CRIME SCENE ANALYSIS, AND MAPPING

The crime scene is any location where the crime happened or any area that contains evidence of that crime. The first and most important step is to secure the scene by the police officers who first arrive at the crime scene where the crime took place.

The crime scene will be marked with tape, so as not to disturb it and so as not to contaminate the evidence found on the spot. In order to preserve the integrity of the scene, it is sometimes necessary for the police to block the wider area around the crime scene. It is also mandatory to keep all witnesses and possible suspects.

There are several types of crime scenes.

The most difficult is the spot in the open area because it is the easiest to contaminate the evidence, due to possible weather conditions, such as wind or heat, as well as possible animal activities, which are impossible to control in some situations.

Also, when a crime scene is treated at night, no matter what kind of lighting is used, there is always a danger of losing or destroying evidence.

Now everything is prepared for the team that will conduct the investigation, investigators, and forensics. Before any movement, each proof will be marked and then photographed. Finally, they are individually packed and transported to the laboratory, which will further process each piece of evidence.

Crime analysis includes a systematic analysis of crime patterns, which will help to allocate resources more efficiently to make it easier to identify and apprehend perpetrators. It will consider whether the crime was committed according to the old or perhaps a new pattern, whether the crime was committed by an individual or a group, information of importance to the police security agencies will be provided, as well as the preparation of data for the court. Of course, no every police officer can analyze the crime.

There is a crime analyst for that. It is a common misconception that a crime analyst goes to a crime scene to investigate the evidence. Crime analysts read police reports, identify patterns, and collect data that provides key information to law enforcement agencies.

A crime analyst supports police work by providing strategic assessment, tactical assessment, problem profiling, and subject profiling.

The crime analyst will collect and analyze crime statistics, produce reports, investigate long-term problems, and present response strategies, use crime mapping technologies, etc.… Crime mapping is a subdiscipline of geography, which focuses on incident mapping, that is, it allows crime analysts to identify crime hotspots. Mapping the crime tells us not only about the place where the crime took place, but also where the perpetrator, but also the victim, lives, works, and performs other activities.

There are three types of criminal analysis that can occur through crime mapping.

TACTICAL CRIME ANALYSIS - in the short term, in order to stop the actions that are currently happening

STRATEGIC CRIME ANALYSIS - long term, in order to identify areas with a high crime rate, with the aim of reducing it.

ANALYSIS OF ADMINISTRATIVE CRIME - considers the deployment of police in places that are important

Finally, we conclude that the crime mapping work is aimed at supporting community policing, as work of crime analyst.

By Sanela Nikolic, Serbia State Police Officer

IPO Headquarters - Special Division

Coordination Inspector