Stage 6 - Researching and analysing Intelligence

In this stage we look at any crime trends in the area and if there is any which may link us to a suspect and who is committing crimes and why and how. This stage can be vital depending on the crime committed as for example if it was to do with a child going missing then it can be seen how many abductions have been reported and see if there is a trend of this as a whole or in that area which can help us find a suspect, intelligence analysts will produce both strategic which is long term and a tactical which is short term and advice the police force accordingly. 
Investigations can start from an intelligence package identifying groups or individuals who are assessed as being involved in ongoing criminal activity. They are often generated as a result of the intelligence process, and allocated for further investigation. Intelligence packages may include:

• crime pattern analysis
• network analysis
• operational intelligence assessment
• problem profiles
• market profiles
• subject analysis
• tactical assessment
• criminal business analysis
• tactical profiles

This stage isn’t the most significant but it is still significant because without it certain information wouldn’t be found out and this information could help solve the crime. If the intelligence stage goes wrong and a person who is known to be a shoplifter for example is wrongly connected to the crime of a murder it can mean they will be charged guilty and actually be un guilty. This is because the person could be blamed for committing the crime even though the crimes they’ve committed in the past aren’t related to this crime the officers are researching now.  They could still get suspected if the officers don’t use their intelligence wisely. The ethical issues with this crime is that it isn’t fair to presume that someone who has murdered in the past has murdered the person the officers are investigated because this is against fairness to the people and everyone should get treated as individuals and not murders and then normal people.  If press are involved and they do a report on a pass murder they think have committed the new crime it could cause this person to try and escape and then they can’t be questioned for further information. This can be used to make the criminal investigation successful because by putting research into it more evidence can be found out and this makes it easier to identify the criminal or finding a suspect.

An example of this would be in my case: the soham murders. although there was a crime trend at the time of the soham murders, there had been many previous crimes committed not so much as a murder but had been many sexual assaults of underage girls in the previous years by Ian Huntley but he was never charged for it so this should have been seen as a crime trend. Huntley was described as a "time bomb" ready to go off which would of linked us to any crime like this if knowing of his previous convictions beforehand. However apart from the pattern of his previous convictions there was no other crime trend in the area at the time of the girls disappearances. so this stage was quite benefital in my case because police where able to research Huntley and gather all their facts about him, however if his previous crimes and the allegations had been researched and analysed then this investigation wouldnt of been occuring so its important to research in depth about a claim to gather the facts.