commanders are not committed to ILP, it will, in effect, die... unless it is already solidly embedded in the agency's practices. You cannot have ILP without police management commitment.
"10. COMMAND COMMITMENT
Finally, a long-term, sustainable ILP initiative is obviously dependent on the support of leadership – even through a change in leadership. The BJA found this to be a primary concern among all 10 agencies they surveyed, and many of them addressed this issue by having an internal succession plan that ensured the incoming leadership had already committed to the ILP programs. In other agencies, leadership tenure was long enough that the ILP initiatives became institutionalized."
Chattanooga, TN 's PD seems committed to ILP.
Read:
New Chattanooga Police Chief David Roddy outlines plans for department
WTVC NewsChannel 9
Published on Jun 4, 2015
Friday, April 5, 2019
#1 Lessons From My Story
I will post a "lesson" from my life as an analyst once a week until I run out of them! Skip over these if they don't interest you. For those who read on, consider the power of your own stories and where they might take you. And if you want to follow these post threads, in the future click on the label "my story."
How It Started: #1 Lessons From My Story
On a lovely autumn day in Buffalo (we do have them), my sister showed me a civil service job announcement for the City of Buffalo for the position of Crime Analyst. At that time, she was working for the city and I was working for New York State as a Habilitation Specialist, on a behavioral intervention team that helped the families and caregivers of developmentally disabled individuals of all ages - individuals who had "behavior problems." It was a psychology position wherein I analyzed behaviors and developed plans to hopefully improve the difficult-to-change behaviors. The treatment plans I designed always included very simple statistics and ratios, and often integrated visualization charts for the clients who could not read.
Would I qualify to take the civil service test to become a crime analyst? Somehow I did. And lucky me, because my sister and I shared a love of Agatha Christie novels, she shared the notice of the test; we both thought "crime analyst" sounded quite interesting. I though maybe I could use my grey cells to detect like Hercule Poirot.
Needless to say, I scored high on the exam and qualified for an interview, then I was able to persuade those who interviewed me for the crime analyst position that indeed crime was a behavior and I was good at analyzing behavior. I had NO computer skills and no criminal justice background.
So what is the lesson? Go for it! If you want to be a crime analyst and you are not from the traditional job-seekers' criminal justice educational credentials and/or with law enforcement experience, this does not mean you will not make a good crime analyst. It may be more difficult to get the position, but if you have any chance at all - take it!
The other lesson is this: if you want to hire a good crime analyst, keep an open mind and consider hiring the person who has not followed the common trajectory into the job.
While my story is my own subjective experience, I have other information to support my story lessons in this post. For my book, Out of Bounds: Innovation and Change In Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis, I interviewed 52 persons, mainly law enforcement analysts, but including some experts in law enforcement analysis who were not practicing analysts.
Many of these persons did not have a criminal justice educational backgrounds, yet they were successful analyst practitioners. The variety of their educational backgrounds are listed in the book on page 26 - I have listed them below for your consideration. Note the wide variety!
Educational Background of Interview Subjects:
Accounting
Anthropology
Biology
Business Administration
Chemistry
Computer Science
Criminal Justice
Criminology
Economics
Education
Engineering
English
Human Resources
Geographic Information Systems
Geography
Government Administration
History
Journalism
Law Enforcement
Library Science
Management
Marketing
Mass Communications
Mathematics
Political Science
Psychology
Public Administration
Public Policy
Sociology
Theology
Urban Planning
Vocational Education
How It Started: #1 Lessons From My Story
On a lovely autumn day in Buffalo (we do have them), my sister showed me a civil service job announcement for the City of Buffalo for the position of Crime Analyst. At that time, she was working for the city and I was working for New York State as a Habilitation Specialist, on a behavioral intervention team that helped the families and caregivers of developmentally disabled individuals of all ages - individuals who had "behavior problems." It was a psychology position wherein I analyzed behaviors and developed plans to hopefully improve the difficult-to-change behaviors. The treatment plans I designed always included very simple statistics and ratios, and often integrated visualization charts for the clients who could not read.
Would I qualify to take the civil service test to become a crime analyst? Somehow I did. And lucky me, because my sister and I shared a love of Agatha Christie novels, she shared the notice of the test; we both thought "crime analyst" sounded quite interesting. I though maybe I could use my grey cells to detect like Hercule Poirot.
Needless to say, I scored high on the exam and qualified for an interview, then I was able to persuade those who interviewed me for the crime analyst position that indeed crime was a behavior and I was good at analyzing behavior. I had NO computer skills and no criminal justice background.
So what is the lesson? Go for it! If you want to be a crime analyst and you are not from the traditional job-seekers' criminal justice educational credentials and/or with law enforcement experience, this does not mean you will not make a good crime analyst. It may be more difficult to get the position, but if you have any chance at all - take it!
The other lesson is this: if you want to hire a good crime analyst, keep an open mind and consider hiring the person who has not followed the common trajectory into the job.
While my story is my own subjective experience, I have other information to support my story lessons in this post. For my book, Out of Bounds: Innovation and Change In Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis, I interviewed 52 persons, mainly law enforcement analysts, but including some experts in law enforcement analysis who were not practicing analysts.
Many of these persons did not have a criminal justice educational backgrounds, yet they were successful analyst practitioners. The variety of their educational backgrounds are listed in the book on page 26 - I have listed them below for your consideration. Note the wide variety!
Educational Background of Interview Subjects:
Accounting
Anthropology
Biology
Business Administration
Chemistry
Computer Science
Criminal Justice
Criminology
Economics
Education
Engineering
English
Human Resources
Geographic Information Systems
Geography
Government Administration
History
Journalism
Law Enforcement
Library Science
Management
Marketing
Mass Communications
Mathematics
Political Science
Psychology
Public Administration
Public Policy
Sociology
Theology
Urban Planning
Vocational Education
Thursday, April 4, 2019
Monday, April 1, 2019
Investigation of Hate Crimes
"Hate crimes are those in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that is the object of the crime, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, disability, or sexual orientation of any person."
IACP Law Enforcement Policy Center has a resource page for the Investigation of Hate Crimes. Law enforcement analysts benefit from a clear understanding of these types of crimes as they analyze their jurisdictions' information and intelligence. All of the policy documents can be found at this link.
IACP Law Enforcement Policy Center has a resource page for the Investigation of Hate Crimes. Law enforcement analysts benefit from a clear understanding of these types of crimes as they analyze their jurisdictions' information and intelligence. All of the policy documents can be found at this link.
Friday, March 29, 2019
Types of Information
Whatever you are analyzing in your role as a law enforcement analyst, there are likely types of information you could add that would enhance the value of your analytical conclusions.
Below are some types of information that, analyzed and incorporated, case by case, pattern by pattern, might make a difference in your contribution to investigations and solution-finding:
Some Types of Information
911 Call Data
Alarm Company Info
Anonymous Tips
Arrest Data
Business Info
Business Licensing Info
Business Open Source Information
Census Data
Citizen Complaint Info
Community Organization Info
Confidential Informant Info
County Records
Crime Reports
Critical Infrastructure Info
Databases- Commercial
Databases - Government
Demographics Data
Drug Overdose/Death Info
Field Interview Forms
Financial records
Fire/Rescue data
Firearm Licenses
Gang Info
Hunting/Fishing Licenses
Intelligence Info
Investigative Follow-up Reports
Juvenile Offender Info
Land Use Info
Liquor License Location Info
Neighborhood Watch Info
Offender Data
Organized Crime Info
Other Law Enforcement Agency Info
Parks Info
Parole Info
Pawnshop Info
Private Security Info
Premise Hazard Info
Probation Info
Professional Licensing Info
Property Ownership Info
Public Health Data
Public Housing Info
Public Transformation Route Info
Registered Sex Offender Info
School Info
Social Media
Social Services Info
Stolen/Recovered Property
Street Map Data
Surveillance Info
Telephone Records
Terrorist Threat Info
Threat Assessments
Traffic Stop Info
Victim Data
Below are some types of information that, analyzed and incorporated, case by case, pattern by pattern, might make a difference in your contribution to investigations and solution-finding:
Some Types of Information
911 Call Data
Alarm Company Info
Anonymous Tips
Arrest Data
Business Info
Business Licensing Info
Business Open Source Information
Census Data
Citizen Complaint Info
Community Organization Info
Confidential Informant Info
County Records
Crime Reports
Critical Infrastructure Info
Databases- Commercial
Databases - Government
Demographics Data
Drug Overdose/Death Info
Field Interview Forms
Financial records
Fire/Rescue data
Firearm Licenses
Gang Info
Hunting/Fishing Licenses
Intelligence Info
Investigative Follow-up Reports
Juvenile Offender Info
Land Use Info
Liquor License Location Info
Neighborhood Watch Info
Offender Data
Organized Crime Info
Other Law Enforcement Agency Info
Parks Info
Parole Info
Pawnshop Info
Private Security Info
Premise Hazard Info
Probation Info
Professional Licensing Info
Property Ownership Info
Public Health Data
Public Housing Info
Public Transformation Route Info
Registered Sex Offender Info
School Info
Social Media
Social Services Info
Stolen/Recovered Property
Street Map Data
Surveillance Info
Telephone Records
Terrorist Threat Info
Threat Assessments
Traffic Stop Info
Victim Data
Monday, March 25, 2019
Crime Analysis for Problem Solving Security Professionals in 25 Small Steps
Crime Analysis for Problem Solving Security Professionals in 25 Small Steps, by Karim H. Vellani, provides you, the law enforcement analyst, a different perspective on crime analysis. Understanding how security professional view crime can help you better address those hot dots of crime represented by the individual businesses in your jurisdiction. The document focuses on applying problem oriented policing strategies to security risks in the private sector.
"This Report, then, will answer the question: How does one measure the effectiveness of a site specific security program via crime analysis? More specifically, how do security professionals provide the optimal level of security for a site that not only reduces risk, but is also cost effective?
This Report is applicable to a broad spectrum of security professionals, including security professionals, facility managers, risk managers, and property managers. Ideally, readers will use the information to optimize their security programs. While the audience for this report is broad, facilities that serve the general public, such as retail stores, banks, hotels, gas stations, and the like will have a discernible benefit."
Law enforcement analysts may have the opportunity to share resources with the community, community police officers, and the private sector. If you are in that situation, this document may be useful to you.
See the link here.
"This Report, then, will answer the question: How does one measure the effectiveness of a site specific security program via crime analysis? More specifically, how do security professionals provide the optimal level of security for a site that not only reduces risk, but is also cost effective?
This Report is applicable to a broad spectrum of security professionals, including security professionals, facility managers, risk managers, and property managers. Ideally, readers will use the information to optimize their security programs. While the audience for this report is broad, facilities that serve the general public, such as retail stores, banks, hotels, gas stations, and the like will have a discernible benefit."
Law enforcement analysts may have the opportunity to share resources with the community, community police officers, and the private sector. If you are in that situation, this document may be useful to you.
See the link here.
Friday, March 22, 2019
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Analyst Professional Development Road Map
The June 2015 Analyst Professional Development Road Map is a resource for analysts with any level of professional experience.
"To support law enforcement leadership as they continue to hire and train analysts, the Analyst Professional Development Road Map (Road Map) was developed. The purpose of the Road Map is to create a sustainable, professional career path for analysts operating within state, local, tribal, and territorial organizations. This path focuses on the development and enhancement of analytic-related knowledge, skills, and abilities over three overarching analyst levels (basic, intermediate, and advanced) and the training recommended for achieving each level. In the context of this document, the term “analyst” typically refers to an individual serving in an intelligence analyst position; however, other analysts, including crime analysts, are encouraged to use this guidance as appropriate."
Link to the document download option here.
"To support law enforcement leadership as they continue to hire and train analysts, the Analyst Professional Development Road Map (Road Map) was developed. The purpose of the Road Map is to create a sustainable, professional career path for analysts operating within state, local, tribal, and territorial organizations. This path focuses on the development and enhancement of analytic-related knowledge, skills, and abilities over three overarching analyst levels (basic, intermediate, and advanced) and the training recommended for achieving each level. In the context of this document, the term “analyst” typically refers to an individual serving in an intelligence analyst position; however, other analysts, including crime analysts, are encouraged to use this guidance as appropriate."
Link to the document download option here.
Monday, March 18, 2019
VOLTAGE
In Dr. Jerry Ratcliffe's blog post, "How long division taught me to think about crime," he uses a term he calls VOLTAGE.
V -victims
O - offenders
L - locations
T - times
A - attractors
G - groups
E - enticers
He says: "In my training I use numerous structured approaches like this, including VOLTAGE. VOLTAGE is an extension of a simple analytical tool (VOLT) that has previously been used in some British police services as a framework for structuring knowledge about crime problems. Take a complicated crime problem and break it down into simpler components."
"Instead of just ‘thinking hard’ about a crime problem, it is better to think specifically about what we know about the victims, the offenders, the locations, the times, and so forth. It helps us identify what we know, and what we don’t know."
Read the blog post to find out more!
V -victims
O - offenders
L - locations
T - times
A - attractors
G - groups
E - enticers
He says: "In my training I use numerous structured approaches like this, including VOLTAGE. VOLTAGE is an extension of a simple analytical tool (VOLT) that has previously been used in some British police services as a framework for structuring knowledge about crime problems. Take a complicated crime problem and break it down into simpler components."
"Instead of just ‘thinking hard’ about a crime problem, it is better to think specifically about what we know about the victims, the offenders, the locations, the times, and so forth. It helps us identify what we know, and what we don’t know."
Read the blog post to find out more!
Friday, March 15, 2019
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Free Open Source Intelligence Resources
"Online Search and Security Tools and Resources for the Investigative and Intelligence Professional," updated February 15, 2019, provided by Toddington International, Inc., can be found at this link.
I encourage all analysts to explore the resources here, to bookmark those relevant to you, and to find other open source resources to complement your personal analytical toolbox.
You might consider developing a spreadsheet of such tools to share with your officer/investigators.
I encourage all analysts to explore the resources here, to bookmark those relevant to you, and to find other open source resources to complement your personal analytical toolbox.
You might consider developing a spreadsheet of such tools to share with your officer/investigators.
Monday, March 11, 2019
Crime Analysts of Illinois Training Videos
The Crime Analysts of Illinois have some free training videos that you can find at this link: click here.
Let's see more of such materials available for free online to help analysts' professional growth!
Let's see more of such materials available for free online to help analysts' professional growth!
Friday, March 8, 2019
International Women's Day 2019
Today is International Women's Day.
We don't hear or talk much about this, but the reality is the majority of law enforcement analysts are women and they suffer discrimination because of it.
If you are a female law enforcement analyst you may have experienced these things at work:
We don't hear or talk much about this, but the reality is the majority of law enforcement analysts are women and they suffer discrimination because of it.
If you are a female law enforcement analyst you may have experienced these things at work:
- dismissiveness toward your opinion
- flirting by male supervisors
- discomfort when you walk in the room because you are disrupting the male camaraderie in a room
- having an advantage because you are attractive
- and more
The news article Crime analyst sues Fort Collins police, city over alleged gender, age discrimination is an important read.
Is one of the reasons law enforcement analysis struggling for acceptance due to gender discrimination?
Thursday, March 7, 2019
Good Analytical Reports for Intelligence Led Policing
A blog reader asked me this question: What are some good examples of reports crime analysts can produce for intelligence led policing?
I reached out to Dr. Jerry Ratcliffe, author of the book Intelligence-Led Policing, and asked him this question. He replied:
"ILP focuses on repeat victims, crime hot spots, prolific offenders, and criminal groups. Each of these will potentially necessitate a different type of product. The most important characteristic of a product is that it influences the thinking of the decision-maker. If the decision-maker chooses a tactical option or strategy that they wouldn't have selected without the product, then the analyst knows they have done their job! Because it is dependent on influencing the decision-maker, the best product is one tailored to the decision-makers needs and place where they are at the time (emotionally, professionally, organizationally). That might be a one pager, an executive summary of a couple of pages, a chat over coffee, a concise verbal briefing, or even a 90 second elevator pitch. The secret is to understand the decision-makers needs and operational situation and what type of report is likely to achieve the overarching goal of getting to a good policy decision."
So, law enforcement analysts, knowing your decision-makers and developing trusted relationships with them is key! Emotional intelligence and social skills are just as important as technical and research skills... that's something to think about.
I reached out to Dr. Jerry Ratcliffe, author of the book Intelligence-Led Policing, and asked him this question. He replied:
"ILP focuses on repeat victims, crime hot spots, prolific offenders, and criminal groups. Each of these will potentially necessitate a different type of product. The most important characteristic of a product is that it influences the thinking of the decision-maker. If the decision-maker chooses a tactical option or strategy that they wouldn't have selected without the product, then the analyst knows they have done their job! Because it is dependent on influencing the decision-maker, the best product is one tailored to the decision-makers needs and place where they are at the time (emotionally, professionally, organizationally). That might be a one pager, an executive summary of a couple of pages, a chat over coffee, a concise verbal briefing, or even a 90 second elevator pitch. The secret is to understand the decision-makers needs and operational situation and what type of report is likely to achieve the overarching goal of getting to a good policy decision."
So, law enforcement analysts, knowing your decision-makers and developing trusted relationships with them is key! Emotional intelligence and social skills are just as important as technical and research skills... that's something to think about.
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Community Policing
Law enforcement analysts need a broad grasp of various policing models, even if the agency they work in seems to apply only one model, or maybe even none. One such model is Community Policing.
The Community Oriented Policing Services Training Portal can be found at this link. You can register to take the online class "Community Policing Defined."
"Community Policing Defined is an interactive online course designed to provide participants with a basic awareness and understanding of the fundamental principles and best practices of community policing. Based on the Department of Justice, COPS Office publication of the same name, Community Policing Defined not only describes the practice of community policing but also examines how it can be effectively applied."
Read George L. Kelling's article "Community Policing, Rightly Understood," published in the Winter 2019 issue of the City Journal,
The Community Oriented Policing Services Training Portal can be found at this link. You can register to take the online class "Community Policing Defined."
"Community Policing Defined is an interactive online course designed to provide participants with a basic awareness and understanding of the fundamental principles and best practices of community policing. Based on the Department of Justice, COPS Office publication of the same name, Community Policing Defined not only describes the practice of community policing but also examines how it can be effectively applied."
Read George L. Kelling's article "Community Policing, Rightly Understood," published in the Winter 2019 issue of the City Journal,
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
RECORDED WEBINAR: UTILIZING ADVANCED GOOGLE SEARCHES
RECORDED WEBINAR: UTILIZING ADVANCED GOOGLE SEARCHES costs $79 and is provided by the Hetherington Group. The webinar is attended via webex.com; you can check the website beforehand to see if it is accessible to you.
"Utilizing Advanced Google Searches: 60 minutes – Recorded February 21, 2019
The ability to uncover information on the Internet is the primary skill of an online investigator. The go-to resource for many is Google, yet not everyone knows how to utilize its full potential. This class expands your general knowledge of the search engine, making difficult searches more effective.
In this intermediate to advanced hands-on class, participants will learn how to maximize Google searches, as we cover the basics, the hacks, and extra Google resources to create proper search strategies and run advanced Internet searches. Participants will also learn the expert tools of this common search application to make difficult searches more effective. Upon completion of the course, field investigators will be able to
Hunt down deep web content
Conduct advanced search strategies on Google, Bing, and other search engines
Use algorithms for surface finds and open source results"
Maximizing the effective use of open source information is valuable to the law enforcement analyst.
"Utilizing Advanced Google Searches: 60 minutes – Recorded February 21, 2019
The ability to uncover information on the Internet is the primary skill of an online investigator. The go-to resource for many is Google, yet not everyone knows how to utilize its full potential. This class expands your general knowledge of the search engine, making difficult searches more effective.
In this intermediate to advanced hands-on class, participants will learn how to maximize Google searches, as we cover the basics, the hacks, and extra Google resources to create proper search strategies and run advanced Internet searches. Participants will also learn the expert tools of this common search application to make difficult searches more effective. Upon completion of the course, field investigators will be able to
Hunt down deep web content
Conduct advanced search strategies on Google, Bing, and other search engines
Use algorithms for surface finds and open source results"
Maximizing the effective use of open source information is valuable to the law enforcement analyst.
Monday, March 4, 2019
Mapping the Opioid Epidemic
Mapping the Opioid Epidemic: How Local Governments are Taking the Lead on a National Challenge. is an in-depth article available online, by Jeremiah Lindemann and Emma Coleman, published by New America. Law enforcement analysts dealing with this problem as part of their work duties definitely should read this.
"The Opioid Mapping Initiative began in October 2017, largely motivated and inspired by the work of the Police Data Initiative, which also encourages local governments to publicly release data. Both initiatives built themselves off a common understanding: Data can drive actionable results at the local level. Early practitioners in the OMI came to the work excited to learn more from others, and additional agencies have since joined to share their own approaches through the initiative’s monthly webcasts.
This report documents the efforts of the Opioid Mapping Initiative through its first year. On the following pages, case studies are included from a variety of the participating local governments: Northern Kentucky, which has amassed the most comprehensive database of opioid related data for a local area; the Tri-County area of Colorado, which developed heat maps to illustrate mortality, educating the public while considering individual privacy concerns; and Cook County, Ill., where staff were spending too much time answering public records requests for opioid data, so they created a real-time data dashboard to share information on opioid-related deaths.
The work from those in the Opioid Mapping Initiative is meant to provide a guide for others looking to engage with this topic. From those in local government looking for a place to start mapping opioid data, to those seeking to make a difference in their community, we hope this report will provide valuable insights and action items."
The opioid crisis strikes close to home to me; I lost a son eleven years ago to heroin. It is my dear wish that you can help save some lives.
"The Opioid Mapping Initiative began in October 2017, largely motivated and inspired by the work of the Police Data Initiative, which also encourages local governments to publicly release data. Both initiatives built themselves off a common understanding: Data can drive actionable results at the local level. Early practitioners in the OMI came to the work excited to learn more from others, and additional agencies have since joined to share their own approaches through the initiative’s monthly webcasts.
This report documents the efforts of the Opioid Mapping Initiative through its first year. On the following pages, case studies are included from a variety of the participating local governments: Northern Kentucky, which has amassed the most comprehensive database of opioid related data for a local area; the Tri-County area of Colorado, which developed heat maps to illustrate mortality, educating the public while considering individual privacy concerns; and Cook County, Ill., where staff were spending too much time answering public records requests for opioid data, so they created a real-time data dashboard to share information on opioid-related deaths.
The work from those in the Opioid Mapping Initiative is meant to provide a guide for others looking to engage with this topic. From those in local government looking for a place to start mapping opioid data, to those seeking to make a difference in their community, we hope this report will provide valuable insights and action items."
The opioid crisis strikes close to home to me; I lost a son eleven years ago to heroin. It is my dear wish that you can help save some lives.
Friday, March 1, 2019
Monday, February 25, 2019
Real-Time and Open Source Analysis Resource Guide
Real-Time and Open Source Analysis (ROSA) - what is it and how might it apply to your work? According to this resource, social media analysis can be an important tool for law enforcement. That said, it can be challenging to find guidelines regarding how to use it and to learn what safeguards should be in place to protect law enforcement's use of it.
"The Real-Time Open Source Analysis (ROSA) Resource Guide was developed by the National Network of Fusion Centers, in partnership with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's (ODNI) Office of Partner Engagement for the Information Sharing Environment (PE-ISE), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the associations represented on the Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council (CICC), to assist law enforcement agencies and fusion centers in understanding the lawful and appropriate use of open source information, focusing on social media."
From the guide:
"Consider the following uses of ROSA:
*Detection of criminal activity, including potentially violent situations or threatening behavior
*Assessment of threats to the public or critical infrastructure
*Analysis of suspicious activity reports potentially related to terrorism
*Acquisition of physical evidence related to a crime
*Identification of victims and suspects of a crime
*Natural disasters or other emergency management operations"
The document Real-Time and Open Source Analysis Resource Guide can be downloaded at this link.
"The Real-Time Open Source Analysis (ROSA) Resource Guide was developed by the National Network of Fusion Centers, in partnership with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's (ODNI) Office of Partner Engagement for the Information Sharing Environment (PE-ISE), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the associations represented on the Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council (CICC), to assist law enforcement agencies and fusion centers in understanding the lawful and appropriate use of open source information, focusing on social media."
From the guide:
"Consider the following uses of ROSA:
*Detection of criminal activity, including potentially violent situations or threatening behavior
*Assessment of threats to the public or critical infrastructure
*Analysis of suspicious activity reports potentially related to terrorism
*Acquisition of physical evidence related to a crime
*Identification of victims and suspects of a crime
*Natural disasters or other emergency management operations"
The document Real-Time and Open Source Analysis Resource Guide can be downloaded at this link.
Friday, February 22, 2019
The Importance of Networking
Solitary work is reality for many analysts working at the local level of law enforcement. You may be the only analyst in your agency and, often, many of your co-workers do not understand what you really do. Assistance is not readily available. Direction and guidance may be non-existent. In such situations networking is crucial to your workplace development and job satisfaction.
How can you network? Join the main analyst associations, IACA and IALEIA. Join regional analysts' associations. Go to task force meetings and meet analysts working in your region. Go to analyst conferences. Ask questions. Help others. Ask for help. Be reliable to others and you will be able to rely on them.
Find a mentor, or two, or three... Connect with academics. Apply research principles to your work, even if no one in your agency understands that this is what you are doing. Be bold enough to interact with the command staff of your agency. Share relevant white papers evidence-based policing solutions, and problem-oriented policing ideas with them. Stand up for progress.
Get more education and training - be sure connect with your classmates as well as the instructors.
Join LinkedIn and connect with other analysts there. Reach out to them with a message when it is relevant. Ask for help and offer help.
Prepare to add to the growth of law enforcement analysis. Develop a specialty based on your interests and experience. Write an article. Present at conferences. Move the profession forward.
Read this article: How to Network Like You Really Mean It
How can you network? Join the main analyst associations, IACA and IALEIA. Join regional analysts' associations. Go to task force meetings and meet analysts working in your region. Go to analyst conferences. Ask questions. Help others. Ask for help. Be reliable to others and you will be able to rely on them.
Find a mentor, or two, or three... Connect with academics. Apply research principles to your work, even if no one in your agency understands that this is what you are doing. Be bold enough to interact with the command staff of your agency. Share relevant white papers evidence-based policing solutions, and problem-oriented policing ideas with them. Stand up for progress.
Get more education and training - be sure connect with your classmates as well as the instructors.
Join LinkedIn and connect with other analysts there. Reach out to them with a message when it is relevant. Ask for help and offer help.
Prepare to add to the growth of law enforcement analysis. Develop a specialty based on your interests and experience. Write an article. Present at conferences. Move the profession forward.
Read this article: How to Network Like You Really Mean It
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis Digital Library
The Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis Digital Library , which looks like it was compiled by Michael Chesbro, has some out-of-date materials on its site. Despite this, its page called "Documents" includes a over forty (40!) interesting and possibly valuable resources that you can download. Many do not apply to local law enforcement analysts, but some do.
Link to the page here.
You can find my free online 2006 book, Out of Bounds: Innovation and Change in Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis, at this site.
Link to the page here.
You can find my free online 2006 book, Out of Bounds: Innovation and Change in Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis, at this site.
Monday, February 18, 2019
A Good Summary of "Analysis"
There is a very good summary of "Analysis" at the College of Policing site. What is the College of Policing? "We’re the professional body for everyone who works for the police service in England and Wales. Our purpose is to provide those working in policing with the skills and knowledge necessary to prevent crime, protect the public and secure public trust."
Access the summary at this link.
The summary describes nine analytical techniques - check them out if you need more ideas about how you might add more value to your work an analyst.
Access the summary at this link.
The summary describes nine analytical techniques - check them out if you need more ideas about how you might add more value to your work an analyst.
Friday, February 15, 2019
Selecting the Best Analyst for the Job
Selecting the Best Analyst for the Job: A Model Crime Analyst Assessment Process for Law Enforcement Agencies - click on the title to read this publication.
"Many agencies are not using analysts to their fullest capacity because of a lack of knowledge and understanding of how crime analysts’ diverse array of skills and abilities can support overall policing operations. This publication provides law enforcement personnel with a complete understanding of the underlying capacities directly associated with the crime analysis profession as it has emerged during the past decade, as well as a better understanding of how to assess these characteristics. We expect that agencies focused on these competencies will support analysts in becoming more efficient at detecting crime patterns and trends. Crime analysts equipped with the right skills will be energized to inform the department and the community about crime problems with timely and current data, effective at developing useful products to enhance police performance, and successful at enhancing the agency’s ability to accomplish its goals." ~Hubert Williams, President of the Police Foundation, 2010
If you are seeking a job as an analyst, this document can guide you to prepare for the job seeking process. Be aware that all things will not apply for specific job interviews. This is simply one way to prepare - become aware of what the hiring entities might be looking for.
"Many agencies are not using analysts to their fullest capacity because of a lack of knowledge and understanding of how crime analysts’ diverse array of skills and abilities can support overall policing operations. This publication provides law enforcement personnel with a complete understanding of the underlying capacities directly associated with the crime analysis profession as it has emerged during the past decade, as well as a better understanding of how to assess these characteristics. We expect that agencies focused on these competencies will support analysts in becoming more efficient at detecting crime patterns and trends. Crime analysts equipped with the right skills will be energized to inform the department and the community about crime problems with timely and current data, effective at developing useful products to enhance police performance, and successful at enhancing the agency’s ability to accomplish its goals." ~Hubert Williams, President of the Police Foundation, 2010
If you are seeking a job as an analyst, this document can guide you to prepare for the job seeking process. Be aware that all things will not apply for specific job interviews. This is simply one way to prepare - become aware of what the hiring entities might be looking for.
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Meaningful Analytical Tasks
How can you, as an analyst, focus on meaningful analytical tasks? If you are unable to do so in your role, it is likely because of a lack of understanding around what it is you can do for your law enforcement agency. Often it is because your agency does not truly understand and value law enforcement analysis at the front-line level of operations, where all true change takes place.
If law enforcement managers do not understand your role, you are most likely to be unable to focus on meaningful tasks. You might be relegated to producing automated reports that no one else can figure out how to do.
"Influencing decision-makers is a key component of intelligence-led policing. We have concentrated on decision-making with regard to intelligence managers and senior police command, and detectives or investigators working on specific cases. What is clear from both categories is that there is a great deal of inconsistency within law enforcement agencies when it comes knowledge of intelligence, including how it is produced and how it can inform decision-making. Interviewees repeatedly suggested that those managers with a greater understanding of intelligence were much more likely to appreciate its value and to therefore use intelligence as the basis of decision-making. In contrast, decision-makers with a limited understanding of intelligence were more likely to, intentionally or unintentionally, marginalise analysts, including allocating them much less meaningful tasks."
Burcher, Morgan & Whelan, Chad. (2018). Intelligence-Led Policing in Practice: Reflections From Intelligence Analysts. Police Quarterly. 109861111879689. 10.1177/1098611118796890.
What can you do about this?
From survey results in the 2007 article The Integration of Crime Analysis Into Law Enforcement Agencies:An Exploratory Study Into the Perceptions of Crime Analysts , we can infer that getting front line personnel to understand the value is a missing link.
"What we learned from our survey was that most analysts in our sample felt that management was fairly supportive of their work and that organizational fit was not a problem. However, the analysts’ perceptions of what patrol officers thought of themonly reached the middle-of-the-road level, contrary to the much more positive attitudesthey expressed about patrol officers. Also, most of the respondents in our survey indi-cated that they work in specialized investigative units or administrative areas and havesworn personnel as supervisors. Although these analysts seem to find that that theirwork is generally appreciated, the general level of interaction between analysts andfrontline patrol officers seems to be limited at best and one sided (i.e., analysts seek tounderstand officers, but the reverse does not happen often). The significance of this finding should not be understated, as the capacity to develop effective street-level crime reduction strategies can sometimes depend on the ability of analysts to work with frontline officers to quickly turn crime data into “actionable intelligence."" Taylor, Bruce & Kowalyk, Apollo & Boba, Rachel. (2007). The Integration of Crime Analysis Into Law Enforcement Agencies: An Exploratory Study Into the Perceptions of Crime Analysts. Police Quarterly. 10. 154-169. 10.1177/1098611107299393.
The United Nations office on Drugs and Crime produced the Criminal Intelligence
Manual for Front-line Law Enforcement; it appears to focus on the analysts role and ignores the importance of the front-line officer's mutuality with the analyst. The analyst NEEDS the officers to understand his or her role in order to be effective.
Training officers to understand the value of law enforcement analysis at every level of law enforcement is the key to change.
If law enforcement managers do not understand your role, you are most likely to be unable to focus on meaningful tasks. You might be relegated to producing automated reports that no one else can figure out how to do.
"Influencing decision-makers is a key component of intelligence-led policing. We have concentrated on decision-making with regard to intelligence managers and senior police command, and detectives or investigators working on specific cases. What is clear from both categories is that there is a great deal of inconsistency within law enforcement agencies when it comes knowledge of intelligence, including how it is produced and how it can inform decision-making. Interviewees repeatedly suggested that those managers with a greater understanding of intelligence were much more likely to appreciate its value and to therefore use intelligence as the basis of decision-making. In contrast, decision-makers with a limited understanding of intelligence were more likely to, intentionally or unintentionally, marginalise analysts, including allocating them much less meaningful tasks."
Burcher, Morgan & Whelan, Chad. (2018). Intelligence-Led Policing in Practice: Reflections From Intelligence Analysts. Police Quarterly. 109861111879689. 10.1177/1098611118796890.
What can you do about this?
From survey results in the 2007 article The Integration of Crime Analysis Into Law Enforcement Agencies:An Exploratory Study Into the Perceptions of Crime Analysts , we can infer that getting front line personnel to understand the value is a missing link.
"What we learned from our survey was that most analysts in our sample felt that management was fairly supportive of their work and that organizational fit was not a problem. However, the analysts’ perceptions of what patrol officers thought of themonly reached the middle-of-the-road level, contrary to the much more positive attitudesthey expressed about patrol officers. Also, most of the respondents in our survey indi-cated that they work in specialized investigative units or administrative areas and havesworn personnel as supervisors. Although these analysts seem to find that that theirwork is generally appreciated, the general level of interaction between analysts andfrontline patrol officers seems to be limited at best and one sided (i.e., analysts seek tounderstand officers, but the reverse does not happen often). The significance of this finding should not be understated, as the capacity to develop effective street-level crime reduction strategies can sometimes depend on the ability of analysts to work with frontline officers to quickly turn crime data into “actionable intelligence."" Taylor, Bruce & Kowalyk, Apollo & Boba, Rachel. (2007). The Integration of Crime Analysis Into Law Enforcement Agencies: An Exploratory Study Into the Perceptions of Crime Analysts. Police Quarterly. 10. 154-169. 10.1177/1098611107299393.
The United Nations office on Drugs and Crime produced the Criminal Intelligence
Manual for Front-line Law Enforcement; it appears to focus on the analysts role and ignores the importance of the front-line officer's mutuality with the analyst. The analyst NEEDS the officers to understand his or her role in order to be effective.
Training officers to understand the value of law enforcement analysis at every level of law enforcement is the key to change.
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
For Analysts: Track How You Spend Your Time
Time management can be a crucial issue for analysts.
Track how you spend your workdays for one week. Afterwards, ask yourself some questions:
What work did you do that produced the most important results?
How did you waste time?
Did you take enough breaks? Too many breaks? No breaks?
Did you ask for help that might have been available? Delegate, if possible?
Did you socialize too much? Too little?
Were you interrupted? Were you distracted?
When were you most productive?
When were you least productive?
Did you achieve your main goals each day? Do you know your main goals?
What did you do that you should not have been doing?
Did you prioritize your work and do first things first?
What activities were most in line with your work priorities?
Did you plan your work?
Working smarter is better than working harder. Spend some time analyzing how you spend your work days. Find ways to improve upon how you use the most valuable asset of time.
Track how you spend your workdays for one week. Afterwards, ask yourself some questions:
What work did you do that produced the most important results?
How did you waste time?
Did you take enough breaks? Too many breaks? No breaks?
Did you ask for help that might have been available? Delegate, if possible?
Did you socialize too much? Too little?
Were you interrupted? Were you distracted?
When were you most productive?
When were you least productive?
Did you achieve your main goals each day? Do you know your main goals?
What did you do that you should not have been doing?
Did you prioritize your work and do first things first?
What activities were most in line with your work priorities?
Did you plan your work?
Working smarter is better than working harder. Spend some time analyzing how you spend your work days. Find ways to improve upon how you use the most valuable asset of time.
Monday, February 11, 2019
For Analysts: Track Your Accomplishments
In order to be best prepared to demonstrate your value as a law enforcement analyst, start gathering evidence of all the work you have done so far. Then make certain to keep tracking your accomplishments in an ongoing manner.
I recommend putting together a presentation in PowerPoint or a similar program that includes examples of all your types analytical products. Bulletins, timelines, association charts, crime maps, investigative research reports, statistical reports, target profiles, threat assessments - whatever you have done so far as an analyst should be included. Highlight the best examples of your work.
Along with this, start adding to your resume or CV. What training have you had? What certificates have you earned? What have you done as an analyst and professional that might be relevant to your career advancement. Use verbs like "developed," analyzed," "networked," "collaborated," and those found at this link.
If you track your work in an ongoing manner, you won't forget what you have accomplished. When it comes time to present your capacities to those working in your agency, finding examples will be easy. Whether it is for your performance reviews or for training officers to increase their understanding of the value and applications of law enforcement analysis, you will be better prepared.
Start today!
I recommend putting together a presentation in PowerPoint or a similar program that includes examples of all your types analytical products. Bulletins, timelines, association charts, crime maps, investigative research reports, statistical reports, target profiles, threat assessments - whatever you have done so far as an analyst should be included. Highlight the best examples of your work.
Along with this, start adding to your resume or CV. What training have you had? What certificates have you earned? What have you done as an analyst and professional that might be relevant to your career advancement. Use verbs like "developed," analyzed," "networked," "collaborated," and those found at this link.
If you track your work in an ongoing manner, you won't forget what you have accomplished. When it comes time to present your capacities to those working in your agency, finding examples will be easy. Whether it is for your performance reviews or for training officers to increase their understanding of the value and applications of law enforcement analysis, you will be better prepared.
Start today!
Monday, February 4, 2019
Improving Your Crime Analysis Capacity
The January 2012 report How Can Seattle Crime Analysis Rise to the Next Level? examines how that city might improve its analytical capabilities. Unfortunately, it is likely rare that agencies think to improve their crime analysis capacity often enough.
One conclusion at the end of the report is that data should be in the hands of the user, that automated reports should be accessible to the users of the data., and produced by them via better technology. Law enforcement analysts' common role to be the producers of statistical reports will disappear as technology improves and as users grow more tech-savvy (think younger officers rising up through the ranks). Therefore, it is important for the profession that analysts develop higher level analytical skills to add value to policing.
Law enforcement analysts will thrive only if they improve their own, individual analytical capacity.
Friday, February 1, 2019
1973 Police Crime Analysis Unit Handbook
I found the Police Crime Analysis Unit Handbook online recently - it was published by the USDOJ in November 1973. That is over 45 years ago, yet law enforcement analysts still struggle to prove their roles are valuable in their agencies, and many people don't know what crime analysis is and why it should be done. This handbook provides some excellent reasoning supporting the development of a crime analysis unit in a police agency.
Here is an excerpt from page 13 of this document describing criteria for selecting an analyst:
"Criteria for Selection of Crime Analysis Unit Staff
Essential
1. Integrity, Honesty, Personal candor, Realistic about self
2. High intellectual capacity, Alertness, Inquisitive mind, Imaginative
3. Analytical aptitude, Thinks logically, Capacity to synthesize, Capacity to hypothesize
4. Meticulousness, Thorough, Pays attention to detail, Precise in handling data
Desirable
I. Perseverance, Not easily discouraged or frustrated
2. Planning skill, Good manager of time
3. Self-discipline, The "self-starter"personality
4. Cooperativeness, Capacity to work well with others
5. Fast learner, Quick response capability
Highly Desirable
I. Flexibility, Nondogmatic, Broad range of interests, Openminded
2. Special motivation, Draws satisfaction from problem solving, Particular desire to be intelligence officer
3. Articulate, Writes well and concisely, Speaks well and concisely
4. Resourcefulness, The "digger" type,"Where there's a will, there's a way""
These traits continue to be important for analysts.
Here is an excerpt from page 13 of this document describing criteria for selecting an analyst:
"Criteria for Selection of Crime Analysis Unit Staff
Essential
1. Integrity, Honesty, Personal candor, Realistic about self
2. High intellectual capacity, Alertness, Inquisitive mind, Imaginative
3. Analytical aptitude, Thinks logically, Capacity to synthesize, Capacity to hypothesize
4. Meticulousness, Thorough, Pays attention to detail, Precise in handling data
Desirable
I. Perseverance, Not easily discouraged or frustrated
2. Planning skill, Good manager of time
3. Self-discipline, The "self-starter"personality
4. Cooperativeness, Capacity to work well with others
5. Fast learner, Quick response capability
Highly Desirable
I. Flexibility, Nondogmatic, Broad range of interests, Openminded
2. Special motivation, Draws satisfaction from problem solving, Particular desire to be intelligence officer
3. Articulate, Writes well and concisely, Speaks well and concisely
4. Resourcefulness, The "digger" type,"Where there's a will, there's a way""
These traits continue to be important for analysts.
Monday, January 28, 2019
New Analyst 101
New Analyst 101 from Deborah Osborne
I created the above presentation years ago - it is still relevant for new crime analysts.
I created the above presentation years ago - it is still relevant for new crime analysts.
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Welcome back to Analysts' Corner
After a long hiatus, I decided to blog here again.
Note that the resources and links from past posts are most likely moved, deleted, or irrelevant due to so much time passing. I will be updating links and posting new information of relevancy to the law enforcement analyst profession slowly but surely.
Meanwhile, sometime in mid-2019 I will be offering limited coaching for law enforcement analysts and individuals working with them - check out deborahosborne.com for information on what that means.
Note that the resources and links from past posts are most likely moved, deleted, or irrelevant due to so much time passing. I will be updating links and posting new information of relevancy to the law enforcement analyst profession slowly but surely.
Meanwhile, sometime in mid-2019 I will be offering limited coaching for law enforcement analysts and individuals working with them - check out deborahosborne.com for information on what that means.
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