ABSTRACT
Why do we need intelligence-led policing? The answer lies in the nature of crime. In this chapter, I will show why a data-driven, offender orientation is necessary to combat the threat of crime, and why a reactive response to crime events – often through unfocused investigative action – is a recipe for failure. To understand the need for intelligence-led policing, some quantification is necessary. How big is the crime challenge facing the police? How much crime gets reported to police? How much of this is detected, and how many of these offenders get jailed? Is there a hard core of offenders committing most of the crime in our society? The answers to these questions have been a driving force for intelligence-led policing and have been used as evidence to drive a proactive approach. For example, as stated in the previous chapter, Helping with Enquiries – the Audit Commission report that advocated a move towards proactive policing and brought the concept of intelligence-led policing to a wider audience – argued for the police to focus on prolific and serious offenders and for an increase in the use of criminal intelligence. The report made a number of claims to support this approach, saying a small minority of offenders commit most of the crime, and that tackling the criminal, and not the crime, is the most efficient way for police to reduce crime. This chapter looks at the crime and offender data and considers whether these figures provide evidence to advocate an intelligence-led model of policing.
