#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.

Avoid This Trap in Law Enforcement Analysis

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....

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."

#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?

Activity Flow Charts

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.)

#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!

Why Analyze Crime?

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

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?

#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.

A Tip for Improving Analytical Products

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

• 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!!!!

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."

#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.

Soft Skills for Law Enforcement Analysts

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