IACA Testing Candidate Question Prep

This flashcard set includes recommended knowledge from Professor Hoffman a former crime analyst in Florida who is highly respected and all of the IACA's testing portion for the "hiring an analyst" section of their website which can be accessed here: https://www.iaca.net/hiring-an-analyst

Given a set of numbers, what is the mean?

• Sample: 9, 4, 2, 5, 7, 4, 2, 3, 4, 3, 4, 8, 6, 7, 8

Mean = 5.067

Given a set of numbers, what is the median?

• Sample: 9, 4, 2, 5, 7, 4, 2, 3, 4, 3, 4, 8, 6, 7, 8

Median = 4

Given a set of numbers, what is the mode?

• Sample: 9, 4, 2, 5, 7, 4, 2, 3, 4, 3, 4, 8, 6, 7, 8

Mode = 4

What is the percentage change in Robbery between 2018 and 2019?

-23%

What is the percentage change in Residential Burglary between the last 6 months of 2018 and the last 6 months of 2019?

42.5%

Analyze the Robbery crime category and discuss what you see.  What inferences can be made from the data?

• Robbery cases should be reviewed to determine what types of robberies are happening (bank, street, convenience stores, etc.) in order to see if there is an increase in one specific sub-type that is accounting for the overall rise.

• Possible theory – Increase in Robbery in Nov. and Dec. of 2018 may be due to the holiday season.  More people walking around with gifts and money provide more targets for offenders.

• Possible theory – A known offender may have been released from custody in the fall of 2018 and/or arrested in early 2019 accounting for spike in Robberies in between.

Determine the crime rate per 100,000 (the standard for UCR comparisons) given the following statistics:

• Robbery: 45, Population: 50,000

90

Determine the crime rate per 100,000 (the standard for UCR comparisons) given the following statistics:

• Auto Theft: 140, Population: 200,000

70

Determine the crime rate per 100,000 (the standard for UCR comparisons) given the following statistics:

• Assault: 114, Population: 250,000

45.6

Which type of analysis describes the daily identification and analysis of emerging or existing crime patterns, including series and hot spots?

Tactical crime analysis

Analyzing long-term crime trends, problems, and their causes is the focus of which type of analysis?

Strategic crime analysis

The study of demographic changes in a jurisdiction, preparation of Uniform Crime Reports, and the creation of crime information for presentation to City Council all fall under which type of analysis?

Administrative crime analysis

Which type of analysis describes the study of a police department’s own operations and policies, including its allocation of personnel, money, equipment, and other resources?

Operations analysis

Which type of analysis concentrates on the collection and dissemination of information about criminals, particularly organizations and conspiracies?

Criminal Intelligence Analysis

Two or more related crimes believed to be committed by the same offender or group of offenders is a:

Series

A statistical procedure designed to determine if there is a relationship between two variables is:

Correlation (this will always be a value between -1 and 1)

What is the process of translating addresses or numeric coordinates into points on a map.  In law enforcement, this is mostly referred to as “address matching”:

Geocoding

The acronym, “GIS” stands for:

Geographic Information System

An area of high crime, events that form a cluster, or a single place with many crimes all describe a:

Hot spot

The process in which an analyst reviews police reports with the aim of identifying and analyzing a pattern of crimes that is believed to be committed by the same offender or offenders is called:

Crime series analysis

The acronym, “SARA” stands for:

Scanning, Analysis, Response, Assessment

Which of the following is NOT a NIBRS Group A data segment?

Summary

Which of the following is NOT a Part-I Crime?

Kidnapping

What can you never divide by?

Zero

When looking at things to see how they might be related, what should you look at?

Look at the time of the event, location, victim/target characteristics similarities, behavioral signatures (maybe a criminal always leaves a symbol behind), physical evidence (DNA), similar or vehicle suspect descriptions.

What does CAD stand for?

Computer-aided dispatch (essentially a fancy term for 911 call)

What does FI (sometimes known as FIR or FC) stand for?

• FI = Field interview

• FIR = Field interview report

• FC = Field contact

  • When there is no criminal activity but suspicious behavior, law enforcement talks to someone and takes note of the interaction.

What is the first thing that an analyst should do after hearing about crimes in an area?

They should look at field reports and traffic tickets in the area from the previous weeks to see if anything matches the crime that happened.

When a district commander asks you why there is an uptick in motor crimes, what is the first thing that you do?

The first step is to determine the reason behind his belief in the rise in crimes. For example, an analyst should initiate collaboration and seek data to support or dismiss his claim.

What does NIBRS stand for?

National Incident-Based Reporting System

What does UCR stand for?

Uniform Crime Reporting Program

How does NIBRS differ from UCR

UCR (the FBI’s traditional summary reporting system) is an aggregate, monthly tally of selected crimes, so it mostly tells you “how many” offenses a jurisdiction recorded, with limited incident detail; NIBRS is a newer, incident-based system that reports details about each crime event (e.g., circumstances, victims, known offenders, location, time) and counts multiple offenses within the same incident rather than applying UCR’s hierarchy rule that typically records only the most serious offense.

What should you do if you catch a co-worker stealing or misusing agency hardware/software?

You should give them an opportunity to take responsibility tell the chain of command and if they do not then make sure that you do.

What does ILP stand for?

Intelligence led policing

What does RTCC stand for?

Real-time crime centers

How do you find the crime rate per 100,000 people?

(number of incidents/population) x 100,000

How do you find the percent change of a data set?

(new value - old value/old value) x 100

What role does a crime analyst play in law enforcement?

• Information sharing within and outside the agency

• Review reports to determine and analyze trends and patterns

• Provide analytical support for investigations

• Prepare crime statistical reports

• Create and distribute bulletins on suspects, patterns and trends

• Provide regular reports on crime activity in the agency’s jurisdiction

• Develop effective strategies and tactics to prevent future crimes

• Help in planning effective use of resources and future resource needs

Who would you think the crime analyst’s primary “customers” are and why?

• Patrol Officers – provide information and analysis on offenders, patterns, hot spots, officer safety concerns, and crime statistics

• Traffic Officers – provide data/statistics/reports on traffic incidents

• Detectives – provide analytical support and research for case investigations

• Command Staff – provide reports on crime statistics, trends and resource planning

• Crime Prevention Unit – provide neighborhood crime information

• City Officials – provide information on crime statistics and trends

• Citizens – provide updates regarding crime trends affecting the community

• Outside agencies – exchange information on crime patterns, series and offenders

• Prosecutors – create products for prosecutors and courtroom presentations

Describe the activities/tasks that would be part of a crime analyst’s daily routine.

• Review the calls for service on a daily basis

• Identify crime and incident patterns

• Disseminate information to department via bulletins or other information sharing processes

• Provide investigative research on incidents and cases

• Research offenders for crime activity, history, location, associates, vehicles, warrants, etc.

• Liason with surrounding agencies to share information on related cases

• Attend briefings to provide information to and receive information from officers

• Produce ad hoc analytical reports for Command Staff

What information sources would you utilize to help identify a crime trend?

• Records Management System (RMS)

• Computer Aided Dispatch system (CAD)

• Case reports

• Regional Crime Analysts

• Crime bulletins

• Patrol officers and detectives

• Regional information sharing systems

• Regional information sharing meetings

Describe the general types of information that you would put into a bulletin to get information out to patrol officers on a crime series.

• Suspect description (name, dob, height, weight, hair, eyes, address, etc)

• M.O. description

• History of series including locations, dates, times (crime matrix)

• Pattern description of series

• Map of incidents

• Suspect photo

• Vehicle photo (or sample if actual vehicle photo not available)

• Surveillance photos

• Request for action/response

• Contact information for responsible officer/detective/crime analyst

You have determined that there is a crime series in your jurisdiction that may be linked to crimes in other cities. Describe what you as the Crime Analyst would do to disseminate this information?

• Send a request for information to other agencies to see who has similar incidents

• Talk with crime analysts or detectives from other agencies about their similar incidents

• Create a matrix to help analyze the series

• Create a bulletin to disseminate to your agency and outside agencies to inform them of the series

How could an analyst do problem-oriented policing?

• Address a problem by more than just responding with officers

• Thoroughly analyze the problem – there are different ways to look at a problem so it must be reviewed from all sides to determine the best course of action

• Analyze solutions that go beyond arresting offenders

• Utilize resources along with enforcement to solve the problem

• Pro-actively try to solve problems rather than just react to the harmful consequences of problems

• Deal with the conditions that create the problem

• Evaluate responses for effectiveness

How would you work to gain the confidence of department personnel?

• Provide useful and actionable information in a timely manner to officers

• Regularly attend patrol briefings

• Attend detective meetings

• Go on ride-alongs with officers

• Survey department personnel on usefulness of CAU products

What are the goals of a Crime Analyst?

• Work with department personnel to solve crimes

• Develop effective strategies and tactics to prevent future crimes

• Conduct research to locate offenders

• Help the department improve safety and quality of life for the community

• Assist the organization to optimize internal operations

• Provide analysis to help prioritize patrol and investigation resources

• Detect and analyze community problems

• Work with Command Staff to plan for future resource needs and enact effective policies

• Assist Crime Prevention Unit in educating the public regarding crime activity and trends

What resources can a Crime Analyst use to obtain non-traditional police data in order to analyze a crime-related issue?

• Motor vehicle registration data (DOL)

• County real estate data

• Business licenses

• Telephone directories

• Pawn data

• Geographic Information Systems; Online geographic mapping applications

• National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB)

• Social Security Index (SSI)

• CARFAX

• VIN Query

• News media

Describe how crime analysis and intelligence are the same and how they differ.

• Share common tools, techniques and skills

• The smaller the agency the more likely an analyst will perform both types of analysis

• Crime Analysis

  • Reduce crime and disorder using a problem-solving process

  • Identify and analyze patterns, trends and problems

  • Create and disseminate information that solves, reduces or prevents crime

  • Focus is more with local law enforcement

• Intelligence Analysis

  • Collection and dissemination of information about criminals, particularly organizations and conspiracies

  • Investigative process looking for information on the structure and hierarchy of criminal organizations, flow of money and goods, relationships, and personal information on participants

  • Focus is more with larger agencies