Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Resources and Training

When I learned about Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) early in my crime analysis career, it seemed underutilized and undervalued to me. I mean, who would not want to use methods to prevent crime that involve changing the physical environment in intelligent, proven-to-work ways, rather than only trying changing victims' and criminals' attitudes and behavior to prevent crime, which is so much more difficult?

Check out this site. It provides information on CPTED-related books and training classes. Learn more about CPTED!

Indicators of Victims of Human Trafficking

How Local Police Can Combat the Global Problem of Human Trafficking: Collaboration, Training, Support for Victims, and Technology Are Keys to Success is a PERF publication available at this link.

From Recognizing Human Trafficking at this link:

Warning signs that victims do not have control over their own actions:

Has few or no personal possessions 

Is frequently monitored

Is not in control of their own money, financial records, or bank account

Is not in control of their own identification documents (ID or passport)

Is not allowed or able to speak for themselves (a third party may insist on being present and/or translating).

From DHS: 

https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/materials/indicator-card

Quote

 

National Analyst’s Online Conference 8-9 December 2021

Here's a heads-up on the UK's National Analyst’s Online Conference 8-9 December 2021 - information is available at this link. It is sponsored by the law enforcement training company called "The Investigator." 

"The Investigator is delighted to announce the dates for our fourth national event that aims to bring together crime and intelligence analysts to debate current best practice, challenges and opportunities."

One of the positive results of the terrible pandemic is that opportunities to attend events like this online have flourished and given analysts from unconnected locations more opportunities to learn and support one another. Learning is always good!

History: Revision of the Atcherley Modus Operandi System

We don't have any standards for diagnosing crime problems - we are more like tradesmen who learn their craft on the job. We don't have taxonomies - systems of classifications that diagnose crimes beyond the statistical purposes of UCR and NIBRS.

In 1919, August Vollmer wrote the Revision of the Atcherley Modus Operandi System. The first sentence: "An old officer in the police service once said, "There is a clew to every crime."

Vollmer states, "No orderly system of classifying the professional criminal's methods of operation was used in any police department in this coun-try or in England until the Modus Operandi System devised by Major L. W. Atcherley, N. V. 0. West Riding of Yorkshire Constabulary, was adopted by some of the English police organizations."

He proposed a classification system to track the following:

A-CRIME.
B-PERSON OR PROPERTY ATTACKED.
C-HOW ATTACKED.
D-WITH WHAT ATTACKED OR MEANS OF ATTACK.
E-TIME OF ATTACK.
F-OBJECT OF ATTACK.
G-BY WHOM ATTACKED.
H-NATIONALITY OF ATTACKERS.
I-COLOR AND NUMBER OF ATTACKERS.
J-INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ATTACK OR TRADEMARK.

UCR and NIBRS don't include the individual characteristic or trademark of crimes - these often are the indicators and are more qualitative than quantitive.

Vollmer's work reflects the time he lived in: prejudiced and very dated. For example, a victim of a worthless check category is "chicken dealer." It is an interesting read, for sure.

Real-Time and Open Source Analysis (ROSA) Resource Guide

The Real-Time and Open Source Analysis (ROSA) Resource Guide is available at this link.

 "The National Network of Fusion Centers (NNFC), in partnership with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's (ODNI) Office of Partner Engagement-Information Sharing Environment (PEISE), 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), developed the Real-Time and Open Source Analysis (ROSA) Resource Guide to assist agencies and fusion centers in understanding the lawful and appropriate use of open source information, focusing on social media. It is designed to help law enforcement agencies and analytic personnel understand the potential tools and resources available to support law enforcement operational and analytic activities, while ensuring that related privacy, civil rights, civil liberties (P/CRCL) concerns are addressed."

5 Ways to Use Social Media for Event Security

 5 Ways to Use Social Media for Event Security is an article available at this link.

It may provide you with useful tips to offer the community and private sector in your jurisdiction.

Read more about social media and better event security:

Why Venues Should Monitor Social Media

A Guide To Social Media Intelligence Gathering (SOCMINT)

A Guide To Social Media Intelligence Gathering (SOCMINT) is an online article available at this link.

Be sure to follow your agencies guidelines when using social media as an open source for information gathering.

Also, be sure to follow a policy that helps you track when you retrieved information online!

Social Media Guidebook for Law Enforcement Agencies: Strategies for Effective Community Engagement

The 2019 Research Report by the Urban Institute, Social Media Guidebook for Law Enforcement Agencies: Strategies for Effective Community Engagement, is available at this link.

Crime prevention efforts can be enhanced by effective law enforcement use of social media. Intelligence-gathering efforts can be improved. Public safety warnings can be issued. Is your agency maximizing this modern tool? How do you, as an analyst, improve your effectiveness by benefiting from and contributing to these efforts?

Using Social Media and Social Network Analysis in Law Enforcement

"In April 2017, the National Institute of Justice convened an expert panel to identify high-priority needs for law enforcement's use of social media and social network analysis."

Using Social Media and Social Network Analysis in Law Enforcement is the RAND report outcome of this work, available at this link.

Since so many analysts are using social media to research criminals and criminal activity, it is worthwhile to be more educated in the policy nuances involved. Check it out!

All About Analysis YouTube Interview with John Ng on Evidence-Based Policing

Watch Manny San Pedro's All About Analysis YouTube Interview with John Ng on Evidence-Based Policing.

An Objective Means to Access Crime Problems Locally, Regionally, and Globally

Below is snippet of my MA final project written in 2001. The entire paper can be found at the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts' website on the Resources & Publications/Police and Intelligence section - the bottom line, "The Role of the Crime Analyst in Policing (Osborne)." Access it at this link.

 An Objective Means to Access Crime Problems Locally, Regionally, and Globally

     One might argue that a crime analyst within a law enforcement agency may not be objective about crime problems, but objectivity is essential in the analytical function. An awareness that objectivity is affected by personal bias can help the crime analyst avoid operating with a narrow mindset. Processing information to find meaningful facts requires a dedication to the truth. A crime analyst in a law enforcement agency is in an ideal position to facilitate the capture and collection of accurate data by police personnel. He or she has access to the organization from top to bottom. The crime analyst can communicate the importance of quality data to the top police manager and to the patrol officer. By producing good crime analysis products for a police department, the crime analyst can illustrate the benefits of gathering good information to those in the position to provide it.

     Criminal justice researchers everywhere know the difficulty of accessing the type of data found in law enforcement agencies, and the problems associated with the lack of good data. Some data are confidential, and researchers cannot access them because they do not have the “right to know. “ The crime analyst has access to information in a police department that is not available to researchers. Because of this, an agency’s crime analyst, at an unprecedented level of thoroughness, can conduct the scientific process of analyzing crime using inference and data analysis tools.

     The crime analyst position is also very advantageous in sharing information where it will have immediate impact. Tactical crime analysis can, when used as a tool by officers, affect the arrest of criminals and the deterrence of crime. Most researchers do not have the pleasure of seeing the immediate benefits of their research.

     As the researchers of current crime within a local law enforcement agency, crime analysts can communicate with other law enforcement agencies in a timely manner to facilitate the early detection of emerging crime problems locally, regionally, and even globally. (Communication between intelligence analysts about Russian mob activity in the United Sates, Canada, and Russia is one example of the role of analysts in identifying current crime problems across many jurisdictions.) Without first identifying a crime problem, there is no hope of finding a solution to it. Criminals do not respect jurisdictional boundaries and take advantage of the fact it is difficult for law enforcers to detect illegal activities cross-jurisdictionally.

     Having a crime analysis function at the local law enforcement level can also help researchers develop meaningful projects, innovations that are more likely to be applicable in the real world of policing. Crime analysts can bridge the communication gap that often exists between officers on the street and the “ivory tower.”

Improving Analytic Rigour in Intelligence

Improving Analytic Rigour in Intelligence, a study from the University of Melbourne, is available at this link. While this focuses on intelligence analysis in the national security arena, there is always something to learn from best practices in other analytical perspectives.

For example: the acronym LOTSA as described below, from this study, applies to the work of law enforcement analysts. 

"Analytic rigour is conducting analytic work in a manner that is appropriately:

Logical: observing principles of good reasoning and avoiding fallacies;

Objective: being free from influence of values, desires, interests or belief systems;

Thorough: tackling analytic work with completeness and attention to detail;

Stringent: observing relevant rules, guidelines, principles or policies; and

Acute: noticing and addressing relevant issues and subtleties.

We call these the “LOTSA” dimensions of analytic rigour."

Go Where the Data Leads You

 

National Data Exchange (N-DEx) System

If you are a law enforcement  analyst in the United States and you are NOT using National Data Exchange (N-DEx) System, it is time to sign up!

Go to this link for more information.

How can it help you as an analyst?

"Analysts: Connecting the Dots

Analyst looking for patterns about IED.With the N-DEx system, analysts have access to the criminal justice records of thousands of agencies across the nation to link investigative information and quickly obtain more detailed reports. Additionally, N-DEx provides visualization tools to graphically depict associations between people, places, things, and events either on a link-analysis chart or on a map. For ongoing investigations, the subscription and notification feature automatically notifies analysts if other users are searching for the same criteria or if a new record concerning their investigation is added to the system. N-DEx allows analysts to work with other analysts across the nation in a collaborative environment that instantly and securely shares pertinent information, including images, videos, charts, graphs, notes, and case reports, via any type or size of file."

Some Common Reasoning Fallacies

It's interesting to note that if you search for information on reasoning fallacies online, you will see colleges, universities, schools, and philosophy sites - maybe we only think of our thinking to get good grades, debate, or philosophize?

You can read an introduction to fallacies at this link.

 An analyst needs to be a good thinker.

1982 Crime Analysis Unit Operations Manual

Access the 1982 Crime Analysis Unit Operations Manual of the Fairfax County Police Department at this link.

Reading things like this help me know I am not imagining the importance of crime analysis - almost 40 years since this was published,  I can't be blamed for being impatient for its full integration into policing.

OODAcast: Kathy and Randy Pherson, Authors of Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence

Crime and intelligence analysts in law enforcement are encouraged to improve their critical thinking skills, but resources are scarce for actually doing that. Here is a podcast that might illuminate some concepts: OODAcast: Kathy and Randy Pherson, Authors of Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence is a podcast available at this link.

In this podcast "Kathy reviews what she calls the “5 habits of the critical thinker”, which include:

Examine your key assumptions

Consider multiple alternatives

Look for disconfirming data

Look for drivers underneath your topic and finder indicators of future action

Understand the context and how the issue is framed, through framing seek to understand"

I encourage you to venture outside of the world of law enforcement to find tools that might help you grow. One of those arenas is national security. Analysts there also struggle to grow - you are not alone!

Article Comparing Crime Analysts and Intelligence Analysts

The article Crime Analysts and Intelligence Analysts, by Dr. Charles Russo, posted September 28, 2020 on the College of Safety and Emergency Services at Columbia Southern University (CSU) Academic Journal website, is available at this link.

Abstract from the article:

This article will examine theoretical and the applied practitioner insights into similarities and differences between criminal intelligence analysis (intelligence-led policing) and intelligence analysis (national security). How intelligence theory applies to both crime and intelligence analysis. It will assist with understanding similarities and differences between these two domains of data information collection and analysis; whether the roles played by both are equal; whether they are different fields or whether they are interrelated trying to achieve the same goal.

The author's conclusion:

Having expounded on both criminal and national intelligence analysts’ definitions, concepts, theory, and roles, it is relatively easy to compare the roles played by each of them and see each employ the same analytical theories and principles in their work regardless of the entity they support. 

What is a Competitor Analysis?

Sad to say, a number of law enforcement analysts leave public service to go to the private sector not because they want to leave policing, but because they will get paid more and possibly have more room for advancement. I say "sad," because highly qualified and motivated individuals no longer are serving the public.

Nevertheless, everyone deserves the right to be compensated for their talents, and to strive for growth and improved professional status.

If you are one of these analysts who need change, check out What is a Competitor Analysis? at this link to learn more about what you might be doing if you move to the private sector of the analysis world.

The page is at the site for the Strategic & Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP,) whose main page is at this link.

Judging An Analytical Product

Here are some criteria for judging your analytical product. Don't rely on just your own opinion - get feedback for your work from trusted users and other analysts.

How Intelligence Analysts Can Improve Critical Thinking and Writing Skills

How Intelligence Analysts Can Improve Critical Thinking and Writing Skills is an article available at this link.

It is rarely, if ever said, but analysts in law enforcement do NOT do much in the way of writing reports. Our reports tend to consist of brief summaries at best, followed by charts, graphs, maps, and the like.

Therefore, if you compare analysts in the intelligence community to those in law enforcement, you will see a huge difference in tasking.

Those analysts in policing tasked with writing reports on threats, trends or strategies do write more than analysts assigned to the majority of law enforcement analytical tasks. That said, if one is training/teaching analysts to be generic, to fit in any analyst role, it is important to understand that analysts in law enforcement are not writers per se. Over-emphasizing writing skills with seem irrelevant to them.

Violent Crime Typology and Continuum

Violent Crime Typology and Continuum, by Christine Army and Karim H. Vellani, is available at this link.

From the Introduction:

"Violent crimes represent a small but significant portion of the reported crime in the United States. Categorically, violent crimes occur at a much lower frequency as compared to property crimes and disorder crimes. However, violent crimes can cause significant harm. While a robust body of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of crime prevention measures for property and disorder crimes exists, far less evidence exists regarding the effectiveness of security measures used to prevent violent crime."

"The objective of this article is to explore the nuanced nature of violent crime by disaggregating the disparate forms of violence.

Worth reading!

Catalytic Converter Thefts

Are you experiencing a spike in thefts of catalytic converters in your jurisdiction? 

A flyer called "Combat Catalytic Converter Theft Prevention Marking" is available at this link and may help in your prevention measures.

Also, visit www.scraptheftalert.com to look for relevant alerts that include spikes in catalytic converter thefts in your region, as well as other metal thefts alerts.

BLUF: Bottom Line Up Front

Improve your analytical products by using this:

BLUF: Bottom Line Up Front

Resources to help you:

How to Write an Intelligence Product in the Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF)Format found here.

CIA - IC Writing Style short pdf resource found here.

Make Persuasive Presentations with Bottom Line Up Front article found here.

BLUF: The Military Standard That Can Make Your Writing More Powerful article found here.

No One Knows What You Did Not Find

 

It is super important you care about finding important information in your analytical work, because when you don't find things, no one knows if you could have done so. It is up to you to care, to have integrity to do so, and to act responsibly as an analyst.

Tracing funds from environmental crimes

 Tracing funds from environmental crimes - OECD/Basel Institute webinar is available at this link.

"This virtual event on "Connecting the dots: Tracing funds from environmental crimes" took place on 17 March 2021 as part of the Corrupting the environment event series co-hosted by the OECD and the Basel Institute’s Green Corruption team.

The panelists highlighted three critical imperatives to tackle the hundreds of billions in illegal funds flowing annually from environmental crimes:

1. Proper assessments of financial crime risks arising from environmental crimes, by governments and the private sector.

2. More proactive cooperation across sectors and countries, through public-private partnerships and similar mechanisms.

3. Applying good ideas and effective tools from other areas of financial crime-fighting to the challenge of environmental crime."

RFFlow Criminal Analysis Charts

If you are a new analysts in a small jurisdiction without specialized charting software, or are a student and cannot afford such software, check out RFFlow Criminal Analysis Charts at this link. 

The templates provide a good starting point for thinking about how to organize investigative information.

Qualitative Crime Pattern Analysis: A Conversation with Chris Bruce & Deborah Osborne

This week I had a great conversation with Chris Bruce, currently a college professor, Past President of the International Association of Crime Analysts, and an experienced former local level crime analyst. We discussed the importance of qualitative crime pattern analysis in local level law enforcement analysis, since we both agree its value is underestimated and underutilized in the field. 

To read about how I organized my crime pattern data after qualitative analysis, check out this post.

To see an example of an Excel-like workbook used to save the crime pattern information, go to this link.