What is Crime and Intelligence Analysis?

Crime analysis is the art and science of applying analytical techniques to law enforcement questions and problems.  It includes a wide variety of disciplines including statistics, psychology, information technology, economics, political science, and sociology, to name just a few.  Crime analysts try to answer the question "Who is doing what to whom?"  This may include helping detectives narrow down suspects for a case, providing the public or law enforcement administrators with crime statistics, or finding patterns in criminal activity to predict where a serial offender may strike next.  Intelligence analysts often try to answer the question "Who is doing what with whom?"  This includes diving into conspiracies such as gangs, criminal enterprises and organized crime, as well as terrorist cells.  Especially in this day and age, crime and intelligence analysis are closely intertwined.