Crime analysis: From first report to final arrest

by Steven Gottlieb

The ability of municipal law enforcement agencies to contain crime in the future may well be determined by their capacity to change standard operating procedures today. The tools-technology and know-how already are abundantly available. But, profound questions remain. Do law enforcement executives possess sufficient awareness of why they should change? Do they have the will and the fortitude to oppose the status quo? The authors of this book devote considerable attention to the relationship between true community-oriented policing and the analysis of crime. They also address a more mundane, but no less important, practice in desperate need of rejuvenation--the fundamental procedures through which agencies calculate patrol workloads. Determining how many officers should do what, as well as where, when, how, and why they do it, represents the apex of crime analysis. Discussion of these issues makes up the sum and substance of Crime Analysis. In fact, the book's discussion is so comprehensive that it eliminates many of the excuses that traditionalist police executives have used to defend their failure to innovate. In creating the first practical "how to" guide to crime analysis, the authors render obsolete the rationalization that has allowed departments to cling to the status quo in lieu of embracing real analytical methods. Crime Analysis is a coherent compendium for progressive administrators who would challenge the status quo in order to more effectively address the crime problems that face their communities. This book will serve to enlighten, but through its comprehensive treatment of an often-obscure subject, it may also provide a sound basis for leading law enforcement out of the darkness of the past.

596 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Phrodrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Virtually the industry standard introductory crime analysis text
Stephen Gottlieb, the lead author of Crime Analysis, and his company have taken this book all over the world as the classroom text for new crime analysts and supervisors of crime analysis units. It is known throughout the crime analysis community as the "black book" or the "Gottlieb book". In my unit, all newly assigned personnel were handed a copy of this book.

Mr. Gottlieb, a former police officer and lead writer of this book, wrote it with the police officer in mind. It is not designed as an academic text. The language is informal and conversational. It is organized to run from basic introductory concepts to subjects a department should consider when it begins form a crime analysis unit.

Having studied this book, a person can go from no knowledge of the profession to functioning at an intermediate level. It is not unusual for individuals to be assigned to crime analysis duties with no prior background. This may be the single best book for that individual.

There are better books for the more sophisticated reader and for the graduate student. If you plan to stay in the profession you should not stop with the Gottlieb book. However, with this book you will be able to quickly become a functioning crime analyst.

There may be better crime analysis books available however, Crime Analysis: From first report to final arrest-achieves its stated purpose for its intended audience. It is worthy of five stars.