Responses from Readers

from Gerald Tallman  (6/1/01):

You and your fellow MACA analysts have done a great job on setting up the Crime Analyst's Round Table. Your site is just what we crime analysts have been needing.

Thanks for stepping up to the plate and taking on this task. Gerald G. Tallman Manager, Crime Analysis Unit Overland Park, Kansas gtallman@opkansas.org 913-327-6904

from Mike Woods  (5/18/01):

As I managed to sneak a few minutes to read the articles in the MACA's Round Table, three thoughts kept bouncing up in my mind:

First, I was tremendously impressed with the articles. The subjects were front-line topics that day-to-day analysts are always dealing with (I really liked Don's "The Functions of Crime Analysis" and Chris' "The Uses and Abuses of GIS", tho they were all excellent). It was refreshing to read something that was not dryly academic and something that didn't make me feel like I stopped higher education too soon.

Secondly, since they were topics that I feel I know something about, I found myself nodding my head in both agreement and disagreement. I'm not talking about disagreeing in the "you're-wrong" sense, but more along the lines of "that's-a-good-point-but-my-perspective-is-this-and-it-is-more-valid-in-my-v iew" sense. I think this is a much needed response from every single analyst. Unfortunately, within many agencies crime analysis is very often viewed as merely a job; a secure civil service position where the skills are static. A number of analysts in these organizations wrongly feel that once they've been to Gottlieb's or Shel Arenberg's or Raj Singh's classes they don't need anything else. The head nodding that I experienced reading the Round Table is an example that these subjects and this type of forum are very important to creating and encouraging an active dialogue among analysts to insure that the "profession" (not just the job) grows.

Lastly, but by far not the least of my feelings about what MACA has done, is that the Round Table-type of information exchange should be strongly encourage by every crime analyst group around the globe --- from the IACA down to the regional groups. With the tools that technology is providing law enforcement and the ever widening ring of accountability that is encircling everything that police do, we analysts are sculptors of our own fates. Crime analysis in five years is going to look much different than it does today; our tasks tomorrow may involve skills and procedures that we can only dream of today. It is up to us and our professional organizations, and forums like the Round Table, to insure that the practitioners of our science are as innovative, progressive and dynamic as those times are going to require.

My hat's off to Don and Chris and Debra and Fran. Good start. Keep it up!

Mike Woods
Crime Analyst, UCLA Police Department
601 Westwood Plaza, LA, CA 90095-1364
310-206-7627 310-206-2058(fax)
woods@ucpd.ucla.edu

from Ramona McCall  (5/14/01):

Dear Massachusetts Association of Crime Analysts (Crime Analysts' Round Table, Spring 2001),

Thank you.  This is the authoritative article [by C. Bruce] I have been searching for in order to calibrate expectations in the organization I support.  I have heard more than enough from the peddlers of GIS.

Ramona McCall
GIS Support
Sr. Systems Analyst
City of Kent,  Washington
253-856-4605

from Sean Bair  (5/14/01):

Excellent site! Great job. I'll refer analysts to it often.

Sincerely,

Sean M. Bair, Director of Operations
Bair Software Research & Consulting
sean@bairsoftware.com
www.bairsoftware.com
720-348-1090 phone
720-348-1093 fax

from Michelle Arneson  (5/14/01):

Just wanted to say that I think the Roundtable is a great idea. I printed off three of the articles to keep in my files and I look forward to more. Even though I've been here over three years (since this position was created), I still very much struggle to find exactly what my role is, how to deal with a very poor cad/rms system, etc. There are very few crime analysts in this state, much less "role model" C.A. units to lean on. I was fortunate on a trip to Washington, DC, to visit two nearby departments and their units. The most valuable lesson I learned is that even though these departments are much, much larger with many more staff and other resources, they still struggled with many of the same issues that I do, being a sole analyst. Not to criticize the other depts, but it certainly helped boost my "self-esteem." I felt that I did a good job at what I did, but didn't feel confident that I was (am) doing what I should be. I am not a true "crime analyst." As I know many others find, I have become a computer expert (which we certainly lack here) - some for my own means (creating databases, spreadsheets, etc) and much for other means (website development, training others on using the software, etc.). My main point is, any good help I can get to give me more direction is welcome. I really liked the site and will return for more.

Thanks again!!

Michelle Arneson, Crime Analyst
Green Bay Police Department
Phone: (920) 448-3249
Fax: (920) 448-3256
www.gbpolice.org