Crime Analysis

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Crime Analysis

Introduction

Criminal law is at times referred to as the Penal law, and is the body of rules that prescribe or define the conducts that are prohibited by the government or the state due to their threatening nature.  Some of the things that are done by human beings are potentially harmful or they can endanger the welfare and safety of the public.  Therefore, there is high need for the state to set some rules, which impose some degrees of punishment.  This law is usually enforced by the state but in countries, which may not have sovereignty of their own, or they are said to be unstable, the international criminal law is applicable.  In countries, which are known to harbor insurgents, the international criminal law comes to force and this is in protection of the civilians who are not in war.  The law comes with serious consequences or sanctions and the persons who extend any crime can be charged by the international criminal courts.


Criminal law: Crime analysis

By definition, Osborne (2003) gives it as a law enforcement function that includes some systematic analysis for identification and analysis of patterns and trends in disorder and crime in general.  With the information on patterns, the agencies in law enforcement would be able to deploy enough resources in a more efficient manner.  It can as well assist the detectives in the identification as well as apprehension of crime suspects, and therefore, crime analysis can be said to play crucial role in prevention of crime and formulation of strategies to prevent crime in the land.  In the crime analysis process, the participants in this use some quantitative social sciences and this is in data analysis methods.


However, some qualitative methods are noted to be crucial in this in addition to the quantitative social sciences.  Osborne (2003) notes that, this field of criminal law occurs in tactical, strategic and operational levels.  Essentially, the analysts study the crime reports, the arrests reports and the police calls for service; and all these is for identification of the emerging patterns, trends and series in solving crime.  The police put into mind many factors that come by in solving crime, and pick on the most useful of all to combat a certain series of crime.  Vellani (2001) puts the concept of crime analysis as a discipline of the public safety analysis, and majorly the provision of information that support the missions of law enforcement of the agencies for criminal justice.  Specifically, this involves the study of the criminal incidents, indention of the crime trends, the crime patterns and crime problem.  Lastly, the analysis of crime involves dissemination of crucial information to the agencies for these agencies to pick and develop tactics as well as strategies to solve these trends, the patterns and the problems inherent.


Being a systematic and analytical process, which provides information pertinently and timely, crime analysis, can be argued as an area that can essentially be used to root out crime in a country.  In this context, crime analysis can support a number of functions of a department, and these include the patrol deployment, the social operations in the police force, investigation department, tactical units, crime prevention area, planning and research department and the administrative services.  As well, if there could be some cohesive working of these departments, it would be more appropriate and more effective in combating of this crime.


Mission of crime analysis and objectives

The mission for crime analysis in most agencies is all to prevent crime from happening. However, most agencies in the world have their own mission statements that even though they read almost similar, they are different in context and application.  Larry (2008) writes that the general mission statement indicates that the main area of the police investigators in the field of crime analysis is to obtain a lot of information that would make it possible to identify the offenders, trends, and patterns of crime.  As well, the mission encompasses the development of correlations in improving the short term and long-term decision-makings as well as ability of the institutions and departments in managing, deploying and allocating of resources to stop crime and the criminals in their activities.  In Colorado police department, the mission is in the provision of accurate and timely tactical, administrative, strategic and operational intelligence analysis especially in data relating to crime.


In Beverly Police department, the objective statement reads, “The Crime Analysis Unit will strive to provide accurate and quality information in a timely manner to meet the tactical, strategic and administrative needs of the Beverly Police Department. Essentially, the objective statement ought to mention the three types of crime analysis, and these are the administrative, strategic and tactical.  The objectives in many of the departments that deal with crime analysis state what is done in this field.  These are like the identification as well as dissemination of information about crime series, crime patterns, trends and problems.  To some extent, the missions of this field concur with the objectives. For instance, the field has objectives of analyzing everything that concern crime prevention.


The role of crime analysis in a department

The Crime analysts in a department are like managers in any kind of an organization, and therefore, their main work is to manage every other component of crime analysis.  As well, since this field has three major areas namely, tactical, operational and administrative, the roles of crime analysis are therefore to tackle all things that regard the functions of these departments.  Other than combating crime, analysts should focus on researching new methods of doing the same and this is by looking at some of the means that have been used elsewhere to fight serious crimes.  As well, the department should document all what the department has been doing for a certain identified period.  As well, the department should identify other areas that need serious attention and forecasting of future occurrences; that is predicting chances of other crime types emerging among people.


The department should always be able to conduct community surveys and while this would help root out the criminal elements in the community, it would serve as collaboration between the community and the police in identifying possible crime trends.  The department collects, manages, collates and queries any kind of data that is presented and synthesis of crime information.  The heads of departments should enhance solid understanding of the criminal behavior and understanding of different demographic analysis.  Critical thinking should be utilized, as this is the only way one can understand clearly the thinking of the criminals.  Some other roles are to calculate the inferential, descriptive and multivariate statistics and as well make some charts and graphs based on the gathered information (Pattavina, 2005).


Staffing of crime analysis department

The department should be staffed with the right people; people who have the qualities and skills as described in the roles part.  This area should be devoid of people who are likely to be criminal themselves and those who can let out information to the hands of the criminals or undeserving persons.  Generally, the department should be highly staffed, and this is because there are many areas that need to be undertaken in crime analysis.  However, the persons in this department should all be drawn from the police services and not any ordinary person.  If a person is drawn from the general citizenry, then he or she should be of high quality and should be studied thoroughly to analyze whether he or she fits in the job or not.  He or she should undergo some formal and informal training; and mostly, he or she should be talked thoroughly on how to keep sensitive information that he or she would come close to his or her chest.


The real analysts should not be ordinary persons or even ordinary police; rather they should be people who are highly trained in investigations and mind reader.  They should have thorough analytical minds that can read a person when he or she is lying.  Some of the persons should be based in the field while others should be confined in the office, and this is to make sure that all of these persons represent all areas and there is continuous communication from the field to the office.  In most cases, the office of crime analysis is put under the office of chief of police. However, the department then has staffs in operational, tactical and administrative sections.  The section of operation and that of tactical services should be staffed adequately with high knowledge officials while the administrative can be taken by others.


Procedures in crime analysis

There is supposed to be a procedure that is to be followed in crime analysis, and this is because this area is utmost sensitive and which requires serious synthesize of information.  To start with, information ought to come from the primary source to conduct this crime analysis, and this is the Computerized Police Information and Reporting System center, which may be having all information needed.  The information from here should be able to identify the trends, the pattern and activities.  However, all information should first be sought form the commander of the support services before it can be retrieved from the support system.  The Information Support Analyst reviews the PIRS daily logs as well as other sources of the information.  This information is then passed to the supervisory person and the information can actually be used to re-allocate personnel.


There should always be a making of the crime analysis reports, and these reports are to guide in conducting other similar crimes, identify for need to modify or change.  These reports are to be distributed to all divisions and this is to make all concerned personnel be aware of what has been concluded or is to be concluded in due time.  In all of these procedures, the chief of police is to be kept aware of everything that is happening.  Maltz (1991) notes that every other department in crime analysis; the tactical, the operational and administrative sections should publish and distribute the patterns and the general information bulletins.  As well, they should make master files of the patterns and use these as the way forward to combating future crimes. There should always be modification and review of what the departments are doing.


Trainings

This area in police force needs thorough training and which requires huge expertise in crime prevention services.  Ferguson (2007) notes that people in the department including the interns and volunteers should be taken through preparation for crime prevention.  There should be a lot of training in crime and intelligence analysis, and this training should not only be in education and theories, but should also encompass serious practice in the area.  Most of these techniques are in mind reading and make sure that the criminals are netted no matter the kind of face they may try to ware.  When it comes to the crime as well as intelligence training, there are three levels in this, and these are the fundamentals, the tactical and the advanced tactical.  Each of these levels is intended at providing the real theoretical and hands-on as well as ground the learner into the real components in combating crime.


The fundamentals are like the crime analysis basic techniques such as the framework in which one returns the jurisdiction while the tactical part is the in depth qualities.  At times, the tactical and the advanced tactical include the mathematical formulae, and this means that a person in this area ought to be ground fully with the real educational skills and the solutions to solve disorders and crime issues.  In the advanced part, a person is needed to be of high critical thinking, should be open to the source internet, must be supporting as well as highly specialized and must have the gang analysis.  At times, the advanced tactical area needs the knowledge of telephone toll analysis, creation of charts and timeliness, and building of fixing and analysis units.


Conclusion

Criminal law needs persons who are really advanced in managing crime prevention and how to keep law and order.  The general police persons are bestowed with apprehensions but the investigators are needed even to understand the trends in criminal activities, the patterns and the thinking of the criminals.  That is why it is paramount that person who is in this area is of versed knowledge that can put a stop in criminal operations.  More so, one of the departments in crime investigation is the crime analysis, and this is the sectors under the chief of police that need to understand all the trends and the patterns that go with criminal activities.  This paper looks at this area and gives some of the tactics that go with the training and procedures of combating the crime using crime analysis.  The persons in this area must be dedicated to serving the state in maintaining law and order.


References

Ferguson, G. (2007). Safety and security. New York: Infobase Publishing.

Larry, J. (2008). Essentials of criminal justice. Belmont: Wadsworth CengageBrain Learning.

Maltz, M. (1991). Mapping crime in its community setting: Event geography analysis. New York: Springer Verlag.

Osborne, D. (2003). Introduction to crime analysis: Basic resources for criminal justice practice. New York: The Haworth Press.

Pattavina, A. (2005). Information technology and the criminal justice system. California: Sage publication.

Vellani, K. (2001). Applied crime analysis. Woburn: Butterworth-Heinemann.

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