Crime Analysis Enhances Criminal Investigations

Intelligence-led policing is one of the main global issues and important factor that the police service are faced with in today’s modern society in particular the Queensland Police Service. Intelligence-led policing is explained through a various different sources in literature, which explain the definition and issues surrounding intelligence-led policing, the main fundamental structures that support and make up intelligence-led policing and the role it has played in information communication technologies, organised crime and transnational organised crime. There is also a link seen between the literature of intelligence-led policing and organisational documents such as annual reports, legislation's and strategic plans which have been put forwards

Unfortunately, the financial trend that has been seen in policing will likely continue for the foreseeable future, which will not only limit the ability to confront these new critical issues, but will likely exacerbate them as well (Police Executive, 2013). It is also foreseeable that new state efforts to combat their overall economic struggles will serve as a critical issue with adverse policing affects as well. More and more states continue to modify their early release policies, putting criminals back onto the streets sooner and in greater numbers than ever before, which has caused

The Australian Crime Commission conservatively estimates that serious and organised crime costs Australia $15 billion every year. This cost comprises loss of business and taxation revenues, expenditure on law enforcement and regulatory efforts, and social and community impacts of crime. Raising public awareness of crime issues is an important step in minimising the impact serious and organised crime can have on the community.

Intelligence-led Policing (IPL) in its simplest definition is a policing model for crime prevention and reduction focussed on crime ‘hot spots’, recidivism amongst offenders and repeat victimization. However, IPL is ever-changing and is not a clear-cut model and therefore requires a broader definition. IPL models therefore act more as a framework for effective police work Although similar models existed previously, IPL gained momentum in the UK, US, Canada and Australia during and after the 1990s. Since crime is in a constant state of flux, so too is IPL, this in part is due to changes in resources and technology and IPL is not without its strengths and weaknesses as evidenced through examination of its increasingly widespread use throughout law enforcement.

To show that policy has been influenced by criminological research, Wellford (2010) offered the assessments of others, since it is extremely apparent to him. A well-known criminologist, Joan Petersilia, felt to truly measure this impact, it need to be done over the years, decades. After twenty years, research found that

Criminology is the definition of our crime today, it defines many aspects and elements that challenge our common sense understanding of crime. The term ‘Criminology’ was first introduced into the English language in Garland 1988 by a criminologist Havelock Ellis (jones, 2013, pp. 2-3). However criminology was present in the 1860’s as Henry Maudsley a medic that worked in the prison systems to study insane and feeble - minded criminals (jones, 2013, pp. 2.) Criminology gives an understanding to those that seek justice although some victims may prevent crime or encourage it to gain the same significance. The reasoning of crime has changed considerably over the past 40 years, some say it was the change of the criminal justice system abolishing Capital punishment in 1965, or just the development in different legislations. Making punishment more psychological rather than physical punishment may have increased the velocity of the crime rate today as some may argue it is less harsh. Criminology is one to justify these changes to prevent criminal offences. Criminology is enforced to understand and analyse the extent of offences and how legislation is formed and put into practice. Development in crime in our

Measuring crime is based on three main measurements; criminal justice system data, crime experience surveys and other sources called administrative data (Hayes & Makkai, 2015). Firstly, crime first needs to be categorised into types of crime that is classified under the Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (Hayes & Makkai, 2015). Only the main and select few offences are reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in collecting annual reported crimes (Hayes & Makkai, 2015). Through ABS, it collects crime data in different ways such as crime reports, victimisations surveys, administrative data (higher courts, magistrates and policing agendas etc.,) and self-reports (Hayes & Makkai, 2015). Crime reports measure crimes such as homicide, robbery, rape, assault and more but is collected through police jurisdictions (Reid, 2012). The strength of crime reports provides additional information such as arrests, charges, officers assaults and characteristics of homicide victims (Reid, 2012). This helps to measure crime more effectively through gaining descriptions and knowledge of identifying crime and criminal behaviour more accurately (Reid, 2012). Administrative data is often helpful in collating data of sentences and jail sentences but fails to collect the ‘dark figure’ of crime (Hayes & Makkai, 2015). National Crime Victimisation Surveys (NCVS)

In this essay, I will provide details for the type of technology necessary for accurate crime analysis. I will explain at least four methods of collecting, storing, and retrieving information needed for crime analysis. I will provide examples to support the importance of each method selected. In conclusion, I will detail the benefits of crime analysis to the community.

A factor that the public don’t take into consideration when judging the justice system is budget and staffing levels. The different arms, although part of the criminal justice system, work independently to serve the community but can be affected by budgeting, staffing levels and space restrictions, in turn affecting public perception. In 2007-2008 approximately 70% (majority of this being salaries) of the justice system expenditure was spent on the police force showing that the majority of the budget is being spent on the investigative arm (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2009). The corrective services sector made up 24% and the criminal courts administration took up a tiny 6% of the budget. There has been a dramatic increase in prisoners which shows that police are apprehending criminals and Judges are providing suitable sentences but prisons are chronically overcrowded (Martin, 2010). The Government listened and announced that new prisons will be constructed, but this would take

Policing has come a long way since the London Metropolitan Police. In the mid-1800 's policing was more about crime prevention and use of force was a rare last ditch effort to gain compliance from a suspect ( White p. 69-69 ) New technologies have changed policing from an informal neighborhood watch to a sophisticated organization.

Law enforcement, in some form, has existed for centuries and since its creation there has been numerous improvements. Improvements have come about because of community changes and the need for more effective ways of policing the people. As crimes became more fierce and complex so did the need for the investigation and solving of these crimes. Criminal investigative techniques were not just born from thin air, some thought and planning had to go into figuring out the proper ways to go about doing things. Pioneers of the criminal justice and criminal investigation field such as August Vollmer, Alphonse Bertillon, Edward Henry, and Edmond Locard have made superior contributions to the development of criminal investigative techniques. These techniques have impacted the way police operate today and set a substantial base for law enforcement to build on.

One such method is organizational data gathering which rather than assembling statistical data it aims to collect profiling information to increase the chance of arrest therefore providing more data (Hayes and Prenzler, 2008). In 2003-4 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) received a total of 63,695 complaints and enquiries and of that amount 480 were investigated of which 22 were taken to court. Overall in 2003-4 police investigated only 0.7% of possible white-collar crimes (ACCC, 2004). As technology increases so does the complexity of white-collar crime therefore facilitating for a predicted rise in frequency. White-collar crime is the highest costing of all crimes and damages people both directly and indirectly through economic manipulation.

The criminal justice field is an ever evolving field. As today’s technology changes so does the way the criminal justice field interacts with that technology. As our society changes the technology that we use will also be altered to fit the situation. The barriers that come along can affect how the criminal justice field interprets what to do next. The basis of the criminal justice system is to protect and serve the community as a whole. Keeping up with the changes in society is a vital part of our

In this paper I will be addressing and discussing the two schools of criminology, which respectively are the classical school and the positivist school. I will begin by comparing and contrasting the historical background of both schools using the founders of each school. I will then continue the paper by comparing their assumptions, their findings and their key policy implications. I will do this by explaining each school’s purpose and goal. I will then argue and explain how the classical school is respectively stronger than the positivist school for being straight forward, concise and unbiased.

Classical criminology is “usually seen as the first ‘real’ criminology” (Tierney,2009), due to its emergence in the eighteenth century, heralded by scholars Jeremey Bentham and Cesare de Beccaria. It is centred on the ‘act’ rather than the ‘offender’, as well as the use of punishment as a deterrence. Yet whilst classical criminology has evolved slightly over time, it’s narrow minded focus on the ‘offence’ rather than the ‘offender’ can result in the overlooking of crucial details that may have facilitated the offence. Such details can include low-socio economic upbringing, mental health issues or social inequality. Therefore, when dealing with youth crime in Melbourne, only a limited amount of crime is explainable as classical