Department of Criminal Justice, Criminology & Forensics Graduate Programs

Crime Analysis Certificate Program

A one-year, online-only program consisting of 25 credit hours

As a crime analyst you may:

• perform detailed statistical analyses of crime data,
• prepare periodic reports on criminal activity and trends,
• identify emerging crime patterns, and
• communicate your findings to a variety of internal and external audiences.

In order to explore relationships and identify patterns and correlations in support of investigative efforts you may analyze a wide variety of data including arrests, convictions, known criminal associates, and other criminal intelligence data.

These data come from diverse sources, including existing agency databases, financial and telecommunications records, and the Internet.

Crime analysts must be skilled in manipulating data and creating relational databases that can accommodate a wide variety of data formats and sources.

Crime analysts may also be called upon to design and execute managerial and administrative studies forecasting personnel, budgeting, and other resource needs. They may also conduct citizen surveys of crime victimization, satisfaction with police services, and perceptions of departmental performance. They need to have broad knowledge in law enforcement operations, criminological theory, statistics, research methods, and relevant computer technology. They need good critical thinking skills, logic and reasoning ability. Finally, effective writing and presentation skills are essential for crime analysts.