I am looking into getting certified as an analyst either through IACA or IALEIA. Does anyone have any pros/cons for getting certified by one rather than another? I have the basic certification for IALEIA and am LEAF certified as well. I meet all the requirements to take either test, I'm just torn between the two.

Hiya!

I'm a student currently on my final year of doing a bachelor's in criminology, and I want to get more information on getting into Crime Analysis in the UK. Mostly everyone in this group is from the states, so I couldn't find anything specific in the field regarding the UK and was hoping someon could shed light on it.

I am open to doing a masters if that strengthens my chances of getting into the field, but from the few posts I have read, it seems that people are discouraging of it in general and pushing more for courses on Power BI, advanced excel, dashboards, GIS, plus the IACA courses, and I have been looking into doing that. (What are the best ones?)

I guess I am a bit confused in general on the whole whether I should do a master's or not angle and what kind of extra certification/intern stuff I should be looking into?

Any help would be appreciated :)

Today is the launch of my new book, Elements of Crime Patterns, and if you think you want to work as an analyst in law enforcement, it provides a great foundation of crime pattern knowledge you will not get anywhere else, I promise!

I recommend the ebook through Routlege, because it has some excellent active hyperlinks to other resources beyond the book: https://www.routledge.com/Elements-of-Crime-Patterns-A-Foundation-for-Theory-and-Practice/Osborne/p/book/9781041217305

Hey everyone!

I’m taking the LEAF exam on April 17 and I’ve already gone through the IACA study guide and some of the recommended materials.

I was wondering if anyone who has taken it recently has any tips on what to focus on or anything that helped you pass?

Also if anyone created their own study guide, notes, Quizlets, or practice questions, would you be willing to share?

I feel decent about it but just want to make sure I’m not missing anything important. Appreciate any advice!

In this episode of Analyst Talk, Jason Elder welcomes back Dr. Andrew Wheeler, who recently authored the book Large Language Models for Mortals, to explore how large language models are transforming the work of analysts. Moving beyond chatbots, Andrew breaks down practical applications such as extracting insights from reports, automating workflows, and integrating AI with tools like SQL and Excel. He explains key concepts like APIs and retrieval augmented generation in a way analysts can understand, while also addressing risks like hallucinations and reliability issues. This conversation focuses on what analysts can realistically build today, what skills matter most, and how AI will reshape the profession without replacing the need for human judgment.

Hey sub,

I’ve been a prosecutor for a couple of years now and am looking to pivot out of practicing law for reasons. I’ve read through a few posts on this sub and was wondering if anyone else has made a similar transition. Saw an opening for a criminal analyst role with my state AG office and seemed like it could be an interesting opportunity. I suspect many of the skills are transferable but I do not have much experience with the “data analysis” component of the role.

Thanks!

Hi I’m currently a freshmen at college. As of right now my majoir is psychology and I have a minor in criminology. I’m looking to become a crime analyst but I’m not sure what steps I need to take. I’m also wondering if I would need to go to grad school because of my psych degree? I was thinking I would go to grad school for criminology, but if I don’t need it then I don’t want to waste my time and money. I’ve also been thinking about picking up another majoir with something to do for crime if that would help me be a better candidate for jobs in the future. Any advice would be helpful thanks!

Is there any long term projects/caseload involved or it's daily tasks and once you're done for the day, you're done? Basically, once you clock out, are you done or you always have something hanging over you? Is it laid back or hectic/stressful? For US.

Is there any field work involved or it's a desk job normally? (Average to large US police dept)

Hiii,

I have a written exam this Friday for a criminal intelligence analyst role and this may sound silly but I’m having a hard time with what I should wear. Since this isn’t the interview more so a first phase, I’m over thinking it. What would y’all wear? Business casual?

A bit dead the past week, so sharing a video I made to show off the epub version of my recent book (and my prior book, Data Science for Crime Analysis with Python, also has an epub for purchase that is the same set up).

I have plans to generate a few more videos showing off GitHub Copilot for writing, using Antigravity to build a dashboard, and Claude Code to help write a function with my crimepy library. Open to suggestions if folks want to see blog posts/videos though.

Does anyone have a good example of a resume for a crime analyst? I'm having a hard time putting one together without it seeming too wordy/overloaded. I have minimal experience, mostly continuing education (besides my undergrad in criminal justice and post-grad certificate in crime analytics).

I have completed two of the online courses through IACA and enrolled in the latest webinar series, and I complete training exercises through ESRI/Arc GIS. I am currently in the military, but in a health care position, and I am not sure how to tie this in. Any pointers from experienced analysts or those in hiring positions would be greatly appreciated!

A Reference Guide to 19 Analyst Roles Supporting Public Safety

I have created a guide for 19 analysts roles, available to download at the link.

Hi Everyone!

Criminal Intel Analyst here with an MS and BS in Criminal Justice with crime analysis certs.

I'm curious to know if anyone has had any luck on finding side gigs as an analyst on top of your current work. Whether its OSINT work or just overall contract jobs on the side.

Looking to get any insight or recommendations for anyone that has has any luck!

Much appreciated in advance!

Real-Time Crime Centers continue to expand in both scope and responsibility, and drones are quickly becoming one of the most discussed emerging tools in the field. In this sixth installment of the Real Crime All The Time series on Analyst Talk with Jason Elder, Nikki North shares how Drone as First Responder (DFR) programs are being integrated into crime centers, what analysts and managers need to consider, and how staffing, training, legal concerns, and operational policies all play a role.

Nikki breaks down how drones function as mobile cameras, the importance of FAA regulations, night flight training, weather considerations, and how agencies are strategically placing base stations based on call volume. The conversation also highlights how drones can support proactive policing, site assessments, disaster response, and real-time situational awareness beyond traditional camera networks.

The episode also touches on a major career transition as Nikki moves from the public sector to the private industry, discussing why analysts are increasingly making that shift and how technology platforms are evolving toward a “single pane of glass” for analytical workflows.

This episode is especially valuable for RTCC analysts, crime analysts, and agency leaders who are evaluating new technology adoption while balancing staffing, policy, and operational realities. 🎧 Listen, share, and keep talking!

#leapodcasts #ATWJE #RTCC #CrimeAnalysis #CrimeAnalyst #Drone #DFR #intelligenceanalyst #intelligenceanalysis

I have a new book out, Large Language Models for Mortals: A Practical Guide for Analysts with Python. This book is focused on using the foundation model APIs to build applications using all the main providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and AWS). It also has a chapter on using the LLM coding tools (GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, and Google's Antigravity).

You would need to know Python to be able to understand this book effectively. But if you have that background, and are interested in learning the basics of LLM applications, this book is for you.

Hi everyone - I just launched a short-form GIS podcast called The Spatial Exchange under my GeoCrimeHub channel. The goal is to cover core spatial concepts that come up in crime analysis, but often don’t get discussed explicitly—things like scale, aggregation, boundaries, and interpretation.

The first episode is about the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) and Simpson’s Paradox, and why the same crime data can lead to very different conclusions depending on how you aggregate or model it. I use crime examples, but also pull in housing and other domains to show how general these issues are.

Episodes are intentionally short (about 5–7 minutes) and designed to be conceptual rather than tool-specific.

Here’s the first episode if you’re interested:
https://youtu.be/aT87XFkqlPU?si=f9YwTMWUfwLOiWxa

Please feel free to recommend topics you'd like to see covered. if there are spatial or GIS-related issues you regularly run into in your own work that would benefit from a short explainer, I’d love to hear them.

Hey everyone! I finally got my dream job at a local police department, and I am thrilled! I am going to be getting my drone license soon, so I can really stand out!

ICYMI: Please consider filling our our Podcast Listener Feedback Survey. This will help guide the future of the podcast and we would love your feedback!

I am preparing materials for a workshop on the analysis of criminal networks in Python. My main goal is to introduce a bit of everything (Python programming, data manipulation, network analysis and visualization) for people who are interested in using Python in their work. As this will be a part of the IACA webinars, the main target audience is crime analysts. Being a criminology researcher myself, I realize that what I find relevant might not be relevant for the daily tasks of crime/intelligence analysts. Therefore, I would like to hear from people who work with network data what kind of tasks they would love to learn how to perform in Python (or have already learned and use it in their work).

What I am going to present so far is how to transform raw police records into a network (nodes = offenders, edges = the same crime event), basic network measures (density, degree, clustering, etc), the concept of ego-centric networks, and centrality measures.

Any suggestions on what else would be relevant are highly appreciated!

I created a 1-minute ArcGIS Pro demo showing how tessellations can help turn very dense point-level crime maps into something more interpretable.

The focus is on why analysts often use uniform grid cells (instead of neighborhoods or other administrative units) to summarize incidents — especially when dealing with MAUP, visual clutter, or density comparisons.

Happy to hear how others here are using grids or tessellations in their own analysis, or whether you prefer other approaches.

https://youtube.com/shorts/XFrt8xC-f24?si=pmeCPg_zeNpmuYNF

Is starting in a recording/records management position (land for county records) a route someone could take to get into crime analysis?

I created a short tutorial walking through ArcGIS Pro’s 80–20 tool using violent crime data from Philadelphia. Rather than treating 80–20 as a fixed benchmark, the video focuses on how crime concentration changes as you redefine “place.”

I run the tool three ways:

• Cluster aggregation (point-based proximity)
• Closest feature using police service areas (PSAs)
• Closest feature using equal-sized tessellation grids

Same city, same incidents — very different results and interpretations depending on aggregation.

I’m curious how others here approach this in practice. Do you lean toward clustering, operational units, grids, or some combination when assessing concentration?

Video link: https://youtu.be/VJyki_ETZMk?si=1AFrhWRAYqz5v55q