Elements of Crime Patterns

I finally wrote the book I had in mind for decades: Elements of Crime Patterns is now available in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle on Amazon. I will use this blog to offer tips to think about, recognize, and identity crime patterns using qualitative data. This blog supplements the book and vice versa.

Here I will explore a concept that I call, in my mind, "qualitative crime pattern identification." It is a means to uncover a specific crime series in a specific jurisdiction by those tasked to do so - police officers of various ranks and law enforcement analysts such as those with the title of crime analyst. It extends to those investigating crimes, any crimes that might be committed by the same offender.

There are a number of ways to link serial crimes. Physical evidence is the best, most reliable way. Since it is often not available, we must find other ways. First, we must recognize crime patterns, and then we can identify their specifics.

From the book:

In the context of crime patterns in law enforcement, recognizing and identifying have distinct meanings:

Recognizing refers to perceiving or acknowledging something based on previous knowledge or familiarity. Recognizing involves the capability of law enforcement officers, investigators, or analysts to identify patterns, trends, or behaviors that they have encountered before or have been trained to recognize. It's about seeing familiar patterns and understanding their significance in the context of crime investigation and prevention. Experienced police officers, investigators, and analysts recognize specific modus operandi associated with crime patterns and sometimes even particular criminals. This is their on-the-job learning. By simply reading this book, you will gain similar knowledge.

Identifying goes further and involves determining or naming something or someone based on specific characteristics or information. Identifying means pinpointing a particular pattern, suspect, or element based on the available data and evidence. It can include identifying  modus operandi, suspect descriptions, or evidence linking crimes together. Users of this book can take the specific information contained in it and actively search for existing real-world crime patterns. 

Using common sense, it is can seem easy to connect crimes with qualitative data - police agencies do it everyday. A man wearing a red jacket robs several McDonald's restaurants in the same city on Friday nights four weeks in a row. It is not rocket science. These crimes are likely committed by the same guy.

Yet, qualitative data in and outside of police reports holds various, often unexplored treasures in the form of clues to the existence of crimes being committed by the same offender or group of offenders. 

Any crime can have a serial offender, although we don't often think in those terms. This blog will explore the 27 crime categories included in the book, and more. Stay tuned.