Crime analysis has become an increasingly important part of policing and crime prevention, and thousands of specialist crime analysts are now employed by police forces worldwide. This work sets out the principles and practice of crime analysis, and is designed to be used both by crime analysts themselves, by those responsible for the training of crime analysts and teaching its principles, and those teaching this subject as part of broader policing and criminal justice courses. The particular focus of this book is on the adoption of a problem solving approach, showing how crime analysis can be used and developed to support a problem oriented policing approach based on the idea that the police should concentrate on identifying patterns of crime and anticipating crimes rather than just reacting to crimes once they have been committed. In his foreword to this book, Nick Ross, presenter of BBC "Crime Watch", argues that crime analysts are "the new face of policing", and have a crucial part to play in the increasingly sophisticated police response to crime and its approach to crime prevention.
