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It’s not @CAN_SEBP’s Analyst Series Day (sorry for the delay, have been trying to catch up on a few things) but I have some reflections on a missing person work project @LFrgsn & I are working on that sheds light on challenges for better integration of #crimeanalysis
First, in looking back at my career, I’ve seen brilliant analysts sadly leave the profession because of a critical divide where analysts and their work are simply viewed as supportive of policing and not helping to guide policing. This has been documented in research literature.
Second, sometimes as an analyst you can feel alienated, like you’re the only one speaking a different language. Something that has been advocated for years has been education of officers, especially management, of what #crimeanalysis is about.
Third, what I can say is that many analysts I know are some of the most brilliant forward thinkers in policing which is why I feel so strongly about our pivotal role in #evidencebasedpolicing. A lack of training has mentioned as a key barrier to better integration of analysis.
Fourth, to be clear, analytical training involves learning from peers about new ways of gaining insight from data. There’s a whole network of brilliant people @crimeanalysts who showcase the amazing work that can be done.
Fifth, the problem though is that analysts can come back, try to explain what they’ve learned but are challenged by their home agency who doesn’t see the value in what they learned because it doesn’t fit in with what’s going on now.
Sixth, so this is my challenge to up & coming & existing progressive police leaders, go & speak w/ your analysts, provide them with an idea or a problem, ask them about how to understand the problem better, work with them to devise solutions, then get them to evaluate it.
Seventh, police leaders should invest in their analysts; the training and networking they do will bring back amazing insight to your agency. Again there’s a whole network of brilliant analysts @crimeanalysts they can tap into and formulate new ways of thinking.
Eighth, the training your analysts get especially from the @crimeanalysts isn’t about learning how to be a better bean counter or how to be better at Excel. In many cases, they learn from their peers about how to gain insight from looking at problems in different ways.
Nineth, likewise, it would go a long way for analytical managers & leaders to go to analytical conferences to see the great work done and insights in other agencies - so when your analysts come back, they know they have your support. End of rant 
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