collage includes headset, suspect on street, abandoned trainer in road, police officers running

Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS)

A team of crime analysts and specialist police staff analyse crime under specific criteria, essentially rape and serious sexual assaults and motiveless or sexually motivated murder cases.

Linking serious sexual crime - nationally

The Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS) was initiated by the Home Office in 1998 to identify the potential emergence of serial killers and serial rapists at the earliest stage. Since then, we have developed far more services for investigators of serious crime.

We receive case files from a network of contact officers employed in intelligence departments in every force in the UK, including Scotland and the PSNI.

In order to carry out the complex casework, we code the information onto one single database - ViCLAS (Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System). This system was developed in Canada by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  The coding is a painstaking process and is carried out by highly trained Assistant Crime Analysts.

The investigating officer receives a report from a crime analyst with a number of key elements. It will identify if there are grounds to believe that the offender has previously been identified. It will also provide a breakdown of the behaviour exhibited, often with a statistical description of some of the elements involved. This can alert an investigator to the importance of some aspects of the offence not immediately apparent.

We are also responsible for identifying good practice, or "what works", so the analyst's report may contain "investigative suggestions" that might guide the officer to a specific line of enquiry not yet considered. The report may also suggest possible suspects that the unit has identified from various databases.

When a prime suspect has been identified and charged with an offence, senior analysts are able to provide specialist evidence in court, to assist with the prosecution.

Academic Research

This tactical work carried out at SCAS is constantly evolving, using the latest crime research to improve our service. To this end, we assist some academic researchers wishing to carry out research into serious crime, with the understanding that the results of their research are made directly available to assist the analysis of serious crime by our specialists.

We now have an academic board and have set research protocols that outline how we can assist researchers and what our research interests are.This is proving to be a highly successful partnership between the unit and a number of academic institutions.

We frequently carry out this service jointly with our colleagues in Crime Operational Support. 

"The stats were very useful for the force analyst to use in a report for the CPS, this gave a guide as to the rarity of the similar offences for the CPS to consider"

"Contact from SCAS has been excellent, it has assisted with additional lines of enquiry"

"If DNA confirms it could lead to an undetected case being closed"

"The support received in relation to the QUEST comparisons was invaluable"

"The cases highlighted had some striking similarities"

"As of today we have 2 suspects, we know the identity of both thanks to SCAS..."  [one suspect was subsequently convicted of the offence]

"An invaluable investigative tool - will use again"