NCJ Number
81607
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 48 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1981) Pages: 58-64
Date Published
1981
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The analytical phase of the intelligence process is discussed in the context of an organized crime intelligence program.
Abstract
An understanding of organized crime requires critical and thoughtful analysis. Intelligence is needed to plan, organize, and efficiently direct enforcement efforts. If properly defined, intelligence permits administrators to (1) conceptualize organized crime issues; (2) challenge previously held conceptions, misconceptions, assumptions, and stereotypes; (3) reevaluate and reorder priorities; and (4) establish pragmatic and relevant goals and objectives. The role of the analyst is to look beyond the simple and legal conditions necessary to 'make a criminal case' and extrapolate from these data a broader understanding of the phenomenon of activity in question. The tactical analyst dissects and reassembles the pieces of data, recreating a story or description on the interrelationship of the criminal network. The strategic analyst dissects the issue or arguments and redefines the problem in terms of theoretical or conceptual knowledge. It is advised that any analytical assessment explore the policy implications of its findings. Moreover, a skillful planning effort should be adopted to implement the analytical function, a difficult process considering the traditional resentment in law enforcement against the analytical function. The administrator must mandate interaction among intelligence officers, operational personnel, and intelligence analysts and must recruit analysts who have certain characteristics and are able to integrate into the law enforcement environment. Also, analysts should avoid preparing an intelligence assessment which merely replicates what operational or managerial personnel already know. Intelligence should have the capacity to predict for the future, not just report the 'facts' of the past. Footnotes are included.