(crime analyst, incident analysis)

Crime analysis refers to a law enforcement profession dedicated to identification of, analysis of, and solutions to patterns, trends, and problems in crime. Crime analysts work for all levels of law enforcement agencies, though in the United States, most are employed by municipal or county police departments. Many crime analysts are civilian professionals; others are police officers appointed to a crime analysis position.

Crime analysts study crime reports, arrests reports, and police calls for service to identify emerging patterns, series, and trends as quickly as possible. They analyze these phenomena for all relevant factors, sometimes predict or forecast future occurrences, and issue bulletins, reports, and alerts to their agencies. They then work with their police agencies to develop effective strategies and tactics to address crime and disorder. Other duties of crime analysts may include preparing statistics, data queries, or maps on demand; analyzing beat and shift configurations; preparing information for community or court presentations; answering questions from the public and the press; and providing data and information support for a police department's CompStat process.

Effective crime analysis employs data mining, crime mapping, statistics, research methods, desktop publishing, charting, presentation skills, critical thinking, and a solid understanding of criminal behavior. In this sense, a crime analyst serves as a combination of an information systems specialist, a statistician, a researcher, a criminologist, a journalist, and a planner for a local police department.

Sources: WikiPedia, DOJ, NIJ Web sites

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