Demographics and Analysis in Law Enforcement

Consider the roles demographics place in your analytical work. 

Populations can be defined as needed for analysis.

Have you left useful demographics out of your analyses in the past?

Law enforcement agencies track demographics in many ways. For an example, see the report Race And Ethnicity Of Violent Crime Offenders And Arrestees, 2018, at this link.

"Allen J. Beck, Ph.D., BJS Statistician

January 14, 2021    NCJ 255969

This report compares the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program data on incidents of nonfatal violent crime to data from BJS's National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to determine if arrest differences by race and ethnicity can be attributed to differences in criminal involvement. It examines offenders' characteristics as reported by victims in the NCVS and provides information on racial and ethnic disparities beyond an arrestee and population-based comparison."

The Bureau of Justice Statistics offers a page called "All Data Analysis Tools" at this link.

Recent Crime Trends: Theft of Timber/Lumber and Theft of Grease/Cooking Oil

Back in the days of being a crime analyst, I saw the rise of thefts of cell phones and copper as markets arose for these things of value. 

Staying up-to-date on trends is important for analysts.

Read about these newer trends:

Forest crime and the illegal timber trade

'It's unbelievable': Calgary trucker in shock after $80,000 worth of lumber stolen

Grease thievery on the rise in Buffalo

Grease & Used Cooking Oil Theft Prevention

HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS GUIDE for Convenience Retail Employees

 The HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS GUIDE for Convenience Retail Employees can be found at this link. Analysts can share this resource with officers so that they may provide the information to the community.

"Convenience retailers can play a significant role in combating human trafficking because of their presence

in virtually every community - urban, suburban, and rural - as well as their often 24/7 operations. There are thousands of convenience stores across the country where employees are interacting with customers all day, from regulars to travelers passing through. Because convenience retail employees observe and communicate with the public so frequently, they are in a unique position to observe indicators of human trafficking while working.

The purpose of this guide is to inform front line convenience retail employees about human trafficking and the indicators that may help them recognize a potential victim while on the job."

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Blue Campaign, which addresses the human trafficking challenge, is available at this link.

Thinking About Your Thinking

 Becoming more aware of your thinking helps you become a better analyst!

Curious?

Read more:

Wikipedia Metacognition

Using metacognition in business

Metacognitive Skills: Definition and Examples

Prioritizing Analytical Work

 

Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker

" BBB Scam Tracker℠

Brought to you by the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust

Spot a business or offer that sounds like an illegal scheme or fraud? Tell us about it. Help us investigate and warn others by reporting what you know."

Available at this link.

Image from the BBB site - note you can see the scams trending in your area which is a good feature:

The article BBB Tips: 10 Steps to Avoid Scams is available at this link.

Learn from Everywhere!

I had the privilege of meeting Dalene Duvenage years ago. She is a thought leader in the field of intelligence in Africa. Too often we law enforcement analysts stay in our boxes and do not venture out to learn from other analysts, such as those in national security and the private sector. But who knows - that might be where you go for your next job! Be curious.

Read some of her papers at this link.

Listen to her discuss working across the domains of national security and private sector security, highlighting the similarities and differences, Intelligence Analysis Across Domains at this link.

Evaluating intelligence quality, sources, and sharing

 Have you evaluated your intelligence quality and sources lately? Have you thought about how you share intelligence? Here are some tools to consider applying to your work:

"The way in which the 5x5x5 system does this is by providing an assessment of the intelligence in 3 areas. These are;

1.       An Evaluation of the Source

2.       An Evaluation of the Data Validity and

3.       An Evaluation of  Handling  Sensitivity"

The 5x5x5 system

"In this standardized system, intelligence grading is expressed via numerical and alphabetical values. These values are very easily expressed verbally and are highly auditable. This system was introduced as the 5x5x5 system, however, the previous system has been simplified to a 3x5x2 system. The numbers in the name represent information evaluation, source evaluation and intelligence handling and sharing rules. These evaluations and rules are used to express an assessment of the reliability and validity of any intelligence received. There is also a similar 6x6 system, which relies on the same basic structure, which is the national security or military model and is used by the entities including NATO."

The 5-minute guide to the intelligence grading process and its application in OSINT

NWS National Seasonal Safety Campaign: Preparing the public for hazardous weather year-round

"NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) wants you to be prepared for hazardous weather year-round. The aim of the National Seasonal Safety Campaign is to build a Weather-Ready Nation, one that is prepared for extreme weather, water, and climate events."

Learn more at this link.

Speaking of weather, remember that it sometimes plays a role in crime patterns.

Systematically Track Your Accomplishments

If there is one thing I most regret in my professional life as a law enforcement analyst, it neglecting to systematically track all of my accomplishments.

Start now! Schedule a weekly update to track the important accomplishments in your work life.

I recommend using an Excel Workbook with various tabs such as education, training, certifications, conferences attended, projects, awards, successes, positive feedback, challenges met, important contacts, important meetings, etc. Be sure to document dates, locations, and relevant people. Back this up so you will have access to it no matter where you are working in the future. Backfill everything you can remember!

I recommend using PowerPoint to collect your analytical products, such as link chart, maps, bulletins statistical charts - products you are most proud of. This can serve as a portfolio of products to use as needed in your work place. Redact information as appropriate. Ask permission if you want to take this with you when you leave a workplace. Don't break rules!

Save all written compliments, praise, pats-on-the-back. Print them out and keep them in a folder.

Keep all certificates from training and conferences in this folder.

Keep redacted copies of your best analytical products in your folder if you have permission.

You won't regret this!

And, on a bad day (or week) at work, you can reread everything and boost your mood. You ARE not crazy, not making things up, and, most of all, you ARE qualified. It helps.

What is Smishing?

"Smishing is a combination of the words “phishing” and “SMS”, to indicate phishing sent across your mobile network in the form of a text." Read the article What is Smishing? The 101 guide at this link.

I have seen more of that personally, and I don't like it!

It's good for analysts to know how officers might protect the public from this type of fraud activity.

Read more about it:

What is Smishing and How to Defend Against it?

Smishing

What is smishing? How to protect against text message phishing scams

Metaphorically Speaking: Art

How is crime and intelligence analysis anything like art? Many artists start with a hypothesis of sorts, either using a model from the real world, a person, a landscape, a photo, take a canvas, or piece of paper, or sculpture material, then begin making new, representational versions of what was represented in the real world. They start without knowing the outcome, just like a good analyst should do. They see what they see and then add more as they look more closely at what is at hand.

Your maps, charts, graphs, timelines, and profiles are much like the work of an artist. Analytical products represent the real world in a new manner.

My husband is an artist and he draws or paints very single day. Because he practices art so often, he is highly skilled. If you want to be a great analyst, you must practice. A busy work week provides you with plenty of practice, but what do you do in between, when there are pauses in activity?

What materials do you seek? New technology? New ideas? New ways of working? New ways of looking?

How can you become a better artist?

There are unlimited possibilities.

Study the work of other analysts.

Get ideas from other disciplines.

Be unafraid to experiment and create by combining ideas, equipment, and materials.

Look closer at everything.

(Check out the other posts in this category from 2010 by looking for the "Metaphor" label. Or click here.) 

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

 I recently read the book Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Wharton organizational psychologist Adam Grant.

The video below is a snippet of some concepts from that book. Read the book! It will help you become a better analyst and a wiser person.

From the TED talk:

Rethinking is not just a skill to master personally, it's a value we need to embrace culturally. We live in a world that mistakes confidence for competence, that pressures us to favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt, that accuses people who change their minds of flip-flopping, when in fact, they might be learning. So let's talk about how to make rethinking the norm. We need to invite it and to model it. 

Better Sentencing Data

Law enforcement analysts and police agencies are not the only ones in the criminal justice system suffering from poor quality of data.

"NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Judge Pierre Bergeron and Justice Michael Donnelly on the lack of sentencing data available to judges, leaving them with power to make often inequitable decisions."

"How long must someone who's committed a crime spend in prison? What's a reasonable sentence to hand down? What's fair? Those are calls that judges across the country make each and every day, and they do so without the benefit of what would seem to be a basic, obvious tool. In many states, courts lack a comprehensive database on criminal sentences, meaning that judges are often left to their own devices to figure it out. Ohio Court of Appeals Judge Pierre Bergeron and Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael Donnelly argue in The Atlantic magazine that better sentencing data could make meaningful reform to the criminal justice system."

Listen to or read the transcript of the interview 2 Judges On How Better Sentencing Data Could Make Meaningful Criminal Justice Reform at this link.

Read The Atlantic article How a Spreadsheet Could Change the Criminal-Justice System:

A lack of data instills trial-court judges with enormous, largely unrestrained sentencing power at this link.

The Basic Types of "Success as an Analyst" Work Stories

Excerpt from my book Out of Bounds: Innovation and Change in Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis:

"Because narratives provide context for understanding, the stories of analysts’ “high points” may give readers a sense of what analytical work “looks like” when it works. The stories as reproduced here are no substitute for actually hearing the stories and the energy behind them; however, the basic work stories and “archetypal stories” delineate some of the aspects of analytical work that impart energy to participants.

The Basic Types of Work Stories

Many analysts had high points that involved four main categories:

■ The Identification of a Crime Series Story: A crime analyst is the first one to notice an existing pattern of crimes in which the same perpetrator(s) seems to be responsible — a crime series — and the series does, in fact, exist.

■ The Pieces of Information Turning into a Big Case Story: An intelligence analyst gets boxes of information, sometimes CDs full of information, and sorts through all of it (analyzes it) to uncover information that leads to an even bigger investigation.

■ The Prediction Leading to Arrest Story: A crime analyst makes a prediction regarding the next likely time and place a serial criminal will offend and the offender is apprehended based on the analyst’s accurate prediction.

■ The Successful Investigation Leading to Prosecution Story: An intelligence analyst supports an investigation through appropriate analysis and visualization of data, creating relevant reports and graphics; the analyst’s work is used in court to help successfully prosecute the targets of the investigation."

(The book is free and is available at this link.)

Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing Award Call for Submissions

The 2021 Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing Submissions process is described at this link. The deadline is June 1st,

"Eligibility for Herman Goldstein Award 

All employees of governmental policing agencies worldwide who directly deliver police services to the public are eligible for the award. Agencies may submit for consideration as many projects as they wish. While problem-oriented policing is frequently associated with the term "community policing," this award is not designed to honor all policing initiatives that some believe may fall under the "community policing" heading. Rather, the Goldstein Award recognizes problem-oriented approaches to specific crime and disorder problems. Submissions must address all four phases of the SARA problem-solving model. 

Previously submitted entries are not eligible, except that previous non-finalist and non-winning entries may be resubmitted if significant new work has been completed. To resubmit, the entry must include 1) a complete summary of all the changes from the prior submission, and 2) a detailed explanation of why the resubmission is warranted (e.g., further analysis and assessment data, or new responses devised and used). Note: This additional information does not count against the submission word limit. 

Submission Instructions for Herman Goldstein Award 

You must submit your project to our Goldstein Submissions email address on or before June 1st, 2021. Please take the following steps to prepare your submission: 

Make sure your entire project is in one file that is in any of Word (doc, docx, or rtf) or Adobe Acrobat (pdf) formats and is less than 25 megabytes in size. 

Double check that you have included everything needed to comply with the entry requirements listed below. 

Submit your project by email to goldsteinaward@popcenter.org. 

General Inquiries: Direct all inquiries to Goldstein Award at goldsteinaward@popcenter.org. 

By submitting your project, you agree to allow your work to be published on the POP Center web site. Because this web site is open to the public, please take care not to include any confidential information in your submission. If your project is selected as a finalist, you agree to present it at the Problem-Oriented Policing Conference. Conference fees will be waived but presenters are responsible for travel and lodging expenses."

Analyze the Markets of Criminal Activity

Have you ever analyzed the markets involved in the criminal activity in your jurisdiction?

Without somewhere to sell stolen goods, fewer goods would be stolen. Right?

Can you help investigators identify the criminal markets?

Can you provide evidence-based ideas for disrupting markets?

Click on guides below to learn more about markets - these are significant elements of the crime problems in your communities.

Stolen Goods Markets

Drug Dealing in Open-Air Markets

Prostitution Markets

Child Pornography Markets

Theft of Scrap Metal

CIS Password Policy Guide

It is especially important for law enforcement analysts to understand the best practices for creating and using passwords. Remembering them - now that's another story! 

The Center for Internet Security Password Policy Guide is available at this link. The below password basics are from this document. They also provide advanced recommendations.

Password strength above a somewhat trivial level does not matter very much when it comes to cracking passwords. So why not have a policy that encourages reasonably strong passwords that are easy for users to create, remember, and use? This guide is designed to provide that.

"Good Password Basics

Here are some straightforward concepts to make better passwords. Keep in mind we arenot trying to make them impenetrable, but strong.

1 Length is the most important characteristic of a good password: In general, the longer the password, the better.

2 Think pass-phrase, not pass-word: If you think of a single “word,” it is difficult to some up with something long and memorable, but if you think of a “phrase” made up of 4 or more smaller words it is much easier.

14 or more character words:

• Trichomoniasis, Antidepressant, Fundamentalism, Attractiveness, etc.
• None of these are very fun to remember, let alone spell correctly

14 or more character phases (with and without spaces for readability):

• With spaces: My Aunt Lives in Georgia; Without: MyAuntLivesinGeorgia
• With spaces: The Ford Mustang is the Best; Without: TheFordMustangistheBest
• With spaces: Cape Cod is a Fun Place; Without: CapeCodisaFunPlace

3 Avoid patterns: Do not use sequences of numbers letters or keyboard patterns like: 12345671234567, abcdefgabcdefg, passwordpassword, abc123abc123ab, qwertyuqwertyu, etc.

Don’t reuse a password or use similar passwords on multiple systems: Especially between home and work accounts. The primary reason is if someone discovers one of your passwords, you do not want them to now be able to access multiple of your accounts.

4 This is arguably the toughest of the four basic ideas, but you can use tricks to help, like bands/songs/movies/actors to help create a relevant and memorable phrase:

• Financial account: With spaces: Pink Floyd Money; Without: PinkFloydMoney

• Store account: With spaces: Superstore Cloud Nine; Without: SuperstoreCloudNine

• Medical account: MASH Hawkeye Pierce; Without: MASHHawkeyePierce"

WHO might be a Business

In the who, what, where, when, how, and why of a case, WHO might not be a person, but, rather, a business. Of course, people who are engaged in illegality in the business may be investigated and prosecuted, too, but the business itself can be target of an investigation. You can develop a target profile for a business you are investigating.

from the College of Policing (England & Wales)  Intelligence Products:

Criminal business profiles aim to detail how criminal operations/businesses operate. A criminal business can be described in the same way as a legitimate business. The only difference is that with a criminal business there is always a victim. This technique breaks down the criminal process into stages, focusing on key elements of the business process. This helps identify the key stages that cannot be achieved without completing another, thereby indicating areas for disruption. It should also highlight weaknesses in systems or procedures that are being exploited and identify intelligence gaps and new lines of enquiry.

A flow chart is a useful tool in a criminal business profile and can be used to show business and financial processes. Crime script analysis serves as a useful analytical tool to support this process. This product is often used in conjunction with market and subject analysis to provide a comprehensive picture of criminal activity and the people involved.

ICLG USA Business Crimes Law and Regulations 2021 is available at this link. It provides a good summary regarding what laws apply to businesses and potential illegal activities.

From the FBI's White-Collar Crime page, located at this link.

"Reportedly coined in 1939, the term white-collar crime is now synonymous with the full range of frauds committed by business and government professionals. These crimes are characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and are not dependent on the application or threat of physical force or violence. The motivation behind these crimes is financial—to obtain or avoid losing money, property, or services or to secure a personal or business advantage."

Call for Papers - May 15th deadline

Ah, the bane (and treasure) of law enforcement analysts: police data!

"We Can’t Manage What We Can’t Measure: Uses and Challenges of Working with Police Data" 

A Special Issue in Police Practice & Research - for more information and on how to submit, click on this link.

"In this special issue we seek to draw attention to an important, but often overlooked, component of today’s policing research: police data.

Our goal is to promote data literacy and rigorous data collection practices within law enforcement agencies.

To that end, we invite contributions from researchers and police practitioners (with a particular emphasis on academic/ practitioner partnerships)."

Getting Victims to Report Unreported Crimes: Supportive Reporting

All crime analysts know that the data they analyze is incomplete because there are an unknown amount of unreported crimes. How can we encourage people to report crimes and thus have data that is more reliable? Through supported reporting - a concept worth exploring.

The article and video interview Supported Reporting,  by and featuring Laura Huey, Professor at University of Western Ontario, can be found at this link. 

"Supportive Reporting (also know as “remote reporting” and, in Scotland, as “third-party reporting”) encourages victims to report incidents of crime to police through the use of designated service providers who serve as third parties in the process. Victims in marginalized communities are more likely to report crimes to people they know and trust within the community. Victims can choose what level of participation they wish to have in the process. They can file an anonymous report to be treated by the police as “information only,” meaning they do not wish to be interviewed by police or to have their name put forward in any criminal proceedings.  Should they choose to come forward with their name and contact details, they can ask for a trained community worker to provide additional emotional support during any interviews with police."

PIPELINE CYBERSECURITY RESOURCES LIBRARY

"The group accused of a ransomware attack that crippled the leading U.S. fuel pipeline operator said in a news release on Monday that its goal was to make money and not to sow chaos. The group calling itself DarkSide has been blamed by the FBI for the digital extortion attempt against Colonial Pipeline, a firm responsible for funneling fuel to a huge chunk of the East Coast." This is according to the 5/10/2021 Reuters article available at this link.

Current events help analysts become aware of knowledge gaps in the types of criminal activity that they should know about, even if they are not tasked to work in those areas.

All law enforcement analysts benefit from understanding cybersecurity issues and the possibilities of criminal activities in the cyber-world.

To learn more about pipeline cybersecurity, visit the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency The PIPELINE CYBERSECURITY RESOURCES LIBRARY at this link.

More reading on the current crisis:

FBI: DarkSide Ransomware Used in Colonial Pipeline Attack

Investigating WHO

You have a suspect, WHO has likely committed a crime. 

What might you want to know about him or her? I have compiled the list below - if you have more to add, let me know by commenting below.

Keep in mind the list does not indicate you need to research the suspect to this level, but in various cases you want relevant information about the suspect. These lists can help you think of what is required in an investigation of a clearly identified suspect, in a case that is officially opened for investigation.

Ask yourself: is this information available to me? is this information relevant to the investigations?

If the information is relevant but not available, find out how you might obtain it.

WHO

Full Legal Name
Alias(es)
Nicknames
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
Physical Descriptors
Scars/Marks/Tattoos
Social Security Number(s)
Driver's License State(s) & Number(s)
Professional License Type(s) & Number(s)
Criminal Records
Numbers Associated with Criminal Records
Corrections History & Numbers
Parole/Probation History & Numbers
Passports/Visas/Citizenship Records & Numbers
Languages Spoken/Accents
Ethnicity/Culture/Religion Factors
Political/Group Affiliations

All Associated Phone Number(s)
Current Addresses
Prior Addresses
Criminal Activity Addresses
Work Addresses
Email Addresses
IP Addresses
Web Site Addresses
Social Network Usernames/Identities
Social Media Presence
Work History
Education History
Military History
Weapon License(s) & History
Hobbies/Volunteer Work/Charity Work
Gang Affiliation
Organized Crime Affiliation
Hate Group Affiliation
Terrorist Group Affiliation
History of Threatening Behavior
History of Violent Behavior
Mental Illness History
Addiction History

GamblingHistory
Handicapped
Registered/Owned Vehicles
Vehicle Plates/VIN Numbers
Insurance Claims
Travel History
Special Skills
Financial Records/History
Businesses Owned/Operated
Real Property Owned/Sold
Assets Owned/Sold
Bankruptcies/Liens/Judgments
Liabilities
Other Sources of Income

Net Worth
Relatives
Neighbors
Work Associates
Criminal Associates
Photos
Maps of Residences/Workplaces/Businesses
Maps of Associated Criminal Activity
Routine Activities

Coincidently, today's interview on Analysts Talk featured Tracey Lowey (listen here), who is quoted below from the podcast promotion on LinkedIn. Remember this!

Averting Targeted School Violence: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Plots Against Schools

Averting Targeted School Violence: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Plots Against Schools is available at this link.

From the guide:

"In this most recent study, Averting Targeted School Violence: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Plots Against Schools, NTAC examined 67 disrupted plots against K-12 schools from 2006-2018. The key findings of the study are clear and consistent: Individuals contemplating violence often exhibit observable behaviors, and when community members report these behaviors, the next tragedy can be averted. The Secret Service encourages its educational, medical and public safety partners to review the information within, and use it to guide best practices for maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment for all children."

Amen to that.

Forensic Genetic Genealogy Certificate

Learn about the "Forensic Genetic Genealogy Certificate" at the University of New Haven at this link.

The online graduate certificate in Forensic Genetic Genealogy provides individuals in either the public or private sector with the foundational concepts and application of both genetic genealogy and traditional genealogy to forensic investigations. This can include but is not limited to criminal, civil, and family history investigations. 

Read the article Professor Develops New Certificate Program in Cutting-Edge Specialty of Forensic Science at this link.

Perspectacles

As analysts you are challenged to think out of the box, to find things you never thought of looking for, to create new meanings out of the firehose of information that comes your way. 

Improving your critical and creative thinking makes you a better analyst. While Richards Heuer's 1999 book the Psychology of Intelligence Analysis (available at at this link) is still valuable to help you become more aware of how critical thinking works, I think it is too complex and abstract for most of us. Yes, I am being honest. :-) After all, it was published for the CIA... (Nadia Tuominen posted some short videos on LinkedIn explaining Heuer's concepts if you search the hashtag #dickheuersessions - so check that out!)

Nevertheless, you grow as an analyst IF you grow as a thinker. Here is a slide I used in critical thinking presentations:

We are supposed to find the truth as analysts, but our thinking can interfere with that. It is a natural obstacle because we are human. 

To overcome the obstacle, perhaps partially, I came up with the below idea of changing ones perspective - patin got another's pair worldview glasses to shift your perspective. The name "perspectacles" is thanks to my good friend, Tom. 

Just imagine putting on the glasses of another to expand your thinking. Think as another human looking at the same things you see: an analyst, an officer, the boss, a citizen, a criminal, a victim... but THINK in the place of others!

Think!

Interpol ID-Art app

INTERPOL’s ID-Art app enables users ranging from law enforcement to the general public to get mobile access to the INTERPOL database of stolen works of art, create an inventory of private art collections and report cultural sites potentially at risk.

Interpol ID-Art app was launched today - read more about it at this link.

ALIAS and Linguistic Forensics

I had the pleasure of chatting for a few hours with Carole Chaski, the CEO and President of ALIAS Technology LLC, which she founded in 2007. She provided a demo of her software, ALIAS, which utilizes forensic linguistics to aid in investigations. While the need for forensic linguistics may not be common in investigations, it is something you should be aware of, in case you ever need such a tool.

Learn more about ALIAS at this link.

Below is information from brochures she sent to me:

"ALIAS has specific functions, validated for the forensic investigative setting, to analyze:

• Threatening communications

• Suicide notes (phony and real)

• Predatory chats

• Emails that reveal trade secret or classified information

• Hate mail or other embarrassing disclosures

• Blog posts, social media posts, tweets, txt messages

• Witness statements

• Legal rulings, briefs, motions"

"Our consulting services generally focus on the following issues in forensic linguistic evidence:

• IDENTIFICATION: Who wrote it? Who's at the keyboard? What’s the language(s)?

• TEXT TYPING: Is this document what it seems to be? A real suicide note? A real threat? A predatory chat? Truthful or deceptive?

• TEXT SIMILARITY: Are these documents related? Do these documents connect screennames? Are these documents too close to be independent?

• LINGUISTIC PROFILING: What does the language reveal about the author's demographics (native language, native dialect, educational level, gender, age, capacity in non-native language)?

• PEER REVIEW AND REBUTTAL: is the report using standard linguistics or not? Is the analysis conducted properly or missing crucial steps? Does the proposed analysis work empirically? Has it been tested and validated independent of any litigation? Our peer review and rebuttal reports have successfully blocked or severely restricted junk science and pseudolinguistics from being admitted, in numerous cases."

Finding Street Gang Members on Twitter

An interesting research article called Finding Street Gang Members on Twitter is available at this link.

From the abstract:

"Most street gang members use Twitter to intimidate others, to present outrageous images and statements to the world, and to share recent illegal activities. Their tweets may thus be useful to law enforcement agencies to discover clues about recent crimes or to anticipate ones that may occur. Finding these posts, however, requires a method to discover gang member Twitter profiles. This is a challenging task since gang members represent a very small population of the 320 million Twitter users. This paper studies the problem of automatically finding gang members on Twitter. It outlines a process to curate one of the largest sets of verifiable gang member profiles that have ever been studied. A review of these profiles establishes differences in the language, images, YouTube links, and emojis gang members use compared to the rest of the Twitter population."

Department of Homeland Security, Centers of Excellence, 2021 Summit

FREE

Department of Homeland Security, Centers of Excellence, 2021 Summit

Event Date: 5/19/2021 - 5/20/2021

Event Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM Eastern

Location: Virtual

Registration Link: https://cina.gmu.edu/coe-summit-2021/

"Hosted by the DHS Centers of Excellence (COE), the COE Summit event is a unique opportunity for attendees to connect and network with COE researchers, DHS components, federal, state, and local stakeholders, as well as industry partners to present current and emerging solutions to threats and challenges faced by DHS.

Registration includes FREE access to all general and panel sessions; the COE Capabilities Showcase, and Student Research Symposium. To access the agenda items, you must add them to your personal agenda."

Tracking Violent Crime with Ambulance Data: How Much Crime Goes Uncounted?

Tracking Violent Crime with Ambulance Data: How Much Crime Goes Uncounted? is an interesting study available at this link.

While this study is from the UK, there is no reason we can't extrapolate to the US - unreported crime is a fact.

Once of the interesting conclusions from the study: "...ambulance records contain substantial new information on violence, with between 66 and 90% of ambulance incidents not found in police data. Therefore, police are not aware of the location of a substantial proportion of violent incidents. Ambulance data can be used to inform patrol officers about where violence hotspots are developing and when the areas are “active”, both of which they need to know for preventing further incidents."

Read a related study:

Proportion of Violent Injuries Unreported to Law Enforcement

What Analysts Value in Themselves

For my book Out of Bounds: Innovation and Change in Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis, I interviewed analysts who said these were the characteristics and traits they valued in themselves (tables from page 42 of book). 

Is there something you value that is not on these lists?

EUROPEAN UNION SERIOUS AND ORGANISED CRIME THREAT ASSESSMENT

The EUROPEAN UNION SERIOUS AND ORGANISED CRIME THREAT ASSESSMENT is available at this link. 

It an interconnected world, it is important to be aware of what is happening in other countries, since crime knows no borders.

Law Enforcement Cyber Center

"The Law Enforcement Cyber Center (LECC) is designed to assist police chiefs, sheriffs, commanders, patrol officers, digital forensic investigators, detectives, and prosecutors who are investigating and preventing crimes that involve technology." 

The International Association of Police's Law Enforcement Cyber Center is available at this link.