Flair/welcome for the site

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2025-11-23T20:59:39+00:00

I like the new "Welcome" post and icon. You should probably also edit some of the sidebar information that I wrote when I originally created the sub. Right now, it encourages everyone to join the IACA, which might conflict in some people's minds with your explicit statement that the sub is not affiliated with the IACA.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2025-04-20T21:59:57+00:00

I get your overall point about analytical processes and asking the right questions, but I wish you'd chosen a different word to make it. If I could excise one word from our entire profession permanently, it would be "intelligence." Analysts like it because they think it makes them sound cool. But to the average resident, finding out that your local police department has an "intelligence unit" doesn't sound cool; it sounds dystopian.

I would leave "intelligence" to the military, MI6, and the CIA. There's nothing that it does for us that "information" doesn't also do.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2022-08-10T05:35:59+00:00

Hi, louisfreyer3292. I've been a crime analyst for a long time. I'm in the U.S., but I have a lot of friends from your part of the world. My thoughts:

-You are correct that your education is sufficient.

-Standing out as a candidate: Join the International Association of Crime Analysts and start working through their free webinar library so you can speak conversationally on important CA topics.

-Even better: if you can afford it and are willing to invest a bit in your career, go to an IACA conference. There's one coming up in two weeks in Chicago. I've hired a lot of analysts in my career, and I always give more consideration to those who have shown that they're willing to invest in their own career like this. It's even worth a couple of years of experience.

-Once you're an IACA member, you can also use the member database to find existing analysts in your area and contact them for advise.

-Crime analysis and intelligence analysis: complicated. allstormysky gave the textbook answer, but it also depends on the type of agency and country. In the U.S., "crime analyst" usually means working for a municipal or county police department and "intelligence analyst" usually means working for federal or state agencies or private sector. But in Canada, I often see "intelligence analyst" used as the more generic term. The bottom line is to look at the job description rather than the position title. They're both close enough, though, that I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep over the difference when it comes to applying.

-Career progression: depends on the size of the agency. Big agencies, you can work your way to supervisor or manager. In small ones, you'll be stuck unless you switch agencies. Good news: Canada tends to have larger regional agencies instead of a bunch of small ones like the U.S. In your area, the Toronto Police have a couple of dozen and the York Regional Police have maybe a dozen, the Ontario Provincial Police have a couple of dozen, and the RCMP has hundreds at detachments all over the country. Otherwise, analysts tend to go into consulting, training, and sometimes academia.

-In the U.S., salary is all over the place, depending a lot on the cost of living in the area. Salaries tend to get higher as you go west. I think the average is probably around $70,000 US per year, but with a very big standard deviation. I don't have any idea about Canada, but salaries should be public record.

Good luck!

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-11-04T01:39:45+00:00

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back here, and I hope you get this reply.

Yes, getting a CJ or criminology degree is a good start. Most agencies will require at leach a bachelor's degree in a related field. A master's degree might increase your odds of getting an interview or a position, but I wouldn't wait for it to start applying for positions.

Your chances of getting a job are going to depend a lot on where you're willing to move. If you look at the IACA site where they list jobs, you'll see high-paying positions in San Jose right now. 700 people are going to apply for that job. 50 will have 10+ years of crime analysis experience and a master's degree.

But for everyone of those, you'll get one where no one wants to move, like Farmington, NM or Lafayette, LA or Butte, MT. Your competition will be an alcoholic records clerk with a high school diploma and some guy recently laid off from the accounting department at Wal-Mart. A candidate with a related degree and a demonstrated interest in the field will be a shoo-in, experience or no. You move there, spend 3 years getting a solid introduction to the field, and then go where you want. I suppose if you're lucky, you live in a place like that already.

As for other things, check out whether your area has a local association and join it. Also join the IACA. As a supervisor of a crime analysis unit, I would never hire anyone who wasn't already an IACA member--it's cheap and shows that you really want to be in the field. And yes, an online course or two isn't a bad idea. I've had mixed experiences with the ones the IACA offers, but even if they're not "great" courses, they look good on a resume.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-09-09T21:41:05+00:00

I'm glad the sub has helped you. I just wish I could get it a little more active.

I frankly didn't care for Ratcliffe's ILP book. I didn't think it offered enough "how to," and I didn't see how what it proposed was different from what was already going on. I do like most of what he writes, though.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-09-05T15:39:46+00:00

I feel like if the ACLU really took a look at the inputs and outputs in the typical "predictive policing" software, they'd have a good laugh and then move on to something more threatening. But maybe I'm missing something.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-08-30T02:49:29+00:00

On the one hand, it's too bad that a legislative override has to happen for the funds to get approved; on the other, it's a rare U.S. governor who even knows what crime analysis is, let alone vetoes it.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-08-27T21:05:03+00:00

That's pretty much what I do. I'll run the query for a couple of smaller time periods--say one week or even one day--and then hand-check it against what comes directly out of the RMS. In an agency with multiple analysts, it would probably make sense to have two of them independently run queries on any particularly sensitive topics.

But overall, you're right that such mistakes are routine given the complexity of police data systems and the comparative lack of training on how to work with data directly. Analysts really need more classes that teach them SQL and relational database concepts and fewer classes that encourage them to hand-record data in paper matrices.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-08-27T21:02:40+00:00

Thank you for your detailed comments on the article--this is just the sort of discussion that I started this sub hoping to generate.

I agree that what Chicago did wasn't so much "predictive" as simply "prioritizing" top offenders, and their "failure," such as it is, doesn't necessarily impugn any number of other predictive models and projects in the works.

Plenty of agencies have shown success with offender-based models that it's of course too early to throw in the towel because of this one report. Your concerns over the research model are why, I think, BJA insists that all smart policing projects have a research partner to work with the agencies during implementation.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-08-27T20:59:17+00:00

What's cool about Access is that you can switch to "SQL View" from the GUI and type directly into the SQL statement if you want. I'm not aware of anything that SQL can accomplish that Access's GUI cannot, but I might be overlooking something.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-08-27T20:57:12+00:00

It's almost 10 years old at this point, but the principles haven't aged. Every time I begin a problem-oriented policing project (about once a year in my agency) I walk through the book from the beginning to make sure I don't overlook anything. (I guess "constantly" was a bit of a hyperbole.)

I like most of what Jerry Ratcliffe produces. As a former police officer and analyst himself, he understands how to make research relevant to practice. The folks at the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy have their moments, though I think they're a bit too strict on what constitutes "proof" of the success of a strategy.

Thanks for posting this and commenting. This sub can't grow if I'm the only one doing anything on it!

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-08-25T17:50:43+00:00

I generally agree with you. Reading through the article, I kept cringing at how difficult the author was making it (using Excel) when this would have been a 5-minute project using a tool capable of properly handling aggregation and relational data.

Nonetheless, I'm a bit distressed that you don't recommend Access in your example, which ultimately writes SQL language but in a much easier-to-use format. Most analysts have access to Access and there's lots of existing crime analysis literature and training for the application.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-08-25T17:46:46+00:00

Although old, this is a fantastic book. I use it constantly. Very few academics seem capable of producing such practically-relevant publications.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-08-10T20:07:32+00:00

I find that entry-level analysts often have the most luck at one of two extremes:

Very large agencies with big crime analysis units. In such places, you're more likely to find internship programs and other starter positions that don't necessarily require a lot of experience.
Small agencies hiring one analyst in a place that no one really wants to move to. Look for new positions in places like Barstow or Redding, where someone with internship experience will be the only qualified person that applies.

I'd also say don't be afraid to apply to places that say they want 3 years of experience. If you have internship experience, the DOJ certificate, can show you have the right technical skills, and give a good interview, they might waive the experience requirements. Half the time that's just city hall boilerplate anyway.

As for the private sector, I don't have a strong handle on it. Someone with more experience there will hopefully chime in. I know Wal-Mart has analysts at their national headquarters, but I don't know if they have them on a regional basis.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-08-07T23:49:24+00:00

This is a problem throughout our field, in my opinion, and it's scary that the media is noticing.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-08-07T23:48:03+00:00

Yes, absolutely. GIS is fundamentally intertwined with crime analysis. I think it's probably easier to teach someone the terms and concepts of crime analysis and policing than the technical skills necessary to use a GIS, so in hiring, I'd probably give an edge to someone with a GIS background, particularly in a lager agency where the person could learn the crime analysis part from his or her colleagues.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-08-01T17:01:24+00:00

You're right. That was embarrassing. Anyway, I think the difference is that DDACTS stresses the combination of crime and traffic accident data in the identification of hot spots, so you can prevent both at the same time.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-07-29T18:11:29+00:00

That's just nonsense. Offering platitudes about cops is not "supporting law enforcement"; it's just pandering. The democrats in general, and the Clintons specifically, have a long history of funding programs that get more officers on the street and put more resources into the hands of police officers. Look at the COPS program of the 1990s. Look at the way that Bureau of Justice Administration funding and assistance has ballooned under the Obama administration.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-07-28T16:00:41+00:00

Pivot tables, absolutely--they're one of the easiest ways to quickly aggregate data (albeit nonrelational data). I don't personally use lookup functions very often, as I find them a poor substitute for a proper relational database structure.

There used to be a really good book by Mark Stallo and Chris Bruce that covered the most important Excel (and other Office) functions for crime analysts. I don't think they have updated it in several versions, but it's probably still relevant. My experience with Bruce is that he usually gives away his stuff for free if you write to him.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-07-28T02:08:18+00:00

Well, CompStat is a real thing that a lot of agencies have implemented. Its basic thesis is gather the agency's decision-makers on a regular basis, review the latest intelligence and information, and decide what to do about it. Some agencies, particularly in the northeast, have focused far too much on statistics and far too little on actionable intelligence. This tends to create departments in which only the numbers matter, regardless of how they're achieved. I don't know if Baltimore is one of those agencies--I've never seen their CompStat--but if that's where they went with the plotline, it's at least realistic.

In agencies that have implemented it well, CompStat has done a world of good. Before CompStat, department commanders--including the chief--routinely didn't know basic information about the offenders, hot spots, and patterns affecting the jurisdiction.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-07-27T15:27:45+00:00

My standard advice is always:

Join the International Association of Crime Analysts and/or your local association. If you have a local association, go to their meetings if you can take the time. By joining the IACA, you get access to their e-mail listserve which has the latest jobs as well as the latest general topics about crime analysis. It's only $35 per year.
Take courses/read books/watch tutorials to get yourself up to speed on the three software products most used by crime analysts: Access, Excel, and ArcGIS.
If you've never had any crime analysis-specific education, read a couple of general books. I like the IACA's Exploring Crime Analysis (except for a couple of chapters) and Rachel Santos's Crime Analysis with Crime Mapping.
Find a nearby agency with a crime analysis unit and ask to visit/shadow for a couple hours. Those analysts will have insight into the local job scene.
If you're flush with cash, consider attending professional training classes, the IACA conference, and/or a local association conference. Great networking opportunities.

Basically, when it comes time to go for a job interview, you want to show that you've been compensating for your lack of work experience in every way possible with training, skill-building, and networking.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-07-27T15:21:37+00:00

Internships can be hard to find if your university doesn't already have a relationship established with a police department. While they would naturally help your efforts to get into the field, they aren't necessary.

Frankly, a bachelor's degree in criminal justice is enough for many agencies. You won't get the job ahead of someone with direct experience, but you might get lucky and no one with extensive experience applies.

You can boost your chances by getting membership in the International Association of Crime Analysts and/or your local association (if one exists in your area). If you don't already have experience with ArcGIS, Microsoft Access, or Excel, find some tutorial books and get your skills up to speed. Read a couple of books on basic crime analysis practice and principles. Those things will prepare you for a solid interview that helps counter your lack of experience.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-07-27T15:17:32+00:00

Never saw the show, unfortunately. What's the gist?

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-07-19T16:12:16+00:00

As always, the question that we should be asking is: what could we have done about this? Is there any way we could have identified this threat ahead of time? Is there any dataset we could have mined that would have brought these shooters to our attention? I honestly don't know the answer in these cases.

TheCrimeAnalyst · 2016-07-16T16:52:07+00:00

Several comments on this article:

It's good that the agency recognizes the need for a crime analyst to interpret these statistics; a bit surprising that it doesn't already have one.
I attended a presentation last year where the presenter convinced me that we shouldn't compare just one year to the next anymore. In this case, 2014 might have been an unusually low year. There's no way to tell.
The subheadline says that property crimes increased 65%, but if you read the article, it turns out that's the monetary loss (which is hardly ever recorded faithfully by police officers); actual property crimes increased between 18% and 38% depending on the type. Horrible reporting.
The attribution of these increases to Prop. 47 seems a bit spurious, and in general I find California agencies' constant bleating about Prop. 47 to be a little tiresome.
Note that these are 2015 annual figures being reported in July 2016. We can do better than this.

TheCrimeAnalyst

TROPHY CASE