The study of patterns and probabilities in crime is known as crime analysis. It focuses on three types of research: tactical, operational, and strategic. Tactical studies concentrate on pressing issues in the community, such as rapes, murders, and robberies, which must be addressed right away. Operational studies look into potential problems and where more or fewer police officers are needed. Strategic studies are based on any potential long-term problems and their solutions.
A crime analyst conducts these investigations. The first step in a crime analyst’s job is to look for patterns in previous crimes and criminals. This entails creating criminal profiles, noting personality types, crimes committed, and how they committed them. People commit crimes for a variety of reasons, including boredom, anger, and jealousy. Understanding those reasons, as well as any actions that preceded the crime, can aid a crime analyst in recognizing a pattern.
The second part of a crime analyst’s job is to predict future crimes using the data gathered during the studies. Although the analyst will not be able to walk down a busy street pointing out people about to commit a crime, the data from the studies can be used in other ways to prevent crimes. For example, studies have shown that if the street lights are out and the streets aren’t well maintained, the rate of crime in the area increases. Cleaning up the streets, replacing the streetlight bulbs, and possibly establishing a neighborhood watch program could all help to prevent crime in this case.
The third part of the job entails communicating the findings of the studies in a way that is useful. A crime analyst might collaborate with the government to talk about the economic and geographic factors that contribute to crime, as well as ways to alleviate some of those factors. A crime analyst may work with local law enforcement agencies to discuss current criminal activity trends. In addition, crime analysts may give community presentations on crime prevention and assist with the establishment of neighborhood watch programs.
A crime analyst’s job is to use information from previous crimes to prevent future crimes. This job is not the same as that of an intelligence analyst, who studies primarily organized crime behavior and establishes links between organizations and criminal activities. Many people get the two jobs mixed up. Despite the fact that both professions involve studying and analyzing crimes and criminals, the crime analyst deals with a much broader range of criminal activities, allowing him to predict and assist in the prevention of a much wider range of crimes.