Where Insight Meets Strategy
RISC – Research, Innovation & Security Consulting – at CAP Index
Advanced crime risk analytics and strategic expertise to help you make smarter, faster, and more confident security decisions.
Research & Innovation
Built on Data. Driven by Insight.
Our Research & Innovation team develops the industry’s most advanced crime risk models – turning complex data into clear, actionable intelligence. From predictive analytics to custom modeling, we deliver the insight you need to understand and mitigate risk.
Security Consulting
Strategy Informed by Intelligence.
Security Consulting at CAP Index helps you apply data to critical decisions – advising on site planning, guard strategies, compliance, and more. With deep expertise and a data-informed approach, we help organizations align risk insight with action.
RESEARCH & INNOVATION
Data That Drives Strategy
Our Research & Innovation team develops the industry’s most advanced crime risk models – turning complex data into clear, actionable intelligence. From predictive analytics to custom modeling, we deliver the insight you need to understand and mitigate risk.
Behind the scenes, this work is powered by two highly specialized groups. The Geospatial Crime Solutions team builds the foundation by collecting and preparing massive amounts of crime and risk data. The Crime Risk Modeling team then transforms that foundation into advanced scores, reports, and predictive tools that shape security strategies around the world.
Geospatial Crime Solutions
The Geospatial Crime Solutions team is where data becomes decision-ready. Our experts gather mountains of information from a wide range of sources — public records, incident reports, demographic data, proprietary datasets, and more. Every piece of data is rigorously vetted, cleaned, and standardized to ensure accuracy and reliability. We then transform this information into structured, usable formats that power a variety of reports, dashboards, and mapping tools.
By making complex data both accessible and practical, the Geospatial Crime Solutions team provides the foundation for everything from location assessments to custom analytics. Whether you need a quick snapshot or a deep dive, their work ensures you’re seeing the clearest possible picture of risk.
Crime Risk Modeling
Once the data foundation is in place, our Crime Risk Modeling team takes it to the next level. These specialists design and refine the proprietary crime risk scores and predictive models that CAP Index is known for. By combining advanced analytics, statistical modeling, and years of research expertise, the team produces a wide array of outputs — from the industry-standard Crime Risk Reports to specialized indices and tailored risk assessments.
Their work doesn’t just summarize past incidents; it anticipates future trends and emerging risks. This empowers organizations to move from reactive security planning to proactive, data-driven strategies that align resources with the realities of crime risk today.
Beyond standard models, the team develops customized solutions to address unique challenges, whether that means creating specialized indices for a particular sector, or tailoring risk assessments for a portfolio of sites. They also conduct in-depth evaluations of security and guarding plans, ensuring that protective measures are both strategically targeted and cost-effective. And because every organization faces distinct pressures, our experts offer a broad range of analytical services — from scenario testing to resource allocation studies — designed to strengthen security strategies and support smarter decision-making.
Why It Matters
Together, the Geospatial Crime Solutions and Crime Risk Modeling teams form the engine of CAP Index innovation. By uniting meticulous data management with advanced predictive analytics, they deliver intelligence that is accurate, relevant, and actionable — helping our clients make smarter decisions, allocate resources effectively, and stay ahead of evolving threats.
Our Brains, Your Data
Discover untapped insights in your internal data by partnering with the Research & Innovation team on a custom crime risk assessment model.
SECURITY CONSULTING
Expert Guidance for Complex Risk
While our Research & Innovation team provides the advanced data and models that form the foundation of CAP Index’s solutions, our Security Consulting team ensures those insights are applied in the most impactful way. Together, these groups deliver thoroughly vetted, custom solutions that directly address your organization’s unique security challenges.
Our consultants bring decades of hands-on experience, combining data-driven insight with practical expertise to help you turn information into action. The result: stronger strategies, smarter investments, and measurable improvements across your security program.
Security decisions carry real consequences—and the right strategy starts with the right intelligence.
CAP Index’s Security Consulting offering connects our data-driven insights with practical, expert-led guidance. From planning and design to policy and performance, we help organizations navigate complex risk environments with clarity and confidence.
What Our Consulting Services Deliver
Turning Data into Strategy
CAP Index data is powerful, but data alone doesn’t create change. Our consultants work closely with you to interpret and adapt our analytics to your specific operating environment. By embedding our insights into your existing systems and strategies, we ensure the numbers translate into real-world impact.
- Tailoring data interpretation to your unique environment
- Expanding risk scoring beyond crime risk to capture the full spectrum of security threats
- Embedding CAP data into broader strategies for guarding, GSOC, and security controls
Building Smarter Risk Assessments
Sound decisions require more than instinct — they require evidence. Our team helps you move beyond assumptions by integrating additional indicators, quantifying risks, and establishing objective measures. This turns risk assessments into reliable tools that directly inform your security priorities and investment plans.
- Incorporating additional risk indicators into site scoring
- Quantifying threat intelligence and folding it into objective site risk measures
- Establishing a clear, data-backed foundation for security investment decisions
Strengthening Security Programs
Even the best data has limited value if your broader security program isn’t aligned to use it effectively. With decades of experience across industries, our consultants help you evaluate, benchmark, and improve your overall posture — ensuring that your policies, processes, and people are working together to deliver the strongest possible results.
- Assessing your overall security posture and benchmarking against industry norms
- Developing strategic roadmaps aligned with standards such as ASIS ESRM and PAP
- Optimizing guarding, incident management, and response capabilities
- Building a strong security culture, governance, and compliance framework
Why It Matters
When the deep analytics of our Research & Innovation team are combined with the applied expertise of our Security Consulting team, you gain a powerful advantage: solutions that are not only based on the best crime risk intelligence in the industry, but also shaped by real-world experience to fit your environment and objectives.
From Data to Decisions
Partner with our Security Consulting team to turn data and analysis into a tailored security roadmap. Together, we’ll help you strengthen your defenses, optimize investments, and build a program that’s ready for today’s risks—and tomorrow’s.
Steven Aurand
President and CEO, Co-FounderEducation
Graduate studies in Criminology and Statistics, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Greatest Hits
Co-founded CAP Index
Partnered in pioneering the field of data-driven crime risk assessment for businesses
Research analyst on biosocial criminology and crime analytics
Focus
Building crime risk models, establishing industry best practices, and driving CAP Index’s strategy...
Steven Aurand
President and CEO, Co-Founder
Dr. Grant Drawve
Vice President, Geospatial Crime SolutionsEducation
Ph.D. Criminal Justice, University of Arkansas
M.A. Criminology & Criminal Justice, Southern Illinois University
Greatest Hits
- 50+ peer-reviewed publications
- $3M+ in funded research
- 10+ years working on place-based crime reduction initiatives
Focus
Examining how environmental factors influence crime trends and patterns
Dr. Grant Drawve
Vice President, Geospatial Crime Solutions
Dr. Casey Harris
Vice President, Crime Risk ModelingEducation
Ph.D. Sociology, Penn State University
M.A. Criminology, Penn State University
Greatest Hits
- 50+ peer-reviewed publications
- $3M+ in funded research
- Founding member of data science program at University of Arkansas
Focus
Using demographic and statistical modeling techniques to predict crime across places
Dr. Casey Harris
Vice President, Crime Risk Modeling
Emily Blackburn
Director of Geospatial Crime SolutionsEducation
M.A. in Criminology, University of Missouri–St. Louis
Greatest Hits
2021 ESRI Special Achievement in GIS award for services to the City of St. Louis Police Department
2020 IALEP award for a study on the impact of mobile surveillance units
20+ years law enforcement experience
Focus
Analyzing spatial data and crime patterns to improve safety...
Emily Blackburn
Director of Geospatial Crime Solutions
Christy VanMeter
Geospatial Crime AnalystEducation
M.A. Criminology & Criminal Justice, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
M.S. Data Science & Analytic Storytelling, Truman State University
Greatest Hits
Former crime analyst with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
Maps and illustrations featured in news broadcasts and criminology textbooks
Focus
Translating crime risk analysis into actionable insights...
Christy VanMeter
Geospatial Crime Analyst
Jason Chen
Research AnalystEducation
B.S. Information Sciences and Technology, Penn State University
Greatest Hits
- Develops risk models to optimize security strategies and reduce costs
- Proficient in SQL, Data Cataloging, Data Management, Power BI, and SAS
Focus
Collecting and analyzing data to drive informed decision-making and optimize loss prevention processes
Jason Chen
Research Analyst
Hannah Steinman
Research AnalystEducation
Completing Ph.D., Criminal Justice, Temple University
M.A. Sociology, University of Arkansas
Greatest Hits
- Contributed to crime analysis books
- Temple University research grant recipient for crime and environment studies
Focus
Exploring the relationship between crime and various social/environmental factors
Hannah Steinman
Research Analyst
Rachel Bleinman
Social Data Technician/AnalystEducation
Ph.D. Candidate (degree forthcoming Fall 2025), Criminal Justice, Temple University
M.A. and B.A. in Criminal Justice from Temple University
Greatest Hits
15+ peer-reviewed publications
Proficient in Stata, Python, R, and Java
Served as main contributor to Temple University’s open-access dataset of Ransomware Attacks against Critical Infrastructure
Focus
Data wrangling: scrubbing, cleaning, merging, aggregating, and transforming data for use in crime analysis...
Rachel Bleinman
Social Data Technician/Analyst
David R. Feeney
Vice President, Security ConsultingEducation
B.S. Business Administration, Towson University
Greatest Hits
Leader in GSOC design and ESRM guidelines development
Eight years of Big 4 consulting and 20+ years of security experience
Longtime leader within ASIS International and ISO Standards Committee
Focus
Bringing real-world security operations and strategy together to help organizations reduce risk and align protection with business priorities...
David R. Feeney
Vice President, Security ConsultingSmarter Security Starts Here
At CAP Index, our mission is to help organizations move beyond guesswork and into data-driven decision making. Our Research & Innovation team builds the industry’s most advanced crime risk models, transforming complex datasets into clear, actionable intelligence. Our Security Consulting team ensures those insights are applied effectively — turning analytics into strategies, roadmaps, and measurable improvements across your security program.
Together, these groups deliver a powerful combination: data you can trust, and expertise you can act on. The result is a solution that is not only predictive and precise, but also tailored to the realities of your business, your risks, and your goals.
Whether you need to understand crime risk, strengthen your security posture, or build a long-term strategy for investment, CAP Index gives you the intelligence and guidance to move forward with confidence.
Let’s Talk About Your Security Goal
Ready to put the industry’s best crime risk intelligence and consulting expertise to work for you? Connect with our team today and discover how CAP Index can help you optimize resources, reduce risk, and strengthen your security strategy from the ground up.
Explore More Insights
Our RISC team brings you exclusive videos, podcasts, blogs, and more — delivering the latest crime risk insights straight from the source.
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Bridging Research and Reality in Crime Prevention
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