A problem‐oriented approach to the production of strategic intelligence assessments

Abstract

Purpose

The strategic intelligence assessment (SIA) plays an important role in contemporary intelligence‐led policing by helping to identify strategic priorities for policing activity, crime reduction and improvements in community safety. Originally defined in the UK's National Intelligence Model, the SIA is produced annually by all local UK police districts as well as other agencies in the UK and internationally that have adopted intelligence‐led principles. The purpose of this paper is to critique the two most common approaches to its production, structuring its content following a “crime‐type” template or an assessment that is based on previous strategic priorities.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper's critique is based on reviewing one hundred SIAs from police forces and Community Safety Partnerships in the UK and through speaking to practitioners on their experiences in using these intelligence products to determine strategic priorities.

Findings

The paper identifies weaknesses in both, arguing that neither tends to generate strategic intelligence products that are fit for the purpose for effective decision making, and in particular in helping to harness support from local government partners to address persistent and causal factors. As an alternative the study introduce a problem‐oriented approach to the production of strategic intelligence, with an assessment made in relation to place (locations and temporal features), offending and offender management, and victimisation and vulnerability.

Originality/value

The paper illustrates that the problem‐oriented approach leads to the production of a SIA that is more cross‐cutting in its analysis of crime and community safety issues, and more naturally leads to the identification of strategic priorities that focus on addressing causal issues.

Citation

Chainey, S. and Chapman, J. (2013), "A problem‐oriented approach to the production of strategic intelligence assessments", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 36 No. 3, pp. 474-490. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-02-2012-0012