Crime Analysis

Crime analysis is the systematic organization, analysis, and presentation of spatial, temporal, and topological patterns of crime incidents. It is used to support problem solving and planning by law enforcement agencies in field operations, investigations, and management. Crime analysts collect, organize, and tabulate dispatch records, 911 calls, crime reports, arrest reports, activity logs, and other information collected by the police. Then they link these data sources to identify crime patterns, forecast future crime events, evaluate efforts that address old crime trends, prepare statistical crime reports, and work with investigators to identify suspects. Most law enforcement agencies that use crime analysis have implemented it with the Geographic Information System (GIS), a combination of computer hardware, software, and data that allows them to display crimes and related information on computer-generated maps. These computerized crime maps enable law enforcement personnel to analyze and link various data sources and produce a timely and detailed snapshot of crime incidents and their related factors within a community or geographic area.

The crime analyst's tasks are somewhat different from those traditionally performed by criminologists. [Page 359]A crime analyst typically focuses on many crime events and the distribution of crime incidents, while criminologists study samples of criminals and correlate their life's circumstances and environment with criminality. A crime analyst's work is also somewhat different from that of a traditional forensic scientist, who typically focuses on properties of evidence related to a single or series of related crimes. However, the dividing line between these three occupations is blurring as crime analysts increasingly incorporate information learned from traditional criminology to better understand and predict patterns of crime, and also as they are increasingly relied upon to help investigators identify and find individuals believed to have committed a series of crimes. Thus, crime analysis through GIS is becoming the hub that integrates traditional forms of criminology with the everyday practice of forensic science and police investigation.

Due to this, crime analysis is increasingly recognized as an essential and vital function of law enforcement. In 1990, a Department of Justice survey found that 34 percent of U.S. law enforcement agencies were engaged in computer-aided crime analysis (U.S. Department of Justice 1996). By 1999 this figure had increased to 54 percent (U.S. Department of Justice 2001). In another survey of 2,004 U.S. police departments, 85 percent of the respondents reported that they believed crime mapping technology was a valuable tool in law enforcement. These respondents also reported an increased interest or implementation of this technology in their departments (Mamalian and LaVigne 1999).