Overview
CRJS 494: Crime and Intelligence Analysis introduces the discipline of criminal intelligence analysis, with a specific focus on its application within policing. Crime analysis is a discipline and profession that builds from multiple disciplines, including geography, criminology, psychology, sociology, and philosophy. Analysts distil massive amounts of information on crimes committed and criminal offenders and are responsible for translating this into meaningful intelligence for law enforcement. The purpose of this course is to provide a broad foundational understanding of crime analysis through an examination of its history, current theories and technologies used within the field, and through a critical understanding of the complexity of the relationship between data collection, crime analysis, and policing.
Outline
There are 12 modules in CRJS 494.
Module 1: A Historical Perspective on the Discipline of Analysis
Module 2: Analytical Roles and Responsibilities
Module 3: The Crime Intelligence Cycle
Module 4: Models of Policing
Module 5: Theories of Crime and Geographical Information Systems
Module 6: Tactical Analysis
Module 7: Strategic Analysis
Module 8: Criminal Profiling
Module 9: Crime Analysis Data Reporting and Presentation
Module 10: Organized Crime and Street Gangs
Module 11: Human Trafficking
Module 12: A Critical Thinking Approach to Crime Analysis
Learning outcomes
When you have satisfactorily completed CRJS 494: Crime and Intelligence Analysis, you should be able to:
- explain the importance of crime analysis to ethical decision making and effective policies and practices within the criminal justice system, specifically within policing,
- discuss the interdisciplinary nature of crime analysis within law enforcement, and how the discipline of crime analysis contributes to the criminal justice system through the application of several differing roles and responsibilities,
- describe the application of tactical and strategic analysis in law enforcement, and how tactical analysis informs intelligence-led policing,
- critique models of policing and apply the acquired knowledge within the framework of the crime analysis discipline, and
- explain the application of relevant criminological theories to the work of criminal intelligence analysis.
Evaluation
Your final grade in Criminal Justice 494: Crime and Intelligence Analysis will be based on the grades you achieve in your course work. There is no exam.
The chart below summarizes the course work for credit and each item’s weighting toward your final grade. To pass the course, you must achieve a cumulative course grade of 50% or higher.
| Activity | Weight |
| Open-Ended Journaling Assignment | 35% |
| Micro-Essays (3) | 30% (10% each) |
| Research Paper | 35% |
| Total | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Physical course materials
The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:
Gallagher, K., Wartell, J., Gwinn, S., Jones, G., & Stewart, G. (Eds.). (2017). Exploring crime analysis: Readings on essential skills (3rd ed.). International Association of Crime Analysts.
Wright, R., Morehouse, B., Peterson, M. B., & Palmieri, L. (Eds.). (2011). Criminal intelligence for the 21st century: A guide for intelligence professionals. International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts (IALEIA).
Readings
All other readings for this course are available online through the Digital Reading Room (DRR). You will be directed to these readings throughout the course.