The Crime Analysis Unit (CAU) was implemented in 2003 and currently consists of one crime analyst, assigned under the direction of the Support Services Division Captain. The crime analyst is a member of the Colorado Crime Analysis Association (CCAA) and the International Association of Crime Analysts (IACA). She recently became a Certified Law Enforcement Analyst with the IACA, and is also a certified crime and intelligence analyst with the California Department of Justice.
The mission of the CAU is to provide timely and accurate tactical, strategic, and administrative analysis of data relating to crime in support of the agency’s strategic goals and community policing efforts. In essence, the CAU is responsible for determining and monitoring criminal activity in Douglas County and communicating the information to Patrol, Investigations, other law enforcement agencies, and other sections and units that can assist with reducing or eliminating the criminal activity.
Crime analysis is defined as a set of systematic, analytical processes directed at providing timely and pertinent information relative to crime patterns and trend correlations to assist operational and administrative personnel in planning the deployment of resources for the prevention and suppression of criminal activities, aiding the investigative process, and increasing apprehensions and the clearance of cases (Steven Gottlieb et al., 1998, Crime Analysis: From First Report to Final Arrest).
There are three types of crime analysis, all of which are performed by the CAU:
Tactical Analysis - assists operations personnel with identifying specific and immediate crime problems and arresting offenders.
Strategic Analysis - assists with crime statistics and long term problems and projections of increases or decreases in crime and crime trends.
Administrative Analysis - assists with economic, geographic or social information concerning an agency’s jurisdiction.
The CAU supports numerous divisions within the department with the following core functions:
Identifying crime patterns and crime series
Forecasting future crime occurrences
Identifying likely targets of crime
Providing investigative leads to investigators
Assisting with case clearances
Providing support data to community policing and crime prevention programs
Provide data to support resource allocation and departmental planning
Examples of products produced by the CAU include quarterly statistics summaries, crime bulletins detailing immediate crime problems, and crime maps.