A veteran of the law enforcement profession, Steven L. Gottlieb began his career as a sworn officer with the West Covina Police Department and later served as a Deputy Sheriff with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Recognized internationally for his expertise in the practical application of crime analysis techniques, Mr. Gottlieb earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Police Science from California State University, Los Angeles, and his Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California (USC).
Following his service with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Mr. Gottlieb began a fourteen-year career with the Chino Police Department, ultimately serving as the agency’s Special Services Bureau Commander and Manager responsible for the operation and supervision of its Crime Analysis, Crime Prevention, and Serious Habitual Offender programs. During his tenure, he also successfully competed for state grant funding to develop and implement five separate law enforcement initiatives collectively designed to identify, apprehend, and incarcerate major crime violators and serious habitual offenders. It was through these responsibilities that he became actively involved in California’s Career Criminal Apprehension Program (CCAP), a state grant initiative administered by the Governor’s Office of Criminal Justice Planning (OCJP).
At the request of OCJP, Mr. Gottlieb became a member of the CCAP Technical Advisory Committee and expanded his work with the Program to provide crime analysis training to other grantees throughout the state. These activities led to presentations at statewide conferences and, ultimately, to his selection by the California Department of Justice to provide crime analysis training to law enforcement personnel throughout California.
As interest in formalized crime analysis education grew, Mr. Gottlieb was appointed Chair of the Professional Education Committee of the California Crime and Intelligence Analysts Association and served as a consultant to the California State University system and the California Department of Justice to develop a formal, comprehensive curriculum for the professional education of crime and intelligence analysts. The resulting curriculum—the first of its kind in the nation to provide professional certification under the auspices of a state government agency with law enforcement oversight—became the foundation for a formal Crime and Intelligence Analysis Certificate Program offered through participating California State University campuses and the University of California, Riverside, with professional certification awarded by the California Department of Justice.
As an adjunct instructor in the program, Mr. Gottlieb taught at several campuses within the California State University system and at the University of California, Riverside. He also served as an adjunct instructor at the Delinquency Control Institute of the University of Southern California (USC).
Mr. Gottlieb later became the primary author of Crime Analysis: From First Report to Final Arrest, a comprehensive textbook on the practice of crime analysis. In recognition of his work in the field, he was invited to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, where he participated in the development of crime and intelligence analysis training for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In addition to his service with the California Department of Justice and the FBI, Mr. Gottlieb has presented crime and intelligence analysis training to law enforcement analysts and officers representing federal, state, local, and military agencies throughout all 50 states, as well as all 10 provinces and the three territories of Canada. His international teaching has also included programs presented to public- and private-sector organizations throughout Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East.
In 2021, the International Association of Crime Analysts honored Mr. Gottlieb’s contributions to the profession by presenting him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.