When there is a series of home invasions in the Visalia area, how does the police department know where to search for suspects?

When the police discover a possible drug ring, how do they find out who is involved, and where these suspects are hiding?

If a murder occurs in Visalia, where can the police turn for leads?

The answer is the Visalia Police Department’s Crime Analysis Unit. This unit, headed by Supervisor and Crime Analyst Robin Meyst, exists to “provide the highest level of assistance … in an effort to recognize crime patterns, identify criminal suspects, and reduce crime.”

Meyst, along with the five members of the unit, works tirelessly to provide other units and agencies with crucial information to help them solve cases. This information includes daily bulletins, parolee and sex offender tracking, stolen vehicle reports, and other crime statistics.

“Because we prepare a daily bulletin,” Meyst says, “the staff works 365 days a year.”

This hard work often pays off, though. Using information from a variety of sources such as police officers and detectives, incident reports, the courts, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Internet, the Crime Analysis Unit is able to put together documents showing police where crimes are happening in greater numbers, what criminals are targeting, and when a crime may occur next.

“We identify and analyze methods of operation of individual criminals, provide crime pattern recognition, and analyze data from field interrogations and arrests,” Meyst says. “This is useful to the department (because we provide) estimates of future crime trends and (assist) in the identification of enforcement priorities.

“I’ll give you a scenario,” Meyst continues. “Let’s say there is a rash of vehicle burglaries along Mooney Boulevard. Entry is made by breaking the window and anything lying around inside is taken. In two cases, witnesses identified two male teens between the ages of 15 and 18. One of the suspects has a tattoo of a spider on his neck.

“There are generally four types of crime analysis: tactical, strategic, administrative, and investigative. For tactical, we might set up a matrix with information from similar cases, including time of day, suspect information, and MO. From this information, a prediction can be made as to when a similar crime may occur. Then, patrol may set up special details or patrol checks, and hopefully catch the criminals.”

The role of a crime analyst is not only to help the police set up extra enforcement, however. Strategic crime analysis helps the department set up long-range goals by identifying larger trends based on crime statistics and data. Administrative analysis provides economic, geographical, and social information to administrators, which helps them understand why crime may be occurring in a certain area of town and what may be causing a specific type of criminal behavior. And finally, investigative analysis assists detectives by finding additional information about possible criminals.

“In the given scenario,” Meyst says about investigative analysis, “one suspect has a spider tattoo on his neck. An analyst can search several databases in an attempt to identify this subject based on the tattoo.” The idea is to find potential suspects based on matching MOs and suspect identifiers. In addition, analysts can link one crime to another by researching cases for similar information.

With all of this information to sort through, it might seem that the job of a crime analyst is daunting; it involves sifting through hundreds of police calls for service, reports, and criminal records. While it is true that there is a wealth of information, Meyst says, the Crime Analysis Unit doesn’t simply find the information or gather statistics. They use this information to assess trends, to find criminals, and to help reduce crime in the city.

One of the most helpful resources is new technology that was recently made available to the unit. “Technology and software play a huge role in crime analysis,” Meyst says. “We use Microsoft MapPoint and ArcView for mapping and pin maps. And through a grant, we acquired i2 software, which is used for timelines andassociation charts.”

The Crime Analysis Unit has been successful with two particularly useful graphic tools—pin maps and link analysis.

With pin maps, the unit creates visual aids to see areas of targeted criminal activity such as stolen vehicles and major crimes.

“The addition of pin maps has provided a visual picture of where crime is occurring,” Meyst says. This makes it easier for detectives and police officers to plot their next course of action. Instead of trying to determine trends through statistics and pages of data, the information is easily discernible on a map.

Additionally, link analysis has proven effective. As Meyst explains, link analysis is essentially two steps that integrate a large amount of data related to organized crime or conspiracy and provides an overview of a complex situation to law enforcement.

“The first step is the conversion of written material into a graphic summary form, called an association matrix,” Meyst says. “The second step is using the matrix to form a link diagram that depicts relationships between people, organizations, and activities.”

To illustrate this point, Meyst provides another scenario: “Let’s assume that you have been looking into a potential narcotic operation involving a labor union and a local hotel. As part of the investigation, you have collected information such as the name of the union leader, an associate observed dining with the leader, and the fact that this associate has been talking with a narcotics dealer. A link diagram can

facilitate an understanding of the relationships between the people and the organizations involved.”

Link analysis is useful, especially when trying to prosecute criminals in court. Meyst says that diagrams have been used effectively to present complex cases to a jury. Instead of having to give lengthy explanations of the relationships among criminals, a link diagram provides a visual representation of their relationships. This makes a complex criminal network easier for a jury to see and understand.

Developing these forms of analysis can be time consuming, but Meyst says that supervising this unit has its rewards. The Crime Analysis Unit constantly finds criminal patterns and trends that aid police activity, and Meyst says that it is a good feeling to be able to help other units identify and stop criminals.

“The most rewarding part of my job is when an officer or detective calls me and lets me know that information I provided led to an arrest.”

So when crimes occur in the Visalia area, the Crime Analysis Unit will be called upon to collect and analyze data, identify trends and patterns, and ultimately help police officers, detectives, and prosecutors, catch, try, and convict wanted criminals.

“We connect data to decisions,” Meyst says. “We assist the department in preventing and reducing crime.”

Essentially, they follow their motto: “Answer questions,” Meyst says, “before they are asked.”

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