The Fullerton Police Department always is striving to operate more efficiently. When it comes to crime analysis, Tamara Otley is shouldering the load.
When she isn’t crunching numbers for FPD, she serves as treasurer for the International Association of Crime Analysts, an organization that stretches across 47 countries worldwide.
Otley, currently in her fifth year with FPD, has been working in crime analysis for nearly a decade. When asked if she’s noticed any difference in those years, she points to how technology – specifically RAIDSOnline.com and the Law Enforcement only version, ATACRAIDS.com – has played a major role in her job.
“I’d say the biggest improvement that came about since using ATACRAIDS has been my ability to quickly search through data,” Otley says.
“Most of my day is spent responding to requests from within various departments in our office. With the improved technology, I can efficiently search through my data and fulfill those requests more promptly.”
Otley also has improved the way she interacts with officers in the field. Three years ago, she worked with a webmaster to create a website that allows for a direct channel of communication by which up-to date information can be accessed around the clock.
Says one officer of the software: “While improvements can still be made, my job has been made much easier by the readiness and amount of information our analysis department has made available to us.”
Before joining FPD, Otley spent many years studying and eventually working part-time at the Brea P.D. She built a relationship with her current counterpart at that agency, Cynthia Haebe, which is a factor in how well the two departments work together, both women say.
Haebe believes this collaboration has resulted in the biggest improvement in crime analysis in her 25 years of experience in the field.
“Our ability to converse and share information so quickly has been absolutely amazing,” Haebe says. “I don’t know how I worked before it.”
Haebe tips her cap to what the FPD has done with Otley’s work.
“One thing they’ve done is have monthly stat meetings between Tamara’s division and the higher-ups in the department,” Haebe says. “It’s something we’re trying to put together here in Brea. That and what they’ve done with ATACRAIDS puts them among the leaders in the county in terms of innovation in using crime data.”
So, what’s next?
Says Otley, “Predictive analysis has always been a goal for the leaders in our field.” Her involvement on the board of the IACA allows her to keep a watchful eye on advances in that area.
“My time with IACA has allowed me to spend time regularly with giants in my field,” Otley says. “While we’d all like to be able to forecast crime, there are simply too many variables. We’re aiming at a constantly moving target.”
What Otley and her colleagues have been able to do so far, however, is gather data on trends during a stretch of crimes, analyze those numbers, and gauge the possible next steps to take to prevent further occurrence of such crimes.
Otley currently is in Chile at an IACA seminar to help her determine other ways to make her already sterling department run even more efficiently. She says she’s confident that whatever direction she decides to take crime analysis she’ll have the support of department leaders.
“Everything has been absolutely perfect since Chief Hughes was elected,” Otley says. “With him at the helm, I couldn’t be more excited about where we can take criminal analysis.”
