“I found all of the topics presented in this course to be very high value. However, I most enjoyed Topic 5 dealing with predicting the date, time, and location of future crimes. The step by step presentation of the methodology made me anxious to put it into practice in preventing future victimization. Particularly intriguing was the discussion of Statistical Graphical Analysis facilitating the deployment of patrol personnel to areas where they will have an enhanced probability of on viewing and interrupting an offense. I had seen an example of this methodology on the Los Angeles Police Department’s website but just barely comprehended how it worked. Now it’s part of my personal toolbox. I thought this was a robust, practical, high value course of instruction placing an engaged student in a position to function as a fully mission capable crime analyst on day one of employment with a broad range of tools. It exceeded my expectations and filled a major gap in my skill set in the area of quantitative analysis. This is truly saying something because I have considered myself math phobic most of my life.”

“Excellent! I learned so much in this course and I’ve bragged about it to other analysts that have taken other courses in comparison to this course. The best idea I gained from the course was l earning how to predict the next date and time of an offense in a crime pattern/series. The workbook and the interactive PowerPoints were also fantastic tools in helping me understand certain concepts.”

“This is the best crime analyst course I’ve ever taken, and more practical than any of the classes I’ve taken in the Law Enforcement Intelligence and Analysis Master’s program at Michigan State University. I was immediately able to apply what I learned and frequently reference the notes I took during the units. I learned how to do predictive analysis, and now I can predict what days, times, and locations a suspect from a crime series will strike again. I really liked that we had a textbook, workbook, and slides to go through at the same time. It is obvious that the instructor took a lot of time to create this class, and there were even funny moments in the instructions and narratives.”

“As a first timer in the world of crime analysis, I believe this course did a tremendous job of introducing me to crime analysis and providing me with an array of tools to utilize and reference in my future endeavors. It also gently introduced the basic statistical concepts required to interpret data, and it was explained in a way that was relatable and easy to understand. For anyone nervous about stats, this course made it easy and gave me confidence! I also enjoyed the tutorial and instructions on how to perform functions in Excel, and found that very helpful. Being taught and provided the tools and theory to be able to predict the number of arrests over a period of time bettered my Excel skills and was extremely useful, and learning about strategic forecasting, more specifically, the trend line analysis technique, was one of my favorite parts of the course. I also enjoyed the interactive features of the course modules. I am very much a hands on learner, and being required to answer questions and see the results after a concept was taught really helped to keep me on track and made sure I understood one concept before moving on to the next one.”

“It was all very new to me! I enjoyed every idea and concept because it helped me have a method to what I had already been trying to do for my officers during my shift. This is a very good course and I would recommend it but I don’t want to because I don’t want com petition for the next job
opening!”