Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS)
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 of their offending. Whilst this objective remains at the heart of our remit we have developed far more services for investigators of serious crime. We receive case files at an early stage from all forces in the UK (including Scotland and the PSNI) through a network of contact officers employed in intelligence departments in every force. 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 of criminal behaviour 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 designed to assist the investigation. 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 in the offence, 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. 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. Linking serious sexual crime - nationally
"The service provided was excellent and the timeliness of the analyst's response...was excellent. I am very pleased with the quality of the work conducted by NCOF and the behavioural investigative suggestions provided...were useful in that they highlighted those salient aspects of the offence the SIO & team had considered."
"Excellent service received, with the support and advice given of very high standard."