The Planning and Analysis function is responsible for crime analysis, grants administration, conducting complex research and statistical analysis, advising management on short-term and long-term planning, annual report production, project management, and CALEA accreditation management.

Crime Analysis

Crime analysis is defined as a set of systematic, analytical processes directed at providing timely and pertinent information relative to crime patterns and trend correlations. This information assists operational and administrative personnel in planning the deployment of resources for the prevention and suppression of criminal activities, aiding the investigative process, and increasing apprehensions and the clearance of cases. Within this context, crime analysis supports a number of department functions including patrol deployment, special projects, tactical incidents, investigations, research and planning, crime prevention, and administrative
services such as budgeting and program planning.

Reporting Projects

Crime analysis reporting projects are aligned with three general categories:

Administrative
Administrative deals with long-range comparisons (quarterly, semi-annually or annually). These reports provide economic, geographic and law enforcement information to police management, town management, elected officials and neighborhood/citizen groups.

Strategic
Strategic is primarily concerned with operational strategies and seeks solutions to ongoing problems (weeks, months, quarters or years). The purpose of strategic crime analysis is to make service delivery more effective and efficient by putting resources where demand is highest.

Tactical
Tactical deals with immediate criminal offenses (immediate, hours, days, and weeks). It promotes a quick response to recent offenses such as burglaries and robberies. Tactical crime analysis provides information to assist operational personnel in the identification of crime trends and in the arrest of criminal offenders.

Intelligence-Led Policing Philosophy

The Cornelius Police Department is in the process of building its crime analysis and planning program into an intelligence-led policing philosophy to compliment the community and problem-oriented policing initiatives. We are striving for actionable intelligence that will directly translate into a greatly improved impact on quality of life and a higher degree of transparency to our citizens and business owners in terms of what is taking place around them.

In partnership with the Omega Group, the Department currently utilizes CrimeView Dashboard technology, which rests on an ArcGIS Server mapping engine and organizes aspatial information from multiple databases into a visualization of activity. The Dashboard enables the Department to drill down into charts, personalize information, investigate patterns through intensity maps, identify information more efficiently and create threshold alerts. In addition, crimemapping.com enables the Department to reach out to the public and share information about crime activity occurring in the community. Users of crimemapping.com are able to map activity near a particular geographic location, identify crimes by type, time, date of occurrence, perform filtered searches, and receive crime alerts.

Grants Administration

The Planning and Research function is charged with providing services and resources to the Department to obtain funding and successfully administer grants. Services include identifying external funding sources, conducting grants research, composing grant proposals, developing grant budgets, measuring program outcomes, and grants reporting. The Department has received a number of grants for personnel, equipment, and programs to improve the quality of life in the community from the state and federal government as well as corporate foundations.

Research and Statistical Analysis

The Planning and Research function is responsible for performing complex statistical and analytical research work for the Department. Research and statistical analysis is critical in measuring and improving organizational performance, identifying and assessing alternatives, and evaluating conditions. This function conducts survey research, feasibility studies, SWOT (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analyses, manpower allocation studies, and program and policy evaluations.

Planning

Planning is critical to the efficiency and effectiveness of operations at the Cornelius Police Department. The Planning and Research function is responsible for the development of the agency’s strategic plan, which provides a plan to meet goals and objectives, champions comprehensive planning and facilitates the annual budget process. The agency’s strategic plan takes into account long-term goals and operational objectives, anticipated workloads and population trends, anticipated personnel levels, and anticipated capital improvements and equipment needs. The core areas of the Department’s strategic plan include Department Growth and Organization, Crime Prevention and Reduction, Employee Enrichment and Professionalism, Technology Improvements, and Capital Improvements. The Strategic Plan is evaluated annually by the Department.

Accreditation Management

The Planning and Research function works in conjunction with the Support Services Captain to administer CALEA (Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies) in the Department. Responsibilities include collecting time-sensitive reports from personnel, coordinating self-assessments, organizing on-site assessments, evaluating agency policies and procedures, and implementing CALEA training to ensure that personnel understand the CALEA process.