The Vera Institute of Justice recently released a paper titled Putting a Value on Crime Analysts: Considerations for Law Enforcement. The paper offers guidance for police executives on how to explain the value of crime analysts and whether cost-benefit analysis (CBA) can help demonstrate a return on investment for these positions.
Vera’s Cost-Benefit Knowledge Bank (CBKB) and Cost-Benefit Analysis Unit developed this paper at the request of leaders of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Law Enforcement Forecasting Group. The first section gives an overview of the steps involved in CBA and the challenges of using this technique. The second section poses questions about crime analysts that police executives need to answer as part of conducting a CBA. The final section of the paper discusses key considerations when performing a CBA of crime analysts.
To download the paper, click here.