Police intelligence

Staffed by police officers and support staff, its purpose is to track and predict crime with a view to curbing it.

As part of this, analysts produce profiles of crime problems and individual subjects, and produce both strategic (overall, long-term) and tactical (specific, short-term) assessments within the confines set by the individual police force.

Analysts look for links between a wide variety of intelligence sources to work out what is going on, and make recommendations on how to stop it.

They are recruited on a per-vacancy basis directly by the police force that will employ them, not through any national scheme.

Intelligence Units have staff whose job is to build up and develop intelligence (such as the police officers mentioned above), and analysts are expected to make sense of this information and identify gaps for intelligence-gathering officers to fill.