The After Action Review (AAR) Process

Adapting and incorporating the After Action Review process could improve your work, especially if applied to a large project (such as completion of a big investigation or significant crime problem solving effort). The process helps you identify what can be improved for the next time.

"An AAR is centered on four questions:

What was expected to happen? What actually occurred?

What went well and why?

What can be improved and how?

An AAR features:

An open and honest professional discussion

Participation by everyone on the team

A focus on results of an event or project

Identification of ways to sustain what was done well

Development of recommendations on ways to overcome obstacles"

from GUIDE TO THE AFTER ACTION REVIEW

Read more about this subject: 

After Action Review (AAR) Process: Learning From Your Actions Sooner Rather Than Later

Army's The Leader’s Guide to After-Action Reviews (AAR)

NW3C Investigative Resources

The NW3C (National White Collar Crime Center) has a page with numerous "Investigative Resources,"and if you are working in U.S. law enforcement, you are eligible to access them. Check them out at this link.

Some of the Resources:

"The National White Collar Crime Center provides technical assistance to law enforcement and regulatory agencies in the areas of Cybercrime, Financial Crime, Intelligence Analysis, and Intellectual Property Theft. Technical assistance examples include providing guidance in handling financial investigations, and proper handling of electronic evidence (smartphones, computers, etc.)."

"NW3C offers, free of charge, a number of tools to assist our law enforcement partners in the prosecution of economic and high-tech crime."

Legal Templates

INFOSEC / OPSEC / PERSEC

Law Enforcement Guides

Cryptocurrency Resources

Investigative Guides & Resources

Law Enforcement Cyber Alerts

Checklists

Have you developed any checklists to help you in your analytical work? Have you shared them with others?

Read:

Lessons We Can Learn From Aviation Checklists

Intelligence Checklists: How To Be Prepared For Any Contingency (Using Four Easy Steps)

Homicide Case Information Checklist

Investigating property crime: A checklist for success

Home Security Assessment Checklist

Audit Checklist for the Criminal Intelligence Function

 This "“Audit Checklist for the Criminal Intelligence Function” can assist law enforcement executives with conducting a review of their agency’s criminal intelligence function. Using this checklist, law enforcement agencies demonstrate their commitment to protecting the constitutional rights and the privacy of individuals, while ensuring the operational effectiveness of their criminal intelligence function."

Audit Checklist for the Criminal Intelligence Function

Hiring a Law Enforcement Intelligence Analyst

Here are some resources to consider when you are hiring a law enforcement analyst! 

Analyst Hiring Guide Podcast: Sean Bair's Guide to Hiring a Law Enforcement Analyst

International Association of Crime Analysts  Testing Analyst Candidates 

International Association of Crime Analysts Interviewing Analyst Candidates 

International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts Buiding an Intelligence Unit

International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence AnalystsLaw Enforcement Analytic Standards 

Selecting the Best Analyst for the Job

Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center (TEDAC)

Read about the FBI's  Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center (TEDAC) at this link. One of the roles of the law enforcement analyst is to expand their knowledge of available resources and to share as necessary - hopefully, you will never need this one.

"The FBI Laboratory’s Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center (TEDAC) is a multi-agency center that coordinates bomb-related evidence and intelligence collection for the U.S. government.

TEDAC’s experts analyze bombs. They also support law enforcement, the intelligence community, military, border protection, and science and technology partners.

Created in 2003 and located in Huntsville, Alabama, TEDAC provides direct support in:

Bombing crime scene investigations

Searching bomb factories and safe houses

Deploying to major bombings, both in the United States and internationally

Providing expertise on major bombing scenes

Training FBI and law enforcement personnel

TEDAC also provides expert witness testimony in court regarding the results of examinations."

Handbook of Terrorism Prevention and Preparedness

The Handbook of Terrorism Prevention and Preparedness, edited by by Alex P. Schmid, is available at this link. It is published by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT), "an independent think and do tank providing multidisciplinary policy advice and practical, solution-oriented implementation support on prevention and the rule of law, two vital pillars of effective counter-terrorism."

EVIDENCE-BASED POLICING IN 45 SMALL BYTES

EVIDENCE-BASED POLICING IN 45 SMALL BYTES, by Gary Cordner, Ph.D., is available at this link.

"This guidebook presents a practical framework for understanding evidence-based policing (EBP). The framework is practical in the sense that it is understandable, feasible, and directly tied to making policing more effective. In other words, it isn’t about collecting data for its own sake, or about doing research for its own sake. Rather, it is about serving and protecting the public as effectively as possible."

Face Recognition Policy Development Template

Face Recognition Policy Development Template For Use In Criminal Intelligence and Investigative Activities is available at this link.

"Date Published: December 2017

Author(s): Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative

Description:

This resource is designed to provide guidance to state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement entities, fusion centers, and other public safety agencies on developing policies and procedures for the use of face recognition tools in criminal intelligence and investigative activities."

About Victims

Here are some resources for crime victims:

NCVC GUIDE for CRIME VICTIMS/Victims Rights Brochure is available at this link.

"VINE is the nation's most reliable and confidential source for updated custody status and criminal case information. Register and stay informed." It is available at this link.

Investigative Failures

Below is a "concept map" from the 2018 paper, Case Deconstruction of Criminal Investigative Failures Final Summary Overview, by Dr. Kim Rossmo and Dr. Joycelyn Pollock, which is available at this link. The analysis in this paper begins by highlighting the wrongful conviction of Michael Morton, which you can read about this link. It is a study of 50 "investigative failures," in 45 murder and 5 rape/sexual assault cases.

Causal factors of investigative failures are in the Future 5. chart below. As analyst you may not be able to counter all the variables, but you definitely can add good critical thinking to investigations. 

Ask yourself: can you contribute to the investigations that you support to help reduce the elements of investigative failures that lead to injustices? Can you slow down the rush to judgment, increase professionalism, reduce biased searching and interpretation, and follow investigative leads as an analyst? 

Guidelines on Cell Phone Forensics: Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology

Even if you are not involved cell phone forensics, it can be helpful to understand this subject, since you may be analyzing the evidence.

Guidelines on Cell Phone: Recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology is available at this link.

"Mobile phone forensics is the science of recovering digital evidence from a mobile phone under forensically sound conditions using accepted methods. Mobile phones, especially those with advanced capabilities, are a relatively recent phenomenon, not usually covered in classical computer forensics. This guide attempts to bridge that gap by providing an in-depth look into mobile phones and explaining the technologies involved and their relationship to forensic procedures. It covers phones with features beyond simple voice communication and text messaging and their technical and operating characteristics. This guide also discusses procedures for the preservation, acquisition, examination, analysis, and reporting of digital information present on cell phones, as well as available forensic software tools that support those activities."

From Then To Now

It has been exactly 24 years since I first started working as a crime analyst; since then, opportunities for law enforcement analysts have changed significantly. Many more educational programs teach people the fundamentals of being an analyst in law enforcement. Many more places are hiring analysts. There are many more analysts than ever before.

There is a problem in this scenario, though - everyone is doing it differently, and the profession suffers from that. A crime analyst becomes a chameleon, adapting to whatever organization he or she find themselves in. The professional associations try to guide the profession, but they cannot change the actual law enforcement agencies that hire analysts -  agencies vary widely in their understanding of what a robust analytical capacity looks like in law enforcement. The chameleon analysts survive the best they can in such an environment.

Yet, as a lonely one person analyst in my county back then, it IS rather amazing to me there are currently eleven crime analysis centers in New York State. The video below explains some of the ways they help out now, very different to the way I worked as an analyst back then... Different from many states who address the role of the analyst. It is interesting.

"Reducing Crime Through Intelligence-Led Policing" ILP case studies

Reducing Crime Through Intelligence-Led Policing, published in 2008 by the Bureau of Justice Assistance/USDOJ  is available at this link.

Case studies of ILP were provided by these agencies:

1. Austin, Texas, Police Department

2. Evans County, Georgia, Sheriff‟s Office

3. Medford, Oregon, Police Department

4. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Police Department

5. Palm Beach County, Florida, Sheriff‟s Office

6. Phoenix, Arizona, Police Department

7. Richmond, Virginia, Police Department

8. San Diego, California, Police Department

9. San Francisco, California, Police Department

10. Tampa, Florida, Police Department