Becoming crime analysis: towards the development of an analytical identity as a mechanism for progress

Crime analysis has been widely adopted and accepted within law enforcement on the promise that it has the potential to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Despite its proliferation, a growing body of literature suggests that crime analysis both falls short of affecting law enforcement operations and also may, through its methods, reinforce rather than challenge traditional policing structures and approaches. This major paper explores the origins of crime analysis as a means of explanation for this shortcoming, identifying that the function of crime analysis has been constructed and defined by law enforcement. Law enforcement’s perception of analysts as information collators and disseminators stemmed from an increased need for access to information in the modern policing era and has contributed to a lack of clarity around the definitions, role, and purpose of analysis in the law enforcement context. Hypothesizing that crime analysis reinforces traditional policing as is itself the by-product of traditional policing, this major paper provides recommendations for progress by proposing the development and maintenance of an analytical identity, where crime analysis works for rather than is defined by law enforcement. Through comparison with the discipline of data analysis, recommendations for the role and process of analysis within law enforcement are proposed, and hiring, training, and management are discussed as central to the continued professionalization of analysis within law enforcement. Ultimately, this work seeks to contribute to criminal justice by providing context for a growing body of research identifying challenges with crime analysis and developing recommendations for progress.