Introduction

In the hit CBS crime show Person of Interest, which debuted in 2011, the two heroes—one a former Central Intelligence Agency agent and the other a billionaire technology genius—work together using the ubiquitous surveillance system in New York City to try to stop violent crime. It’s referred to by some as a science fiction cop show. But the use of advanced technology for crime analysis in almost every major police department in the United States may surpass what’s depicted on TV crime dramas such as Person of Interest. Real-time crime centers (RTCCs) are a vital aspect of intelligent policing. Crime analysis is no longer the stuff of science fiction. It’s real.

In RTCCs, crime analysts analyze data at their disposal and feed essential and critical information to police officers and detectives who are on the street working criminal cases. By drawing on millions of bytes of data and knowing what is critical to pass on to the officers in the field, the analysts in the RTCC play a major role in solving crime, preventing terrorism and other criminal acts, and protecting the safety of both citizens and officers. As a result, crime analysts now play a powerful and essential role in twenty-first-century policing. But analysts need to be trained to do their jobs. Their jobs include

• Reviewing all police reports daily with the goal of identifying patterns.

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• • Analyzing trends, patterns, and hot spots to let both officers and administrators know about emerging crime in their city or in certain districts.
• • Extracting data from records and asking questions that lead to turning data into useful information.
• • Creating charts, maps, graphs, tables, and other visual products that communicate and transmit useful information to their police departments and the public.

This up-to-the-minute textbook was written for use in college classrooms and police academies to train students to be crime analysts. More importantly, Crime and Intelligence Analysis: An Integrated Real-Time Approach, introduces the hybrid concept of the real-time tactical analyst. Based on Glenn Grana’s research and experience, crime analysts need the skills to rapidly data mine during real-time operational situations. That is, officers need immediate information and data that will enable them to respond effectively to various situations, such as

• • Routine domestic violence calls
• • “Shots fired” calls
• • Assault, robbery, and burglary-in-progress calls
• • Active shooter, SWAT, and hostage situations

It is not just a matter of analysts transmitting raw data to officers in the field in these kinds of situations. Instead, these common, but often dangerous situations require a workup from a tactical crime analyst.

A tactical analyst can provide a detailed intelligence product, referred to as a workup, focusing on individuals, locations, and many other critical factors that help the responding officer or investigator to be more fully aware of what he or she is likely to encounter. The skilled tactical crime analyst can provide an intelligence-based workup that may include

• • Photos
• • Social media posts
• • Outstanding warrants
• • Probation or parole GPS monitoring
• • Gang intelligence, which can involve known associates, arrest history, and prior weapons possession

It is one thing to be able to mine data; it’s quite another to think like an investigative officer and streamline the massive amount of data available to the tactical analyst in order to feed only relevant, crucial information to the officer. The trained and skilled crime analyst will feed viable information to the investigator so that the investigation moves in the right direction, while avoiding overloading the officer with irrelevant data.

Crime and Intelligence Analysis: An Integrated Real-Time Approach covers all aspects of what crime analysts and tactical analysts need to know to be successful. This book describes the different types of crime analysts, their responsibilities and duties, and how they go about meeting their responsibilities in the best possible ways. In addition, this textbook provides an overview of the criminal justice system, as well as the more fundamental areas of crime analysis, including

• • Understanding criminal behavior
• • Conducting temporal analysis of crime patterns
• • Using spatial analysis to better understand crime
• • Applying research methods to crime analysis
• • Evaluating data and information to help predict criminal offending and solve criminal cases (including cold cases)
• • Understanding criminal investigations
• • Using critical thinking

Crime analysts often work in RTCCs, which were first fully functional in New York City and Houston, Texas, just 10 years ago. Today, there are RTCCs in many other cities, including Rochester, New York, where coauthor Glenn Grana works as the tactical supervisor in the Monroe Crime Analysis Center. Previously a crime analyst, Glenn was never a novice at analyzing data or knowing what information officers in the field need. He was a narcotics investigator for more than 20 years and a police advisor in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he has a master’s degree in criminal justice administration. Yet, most crime analysts around the country in RTCCs are civilians who are not fortunate enough to have the kind of background and training that Glenn brings to the job.

As RTCCs continue to flourish and come into their own in the twenty-first century, how will civilian crime analysts get training in the investigative process? How will they learn the skill sets that tactical crime analysts working in RTCCs need to do the kind of job that officers on the street require?

The answer is simple: no one really knows yet.

In fact, as Glenn Grana travels around the country speaking at crime analyst conferences, these questions are frequently asked. But another question is also critically important: How will crime analysts in RTCCs achieve creditability if they are untrained before being placed in a position? Officers are depending on them, and being a RTCC analyst is a position that may have life and death consequences.

These questions can be answered through this textbook. This book is designed to be the most comprehensive textbook for criminal justice instructors to teach students who will eventually end up in RTCCs as crime analysts. Heretofore, there have been few textbooks that cover all areas of crime analysis, and it has only been recently that colleges and universities have begun offering classes. Glenn, along with many of his colleagues in the field of crime analysis, is trying to change that as he designs college courses to train civilian analysts. With this textbook, as colleges and police academies begin to realize that they must teach crime analysis courses, there will now be a book they can adopt for their students.

By learning about such things as tactical intelligence, intelligence- based policing, data mining, crime mapping and temporal analysis, evaluating the validity of information, and how to conduct a criminal investigation, students completing courses using this book will be skilled enough to step into a tactical analyst role in a RTCC and deal with the kinds of situations that they are likely to encounter on a daily basis.

The well-trained tactical crime analyst will be able to make critical decisions in a real-time setting, giving officers on the street the kind of information they can use to handle investigations and crime scenes. We designed this book, Crime and Intelligence Analysis: An Integrated Real-Time Approach, to help transition the civilian analyst into a tactical crime analyst who is capable of entering the world of the sworn law enforcement officer. Through exceptional training, tactical crime analysts will gain the credibility they need to demonstrate to their sworn law enforcement colleagues that they are a valuable asset who can be counted on to deliver critical information and can be trusted as a vital team member.

Crime and Intelligence Analysis: An Integrated Real-Time Approach is somewhat different from previous books on crime analysis and intelligent policing in the following ways:

• • It is coauthored by an experienced crime analyst.
• • It is an up-to-date textbook covering areas of crime analysis and real-time crime analysis that are not covered in previous, somewhat older books.
• • It is written to fill gaps in crime analysis; specifically, it fills gaps in the area of teaching students to be tactical crime analysts and skilled and credible crime analysts.
• • It takes the approach that a crime analysis center operated by a trained crime analyst can play a critical role in the daily operations of law enforcement when seamlessly woven into the investigative and strategic planning process.
• • It is designed to teach students to rapidly analyze information obtained from multiple data sources, while applying their understanding of the theories, practices, and basic principles of investigation to aid their law enforcement partners.
• • It focuses on the real-time analytical process as it applies to crisis situations (e.g., SWAT, hostage negotiations, and active shooter). Theory is discussed as it relates to both the tactical process and the mindset of the negotiator or crisis team leader and the analytical process and the mindset of the tactical crime analyst.
• • It features numerous case studies that will be used to illustrate how the use of data mining and intelligence dissemination by a trained tactical crime analyst aids in the process of actual incidents.
• • It uses case studies, scenarios, and questions for discussion to teach students to use their analytical thinking and investigator mindset to help solve real-time situations.

What You’ll Find in This Book

This book is divided into five parts. Part I offers background on crime and criminal justice. The first three chapters review various fundamentals about the problems of crime in our society, the measurements of crime, and the theories about what causes people to commit criminal acts.

Part II gives a brief history of law enforcement and helps students to look at the big picture related to the history of policing and how far policing and law enforcement has progressed in the past 200 years. In Chapter 5, an overview of police investigations is provided to help student crime analysts better understand how police officers investigate crimes.

Part III offers four important chapters on intelligence—the lifeblood of both investigators and crime analysts. These chapters explain exactly what intelligence is, how it relates to the work of the crime analyst, how intelligence is collected, and how the crime analyst can analyze intelligence in order to provide the most relevant and important information to detectives and investigators.

Part IV gives an overview of crime analysis, detailing the history and development of crime analysis, while spelling out the different types of crime analysis. There is an emphasis on tactical crime analysis and the duties and responsibilities of the tactical crime analyst.

Finally, Part V sums up what has been learned throughout the book and offers some ideas for the future of policing. While, of course, the authors are not prescient, they do suggest that continued advances in technology in our society will continue to have an impact on policing and investigations. Not only will police departments of the future possess the technology to solve crimes, but also they will be more skilled at preventing crimes.

Pedagogy of This Book

Since this book was written as a textbook for criminal justice instructors and students, each chapter has the needs of both teachers and students in mind. Each chapter starts with an outline of the chapter and a list of objectives for students.

The chapters are written so that students will find the material easy to follow, with headings that clearly show what will follow. But the chapter material is organized so that comprehension is easier. Case studies are included in many chapters to offer real-life examples of how the principles being taught can be applied.

At the end of each chapter are questions for discussion. These questions were selected to help students engage in critical thinking and problem-solving. They are followed by a glossary of important terms, study guide questions for students to test themselves and be better prepared for course exams, and references to show where information and quotes throughout the text can be found.

The authors sincerely hope that this book will be found valuable in teaching and preparing crime analysts of the future to take their places in police departments to aid departments, sworn officers, and the public to better understand and combat crime.