Introduction
Crime is a collective concept, a social phenomenon that includes a set of various acts of individual criminal behavior. It is characteristic for crime to overcome these unique traits and a sign common to all prohibited acts, the totality of which defines its concept. The success of the fight against crime largely depends on the level and quality of information support for the activities of law enforcement agencies. Information of this kind can also be used in analytical work as an integral part of combating crime. It can be said that nowadays, the importance of analytical work for cognition and evaluation of crime is immeasurably increasing. This paper aims to reveal the concepts and features of strategic, tactical, and administrative analysis of crimes. In addition, the question will be considered as to which of these types of analyses is best suited to solve the problem of burglaries in House Springs, Missouri 63051.
Features of Strategic Crime Analysis
Strategic analysis is essential of a research nature and should be carried out by scientists and specialists in sociology, criminology, political economy, and demography. Qualitative and quantitative indicators of crime and the results of the activities of law enforcement entities to combat this negative phenomenon are measured (Cusson, 2017). The essence of strategic analysis is the procedure for searching and selecting strategic alternatives for developing a process that affects society’s level of social security as a whole and in some regions of its life (Walker & Drawve, 2018). These trends can play a decisive role in the future strategy of ensuring social security and forecasting performance indicators of law enforcement entities on this basis.
In one way or another, these aspects can affect the state of social security in the future and are necessary for making strategic decisions in law enforcement relations. The primary means of strategic analysis are predicted, modeled, and constructed qualities and properties of social objects that can ensure the future state of security of the individual, society, and the state. The strategic analysis of crime is implemented in three stages:
- In the first stage, the analysis of the theoretical patterns inherent in the processes and phenomena under study is carried out. The study of empirical data on their structure and features is performed, followed by a description of the proposed models, and their behavior in the future.
- The second stage involves the creation and formation of methods designed to solve the problem of negative patterns and contribute to the emergence of positive changes in patterns.
- The third stage is designed to ensure the formulation of the projected results of strategic analysis (Fennelly, 2020).
Thus, strategic analysis is widely used in the law enforcement system, as it allows for identifying and predicting crime problems in the long term.
Features of Tactical Crime Analysis
A tactical analysis of crimes is involved when a direct criminal offense arises, and a quick response is needed. Unlike strategic analysis, tactical analysis is short-term, promotes the rapid deployment of resources, and significantly helps in ongoing investigations. Working with crime data covering shorter periods contributes to the apprehension of criminals and identifying the nature of crimes. An essential aspect of the tactical analysis is the identification of specific patterns, which makes police operations more successful and effective. These patterns are called modus operandi, the method of committing a crime and all its related circumstances.
The fact of finding similar patterns in seemingly different crimes may indicate the perpetrator’s identity or reveal any additional detail. If more than two crimes have similarities, it may be helpful to link them from a criminological point of view and find similar elements or patterns in them. The main aspects of the tactical analysis of crime are patterns that answer how, when, and where (Walker & Drawve, 2018). The essence of the committed crime answers the question of how and what applies, for example, to apartment thefts. In such cases, criminologists study the method of penetration used by the criminal to determine whether these apartment thefts are related to burglary.
People have a daily or night schedule, as life is associated with various activities. It applies to the criminal world – it also has a program and “seasonality,” which are a pattern in tactical analysis. For example, a criminal analyst can expect an increase in the number of crimes in April. The temperature rises and the weather improves, so more people will spend time outside. More people on the streets will create ample opportunities for criminal elements. In addition, the patterns of the time of tactical analysis help determine which crimes are more common on weekdays or, conversely, on weekends (Walker & Drawve, 2018). It should also be added that the frequency of certain crimes is also affected by the time of day, which is also taken into account by tactical analysis.
It is the question of where that combines all the components of tactical crime analysis into a single effective tool. Most often, criminologists use various maps as a visual method of spatial search for patterns. Drawing the necessary marks on the crime map makes it possible to identify multiple spatial patterns and establish links. Thus, tactical analysis is designed to help criminologists find numerous patterns in crimes and provide immediate and effective countermeasures.
Features of Administrative Crime Analysis
The administrative analysis differs significantly from the above, as it is not intended to consider and investigate real crimes. The administrative analysis of crimes is carried out to provide government officials and police officers with the necessary information related to law enforcement agencies (Rosellini et al., 2017). Administrative analysts are forced to cope with various tasks; therefore, they should have analytical capabilities and knowledge about several information sources. Such charges include, for example, compiling a report on demographic data for the entire jurisdiction with corresponding crime rates by area (Walker & Drawve, 2018). In general, an administrative analysis is a study and, if necessary, a demonstration of the level of disadvantage concerning the crime rate to determine whether these two factors are related.
House Springs, Missouri 63051 Crime Analysis
Thus, summing up all of the above, it is possible to conclude that the most effective method of combating burglary in this area will be the use of both strategic and tactical analyses. The components and strategic analysis approach will make it possible to develop efficient policing strategies based on data collection over two years. In addition, the use of elements of strategic analysis will allow an assessment of police practice and the effectiveness of the strategies used to prevent mistakes in the future. The tactical approach will make it possible to identify the factors of the time and place of the commission of crimes, which, in turn, form the patterns necessary for taking effective measures. Probably, only a combination of the two types of analyses will reduce the crime rate and increase the level of security of residents of this area.
References
Cusson, M. (2017). A strategic analysis of crime: criminal tactics as responses to precriminal situations. In Routine activity and rational choice (pp. 295-304). Routledge.
Fennelly, L. J. (2020). Crime analysis. In Handbook of Loss Prevention and Crime Prevention (pp. 201-205). Butterworth-Heinemann.
Rosellini, A. J., Monahan, J., Street, A. E., Hill, E. D., Petukhova, M., Reis, B. Y.,… & Kessler, R. C. (2017). Using administrative data to identify US Army soldiers at high-risk of perpetrating minor violent crimes. Journal of psychiatric research, 84, 128-136. Web.
Walker, J. T., & Drawve, G. R. (2018). Foundations of Crime Analysis. Taylor & Francis. Web.