Most crime is made up of random, unpredictable, unconnected incidents. A man seizes the opportunity to steal a laptop left unattended. An argument in a bar erupts into a fight. A man is killed in a drug deal gone awry. A date rape.
Some bullies steal a classmate's hat on the playground.
A bored housewife shoplifts a pair of earrings. A feud between neighbors leads to a rock thrown through a bedroom window. These crimes are usually isolated incidents that can be handled with traditional police response, investigation, and court proceedings. Crime analysts look for crimes that are not part of isolated incidents. Our job is to identify these patterns and trends and inform the patrol officers, the investigators, and, in many cases, the public.