Criminal Justice student getting hands-on experience in crime analysis

Morgan Gibson ‘24 loves the minutiae of crime analysis.

She enjoys combing through spreadsheets of data, examining police reports and finding the tiny details that may relate one crime to another – or one suspect to a series of crimes.

“It’s all very geeky to me,” Gibson said with a smile. “I love mapping it all out, making those connections.” 

Gibson is exploring plenty of opportunities to hone her professional analytical skills as she works toward a master's in criminal justice and a graduate certificate in crime analysis and criminal intelligence at Radford University. In addition to the valuable classroom experiences, Gibson, who already has earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at Radford with an accompanying minor in crime analysis and criminal intelligence, is putting her knowledge to work, serving as a paid graduate research fellow in the Center for Police Practice, Policy and Research.

Gibson’s duties include working with center directors and Radford criminal justice faculty Rachel and Roberto Santos on a yearlong project that features a comprehensive multi-stage training and technical assistance program, funded by a Virginia Department of Criminal Services grant, to assess the crime analysis and criminal intelligence capabilities of, provide training for and bring together crime analysts from law enforcement agencies in Virginia’s Western District. 

The Santoses, creators of the popular crime reduction business model for police called stratified policing, frequently work with police departments, sheriff’s offices and state police around the United States to implement proactive crime reduction and build crime analysis capacity. “The central location of Radford University within the Western District, “Roberto Santos explained, “provides an opportunity to create a long-standing collaboration to enhance crime analysis and criminal intelligence capacity in agencies throughout the region.”

Gibson’s role in the project is taking her inside the world of crime analysis and providing a unique hands-on opportunity to gain a deeper knowledge of the profession in which she aspires to work. It also enables her to work along with the university to provide a needed service to multiple communities.

In the early stages of the project, which began in August and runs through September 2025, Gibson is busy with meetings and helping to organize the two-day training session the Santoses will provide to crime analysts in spring in Radford. The tailored training will focus on crime analysis best practices and techniques for “person-focused analysis of violent crime,” Rachel Santos explained, followed up with monthly virtual meetings with analysts in the region to support communication and data sharing among the analysts. 

Gibson organized a list of all the crime analysts in the Western District, Rachel Santos explained. “She helps us with interviews; she takes notes, and she is learning a ton.”

Such as?

“I’m learning more about what crime analysts do on a day-to-day basis,” said Gibson, sitting in Rachel Santos’s office. “I’m learning professional skills by doing the work that is far beyond what you can learn in the classroom. I’m seeing firsthand how the knowledge I’ve gained in the classroom here at Radford can be applied to the real world.” 

“When she talks with analysts, she asks insightful questions based on what she has learned in class,” Rachel Santos said. “It’s very helpful to us because it helps us gather relevant information, and it helps Morgan to learn even more.”

Radford University offers an education that encourages active participation, challenges students from the outset and provides early access to industry-aligned opportunities. As early as their freshman year, students get hands-on experience that includes valuable research and professional working opportunities. Like Gibson, each Radford student can engage in career-driven experiences that connect them meaningfully to their future profession.

Gibson, who plans to pursue a career in crime analysis and criminal intelligence at the federal level or with a private company, said her Radford education, first as an undergraduate and now at the graduate level, has given her the “real-life skills” she will need to work as a professional analyst. 

The opportunities have been plentiful, from her classroom studies to forming close relationships with her professors to participating in professional conferences. In February, the Louisa, Virginia, native was one of nine Radford criminal justice students who presented their individual crime analysis results and formal products at the 2024 Carolinas Crime Analysis Association’s (CCAA) Annual training conference in Charleston, South Carolina.

Gibson attended the conference, then as an undergraduate student in her crime analysis and criminal intelligence capstone class, because she recognized it “as a great opportunity to get my foot in the door regarding the crime analysis field,” she said. “And it offered me opportunities to network with other analysts. I got a lot of hands-on, professional training from that conference.” 

It was one more opportunity in a long list of educational experiences that leaves Gibson believing that Radford University is helping her connect the pieces and map a strategy for a satisfying career, she said, “in the very competitive crime analysis field.”