NCJ Number
172023
Journal
IALEIA Journal Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: (February 1994) Pages: 1-9
Date Published
1994
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This paper explains the rationale for strategic intelligence development in support of law enforcement planning and decision-making and reviews progress toward meeting the objective of establishing acceptance of "best practice" in this field.
Abstract
It is clear that managers at all levels need a high level of awareness of current issues and future possibilities if they are involved in making decisions that affect policies and programs of enforcement agencies. Such decision-making requires a structured accumulation of knowledge and informed projections that will aid in interpreting existing circumstances and forecasting changes and challenges. This involves a strategic intelligence input that can be performed by intelligence units customarily engaged in tactical and operational intelligence functions. Although intelligence managers and the staff of various agencies and governments have, by and large, begun to understand the value of strategic intelligence services in law enforcement, they are not the change agents. Police managers who make strategic and planning decisions must recognize the value of input from professionals experienced in collecting and interpreting information relevant to law enforcement operations. This requires that police managers be trained in the value and use of such intelligence in the performance of their management functions. Police managers and intelligence officers must cooperate in determining what information to collect, how to collate and evaluate it, and develop a range of options regarding how to interpret emerging patterns.