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2025 Year in Review
As 2025 ends, it’s time to review the year and look ahead. At Spatial Analysis Etc, we deliver high-quality, accessible training and products to help people reach their educational and professional goals. Here are our 2025 highlights: Key Accomplishments We continued to grow as a company by adding new instructors, new courses, and new instructional…
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Do You Know How ALPR and Facial Recognition Work?
Facial recognition and automated license plate readers (ALPRs) are tools increasingly being used by law enforcement. They have become essential for crime analysts to help identify offenders and vehicles. Do you know how they work? Basics of Image Recognition ALPRs and facial recognition systems are more similar than you think. In fact, they are both…
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The Power of Networking, Part 2: Why Crime Analysts Should Make Connections In-House
Networking doesn’t always mean swapping business cards at conferences or collecting LinkedIn connections. For a crime analyst, the most powerful network you can build is often right inside your own agency. That can feel intimidating, especially if you’re new to the profession, your agency just launched its analysis unit, or the people around you aren’t…
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The Power of Networking, Part 1: Building Connections Outside Your Agency
Have you ever wondered why people network? Why conferences are packed with welcome receptions, vendor-sponsored events, and hospitality suites? At first, I didn’t get it either. When I entered the world of Crime Analysis, I was content in my comfort zone—chatting with analysts from my county and maybe a neighboring one. Networking felt unnecessary, maybe…
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Come See Us At The CCIAA Conference
Spatial Analysis Etc is proud to announce that several of our instructors will be presenting at this year’s California Crime and Intelligence Analysis (CCIAA) Conference. The 2025 CCIAA conference will take place in Palm Springs, California, and is set to be one of the premier gatherings of crime and intelligence analysts on the West Coast.…
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Improved Traffic Enforcement Using Risk Modeling
The Strategic Shift: How We Rebuilt Ours with Risk, Not Reactions For years, traffic enforcement at our agency felt like a never-ending cycle of chasing complaints, relying on officer hunches, and throwing patrols at hotspots long after the collisions had happened. We weren’t using data to guide our strategy—we were reacting. Despite our best intentions,…
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When to Choose Pivot Tables vs. CountIF Formula
Pivot Tables vs. CountIF: learn when to use these powerful spreadsheet functions
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Crime Analysis Product Contest Winners
Winners Announced! Update 4/6/2025 – Our bulletin contest has ended and we have 4 winning products (see below). Our winners are Melanie Johnson (2 products) and Samantha Epton (2 products). Each winner was paid $25 per winning product. We thank everyone who submitted. Please stay tuned for our next contest and please subscribe so you…
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2024 Year in Review
As we approach the end of the year, this is an ideal moment to reflect on our achievements, challenges, and plans for the future. We believe we have made significant strides in delivering value to our students and growing our company. Our mission at Spatial Analysis Etc is to provide high-quality, accessible training courses and…
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The Power of Microsoft Access: An Underutilized Tool
Too few analysts have discovered the power of Microsoft Access for crime analysis. It’s really a shame too because this tool is very powerful and not difficult to learn. We feel so passionate about this tool that we offer a training course in its use (check out our Access course here) and plan on providing…
