When Matthew White was hired to take over the crime analysis unit at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, he was told by Undersheriff Frank MacKesy that he now had the car keys to take the unit where he wanted it to go. White took control and, despite some engine troubles, transformed the JSO's crime analysis unit into one of the best in the world.
"The capacity for crime analysis in the JSO is one of the most advanced I have seen. Not only do they have the personnel, technical and analytical resources, but most importantly they have the leadership and support from management of the analysis section and from the executive of the Sheriff's Office," says Jerry Ratcliffe, author of the book Intelligence-Led Policing. "Matt (White) and Jamie (Roush) run a unit that would be the envy of most police departments in the country," he observed.
Jacksonville has a population of approximately 875,000 residents and 1600 officers, not counting those who work in corrections. John H. Rutherford is the sheriff in a progressive agency which serves a consolidated area of 844 square miles, with over 53,000 UCR Part One Crimes reported in 2007. The analysis unit is staffed with 18 analysts. White works in an appointed position on the sheriff's staff and over Rousch, who manages the analysts. JSO Analysts are called "Public Safety Analysts" because, among other things, they combine crime and intelligence analysis roles.
What does it take to be a world-class analytical unit? White says that it requires more than brilliant analysts and the understanding of policing and police managers–it requires a system fueled by information and data. He says JSO's strength is their work environment, their system. Prior to JSO's current system of analysis, analysts spent at least half their time extracting, cleaning and coding data so that they could analyze it. White wanted a system that is fast and flexible, since "speed is the currency of law enforcement analysis."
White believes it is possible for a policing agency to progress quickly from an ordinary crime analysis unit to a great unit if it addresses the problems with the "engine." From his previous experience as a crime analyst in Charlotte-Mecklenberg, he understood the value of quality information technology systems and brought that knowledge with him when he began working at the JSO in 2002. He stresses the value of automating information technology systems to allow officers to obtain the information they most often need easily, without having to go to analysts for their basic information needs. Analysts have been a crutch for the ineffectiveness in IT, he notes, working around problems with their computer skills rather than working with IT to design processes that serve analysis and the needs of officers. White helped change that in the JSO, but sees this as an ever-evolving process as new information requirements from officers and the community demand new solutions.
Because analysts in the JSO have so much automated and accurately coded information classified and restructured for their needs and at their fingertips, they are able to come into work each morning and begin analysis right away. Routine tasks that took days now comprise less than an hour of effort. For example, getting crime statistics for a non-police area such as a council district, finding all persons with a certain kind of tattoo that can be associated to a neighborhood, or finding associates tied to someone in an apartment complex, and tasks of these types take literally minutes. Analysts have data that is coded so that they can find and analyze subsets of crimes. For example, any type of car break-in, whether involving an act of vandalism or a theft, can be located to find patterns and series more easily, which is not possible if only UCR classifications are available.
White's analysts use GIS as starting points for analysis; mapping is the "windshield" they look at to see what route to take for analysis. They can click on clusters of crimes on the maps click to read about the crimes and click to link people or cases to see if there is a problem worth analyzing.
White is the author of the problem-oriented policing guide Enhancing the Problem-Solving Capacity of Crime Analysis Units and believes that the true value of analysts is in problem-oriented policing, yet he understands that the push for analysis at the tactical side must be advanced. The automated systems at the JSO are designed to be a tool for speedy tactical analysis, freeing analysts to have time for problem solving projects.
The technological tool that JSO analysts rely on for improved data gathering and analysis is the text analytics software called uReveal. (I joined the Board of Advisors for the parent company, ixReveal, after White raved about the tool to me.) This tool allows analysts to search and learn based on "concepts" they have created, such as every known gang member of the Crips, their nicknames, their tattoos and descriptions of their graffiti, and find the information anywhere in the RMS related to the "concept" in a matter of seconds. White says the uReveal technology allows analysts dig deeply into the data easily and find things traditional systems routinely miss.
Matt White emphasized that his success is due to the fact that the top management in the JSO understand the value of analysis and analysts and that they were willing to bring him in and listen to his vision. Specifically, White cites the sheriff, undersheriff, and Chief Justin Hill as vital to his success. They gave him the authority and support to make some controversial decisions that improved the analytical capacity of his agency, a rarity for an analyst in this country.
Police managers' lack of understanding of value of analysis and analysts' lack of direct access to decision-makers are widespread in policing. Both are real obstacles to the success of analysis and analysts. But even if those obstacles are conquered, a law enforcement agency needs a good system to transform even the ordinary analyst into an invaluable asset. Without a system in place to facilitate analysis, your brilliant analyst may leave one day, taking your analysis capacity out the door.