Crime Section

Crime Analyst

The Crime Analyst is imbedded in the Crime Division and provides assistance to our Police Officers in a variety of ways.

Daily, the Crime Analyst reviews information within the Police Service databases in order to identify crime patterns, hotspots, or trends. A successful criminal will often strike more than once, so the Analyst keeps an eye out for a number of indicators that can help police to identify where and when crimes are taking place, how the crimes are committed, and who might be involved. This information is passed on to our Front-Line Officers to increase the chances that they are in the right spot at the right time when the offender strikes again.

The Crime Analyst also assists our Police Investigators develop and link together pieces of intelligence and other information relevant to their investigations. For instance, the Analyst may provide Investigators with a detailed timeline of events leading up to/following a criminal occurrence, or a link chart showing the relationships between individuals of interest to police. The Crime Analyst participates in daily and large scale investigations in the Crime Division as a criminal intelligence resource.

Finally, the Analyst also assists Police Senior Management in researching and analyzing long-term problems, such as chronic hotspots. Chronic hotspots usually have some features that make them attractive to criminals. Identifying these features can help Senior Management better evaluate different strategies in an effort to come up with a long-term solution. Once a strategy is put in place, the Analyst can help assess its effectiveness by monitoring criminal activity over time.

Computer Forensic Analyst

Brandon Police Service has a specially trained forensic computer examiner to deal specifically with all types of computer and digital data-related offences. The examiner has the specialized training, forensic software, and specialized computer hardware to effectively acquire digital evidence. This assists in investigations by providing comprehensive forensic examinations on any type of digital media and providing reports on the evidence collected. All types of investigations are aided by the computer analyst, including homicides, harassment, child sexual abuse materials/luring offences, internet-related offences, drug offences, fraud, and any other crime where a digital medium is involved.

 The forensic computer examiner also assists members by:

• Conducting investigations into Internet-related crimes
• Aiding in the preparation of search warrants, and other advice regarding computer systems and information
• Executing search warrants
• Conducting a forensic examinations of items seized
• Any follow-up assistance as required including the presentation of the evidence in court

LiveScan - Electronic Fingerprinting

Brandon Police Service started using Livescan in May of 2007. It is a method of electronically taking fingerprints and palm prints as an alternative to the ink method used previously.

Livescan is used for the majority of criminal fingerprints that are obtained by the Brandon Police Service. The criminal fingerprints can be sent “live” (electronically) to Ottawa immediately after fingerprinting is done. This also allows for a much faster response time for suspect fingerprint matches than in the past, especially in the case of unknown identity or matching for "coldcase" files.

The method for obtaining the fingerprints is the same as it was with ink, however the print is instead scanned into a computer as opposed to rolled in ink and placed on paper. BPS is also set up to print and send non-criminal prints (i.e. immigration, employment, pardon, etc.) to Ottawa.