IACA Certification

The IACA has developed criteria and an examination process that will allow applicants to
become Certified Law Enforcement Analysts (CLEA). A certification program provides the
foundation on which a profession demarcates the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for
successfully meeting the job duties and responsibilities within its given field. Crime analysis,
intelligence analysis, investigative analysis, geographic profiling, police research and planning
units and personnel all share a common skill set. In many cases, individual staff members are
expected to provide this divergent analytical support to public safety agencies across the globe
without formal training or instruction. The IACA is committed to developing and administering
a comprehensive training and credentialing program to provide analysts, as well as departments,
both the framework for excellence and the mechanism for achieving it. The IACA is committed
to designing this model and putting it out in the public domain for all entities, private and public,
local and international, to use. The IACA encourages local associations, training programs,
colleges and universities to build educational programs around this model, as well as encourages
local, state, federal and provincial agencies to adopt these standards of excellence.
The IACA Certification Program is a result of the desire to reach the following six goals:

1. To recognize the professional abilities and accomplishments of individual law
   enforcement analysts.
2. To promote and encourage professional development by individuals in the field of
   law enforcement analysis.
3. To provide the employers of law enforcement analysts a reliable measure of
   professional competence.
4. To provide employers of law enforcement analysts with a basis on which to establish
   position descriptions.
5. To promote the profession of law enforcement analysis to police chiefs,
   administrators and the entire criminal justice community.
6. To better define law enforcement analysis as a legitimate and unique career.

The IACA believes that a diverse, well-rounded, multifaceted analyst makes for the most
productive staff member. While every agency has specific, unique and ever-changing analytical
needs, we believe that every analyst should possess a full understanding of the different
techniques and methods used throughout the field. The IACA also values the divergent ways in
which analysts learn and gain experience necessary for their jobs, and therefore we want to offer
a program that rewards this wide spectrum of learning and understanding. In light of this, the
IACA has designed a certification program based on a point system that acknowledges work
experience, demonstrable knowledge, skills and abilities, academic work, on-the-job training,
and contributions to advancing the profession.