Hagerstown Police Department to advertise for crime analyst

July 17, 2007|By DAN DEARTH

The Hagerstown City Council on Tuesday gave Police Chief Arthur Smith its unofficial approval to advertise for a crime analyst, whose responsibilities would include tracking criminal trends so police officers can operate more effectively.

Smith said the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention recently announced that the city was awarded grant money to pay for the $50,700 position. That amount would cover the crime analyst's salary and benefits, he said.

The police department would like to fill the position as soon as possible, Smith said. Applicants should have computer skills and police experience, he said.

Because the grant is presented on a year-to-year basis, the position would be canceled if the funding gets discontinued, Smith said. But grants of this nature typically last when cities show that they have put the funding to good use, he said.

Smith said the crime analyst would track the actions of known criminals and recently released inmates - including gang members - from the prison system.

The crime analyst would create a list of the city's most active and violent criminals by holding interviews with investigators, informants and crime victims, he said.

The information would be shared with a county prosecutor to file new charges, such as parole violations, that authorities could use to send criminals back to prison and reduce the likelihood of violent crime in the community, Smith said.

He said Washington County recently was awarded $76,168 in grant money to hire a prosecutor who would work with the crime analyst.

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