Crime Analysis in America

• NCJ Number: 209245
• Author(s): Timothy C. O'Shea Ph.D.; Keith Nicholls Ph.D.
• Date Published: March 2002
• Length: 203 pages
• Grant Number(s): 99-CK-WX-K002
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
• Corporate Author: University of South Alabama
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded March 25, 2005.

Annotation

This monograph reports on the findings of a recent study that examined key aspects of the police crime-analysis function, providing a baseline that may be used to measure trends over time.

Abstract

Findings are presented from two national surveys. The first survey, conducted in 2000, was mailed to all U.S. law enforcement agencies with 100 or more sworn personnel. Nearly 65 percent of the 859 agencies responded to a questionnaire that addressed 6 categories of crime analysis. The second survey involved a random stratified (by size and region) sample of 800 law enforcement agencies with less than 100 sworn personnel. This telephone survey asked questions similar to those in the first survey. The findings of these surveys are examined to identify factors that help explain the variance in the quality of crime analysis in the two survey populations. This is followed by an indepth exploration of crime-analysis operations in the larger departments, which encompasses organizational dynamics and behavior, human resources, and operations. Organizational dynamics and behavior includes division of labor, line and staff, centralization, communication, coordination, performance measures, and planning. The analysis of human resources addresses job description, selection, career path, training, compensation, and turnover; and operations covers hardware and software technology as well as tactical and strategic analytical output. The concluding section of this report draws policy implications for organization, personnel, and operations. The issues related to organization are specialized function, line/staff, centralization, coordination, performance measures, and organizational demand. Personnel issues pertain to staffing, job description, training, selection, career path, and compensation. Policy issues for operations focus on hardware and software technology, and tactical and strategic output. 24 references and appended questionnaire and frequencies, job descriptions, old crime analysis forms (1970's), tactical crime analysis reports (crime and incivility conditions), tactical crime analysis reports for general offender notices, and strategic crime analysis reports