Deck 1: Crime Analysis and the Profession

Question 1

Crime analysts today are concerned with all BUT the following:

A)Becoming sworn members of the police agency
B)Availability of relevant training and education
C)Availability of data that are adequate in both quantity and quality
D)Ability to communicate with other crime analysts in neighboring jurisdictions

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Crime mapping began

A)With researchers in the 1970s who emphasized crime and place
B)With European researchers who examined the levels of crime within different regions and the relationship of these levels to sociological factors
C)In the London Metropolitan Police Department
D)In the US in the early 1900s

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which brought about increased awareness of the use of analysis and evaluation in policing throughout the 1970s?

A)Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994
B)1968 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
C)1975 Crime Analysis and Evaluation Act
D)None of the above

Answer 3

B

Question 4

A geographic information system (GIS)is all of the following EXCEPT:

A)A powerful software tool that allows the user to create any kind of geographic representation
B)A set of computer-based tools that allows the user to modify, visualize, query, and analyze geographic and tabular data
C)Similar to a spreadsheet or word processing program in that the software provides a framework and templates for data collection, collation, and analysis
D)A unstructured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer so that a crime analyst can consult it to answer queries

Question 5

The first professional associations concerned with crime analysis were established in the late 1990s.

Question 6

The following is one of the reasons crime mapping started later in the US than in Europe.

A)The US did not have scholars capable of conducting crime mapping
B)The US was a relatively new country and reliable maps were not readily available
C)Europe's technology was much more advanced earlier than the US
D)None of the above

Question 7

In a crime analysis unit, this person would direct and oversee the direction and work of the unit.

A)Entry-level crime analyst
B)Experienced crime analyst
C)Crime analysis supervisor
D)Commander of the crime analysis unit

Question 8

Crime mapping is

A)The process of using a geographic information system to conduct spatial analysis of crime problems and other police-related issues
B)The discipline concerned with the development, use, application and influence of information technologies
C)The study and practice of making maps
D)A system for capturing, storing, analyzing and managing data and associated attributes which are spatially referenced to the earth

Question 9

Crime mapping was a very important component of the development of which criminology theoretical tradition:

A)Criminal analysis theory
B)Social disorganization theory
C)Differential association theory
D)Geographic information theory

Question 10

The U.S.government's emphasis on community policing and problem solving led to the availability of federal grants that enabled police agencies to implement crime analysis.

Question 11

The history of crime analysis as a discipline begins with

A)The New York City Police Department in the early 1900s
B)Farmers and ranchers looking out for their livestock
C)Professors in the School of Cartography
D)The first modern police force in London in the early 19th century

Question 12

In the crime analysis unit, this person would assist with data entry and produce standardized reports.

A)Crime analysis assistant
B)Entry level crime analyst
C)Secretary
D)File clerk

Question 13

Crime analysis is not haphazard or anecdotal; rather, it involves the application of data collection procedures, analytic methods, and statistical techniques.

Question 14

Examples of specialty crime analyst include all BUT:

A)Problem analyst
B)Burglary analyst
C)School safety analyst
D)Information systems analyst

Question 15

Which of the following did NOT influence crime analysis in the mid- to late 1970s,

A)Academics emphasizing the importance of criminal events vs.criminality of individuals
B)The geographic analysis of crime
C)Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA)
D)New York City's COMPSTAT

Question 16

In the 1970s, what had a large impact on the development of crime mapping:

A)Significant improvements in data and technology
B)Significant grant funding
C)The shift of focus from the criminal to the criminal event
D)Problem-oriented policing

Question 17

The IACA is

A)The International Alliance of Criminal Analysis
B)The Interstate Association of Crime Analysis
C)The International Association of Crime Analysts
D)The Intelligence and Crime Analysis Association

Question 18

Crime analysis began in the United States in the 1820s.

Question 19

Crime analysts use qualitative data and methods

A)To develop forecasts for future crime events
B)To conduct statistics on frequency of crime
C)To examine nonnumerical data for the purpose of discovering underlying meanings and patterns of relationships
D)To understand the correlational relationships between types of crime

Question 20

Crime analysis entails primarily the study of criminal incidents and offenders.

Question 21

Implementation of Compstat in police agencies across the United States fueled the rapid adoption of crime mapping in the mid- to late 1990s.

Question 22

Crime mapping positions in police departments are nearly always part of the crime analysis unit, but are paid somewhat lower than crime analysts.

Question 23

Scholars' focus on the geographic analysis of criminal events and problem-oriented policing increased attention to crime analysis in the 1970s and 1980s.

Question 24

Crime analysis is mostly conducted in small police agencies in the United States.

Question 25

Compstat and problem-oriented policing are important for the future of crime analysis.

Question 26

Regional crime analysis initiatives were attempted in the 1990s but failed.

Question 27

The first substantive spatial analysis of crime in Europe was conducted in the 1920s and 1930s by urban sociologists.

Question 28

Most crime analysts today focus on tactical crime analysis and/or on providing statistical information directly to police management.

Question 29

Currently, most large police agencies use some form of crime mapping.

Question 30

The beginnings of crime mapping are different from the beginnings of crime analysis in that crime mapping began through the work of researchers in the 1800s and the early 1900s.