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Webinars
Upcoming live webinars are listed below. For past recordings and materials are available in the Webinar Library
Certificates, CEUs, and recordings
IACA members are awarded CEUs for all webinars. Certificates of Attendance are available upon request. Recording availability varies by session and is determined by the instructor. If a session is recorded, it is typically added to the member webinar library after a 45-day delay unless otherwise noted.
Upcoming Webinars
Sessions are listed in chronological order.
Pinned Series English Wordly translation available
2026 Social Media & Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) Webinar Series
This 12-part series covered social media platforms and OSINT techniques commonly used in law enforcement analysis, with sessions progressing from foundational context (history/psychology and deception via sock puppets) into platform-specific workflows (Facebook, Instagram/Threads, TikTok, Snapchat, fitness apps, and other services), then into OSINT methods and photo analysis. The series concluded with practical class exercises and a summary to reinforce documentation, defensibility, and real-world application.
Topics include: History & Psychology of Social Media; Sock Puppets & Facebook; Instagram & Threads; TikTok; CashApp, YouTube, & Other Platforms; Snapchat; Fitness Apps; OSINT; Photo Analysis
Price:
Members: $15 per session | $112.50 series pass (25% discount) Non-members: $30 per session | $225 series pass (25% discount) Leading Up: How a Crime Analyst Can Help Drive an Agency Forward (in collaboration with NAPSPS)
Date/Time: April 9, 2026 • 1300 hrs • US Eastern Time
Instructor: Carolyn Montagna, The Policing Lab Price: Free for all attendees Recording: This webinar will be recorded. Registered participants will receive the recording within approximately 48 hours, whether or not they attend live. To effectively “lead up” within an agency, a crime analyst must go beyond simple statistical reporting and become an invaluable strategic partner in crime reduction efforts. This presentation includes tips on how an analyst can become critical in police operations by influencing decision making, guiding operational strategies, and fostering a culture of data-informed policing. Carolyn Montagna will share her experience working in various analytical and executive positions with 3 major city police departments.
This webinar is presented as a collaboration between the International Association of Crime Analysts (IACA) and the National Association of Professional Staff in Public Safety (NAPSPS).
Working with data in Python: data import, export, and cleaning
Date/Time: April 29, 2026 • 1200 hrs • US Eastern Time
Instructor: Ruslan Klymentiev, Ghent University Price: Free for all attendees Recording: This webinar will be recorded. Registered participants will receive the recording within approximately 48 hours, whether or not they attend live. This practical webinar introduces how to work with common data formats in Python, including text files, CSV, Excel spreadsheets, and JSON. Participants will learn how to import data from local files as well as from online sources using API requests (e.g., publicly available crime datasets). In addition to data import and export, the session covers essential data manipulation techniques using tabular data. This includes renaming columns, adding or removing variables, filtering datasets, replacing values, and merging datasets. By the end of the session, participants will be able to take raw, messy data from multiple sources and transform it into a clean, structured dataset ready for analysis or visualization. No advanced Python experience is required, although familiarity with basic Python concepts will be helpful.
Charts that Inform, not Mislead: Data Visualization in Crime Analysis
Date/Time: May 18, 2026 • 1200 hrs • US Eastern Time
Instructor: Ruslan Klymentiev, Ghent University Price: Free for all attendees Recording: This webinar will be recorded. Registered participants will receive the recording within approximately 48 hours, whether or not they attend live. In crime and intelligence analysis, data visualization plays a central role in identifying patterns, supporting decision-making, and communicating findings to diverse audiences. However, while visualizations can clarify complex data, they can also mislead, whether through poor design choices or unintentional bias. This webinar provides an overview of key data visualization concepts in the context of crime analysis, with insights applicable to other domains as well. Commonly used plot types will be introduced, such as line plots for temporal trends, scatterplots for relationships, and heatmaps for spatial or intensity patterns, highlighting their strengths and appropriate use cases in analytical workflows. The session will also cover practical guidelines for creating clear and accurate visualizations, including effective use of scales, color, labeling, and layout in reports. Importantly, the webinar addresses common pitfalls and risks in visualizing data, such as truncated axes, misleading comparisons, and visual exaggeration. Participants will learn how to critically evaluate visualizations, recognize potential manipulation, and ensure that their own work supports transparency and analytical integrity.
What if We Could Test Crime Prevention Policies Before Implementation? An Introduction to Simulation Models
Date/Time: June 15, 2026 • 1200 hrs • US Eastern Time
Instructor: Ruslan Klymentiev, Ghent University Price: Free for all attendees Recording: This webinar will be recorded. Registered participants will receive the recording within approximately 48 hours, whether or not they attend live. Crime prevention strategies are often developed under conditions of uncertainty, where real-world experimentation is costly, ethically challenging, or simply not feasible. At the same time, criminological theories provide valuable insights into offender behavior, environmental influences, and crime patterns, but translating these insights into practical policy decisions remains a challenge. This webinar introduces simulation modeling, particularly agent-based modeling, as a tool that can bridge the gap between criminological theory, empirical testing, and, eventually, crime prevention strategies. Simulation models represent complex systems by capturing interactions between individuals, environments, and decision-making processes. As highlighted in recent research, these models provide a way to explore how crime patterns emerge from underlying mechanisms and how they may respond to different interventions.
The session will provide a conceptual overview of how simulation models are built, from theory and hypotheses to formal rules and simulated scenarios, and how they can be used to test “what-if” questions. Examples will illustrate how simulations can reproduce known crime patterns (such as spatial concentration or repeat victimization) and evaluate the potential impact of prevention strategies. Overall, this webinar shows how simulation tools from criminological research can help inform, assess, and communicate crime prevention policies.
LEAF/CLEA Certification FAQ Session
Date/Time: June 30, 2026 • 1100 hrs • US Eastern Time
Instructor: Alex Schneider, IACA Certification Committee Chair Price: Free for all attendees Recording: This webinar will be recorded. Registered participants will receive the recording within approximately 48 hours, whether or not they attend live. Curious about obtaining a crime analyst certification? This session is open to anyone interested in the certification process and is not a study/review session for test takers. It will however provide you with useful information on the test and what to expect. Getting either a CLEA or LEAF certification can open new opportunities and boost your career. For some analysts these certifications come with pay raises/promotions. For others, it gives them an edge over the other candidates when applying for a job. Certifications show you are serious about your job and committed to this field. The IACA LEAF/CLEA Certification program can be a bit daunting for those of us already in the field. You may have questions about the process to apply, how to prepare, what to expect, etc. This Q and A will start with a brief overview of the LEAF and CLEA processes, how they differ, which one is the best suited for where you are in your career.
Looking for past webinars or series materials?
Recordings and supplemental materials are available to IACA members in the Webinar Library. A historical index of previous webinar series is also available.
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