Adv Crim Intel
8/26/25 – Chapter 1: The Crime Problem
o Examples of past criminal events: Parkland Florida school shooting, police shooting an unarmed civ, Boston marathon, celebrity bribing of colleges, congressman illegally using campaign funds.
§ Ex DOGE staffer le ft bloodied after savage FC carjacking attempt by 10 juveniles.
§ Washington DC 2024 murder rate per 100k = 27.54
§ Cities with highest homicide rate June 2022 = New Orleans LA 145 (36.8 per 100k)
o Concerns About Crime on the Federal Level
§ President Lyndon Johnson’s Commission on Crime and the Administration of Justice
§ President Trump and his attorney General Pam Bondi
§ Trump announced on Monday August 11th, 2025 that he was federalizing the local police department (District of Columbia)
o Local Level Perspectives
§ Police chiefs vs citizens local level perspectives on crime
· Citizens: A majority of Americas say there is more crime in the US than there was a year ago.
· Police chiefs: “Overall crime stats may show a decrease”, “Crime reduction as a top priority”, “multifactored approach to crime reduction”
§ Approximately 60% of violent crime goes unreported in the US and approximately 70% of property crime in the US goes unreported per the USDOJ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics.
o DC police commander suspended in July 2025
§ A D.C. police commander is under investigation for allegedly making changes to crime statistics in his district.
o Analyzing and Dealing with the Crime Problem
§ Today: Most countries, including the US, have an evolved criminal justice system that is multilayered & sophisticated; but also, bureaucratic politically influenced.
o Crime Analysis Video
§ Crime analysis is the study of crime patterns and trends.
§ Crime analysis
· Tactical, strategic (problem), administrative, operational (county and local)
§ Criminal intelligence analysis
· Identify networks, mafias, gangs, drug networks, prost rings, financial networks, etc. (county, state, federal)
§ Criminal investigative analysis
· Profiling serial rape, homicide, arson (federal)
§ Role of a crime analyst
· Predict when and where a criminal is going to strike again
· Identify crime patterns and disseminate to patrol/public
· Develop strategies with police and other agencies
· Overall: Reduce and prevent crime and disorder
o Crime analysis organized information and intelligence in a way that helps to solve problems and reduce crime & disorder
§ An Analyst’s To-Do List
· Identify patterns/hot spots as they happen
· Research long term problems
· Provide information on demand
· Develop and Link Local Intelligence
· Solve crime/identify offenders
· Increase officer safety
· Improve quality of life
· Allocate resources
· Educate/inform the public
· Improve data quality/standards
· Stats and numbers keeper
· Maps
· Social Media
o Cesare Beccaria in Italy
§ The founder of classical criminology
§ Italian nobleman and jurist who was born in 1738
§ His theory: People are rational and they do things that being them pleasure; they avoid doing things which bring them pain.
o Important Terms
§ Intelligence: The data available to, collected by, or disseminated throug the tactical crime analyst
§ The tactical crime analyst: The trained analyst whose job it is to analyze crime and criminal events or offenses in order to provide practical intelligence to police officers, the police command, or the public.
§ Intelligence analysis: Refers to what the tactical crime analyst does in his or her position; continually evaluating and analyzing data in order to provide the most useful possible information to police officers
§ SARA: A model developed by Professor Herman Goldstein at the Uni of Wisconsin-Madison to enhance the problem solving approach to policing; SARA is an acronym that stands for Scanning, Analysis, Response, and Assessment
§ Real time setting or real time crime center: Refers to the location where any tactical crime analyst have their “office”; A real time crime center is a room in which the tactical crime analyst has his or her disposal a bank of computers and extensive websites and data banks that allow access to and analysis of intelligence in order to provide practical and useful on the spot information to police officers in the field
o Can crime be eliminated completely? No
8/28/25 – Chapter 2: What do we know about Crime?
o Vital role statistics paly in criminal justice
§ Crime analysts rely on examining statistical data
§ Results of data analysis of statistics are used, in part, to form conclusions that support the justification for tactical recommendations made to address issues related to crime
o How much crime is there in America?
§ How do we measure crime?
§ In order to be both cautious and skeptical, you must ask 2 questions about crime statistics
· 1. Are crime measurements measuring what they purport to be measuring?
· 2. Does the source of crime statistics have something to gain from the way crime measurements are presented to the public?
§ Four most frequently used data sources for estimating crime come from
· Uniform crime reports
o The early UCR program was managed by IACP and done through a monthly report
o First UCR report in Jan 1930 presented data from 400 cities throughout 43 states covering more than 20 million people (approx. 20% of total US pop)
o Since 1935, the FBI has served as a data clearing house organizing, collecting, and disseminating information voluntarily submitted by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies
o Each FBI’s UCR data is compiled from more than 18k law enforcement agencies representing more than 98% of the US population.
o UCR and Violent Crime
§ Violent crime is composed of 4 offenses: murder, and nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault
o UCR and Property Crime
§ Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft.
§ The object of the theft type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims.
o UCR data is based on what police departments are willing to report.
· National crime victimization survey
o A major source of data about crime comes from the NVCS
o Once called the national crime survey, its been conducted annually since 1972.
o Self-report survey in which interviewed persons are asked about the number and characteristics of victimizations experiences during the prior 6 months.
o Information is collected for each victimization incident
· National incident based reporting system
o In 1985, joint task force of the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the FBI was created to study and recommend ways to improve the quality of information contained in the UCR program.
o This resulted in the NIBRS and the first collection of data in 1991
· Self-report studies
o Self-Report Data
§ Self-reports studies are an important source of information about offenders and their offenses
§ They often provide more information that the UCR program and the NCVS do about people who actually commit crimes.
§ Self-report surveys always ask people to reveal information about themselves and their own law violations.
§ Drawbacks
· People exaggerate their criminal acts
§ CompStat
· CompStat is an accountability process officially adopted by the New York City Police Department in 1994.
· Basically CompStat, as used by law enforcement, is an in house process that holds upper management accountable for crime reduction within their respective areas of patrol.
· By utilizing statistical data, with the assistance of GIS tech, police agencies can track crime patterns and view these patterns in a variety of ways.
· Example: Hot spot analysis of specific crime patterns can display spatial clusters relating to hot spot are as of these crimes and then designate the values of these clusters as high and low.
· In short
o Accurate and timely intelligence about underlying crime conditions
§ 3 ways to collect and store data
· Computer aided dispatch (CAD)
o Strengths/Weaknesses
§ No analysis capabilities
§ Manage volume of calls, auto assign
· Records management system (RMS)
o Crime reports
o Arrest reports
o Field interview forms
o Accident reports
o Investigative case tracking
o Evidence (property management)
o Citations
o Warrants
· Geographic data system
9/2/25
· Crime Lab Workday
9/9/25 – Chapter 3: What Causes People to Commit Crimes?
· Beginnings of Criminological Theories
o Ideas and theories about what causes crime go back hundreds of years
o The religiously based criminal justice system of the time took what was seen as appropriate action to deal with the morally deficient.
o That usually meant lawbreakers were frequently tortured.
· Positivist School
o Saw human behavior as based on a combination of internal and external influences such as biology, psychology and social factors
o The classical school still saw crime as emanating from free will and choice, however, positivism believed it was a combination of internal and external forces that shapes behavior
· Positivism
o Early positivists such as Caesare Lombroso, considered biological attributes to be the real roots of crime.
o He took body measurements of offenders in Italian prisons and concluded that there were “born criminals”
o These born criminals had distinctive body measurements and skull sizes
o Biological explanations of crime were influential following Lombroso and others
o But then came the development of psychoanalysis in the late 19th century
· Influence of Psychoanalysis
o All psychological explanations look inside the human mind for the causes of criminal offending
o The oldest and perhaps one of the most influential theories was Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory
o Although Freud did not set out to explain criminal behavior, some of his followers offered explanations based on psychoanalytic theories
· Psychoanalytic Explanation
o Id, ego and superego.
o Freud saw the if as the instinctual part of the personality. The ego was that part that mediated between the self-centered desires of the id and the learned values of the superego. The super ego acts as a person’s conscious, but develops from the values an individual learns early in life
· Other Psychological Theories
o Charles Goring studied mental characteristics of English convicts and said there was a relationship between crime and condition he called defective intelligence.
o August Aichhorn said there had to be a predisposition for antisocial acts; such predisposition, according to August, included impulsivity, and a tendency to consider ones own needs more important than others.
o Children and teens, DBD.
§ Oppositional defiant disorder
§ Conduct disorder
o Cognitive theory of crime. Hypothesize that criminal offending results from habits of thought and interpretations of reality. More recent refinements of cognitive theory suggest that criminals interpret situations differently than non-criminals. Example: criminal: more hostile, more likely to respond with aggressive behavior
· Yochelson and Samenow
o Theorized that criminals choose to commit crimes and the cause is the way they think. All criminals are alike, that is they are similar in terms of how they think. Distorted and twisted ways. Punishment isn’t considered because of this in their thought processes.
· Sutherland
o Suggested that delinquent behavior is learned in much the same way that people learn other things such as by observation, role modelling and reinforcement.
· Other sociological theories
o Blocked opportunity: Criminal behavior results from lack of access to legitimate means for achieving goals
o Labeling theory: When society reacts negatively toward an individual or labels him or her, the person acquires a negative self-image and acts accordingly.
o Social bonding: If someone has weak bonds to society, then they are less likely to respect customary social rules or laws.
· Which Crime Causation Theory Works Best for the Crime Analyst?
o No one theory is a perfect explanation of the causes of crime.
o However from the POV of the crime analyst, a more important question needs to be asked: Which theory or theories help to understand the criminal offender’s motivation?
o A follow up question: Can an offenders pattern of behavior be identified?
o In crime analysis, pattern recognition is a critical skill set needed for the crime & Intelligence analyst to be able to deduce the distinct pattern or method of operation
· 3 Criminological Theories That Have Utility for the Crime Analyst
o 1. Rational choice Theory
o 2. Routine Activities Theory
§ Primary driver why trump administration pushed the NG into DC
§ Examines the crime target, but argue 3 elements must converge before a crime will be committed:
· Motivated offenders
· Suitable targets
· An absence of people – referred to as guardians by Cohen & Felson – Who might deter the would-be offender
o 3. Criminal Personality Theory
§ Theory that criminals, not the environment, cause the crime and that there are patterns of thinking common to all hardcore criminals regardless of their background.
§ The family has no particular effect on criminals; Instead, people who grow up to be criminals begin at an early age to engage in self-destructive patterns of antisocial behavior
§ Furthermore these individuals engage in thinking errors, which are typical for most people at some times, but in the offender are taken to extremes.
· Policing Strategies
o Several police strategies have been created as intervention and prevention efforts to directly address the crime problem
o These models and methods should be part of the general knowledge of crime analysts in carrying out their various functions
· Predominant models and methods
o Stand model: 911 calls, LE provides services and investigates those calls as they are dispatched
o Community policing: Proactive work to prevent crime. Steady flow of information. Officers patrol in popular public areas for a presence.
o Broken Windows Policies: They wrote that police should focus their efforts on targeting specific criminal behavior that leads to the deterioration of the geographical area in question. Intent of police removing or covering up graffiti, fixing broken windows, and discouraging panhandlers and prostitutes from freely loitering on streets to prevent more serious crimes from happening.
o Problem Oriented Policing: Police should take a proactive role in identifying, understanding, and responding to problems, not just incidents. It relies on scanning, analysis, response, and assessment (SARA) to derive strategies for best responding to criminal behavior.
o Intelligence Led Policing: Relies heavily on gathering, sharing, assessment and dissemination of information (intelligence) used to aid in strategic planning and proactive enforcement measures. The implementation of intelligence led policing is meant to anticipate crime trends and proactively create prevention strategies while respecting privacy rights.
· The Victim and the Offender’s MO
o Theory based on the premise that the person who gets hurt significantly contributed to the outbreak of violence. Assumed that victims, directly or indirect, contribute to their own victimization by placing themselves at some level of risk. The MO of a criminal offender refers to that person’s method of operation, and their style or patterns.
· Summary
o Knowing the 5 models of policing.
o We strongly encourage future crime analysts to get to know these policing models in detail so that they can contribute to your analysis of intelligence, statistics & criminal problems
· Discussion
o Does the classical theory of criminology still have relevance today?
o What criminological theories make the most sense to you?
9/11/25 – Chapter 4: The Police and Law Enforcement, It’s Come a Long Way
· Face of the Criminal Justice System
o Most people think of police
o Police is one part of the criminal justice system most people have contact with
o It is the police that Americans expect will respond to crime; and it is anticipated that the police will do their job by investigating a crime & ultimately solving that crime.
· Crimes that got our attention
o James Holmes, Bernard Madoff, Sheldon Silver.
o In all three cases when a crime has been committed, or at least alleged to have been committed, LE responds.
· Do state or federal LE officers respond?
o If the crime represents a violation of a state law, then the local police respond.
o If the crime is a violation of a federal law, then the federal government responds to the crime.
· How did our dual system of policing evolve?
o 1789, US judiciary act established the federal judiciary along with the marshals service. Marshals were the first LE agency formed to be the enforcement arm of the federal courts.
o Since there was no other mention in the constitution about law enforcement or the police, its up to us to create that policing system.
· The US was influenced by British Law Enforcement
o Since America was colonized by the English, the early citizens of the country were the people who were familiar with the systems previously developed in England.
o The major system developed was the constable watch system.
o The watch system employed in the cities and urban areas developed in the middle years of the 19th century.
· The Watch System
o Boston developed a watch system as early as 1634
o Predominant policing system in America for the succeeding 200 years
o Citizens were expected to serve as the watch, but some of the citizens could afford to pay a watch replacement, and as a consequence, often the worst kind of men ended up protecting the community
· The Sheriffs
o It moved from the watch to an actual Sheriff
o First use of the posse.
o The sheriff in rural areas and counties; some areas in the northern parts of the US often had both systems
· First Police Departments
o First American police department was created in Boston in 1838
o Although England organized its London Metropolitan Police in 1829, America didn’t imitate the English model for several years.
o 1840s NYC combined its day watch with night watch to form the first paid unified police officer
· Duties of the first police officers
o Wore uniforms, carried nightsticks, and armed themselves with firearms
o Early police officers in the 19th century performed many duties they do not have today— including street cleaning, inspecting boilers, caring for the poor and homeless, operating emergency ambulances, and performing other social services.
o Following the English tradition, police officers in the north were not issued firearms, but that started to change by the 1860s.
· Slave Patrols
o Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina had slave patrols which were their form of law enforcement to make sure slaves didn’t flee owners.
o Slave patrols would develop into more formal, government-sanctioned entities as they were legislated into existence
· Policing and the Need for Reform
o There was little change in policing from the time of the early formation of police departments in the 1850s until the 1930s.
o It was apparent that changes needed to be made because the reality of American policing was that the police were corrupt, tied into politics, and very brutal in their approach to dealing with citizens
· Prohibition
o Throughout the 1920s because of prohibition, a new series of crimes and law enforcement challenges were created
o At the same time, police depts were unable to cope with the demands brought about the attempt to ban alcohol.
o At the time police officers had a lower status which made things harder
o Police officers in the 1930s were generally underpaid, poorly trained, and ill equipped.
· Studying the Crime Problem in the US
o 100+ surveys conducted during 1920s to study the police problem, crime, and the criminal justice system
§ Most significant was the one initiated by Pres. Herbert Hoover in 1929.
§ National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement was a commission under the direction of George W. Wickersham, the US AG.
· Report from the Wickersham Commission
o Concluded that prohibition was unenforceable
o Condemned the police and said they were corrupt, and that brutality was widespread, that they were ill equipped, ill-trained, and ill-prepared to perform their duties as law enforcement.
o Police chiefs and organizations brought about improved standards for hiring police officers, improved education & training, and better equipment for the police
· Studies of Preventive Patrol
o Assumption is that putting more officers on the street will lead to reduced crime
§ Preventative patrol
§ Kansas City Preventative Patrol Project
· Results
o No significant differences in the rate of offended in terms of burglaries, robberies, auto theft, larcenies, and vandalism.
· 911 system
o Used to be a switchboard an operator would have to operate and relay information to the police
o Now it’s a phone system.
o Enhanced 911
§ Operators recognized the need for a system that would provide them with automatic access to name, address, phone, of the person making the call
9/15/25 – Chapter 5: Police Investigations in the 21st Century
· Introduction to Investigations
o Detectives are responsible for criminal investigations
o A criminal investigation is a lawful search for people and items useful in reconstructing an illegal act of omission and analyzing of the mental state of the person or persons committing that act or mission.
o Objective is to determine truth as far as it can be discovered in any inquiry
o Successful investigations are based on lawfully searching for facts.
· Criminal Investigations involve Collecting Evidence
o Criminal investigation means collecting evidence
o It is the job of the detectives to collect all evidence, and present it to prosecutors, then to the court
o Admissibility depends on whether the evidence is relevant, material, and competent
o For detectives, the first item of concern should be whether the evidence collected will be admissible in court
· The Defendant is Presumed to be Innocent
o The task of prosecution nis to prove the case against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt.
· Rules of Evidence
o There are well defined rules of procedure that must be followed for evidence collection.
o Fourth amendment
· Locating the Crime Scene
o Collection cannot begin without the actual crime scene being located
o Preliminary search of a location thought to be related to the commission of a crime aids in establishing proof that the scene was in fact linked to the crime itself
o Once the scene is determined to be that of the actual crime scene, then the act of evidence collection begins
· Collecting Evidence
o Photograph the scene as it was from every direction, and mark pieces of evidence. Once its collected and tagged, you take more photos, so you have a chronologically organized collection of each piece of evidence by date, time, number of item, location, etc.
o This helps aid the prosecution when they attempt to piece the scene together for a jury.
· Physically Collecting the Evidence
o Physically collect evidence after it’s logged and documented
o Following protocol when collecting evidence helps to eliminate any suggestion that the item seized was contaminated or collected improperly
o Abiding by the proper method of collection helps to maintain the integrity of any laboratory tests that are meant to establish a connection between the suspect and the item seized.
· After Search Photographs
o Pictures are taken after
· Search and Seizure
o 4th amendment governs the search and seizure of evidence in a criminal case
o 3 important elements
§ When suspects and their property can be searched
§ When a search warrant is needed
§ How a search warrant is obtained
· Stop and Frisk
o A police officer can search a suspect of the officer has a search warrant or if the search is incident to a lawful arrest
o Stop and frisk hasn’t always been clear whether police has the right to stop a suspicious suspect and whether they could conduct a frisk looking for weapons or contraband.
o Terry vs Ohio (1968)
§ US supreme court defined this right and the parameters of what constitutes a stop and frisk
§ Background: Police officer stopped and frisked 3 men confiscating a weapon.
§ Supreme court agreed the officer did not have probably cause, but the court make a distinction between a search without a warrant (which would require probably cause) and a stop and frisk
§ The court held that a frisk (or pat down of outer clothing) is essential to thew proper performance of a police officers investigative duties
· Rules of Evidence
o Stipulate the requirements introducing evidence
o The rules of evidence define the qualifications of an expert witness
o Evidence gathered through immoral, illegal, or unconstitutional means should not be used as evidence in a trial
· Exclusionary rule
o Evidence is declared inadmissible under the exclusionary rule
o The rule prohibits the use of evidence or testimony obtained in violation of the constitution
· Weeks vs US
o Freemont weeks was accused of transporting lottery tickets through mail. Police seized with no warrant, ruled in favor of weeks.
· Applying the Exclusionary Rule to the States
o Mapp v Ohio
· Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine
o Primary evidence refers to direct evidence (photo album containing photos of missing and presumed dead individuals); such evidence obtained by illegal means would be excluded
o Any other evidence (perhaps the burial sites of some of those bodies, which were discovered based on those photos) would still be permitted.
o However this was clarified after the Weeks v US decision
· Exceptions to the Search Warrant Rule
o 4th amendment declares a search warrant be secured by police in order for a search and seizure to take place
o To get a warrant, there must be probable cause
· Specific Exceptions to the Search Warrant Rule
o Search incident to a lawful arrest
o Plain view searches
o Consent to search
o Exigent circumstances
o Search of automobiles
o Search of people: Stop and frisk
o Public safety exceptions
o Good faith exceptions
· Exigent Circumstances Exception
o Exigent circumstance refers to a situation in which a police officer must act swiftly and the officer determines that he or shoe does not have time to go to a court to seek a warrant
o Hot pursuit, fleeing felon, sounds of struggle coming from house
o Officers do not need to prove there was a potential threat to public safety. Judges are often reluctant to second guess a police officer who had to make a split second decision when the urgency of a situation is required.
· Good Faith Exception
o Another search that has been authorized by the court as not requiring a search warrant is when the initial warrant has an error, thus rendering it invalid.
o Example: wrong address is entered, and the police carry out a search on the wrong house, evidence found at wrong address can be seized.
o The court has said that there is no misconduct by police and it was a good faith mistake on the part of law enforcement
· Interrogation of Suspects
o After an arrest is made, and warrant is carried out, the police have the authority to question the individual.
o “Interrogation” is no mentioned in the constitution but its implied in the 5th amendment.
· Miranda vs Arizona
o Police admitted they did not inform him that he had the right to an attorney,, the court had reason to doubt whether the confession was truly voluntary.
o Ernesto Miranda was convicted of kidnapping and rape, sentenced to 20-30 years. Appealed his conviction on the grounds that he did not have legal representation during interrogation.
· Mirada Decision
o Supreme court ruled his confession was inadmissible as evidence
o The court provided a five point warning which is now known as the Miranda Rights.
o The court said the opportunity to exercise these rights must be afforded to the suspect throughout the interrogation.
· The Right to Counsel
o The right to legal counsel did not originate with the Miranda decision.
o It was established by the supreme court as early as 1931 in the case of Powell v Alabama.
o The interpretation by the courts is that any words or questions by the police that are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response by a suspect qualify as an interrogation.
· Modus Operandi
o It is usually when multiple crimes occur that criminal investigators can begin to develop a pattern or modus operandi (MO) that the criminal may follow
§ Modus Operandi, loosely translated means “a method of operation”
o To a criminal an MO is a set pattern, or way, he or she prefers to commit his or her crimes.
o An MO can range from a burglar choosing to always break into his target locations from a rooftop to a murderer choosing a knife as his choice of weapon with which to commit murder
o To a criminal, an MO is a comfort zone in which he or she feels safe in committing is or her criminal act.
· The Investigative Process
o Once a pattern is established, the next step in the investigative process is identifying the key components within the organization
o This step is crucial if a criminal investigation is to have any success in attempting to dismantle the organization at all
o By identifying and demonstrating developing trends in criminal behavior, criminal investigators can effectively prepare an investigative response plan intended to identify and more importantly target the threat
o Detection and investigation of the crime requires reliable intelligence
o Without reliable intelligence, the investigator is limited to overt acts and volunteered information and thus is severely handicapped in many areas
· Key to Investigations
o The key to investigations is Information
o Obtaining good info is critical to a successful investigation
o Info can come from complaints, victims, witnesses, the suspect, or all the various files of data kept by a police department
o All of this info can enhance and strengthen an investigation
o Today we can use computed to access info rapidly and efficiently
o Millions of pieces of info through stored computer files, databases, and the internet. Trick is discerning which data is valuable and pertinent to the case that is being investigated
· The Role of Crime Analysts
o If finding the right info is the key, then that is where tactical crime analysts and intelligence experts can play an increasingly important role in helping to solve crimes
· Discussion
o Why is it so important for analysts to understand how evidence is collected?
o Under what circumstances can warrantless searches be made?
9/23/25 – Chapter 6: Intelligence and Intelligence Analysis
· Introduction
o Intelligence is the information that is the lifeblood of good police work
o Without reliable intelligence, the investigator is limited, and the chance of a successful investigation is limited
· Investigator Relies on Intelligence
o In order to conduct an investigation of a crime, the investigator or detective relies on intelligence.
o The analyst may create physical behavioral, or psychological profiles of offenders based on the crimes they have committed
· The crime analyst must…
o Have a mystery of how a criminal investigation proceeds in order to be in the best position to provide the kind of intelligence investigators need to close cases
o Strong degree of self-discipline
o Ethical and moral standards
o Capable of winning confidence of others
o Not acting out of malice or bias
· More Essential Qualities of a Criminal Investigator
o Always willing to include in their case documentation all evidence that may point to the innocence of a suspect no matter how unsavory the character of that suspect
o Knowledge that investigation is a systematic method that is more science than art
o Investigations often require initiative and personal resourcefulness
o Wide range of contacts across many occupations
o Openness to consulting with experts from various fields to help move ethe investigation forward
o Ability to use both inductive and deductive reasoning
o Willingness to monitor their own use of inductive and deductive reasoning to try and avoid distortions and fallacies
o Ability to learn something from every person they meet
o Empathy, sensitivity and compassion to do their job without causing undue anguish to others.
o Positive outlook that guards them against becoming callous & cynical
o Knowing these essential qualities possesses by good investigators allows crime analysts to strive to have them
· How does an investigation proceed?
o Typically the preliminary investigation will include the following steps (often carried out by a uniformed officer):
§ Interview the victim as initial response
§ Assess need for emergency care
§ Secure the scene and control people and evidence
§ Issue a BOLO
§ Conduct neighborhood or vehicle canvass
§ Process evidence and maintain the chain of custody of evidence
§ Write an incident report
· The responding officer
o The officer must determine whether a tactical situation exists.
o A tactical situation is one in which crimes or criminal situations are involved (perpetrator took a hostage and is barricaded in a nearby building)
o If a tactical situation exists, the responding officer will call for backup or for the assistance of specialized units
o Furthermore, the initial officer must treat the location as a crime scene unless he or she determines otherwise
o If the suspect is still at the scene, he or she should be arrested and a search of his or her person should be conducted for weapons or other evidence
o Overall, it is very important that the initial officer maintain control of the crime scene
· Maintaining Control of the Crime Scene
o This means
§ Making sure the victim is safe and secured and cared for
§ Securing the evidence
§ Seeing to it that all individuals at the scene are identified
§ Conducting interviews with the victims and witnesses
§ Issuing an All-points bulletin or BOLO if the suspect fled the scene
o Finally the responding officer must complete an incident report or an offense report
o This report will include notes, observations, and other info about the crime scene or incident
o This report will be filed in the patrol division or referred to the investigative division for follow-up.
· Follow Up Investigation
o A detective or criminal investigator may be assigned to a case or show up at the crime scene before the patrol officer leaves.
o A senior criminal investigator might be assigned to the case and assume responsibility for what happens from that point on
o The investigator may conduct a visual inspection of the crime scene and develop a preliminary plan for the investigation
o In addition, the senior investigator will decide what other services or resources are needed (additional personnel to search for suspect)
o Among the duties or procedures utilized by the senior investigator are interviewing the victim again or interviewing other witnesses, conducting or supervising the neighborhood canvass, interrogating the suspect if he or she is in custody and searching for and collecting other evidence
· Evidence
o 3 broad categories of evidence that investigators attempt to locate
§ 1. Corpus Delicti
· Evidence will help substantiate the elements of the crime
§ 2. Associative
· Evidence that connects suspect or victim to the scene or victim to the suspect (phone call)
§ 3. Tracing
· Helps to identify the offender
· Direct and Circumstantial Evidence
o 2 basic kinds of proof needed to establish guilt or innocence of a suspect
§ One type of proof is direct evidence
§ The other type of proof is circumstantial
o Direct Evidence:
§ What did they hear, smell, tase, or touch related to the crime and perhaps related to the suspect
§ 2 categories: those who come forward and those who don’t.
· Circumstantial Evidence
o Evidence in which you can draw an inference.
o Weapons, blood, fingerprints, marks, documents, dust, dirt, or other traces
o Any evidence found needs to be secured by the patrol officer or investigator
· Leads and Informants
o Biggest challenge: When the offender is unknown
o If the victim or witness can pinpoint a suspect, the offender is known and the police can make an arrest
o Cases involving named suspects are a high percentage of the cases cleared by arrest in any police department
o The unknown offender presents the biggest problem: in these cases, the investigator must develop the basic investigative leads to attempt to discover the identity of the suspect
o The basic lead, in many instances, comes from the victim
o Its not common the victim knows the offender, but the detective can develop a lead by learning more about the victims activities just before the crime
o A detective will want to make a list of those people who would benefit from the crime and who might have known the victim and what might motivate someone to target the victim
· Developing Leads
o Info from the officer on scene may result in further intelligence about possible suspects or vehicles in the area
o Fingerprints or other evidence at the scene can help confirm a suspect was at the scene of the crime and thus had the opportunity to carry out the offense
o Another lead may come from the way in which the crime was committed; from the modus operandi
o If similar cases were reported, the pattern may suggest a suspect or information from previous such crimes can be combined to offer leads
· Developing Leads
o Photos of arrested persons for similar crimes might be viewed by victims to see if an identification can be made
o Experienced investigators will avoid hunches or developing leads or suspects based on intuition
o Instead, they realize that developing leads comes about best when investigators use their know-how, their cognitive processes and their ability to work a case rapidly
· Leads
o Some leads turn out to be productive; others may be unproductive
o But both require manpower and resources
o However there is no way to predict which are the valuable leads that will be useful versus those that will be a waste of resources
o Also, the fact that a suspect is named or identified by a victim or by witnesses does not mean that the person committed the crime or knows anything about it.
o Victims and witnesses can be mistaken, have their facts all wrong, or be attempting to cause trouble for some innocent party.
o The integrity and ethics of the investigator play a key role in ruling out suspects when they are innocent, along with ruling in suspects when there is evidence suggesting guilt.
· The Crime Analyst and Police Investigations
o Real time crime analysis has proven to be effective, proactive or reactive, crime fighting tool that aids in ongoing and follow-up investigations.
o Officers returning from the field no longer need to sift through pages and pages of records to find info related to an investigation
o Now real time crime analysis provides them with info pertaining to their investigations, and in some cases, even before they make it to the scene.
o A real time crime center gives the analyst the ability to monitor CAD and work directly off dispatched jobs (Computer Aided Dispatch)
o This allows the analyst to begin a preliminary workup on CAD information, such as address of incident, vehicle data, and prepare a data summary for the responding unit if and when they call for the information.
· The Role of Databases in Investigations
o Databases allow investigators to close off some lines of inquiry, encourage the continuance of others, or suggest new lines of investigation.
o There are myriad databases available to the police these days, especially to the crime analyst or intelligence expert who knows how and when to access those databases
o Available databases are international, national, multistate, state, or regional
· National Databases
o AXIS (Arson, Explosives and Incident System): Ran by the ATF. Contains info on arsons, bombs, misuse of explosives, including incident characteristics that can be useful in determining patterns, trends and motives.
o NIBIN (National Integrated Ballistics Information Network): Also operated by the ATF, this database determine if firearms are related to other cases
o NDPIX (National Drug Pointer Index): From the DEA, this database alerts participating agencies of investigative targets they have in common
o NamUs (National Mission and Unidentified Persons System): Administered by the NIJ, this database is designed to help track missing people or identify human remains.
o NCIC (National Crime Information Center): Maintained by the FBI, this database has 19 files which include National Sex Offender Registry, Unidentified Person File, Missing Persons File, USSS Protective File, Foreign Fugitive File, Gang File, Supervised Release File, and Identity Theft File.
· State and Local Databases
o In addition to national databases, there are state & local databases that contain information about millions of offenders, missing persons, driver’s license and vehicle registration info, state and local court information, DoC offender and inmate tracking, sexual predator tracking, and various other kinds of information.
· 6 Step Process Used by Crime Analysis Centers
o Planning and Direction: The intelligence process requires a focus and direction for the intelligence effort
o Collection: Raw data are collected by the intelligence unit, but this raw data must be analyzed and refined so that usable information is relayed to the police unit in need of data
o Processing: The raw data is analyzed which may mean that information is indexed, sorted, and filed in meaningful ways that will allow for rapid retrieval and immediate usefulness to investigators
o Analysis and production: Data that has been processed and translated into a finished intelligence report; the crime analyst in the intel unit must combine data into a finished product that informs the user of the analysts assessment of events.
o Dissemination: After colleting data, analyzing it, and producing a finished report, one must disseminate it to the officer or department that requested it
o Re-evaluation: The receiving officer or department must provide feedback so that the intelligence unit can be constantly striving for improvement
· Intelligence Reports
o There are any number of reports than an intel unit can produce for a police department
o Among the different kinds of reports, many can provide intel for criminal investigators, perhaps the 4 most important are criminal profiles, geographic profiles, time-event charts, and link analysis.
· Criminal Profiles
o Developing a psychological portrait of an unknown offender
o It is law enforcement and psychology
· Geographical Profiles
o Premise of geographic profiling is that given a sufficient number oof crimes, with adequate information for analysis, a probabilistic map of the area in which the offenders residence is located can be calculated
o Although designed to analyze the locations of a connected series of crimes to determine the most likely area of offender residence, geographic profiling allows investigators and LE to more effectively manage info and focus their investigations
· Time Event Charting and Link Analysis
o Time event chart depicts in graphic form the chronology of an individual’s or a group’s activity
o A timeline that offers investigators a way to focus on individual incidents in order to develop a general, graphic overview of a crime.
o It answers questions like where a person was leading up to the crime
o Its used to find matches in data for known patterns of interest, find anomalies where known patterns are violated and discover new patterns of interest
9/30/25 – Chapter 7: Intelligence and Tactical Analysis
· Intro to Tactical Analysis
o 2005, NYCPD opened its $11 million RTCC
o Center was designed to have a work space for analysts to work cohesively with sworn law enforcement in a technologically driven environment for the purpose of data mining intelligence in real time from multiple data sources and then sending those results out to the field to assist officers with their investigations
o Centralized data hub that rapidly mine info from crime databases, and disseminates that information to officers in the field
o Hybrid for of traditional analysis was needed to address the skill set required to rapidly data mine info and intel and disseminate it to a 3rd party
· The Intelligence Process
o Actionable intelligence
· Possible step 6: Re-evaluation? Constant re-evaluation of the intelligence you looked at before to what’s coming in
· Tactical Analyst
o Splits its analysis between tactical and strategic
o Data mining accelerated the states inf intel process because the info needs to be turned into actionable intelligence
o Can be used for any type of crime, but gang violence and criminal enterprises is common
· Tactical Analyst Responsibilities
o Collect, Evaluate, Analyze, Conclusions, Product dev and distribution and follow up
· Intelligence Led Policing
o Generally should focus on threats.
o FBI is referenced a lot Because they structure a lot of their stuff based on intel led policing
o They based it all on threats. Nat sec threats, white collar threats, fraud, tax evasion, civil rights violations, etc.
o They allocate analytical resources to those threats based on how prevalent it is or how often it happens in a particular area
· Intelligence and the Terrorist Threat
o Tactical analysis is going to feed your strategic analysis
o In general, terrorism is the unlawful use of force and violence against persons property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives
o Title 18, federal crime of terrorism is an offense that is calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government
· The Terrorist Threat
o 9/11 opened the eyes to terrorist threats
o Mainly due to the fact there was no tactical intelligence sharing at the time
o Withholding this information gets them more funding, and keeps them relevant
· Best Way of Addressing Terrorism
o By sharing information
· Terrorist Fusion Center
o A lot of states have fusion centers.
o Clearing house of information of tactical criminal analysis that is generally region based.
o Publish reports to all agencies on a variety of issues
o Information gathering for tactical analysis
· The Plan to Improve Intelligence Sharing
o Folks still don’t like to share intelligence. Some if it is credit for the break of the case. And the FBI will classify information they don’t want people knowing.
o The biggest problem plaguing intelligence is the lack of intelligence sharing
o Acts and plans
§ USA Patriot Act (2001)
§ Homeland Security Act (2002)
§ National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan (2003)
· Common Denominator
o For all those things is all about intelligence, and the lack of sharing, and the intent to make it better.
What do I know? | What do I need to know? | What would I like to know?
10/2/25 – Chapter 8: Collecting Intelligence
· Starting an investigation
o When investigators arrive on scene, some info will be available to them.
o Patrol officers may have access to a number of sources of information; which can be passed on to the criminal investigators. This information may be all the investigator needs in order to solve the crime and arrest a suspect.
o However, more often than not, there will be insufficient evidence to lead to an arrest and the suspect will not be known or identified.
o In that event, the investigator or detective will need to draw on other sources of info to begin the process of investigating the crime and pursuing the criminal.
o Essentially, then, the investigator must rely on intelligence
· Interplay between the Intelligence Analyst and the Criminal Investigator
o While the detective is on scene in the beginning and has access to his or her direct sources of info, the intel analyst is away from the actual crime scene
o But the intelligence analyst can access numerous sources of intelligence while taking new data fed to him or her by the investigator and helping to c connect the dots between a crime and criminal offender
o The interplay between the intelligence analyst and the investigator may start even before the detective arrives on scene
o A skilled intelligence analyst will begin accumulating information valuable to the detective early in the process
· Coordination of Intelligence
o By arriving at the scene with some basic intelligence, the investigator can interview victims and witnesses with a more informed perspective and can ask more probing questions
o But from that point on, the investigator can provide feedback to the analyst and can ask more pointed questions of the analyst
o The investigator may ask the analyst about patterns of crimes in he area, previous suspects and even for photos of previous suspects, the detective can determine the next steps in the investigation
· Sources of information
o In addition to statements form victims and witnesses as well as information from other police officers, informants, detectives can work with intelligence analysts to review sources of information available in databases.
o Some of the databases offering treasure troves of information are the following:
§ Department of Motor Vehicles (SecState): To obtain drivers licenses, vehicle registrations and photos
§ Dept of Corrections: To track convicted felons and determine their incarceration of parole status; photos from the time of incarceration are often available
§ Stolen property databases: For instance, Trace is the largest database of property reported stolen to US law enforcement agencies; This database hold millions of serial numbers of stolen goods from thousands of police agencies that can be searched to identify goods that are recovered.
· More Databases
o Federal, state and local court information: The database PACER hosts millions of case file documents and docket information for all district, bankruptcy and appellate court
o Furthermore, most state and local felony courts maintain a database, but there are databased that cover the entire United States
o An example is Corra’s Nationwide Criminal Records Database, a powerful search of more than 200 million records nationwide
o Probation, parole and supervised release data: There are state and local databases that track offenders who have been placed on probation or are on parole
o Prosecutorial information: Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) has a database for hundreds of millions of federal charges and convictions; There are federal databases that list health and safety convictions, elder abuse convictions & prosecutions by the EPA
· Even More Databases
o Gang related tracking: The National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC), operated by the FBI, integrates gang intelligence from across federal state and local law enforcement on the growth, migration, criminal activity and association of gangs that pose a significant threat to the US.
o Sexual predator tracking or Sex Offender Registry: The FBI has on its website the National Sex Offender Public Website, which provides access to the latest information from all 50 states, the District of Colombia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and numerous Indian tribes for the identity and location of known sex offenders.
· Non-Profit and Private Databases
o Besides state and local systems and databases there are also nonprofit and private sources of info about suspected or known criminal figures, groups and businesses as well as terrorists
o For instance, one such database is operated by the Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Units (LEIU)
o Another is LeadsOnLine, a private subscription service used by more than 1600 law enforcement agencies; it provides access to transactions from thousands of reporting businesses, including scrap metal processors, secondhand stores, Internet drop-off stores, pawnshops and eBay.
· Social Media
o Finally there are hundreds of social network sites such as Facebook MyYearbook, Twitter (X), Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and Classmates, that contain personal profiles and often valuable personal details about where people live, work and vacation, along with information about friends, associates and love interests.
· The Role of the Intelligence Analyst
o There are a plethora of databases and sources of intelligence and data these days
o The intelligence analyst and the tactical crime analyst must be aware of the many sources of useful data in order to be of the most help to law enforcement.
10/7/25 – Crime Lab #4
10/14/25 – Chapter 9: Data Mining and Analyzing Intelligence
· What is data mining?
o Data mining: sometimes called discovery or knowledge discovery, is the process of analyzing data from different perspectives and summarizing them into useful information
o One a more technical level, data mining is the process of finding correlations or patterns among many fields in large relational databases
o Data mining tell us about very large and complex data sets
· Databases are Complex
o The sheer scale and volume of the data collected by businesses and the government defy out imagination; it is beyond our sense making capabilities
o X
o X
· How does Data Mining Work?
o IT is the use of any computers, storage, networking, and other physical devices, infrastructure, and processes to create processes.
o X
o X
o X
· Transaction Processing Systems
o Supports the processing of a company’s or organization’s business transactions
o TPs of a university helps enrolling students in courses, billing for tuition, issuing paychecks to faculty, etc.
o TPSs keep an organization running smoothly by automating the processing of the voluminous amounts of paperwork that must be handled daily
· Computer Based TPSs
o “Bread and butter” of the management information system application
o Most TPSs have been and still are mainframe oriented
o IBM equipmentg and their combatibles currently claim the lion’s share of the transaction processing marketplace
o The TPS supports the processing of an organizations many transactions
· Analytical Systems
o IT has been developing analytical systems.
o One strategy for extracting meaning from large amounts of investigative information is the use of data mining applications
o Data mining systematically searches information….
o X
o X
· Data Mining in Criminal Justice
· Software Available for Data Mining in Criminal Justice
· Software Used in Criminal Justice
o Statistical Analysis System (SAS)
· Machine Learning and Data Mining
o Often employ the same methods but are different.
o Instead of extracting for human comprehension, machine learning uses those data to improve the program’s own understanding
o Machine learning programs detect patterns in data and adjust program actions accordingly
o Machine learning by definition is a type of AI that provides computers with the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed
· Distinguishing Between Machine Learning and Data Mining
o Machine learning is known, data mining is unknown
· Series Finder
o A machine learning method called “Series Finder” was developed by Wang et al in 2013
o It was designed to assist the police in discovering crime series
o Initially it was trained to detect housebreak patterns and it learned how to do this using historical data from one police department’s crime analysis unit
§ An algorithm was developed to do this.
§ An algorithm includes a finite number of steps to solve any given problem
§ The algorithm used in Series Finder tries to construct a modus operandi (MO) of the offender
§ As Series Finder grows the pattern from the database, the MO for the pattern becomes better defined
· Artificial Neural Networks
o An ANN is defined as a computing system made up of a number of simple highly interconnected processing elements, which process information by their dynamic state response to external inputs.
o ANNs are processing devices that are loosely modeled after the neuronal structure of the mammalian cerebral cortex
o CATCH
o CATCHRAPE
o Both are applications that are similar, they analyze different databases and use advanced algorithms to facilitate the comparison of crime data to find crimes that have similar patterns.
· What Kinds of Relationships can Data Mining Software Reveal?
o Generally, any of four types of relationship are sought by analysts:
1. Entity extractions
2. Clusters
3. Associations
4. Sequential patterns
· Entity Extractions
o Entity extraction identifies particular patterns from data, such as text, images, or audio materials
o They have been used to identify a persons address, vehicles, personal characteristics, etc.; this means that entity extraction can provide basic information for crime analysis
o X
o X
o X
· Clusters
o Cluster of subset of information (or objects) that are similar
o X
o X
o Very important with gang association
· Associations
o Creating an association of one thing being linked to another
o Plays an important part in shopping basket data analysis, product clustering, catalog design, and store layout
· Associations II
· Associations Software
· Sequentials
· Sequentials II
o Frequent sequence mining could help determine the interval between certain types…