Texarkana, Texas' crime analyst Krysten Collins knows her title typically makes people think of her examining an item of interest -- say a stiletto heel with blood stains on it -- but that is a common misconception thanks to crime dramas, she said.
"When I explain what my job is to people, they still think it is very cool, but they always think at first that I go to the crime scenes," Krysten said.
Most of her work is done from behind a computer screen.
"I can look at all the information for all the shots fired, the suspects, what kind of gun was used. A lot of cases do end up going together. I read each report and see what similarities there are in each case."
In the fast-paced, pulsating excitement of police procedurals, authorities catch bad guys in 60 minutes -- including commercials. That, however, is something best left to the entertainment world of TV. In real life, as you would imagine, the job is a little less glamorous, but that doesn't mean Krysten isn't doing exactly what she has wanted to be doing for an exceptionally long time.
"My mom was a paralegal for 20 years, so I have always been around the law, but I didn't want to be a lawyer," the 24-year-old, said. "I learned about being a crime analyst when I was in high school and then it became my dream to become one. I have interned at lawyers' offices and worked at lawyers' offices, and I respect what lawyers do and everything, but I didn't want to fight cases in court -- I wanted to minimize crime overall."
While attending Texas High School, Krysten took an advanced placement statistics course that counted toward her college credit. She attended and graduated from Texas Tech University where she received her bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology with a concentration in criminology.
Now enrolled at Texas Woman's University, she is pursuing a master's degree in sociology with a concentration in criminology, a post baccalaureate certificate in diversity and a post baccalaureate certificate in social science research methods. She is pursuing her master's degree online.
"I'm getting the certificates because we do a racial profiling report at the department, and I also plan on conducting a research study on eyewitness identification," she said. The report is part of the Texas Racial Profiling Law, enacted in 2001 by the Texas legislature. The law requires all Texas law enforcement agencies to file a report each year.
Krystens's enthusiasm for her job at the Bi-State Justice Center as a crime analyst was not something she kept to herself. When she completed the interview process and was told she could start a week or two later, she told them she wanted to start as soon as she could, she said.
"That was on Nov. 28, 2022, when I started as a crime analyst and I felt like that was the best birthday gift I could give myself," she said.
Krysten's goal is to work with her Arkansas-side counterpart Jennifer Scarborough to collect and compare statistics to make both sides of Texarkana safer, she said.
Krysten works alongside Jennifer at the Bi-State Justice Building.
"I am the fourth crime analyst the department has had in three years," Krysten said. "So former analysts were giving the numbers about what was happening but weren't saying when and where the crime was happening so the officers could go and patrol those areas more. Since I've incorporated some of these areas, I've noticed those have gone down. We are constantly trying to focus on the different ways to minimize crime on the Texas side and Arkansas side too because we want to make it where Texarkana is a safer place."
Krysten said the relationship between crime analysts like herself, Jennifer and police officers are key because those officers are the ones patrolling the streets and can bring back the needed information that can't be seen while working on a computer. When they provide the information from their reports, however, the team effort can allow them to see cause and effect.
Although Krysten does not know how many years she would like to remain at Bi-State, she wants to make sure she is well versed on how to be the best crime analyst possible before attempting her next goal.
"Way later I would like to ultimately be an FBI analyst. I don't know if I would make the switch to the FBI or end up staying here."
For now, there are crimes to solve and research papers to write and -- yes -- more statistics to study. When she's not helping officers keep crime off the streets, Collins enjoys spending time with her daughter, Aubrielle, and her dog, a Great Pyrenees and Golden Retriever mix who is lovingly called "Xander" when he is good and his full name of "Alexander" when he is in trouble.