About The Courses

Research Methods in Criminal Justice
Crime Analysis Applications
Investigative Analysis
Criminal Intelligence and Analysis

Research Methods in Criminal Justice

The Chief wants to measure citizen satisfaction with the police. The Sheriff wants to determine the fear of crime in the community. The Mayor wants to know if the time and money devoted to your agency’s crime suppression program has had any measurable impact on the town’s crime rate, and the City Manager wants your department to prepare a formal proposal to obtain state or federal grant funds.

How will these and similar tasks be accomplished? Through the examination of quantitative and qualitative information, through the preparation, dissemination, and evaluation of surveys, and through the use of scientific methods of inquiry that are designed to separate fact from fiction and truth from mere perception. In short, these tasks will be accomplished by research!

Given the current economic climate, we no longer have the luxury of taking a “shotgun approach” to the delivery of police services. Today’s police administrators must know they are not only doing the right things, but that they are doing things right. That is, they must KNOW that the programs they implement are indeed effective in reducing crime, they must KNOW that they are addressing actual—as opposed to simply perceived—causes of crime, and they must KNOW that they are allocating resources in such a way as to maximize their return on investment.

As such, the need for the use of research methodology to provide agency administrators with this knowledge has never been higher and the demand for people who can do it has never been greater. Regardless of your role within your organization, your participation in the Research Methods in Criminal Justice course will provide you with knowledge you can use to heighten the effectiveness and efficiency of your agency. Upon completion, you will have the tools to design and implement scholarly research projects, the skills to acquire and analyze data, and the confidence to employ scientific principles to justify your conclusions. Armed with the results of your work, you will now have the ability to provide your fellow administrators, officers, and investigators with objective information they can use to address a wide variety of law enforcement concerns.

This is a 40-hour “hands-on” program that provides you with techniques you can use immediately to solve real-world problems. Since research involves the assembling and examining of many facts, the process and results of research, as presented in this course, can be used to mobilize people to meet new challenges, to enhance policies, and to gain a decided advantage in the fight against crime. Further, this course provides useful and exciting insights into not only the traditional crime problems facing agencies today, but into the use of a variety of strategies to deal with new or emerging issues as well.

This online course provides you with the flexibility to complete its requirements from anywhere at any time. Presented in a comfortable environment that encourages both individualized and group instruction, this course blends effective learning strategies with the flexibility needed by the busy criminal justice professional. An internet connection is all that is required to enjoy the easy-to-use online classroom that presents the course in an engaging and meaningful format. You can complete the program from home, work, or any place convenient for you and your schedule.

You Should Attend If

You are a crime or intelligence analyst
You supervise analytical personnel or analytical functions
You are a police planner (sworn or civilian)
You are a patrol officer, community policing officer, crime prevention officer, intelligence officer, investigator, or a patrol or investigative supervisor that acquires, uses, or presents data/information as a part of your job
You are in the law enforcement profession and would benefit from the knowledge gained in this course

Here’s What You Will Learn
This course will allow you to learn—and demonstrate knowledge of—research methods within the criminal justice field. Focus is placed on becoming acquainted with the range and scope of tools available to the criminal justice researcher. We will demystify the essential professional skills involving:

Pure Versus Applied Research
Qualitative and Quantitative Research
Researchese: The Language of Research
Concepts, Operationalization, and Variables
Research Problem Formulation
Research Ethics and Professionalism
The Researcher Versus Law Enforcement Role
Avoiding Ethical Problems and Harming Respondents
The Experimental Model and Research Design
Rival Causal Factors: Internal and External
The Classic Experimental Design
Probability and NonProbability Samples
Mail and Internet Surveys
Properly Creating and Delivering Surveys
Advantages and Disadvantages of Interviews
Telephone Surveys and Interviews
Participant Observation and Case Studies
Unobtrusive Measures and Secondary Analysis
Validity, Reliability, and Triangulated Strategies
Use of Thurstone Scales, Likert Scales, and Guttman Scales
Indexing, Levels of Measurement, and Statistics
Data Analysis, Table Reading, and Graphic Presentations
Sources of Useful Law Enforcement Information
How to Conduct Productive Internet Searches
How to Interpret the Research of Others
How to Design and Implement a Research Project
How to Prepare the Final Written Research Report
And Much, Much, More!

Cost and Duration This course has a tuition fee of $650 USD. Students are granted 6 weeks of access to complete this course.

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Crime Analysis Applications

The process of analyzing crime and the incorporation of crime analysis units into the main stream of police operations is still a relatively new phenomenon. As such, few training programs are designed to acquaint crime analysts and their supervisors with the tasks they need to perform when assigned to these units. Fewer still provide any instruction that actually shows them how to perform these tasks. Whether or not your title is "crime analyst," if all or any part of your job involves analyzing crime, forecasting future criminal occurrences, identifying suspects, tracking crime patterns and series, monitoring crime trends, preparing statistical crime reports managing the analysis function or using crime data to support field operations or community policing programs, then this Crime Analysis Applications Training course is for you!

This is a 40-hour “hands-on” program that provides you with techniques you can use immediately to solve real-world problems that daily confront crime analysts, patrol and investigative officers, and community policing personnel. This course is presented in a comfortable, easy-to-use online format that takes a "learn-by-doing" approach, and that give you many opportunities to actually perform the tasks associated with crime analysis work. This format of instruction allows for not only a highly interactive exchange between you and the material, but creates a climate which is conducive to the learning process. Translation: You'll learn a lot and enjoy the process! This online course provides you with the flexibility to complete its requirements from anywhere at any time. This course blends effective learning strategies with the flexibility needed by the busy criminal justice professional. An internet connection is all that is required to enjoy the easy-to-use online classroom that presents the course in an engaging and meaningful format. You can complete the program from home, work, or any place convenient for you and your schedule.

You Should Attend If

You are a recently employed crime analyst
You are an experienced analyst who has received little of the formal training necessary to fully develop your analytical skills
You now-or may later-supervise analysis personnel
You are a community policing officer or other law enforcement official who wants to better use data or improve your statistical skills to increase your effectiveness on the job
You are a police planner (sworn or civilian)
You are a patrol officer, community policing officer, crime prevention officer, intelligence officer, investigator, or a patrol or investigative supervisor that acquires, uses, or presents data/information as a part of your job
You are in the law enforcement profession and would benefit from the knowledge gained in this course

Here’s What You Will Learn
This course focuses on the many operational issues and statistical processes involved in designing and maintaining a dynamic crime analysis program that helps you help your officers catch crooks and do it more efficiently. We'll demystify essential professional skills involving:

Operational Issues

How to Develop a Crime Analysis Program-And How to Run a Crime Analysis Unit
The 8 Functions of Crime Analysis-And Which Ones Lead to "Arresting" Results
How to Identify Existing and Evolving Crime Patterns/Series
3 Methods to Forecast Future Criminal Occurrences
How to Develop Target Profiles and Use Them to Track Criminals
2 Ways to Link Known Offenders to Unsolved Crimes
Community Policing: The Key Role of Analysis in the SARA Process
How to Turn Data Into Information-The 5 Critical Steps in the Crime Analysis Process
Source Documents: 3 Types of Offense Report Designs-And Why the Most Often Used is of the Least Value
Is It A Crime Pattern, a Crime Series, or a Crime Trend? Quick Ways to Tell
How to Use the Criminal's MO to Detect Crime Patterns and Series
How to Evaluate the Effectiveness of a Crime Analysis Unit-And One Common Measure That Should Never be Used
Resistance to the Crime Analysis Program: Why It Occurs and How to Overcome It

Statistics for Those Who Hate Math

How to Predict When and Where Criminals Will Strike Again
How to Analyze Exact-Time Crimes
How to Analyze Time-Span Crimes
How to Keep the Boss Happy With Numbers
How to Calculate "Normal" Crime Levels
Crime Stats up? Boss Unhappy? Use Boss's Figures and Two Simple Techniques to Legitimately and Ethically Show That Crime Went Down or Stayed the Same!
Painless Preparation of Crime Summary Exception Reports
3 Types of Averages-And Why the One We Learned in School Can Skew Us Up
8 Seldom-Considered Factors That Always Affect Your Crime Rate
How to Properly Prepare Charts and Graphs-Why Overlooking Two Rules Spells Big Trouble
How to Calculate Rates and Indexes
How to Present Conflicting Statistical Findings

Included Textbook

Cost and Duration
This course, including the workbook, has a tuition fee of $650 USD. Students are granted 8 weeks of access to complete this course.

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Investigative Analysis

The need for Criminal Investigative Analysis (formerly referred to as Psychological Profiling) training has become increasingly recognized over the past few years as law enforcement agencies across the country encounter an ever-increasing number of rapes and homicides committed by unknown offenders. As we move through this decade and beyond, it seems apparent that police administrators will require highly trained, competent people to collect, collate, and analyze data to help them effectively deal with these problems. But before any problem can be resolved, it first must be identified. Armed with the information regarding the types of crimes occurring in their jurisdictions, investigators, if properly trained, are uniquely positioned to utilize the information presented in this course to not only identify when serial crimes are occurring, but to identify the personality and behavioral characteristics of the type of person most likely to have committed the crimes. However, while criminal profiling is particularly useful in cases of serial rape and homicide, it also can be extremely useful in the investigation of many single cases of rape or homicide.

The course takes a “learn-by-doing” approach that gives students many opportunities to actually perform the tasks associated with the criminal profiling process. Participants will be taught how to read a crime scene and how to use crime scene information to develop a “portrait” of the offender’s childhood, family background, sexual history, appearance, lifestyle, and other relevant personal information which is then used to identify the type of person most likely to have committed the immediate crimes.

This is a 40-hour “hands-on” program that provides you with techniques you can use immediately to solve real-world problems that daily confront the law enforcement community. Once trained, you will be able to save countless hours by focusing your investigations on the most likely type of person to have committed the immediate crime, predict what the offender did before the offense, what he did during the crime, and anticipate his expected post-offense behavior following the event. In investigations with extensive suspect lists, the savings in time to develop lead prioritizations can be substantial.

This online course provides you with the flexibility to complete its requirements from anywhere at any time. This course blends effective learning strategies with the flexibility needed by the busy criminal justice professional. An internet connection is all that is required to enjoy the easy-to-use online classroom that presents the course in an engaging and meaningful format. You can complete the program from home, work, or any place convenient for you and your schedule.

You Should Attend If:

You are a sex crimes investigator
You are a homicide investigator
You are a patrol officer who may be in a position to recognize the characteristics of serial crimes
You are a crime analyst responsible for providing assistance to sex crimes or homicide investigators

Here’s What You Will Learn
This course will provide you with an arsenal of techniques you can use to identify the physical, behavioral, and personality characteristics of offenders who commit the crimes of rape and homicide, particularly serial rape and homicide offenses. We’ll demystify essential professional skills involving:

Operational Issues

How to Recognize the Serial Aspects of Crime
Uses and Misuses of Investigative Analysis Techniques
Telltale Clues—How to Recognize the All-lmportant Signatures of Serial Homicide Suspects
Wound Examinations and the “Hidden Information” They Provide About Victims and Killers
How To Link Cases Together
How to Identify the Physical, Psychological, Behavioral, Emotional and Personality Characteristics of Offenders Who Commit the Crimes of Rape and Homicide
Answering the BIG Questions-How to Determine If, When, and Where Offenders May Strike Again, and Who May be the Next Likely Target
Work Smarter, Not Harder!-How to Focus an Investigation
How to Develop Suspect Leads for “Arresting” Results
How to Prepare Comprehensive Reports of Analyses
Beware the Femme Fatale!-How Female Serial Killers Differ from Male Serial Killers
Types of Serial Homicide Offenders-Differences between Organized, Disorganized, Mixed, Lust, and Sadistic Killers
Types of Serial Rape Offenders-Differences between Power Reassurance, Power Assertive, Anger Retaliation and Anger Excitation Rapists
Critical Differences in Crime Scenes-How to Instantly Distinguish between Abduction Sites, Killing Sites, and Dump Sites
Who Murders-and Why! Social and Environmental Factors that Shape the Killer’s Life
And much, much more!

Cost and Duration
This course has a tuition fee of $650 USD. Students are granted 8 weeks of access to complete this course.

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Criminal Intelligence and Analysis

In these turbulent times of increasing demands on resources, the heightened sophistication of criminals, the rise of predatory gang activity and the multitude of illicit activities that threaten our communities each day, the need for a responsible, proactive approach for determining and gauging the risks posed by crime and criminals is of critical importance.

This course shows you how to use the intelligence cycle to easily guide the transformation of your raw collected data into actionable intelligence. Once trained, you will be able to recognize the hidden characteristics, protocols, and behaviors associated with complex criminal events; identify and link conspiratorial relationships and networks; discover the connections between criminality and finances; and effectively monitor, collect (covertly, overtly, and electronically), organize, and analyze data relating to a wide range of criminal endeavors. You will also learn how to develop, manage, support, and successfully conduct analyses using a variety of collation and graphic management techniques. This knowledge can then be applied to the more complex investigations of crimes committed by predatory criminals, criminal enterprises, gangs, and the criminal conspirators who engage in economic/white collar crimes, drug/narcotic and sex offenses, human and weapons trafficking, identity theft and fraud, counterfeiting, corruption, and serial crimes.

Skill-building exercises enhance the learn-by-doing nature of the program. Actual investigations and criminal intelligence missions are also examined to further an understanding of the methods and techniques taught in the class and to demonstrate their practical application in today’s criminal environment.

This is a 40-hour “hands-on” program that provides you with techniques you can use immediately to solve real-world problems that daily confront the law enforcement community. The course curriculum is based on training recommendations contained in the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan (NCISP). The NCISP is the most widely accepted source of guidance currently available for intelligence operations and training programs that support law enforcement efforts to establish a capacity for Intelligence-led policing. It is also POST certified in many states.

This online course provides you with the flexibility to complete its requirements from anywhere at any time. This course blends effective learning strategies with the flexibility needed by the busy criminal justice professional. An internet connection is all that is required to enjoy the easy-to-use online classroom that presents the course in an engaging and meaningful format. You can complete the program from home, work, or any place convenient for you and your schedule.

You Should Attend If:

You are a newly-assigned law enforcement or corporate intelligence analyst, or a narcotics, gang or vice investigator, intelligence officer or analyst assigned to a fusion center, Homeland Security detail, terrorism or other specialized task force either within or external to your agency
You are an experienced analyst, officer or investigator who has received little formal training related to the criminal intelligence process and function
You now or may later supervise analysts, officers, investigators, a task force, first responders or other personnel who would benefit from a coordinated approach to developing and supporting criminal investigations
You are employed by a prosecution unit that prepares the types of cases produced by the personnel described above

Here’s What You Will Learn
This course will provide you with an arsenal of techniques you can use to uncover hidden criminal activity; develop, organize and link disparate data; support emerging and ongoing criminal investigations; and identify the relationships between people, organizations and criminal events as well as between finances, proceeds and assets.

You will learn what criminal intelligence is —and what it is not—and how its real-world application can benefit 21st century policing. You will also learn how to produce actionable intelligence, how to apply it to criminal investigations, how to deliver dynamic intelligence briefings and how to present your material in court proceedings.

Designed for all federal, state, municipal, and military intelligence officers and analysts, this course will demystify essential professional skills involving:

Operational Issues