Friday, February 29, 2008

The Science of Experience

While this news article in Time focuses primarily on the health care professions, think about how it applies to crime and intelligence analysis....

Data crunching, crime busting: City to step up “intelligence-led policing,” bring on full-time crime analyst

This is an article worth reading!

Next Week's Topic: Imagination

Next week's focus will be on imagination for analysts, their trainers, and their educators.

"Imagination involves the synthetic combining of aspects of memories or experiences into a mental construction that differs from past or present perceived reality, and may anticipate future reality. Generally regarded as one of the "higher mental functions," it is not thought to be present in animals." -Encyclopedia of Psychology

"active imagination n. In analytical psychology, a term introduced by Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) in the Tavistock lectures, delivered in London in 1935, to denote a process of allowing fantasies (2) to run free, as if dreaming with open eyes. He had expounded the concept (though not the terminology) earlier (Collected Works, 6, paragraphs 712–14, 723n)." From: A Dictionary of Psychology | Date: 2001 | Author: ANDREW M. COLMAN

Sociological imagination is a sociological term, coined by the American sociologist C. Wright Mills in 1959, describing the process of linking individual experience with social institutions and one's place in history. -Wikipedia

Types of Imagination
Citation: Bartlett, F.C. (1928). 'Types of imagination', Journal of Philosophical Studies 3: 78-85.

New Book: Intelligence-led Policing

Jerry Ratcliffe's new book "Intelligence-led Policing" will be out next week. (Update to post - it is available today!)I was privileged to read a draft and contribute a vignette to the book and I highly recommend it (not because I have a vignette in it - I don't know if it made the final draft!). John Eck says "This may be the most important book on policing in over a decade."

Jerry's Intelligence-led policing page
includes well-researched articles focued on ILP.

"The central aim of this book is to bring the concepts and processes of intelligence-led policing into better focus, so that students, practitioners and scholars of policing, criminal intelligence and crime analysis can better understand the evolving dynamics of this new paradigm in policing. The main audience are professionals within the law enforcement environment; senior officers, middle management, analysts and operational staff. With this in mind, each chapter contains a Viewpoint from a professional in the field. These expert views are drawn from specialists from around the globe, and I am indebted to the authors for agreeing to share their insight.

What is intelligence-led policing? Who came up with the idea? Where did it come from? How does it related to other policing paradigms? What distinguishes an intelligence-led approach to crime reduction? How is it designed to have an impact on crime? Does it prevent crime? What is crime disruption? Is intelligence-led policing just for the police? These are questions asked by many police professionals, including senior officers, analysts and operational staff. Similar questions are also posed by students of policing who have witnessed the rapid emergence of intelligence-led policing from its British origins to worldwide movement. These questions are also relevant to crime prevention practitioners and policy-makers seeking long-term crime benefits. The answers to these questions are the subject of this book."

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Assessing the Tradecraft of Intelligence Analysis

While this 2008 RAND report by Gregory F. Treverton and C. Bryan Gabbard focuses on the US Intelligence Community, some of the concepts discussed also relate to the development of crime and intelligence analysis in policing. A free download version is available on the post title link page.

New High-Tech Cameras Are Watching You

Interesting article from "Popular Mechanics" magazine posted at www.military.com.... l

Intelligence Led Policing: The New Intelligence Architecture

Intelligence Led Policing: The New Intelligence Architecture
Bureau of Justice Assistance September 2005

"Intelligence operations have been reviewed, studied, and slowly but steadily transformed. Most efforts have focused on reorganizing intelligence infrastructures at the federal level; however, corresponding efforts have been made to enhance state and local law enforcement intelligence operations. Such enhancements make it possible for state and local law enforcement agencies to play a role in homeland security. Perhaps more important, improvements to intelligence operations help local law enforcement respond to “traditional” crimes more effectively."

I do not agree that true intelligence led policing is centered around the operations of intelligence functions. Rather, it is truly a new way of working focused on ACTIONABLE KNOWLEDGE creation and integration into decision making from the street level to the top government boardroom. The emphasis on clandestine intelligence is a mistake that will impede the development of ILP.

That said, this text also encourages a holistic view:

"What We Need to Do

Before an agency can develop intelligence-led policing, it must address several critical areas. Among these areas are the following:
■ Blending intelligence and POP.
■Building stronger police-community partnerships.
■Blending strategic intelligence and police planning.
■Instituting information-sharing policies.
■Building analytic support for police agencies."
(POP=Problem Oriented Policing)

Data sharing policies are as or more important than information sharing policies. As Christopher Bruce, president of the International Association of Crime Analysts discussed with me this week, we cannot find important patterns through information sharing alone. Who knows what we need to know? How will you know what information is important to me? The serial criminal acting one time in each of a variety of regional jurisdictions will not be noticed unless data is shared and analyzed cross-juridictionally.

One report in each jurisdiction of someone raping someone at knifepoint wearing a red mask will be unusual and may become shared information, but we should not be relying on hope for our sharing policies. One report in each jurisdiction of someone stealing fertilizer is more likely to be shared in light of our current homeland security awareness. Nevertheless, without data sharing and individuals proactively analyzing that data for patterns and anomalies, we are working more like an emergency room in triage than professionals who study problems and cure them (or at the minimum find new treatments that work better). The emergency room will always be necessary but it is time to move beyond that and grow.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

NJSP Practical Guide to Intelligence-led Policing

New Jersey State Police
Practical Guide to Intelligence-led Policing
September 2006

"In the era of Homeland Security, data collection and intelligence analysis are vital components for ensuring appropriate planning and resource allocation that supports the police, emergency responders, and private sector as they collectively strive to prevent, deter and respond to crime, terrorist attacks, and man-made or natural disasters."

Resources allocation becomes an issue when resources are limited and/or dwindling, as policing resources are in the United States. ILP is rooted in making the best choices for resources allocation. It is much easier to implement ILP at the state level than the local level. In one county alone, without regionalization, there can be 25-50 law enforcement agencies wanting to keep the status quo, having different missions - getting those agencies to join a collective effort means that they might risk losing their value and thus their jobs.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Gangs of Vermont

Interesting trend....

The Chief's Corner

Read Chief Tom Casady's blog - he uses analysis very well in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Knowledge management challenges in the development of intelligence-led policing

Old Knowledge and New Knowledge

Jerry Ratcliffe's work on intelligence led policing is insightful and based on solid research. In this article, he focuses on "old knowledge" (intelligence based on support of criminal investigations) and "new knowledge" (intelligence arising from crime analysis through use of digitized data) and how the use and understanding of these different knowledge perspectives clash. Like Ratcliffe, I believe that integrating the knowledge types is necessary to have a truly intelligence led policing system. Like Ratcliffe, I don't know if this will ever be possible. I believe the integration of knowledge is highly desirable to create a safer world.

"In this context, I therefore define the new knowledge as that which relates to information about crime events, patterns and themes that run through what can initially appear to be random events, and is knowledge that is more relevant to resource management and operational priorities than case support and individual investigations. The skills and types of analyses that can explore these broader patterns are very different to the skills necessary to collect the traditional wisdom. Crime-centric knowledge requires computer dexterity, analytical ability, database management and reporting skills, and can be conducted largely in an office environment. In many respects, this all runs as an anathema to the traditional, offender-centric knowledge that recognised skill in manipulating and managing informants, and respected knowledge based on a long history working in one area and getting to know the characters and offenders in that geographical region." page 9

"Articulating support for intelligence sharing has become the Zeitgeist of our times, however articulation of intelligence sharing principles and active participation and sharing are not the same thing. Intelligence-led policing is attempting to synchronise two different types of knowledge (old and new) that are, on the surface, fairly mismatched, and is attempting to do so in order to create intelligence products that go beyond the existing arrest mentality and into preventative areas that are incompatible with the subculture of current policing. The challenges are significant." page 16

Cite as Ratcliffe, J.H. (in press) 'Knowledge management challenges in the development of intelligence-led policing', in T. Williamson (Ed) The Handbook of Knowledge-Based Policing: Current Conceptions and Future Directions (Chichester: John Wiley and Sons).

Monday, February 25, 2008

Cross-border drugs route targeted

The Need for Intelligence-Led Policing

Read this article as a preparation for this week's focus on Intelligence Led Policing.

The Need for Intelligence-Led Policing

Wednesday, June 21, 2006
By Michael Barrett

"The adoption of ILP processes requires a concerted effort by all parties – including analysts, operators, and senior leaders – involved in planning and/or operations."

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Friday, February 22, 2008

The World is Flat: The 21st-Century Reality and What It Means to Law Enforcement

This interesting article (click post title) in the May 2007 Police Chief magazine, by Peter A. Modafferi, Chief of Detectives, Rockland County District Attorney's Office, New City, provides a perspective on intelligence led policing.

I think intelligence led policing must combine the traditional view of intelligence that is stressed in this article (looking for the bad guys and putting them in jail) with a more strategic approach (understanding crime problems both locally and globally and figuring out innovative ways to prevent crime).

Intelligence led policing will be the focus of next week's blog posts (along with whatever else comes up in the news or is just plain too interesting to wait).

Entry-Level Analyst’s Tools and Skills Project

While the resource at this link applies to the generic "intelligence analyst" from Mercyhurst's view, which includes analysts in business and national security, and the author's military perspective as well, most of the concepts can be applied to analysts in policing.

Entry-Level Analyst’s Tools and Skills Project by Halen D Allison, Student Supervisor of Research and Development at Mercyhurst College Institute for Intelligence Studies

Halen D Allison :
“The purpose of the Entry-Level Analyst’s Tools and Skills (ELATS) Project is to provide clear and concise information pertaining to the skills and tools with which an entry-level intelligence analyst should possess and be familiar. This document is not intended to be the final authority on the matter, as information can be tailored to meet specific needs.”

Analysts' Corner focused on skills and qualities for analysts this week - more posts on this topic will be presented in an ongoing manner. Read Chapter Three of my book Out of Bounds: Innovation and Change for Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis (pages 31-49)book for more information on personal qualities and characteristics of analysts.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Jobs

I have added job postings to the right-hand column of this blog, which I will update regularly. Job descriptions (may or may not be open) are in that column nearer to the bottom to help those of you trying to do one or more of these activities: prepare for a job, educate students for jobs, train people for jobs, or develop jobs - so scroll down the page often as I will keep adding information to help you. Please comment here to add job postings if you'd like to help out.

Crime Analysis Job Descriptions

The Arizona Association of Crime Analysts lists some job descriptions at their website that is helpful to read to gain an understanding about the role of the crime analyst, duties and pay scales. Since there are no national standards for crime analysts, beyond professional association guidelines, pay for local level crime analysts varies greatly around the U.S. Intelligence analysts in the U.S. federal government law enforcement agencies generally make significantly more money than the local level police analysts. Local level analysts in the northeastern, southwestern and western U.S. generally make more than analysts in the southern and mid-western U.S., although wages can differ significantly from police agency to police agency within any particular state. State level police analysts general make more money than local level analysts.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Fraud cops struggle with joint intelligence

Click on the post link to read an interesting article from the UK about public and private data sharing in joint efforts to address crime.

North Yorks Police deploys performance and information management system

"North Yorkshire Police is to install a new performance and information management system to enable intelligence-led policing and to save money."

This article briefly describes a police performance focused software used by police in England and Wales. Like CCTVs, the UK has embraced technology to work toward intelligence led policing in ways that the U.S. has not.

The Variety of Work and Skills in FBI Intelligence Analyst Positions

The background you need to become a good analyst in policing, whether at the local or federal levels, is not limited to any subject area. Click on the links in this post to read recruiting stories from the FBI to get a brief flavor of types of work done by FBI intelligence analysts.

One of the analysts sums up the quality needed to be a good analyst while celebrating diverse backgrounds as follows:
"Kyle: Don’t assume that your background or experience is incompatible with the work of an FBI Intelligence Analyst. My background prior to the FBI was in classical music and I have found that my training was the very best preparation for what I do now. Others I’ve met here had backgrounds in auto mechanics, teaching, insurance, and accounting before joining the Bureau. If you have developed the ability to devote significant attention to detail, chances are you have one of the most important skills you’ll need as an intelligence analyst."

Recruiting Stories from
"CONSIDERED A CAREER AS AN FBI INTELLIGENCE ANALYST?
Here's What It's Like: Up Close and Personal"
Jamie Konstas
Luis Arias
Lori Stampley
Kerri Galvin
Kyle
Paula
Christina Greene
Kim
Milton Ramirez
Ella Gant
Randall A.
Catherine G.

INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS CAREERS AT THE FBI

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Pittsburgh 'net-bangers' fly their colors online

This article describes a growing trend in gang activity online and reports that the police in Pittsburgh have revamped intelligence and crime analysis to address the problem.

What To Do When Traditional Models Fail: The Coming Revolution in Intelligence Analysis

The article at this post's title link, by Carmen A. Medina, is found at the CIA Center for the Study of Intelligence Website. While it is speaking of analysts in national security, the concepts can and should be applied to analysts in policing.

Some particular points raised in the article that can be applied to the development of crime and intelligence analysis include:

"Analysts must concentrate on ideas rather than intelligence" - in policing, this means not just describing or summarizing what has happened in the past, but providing ideas through interpretation/insight and finding best practice strategies.

"Analysts must think beyond finished intelligence" - in policing, this means getting the information that is important to decision-makers quickly, whether it is through formal reports or not, as well as revisiting products and keeping them dynamic and open to revision based on the changes that occur in the real world.

The author describes the qualities of "old analysis" and a "21st Century Analysis" model that are relevant to the development of crime and intelligence analysis in policing:

"The Old Analysis: Cautious/Careful, Fact-based, Concrete/Reality-based, Linear/Trend-based, Expert-based, Hierarchical, Precedent-based, Worst-case/Warning-focused, Text-based, Detached/Neutral

21st Century Analysis: Aggressive/Bold/Courageous, Intuitive, Metaphor-rich, Complex, Humble, Inclusive, Diverse, Collaborative, Precedent-shattering, Opportunistic/Optimistic, Image-rich, Customer-driven/Policy-relevant"

Analysts need to develop the qualities and skills that will make them 21st Century Analysts.

Case Study: Criminal Intelligence Analyst

The link at this post title at a job site highlights the interesting work of a particular analyst in London in the UK. It specifies some qualities needed to be a good analyst.

Monday, February 18, 2008

‘Cutting edge’ crime analysts now at work in northern B.C.

Click on the post title to read an interesting article.

Analysts and Skills

This week's focus will be on the skills and characteristics needed to be good analysts and to be considered for jobs as analysts in policing.

The International Association of Crime Analysts offers a certification process for experienced analysts. Students and prospective candidates may want to read the IACA certification skill set descriptions to see what they need to study to prepare them for the field.

The International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts also sponsors a certification program.

In the BJA sponsored publication Law Enforcement Analytical Standards, pages 5-14 describe standards for analysts.

The FBI Intelligence Program describes some general skills. An overview of skills needed in Criminal Intelligence Analysis are described at the Interpol website. The 2005 California Occupational Guide #557 describes what crime and intelligence analysts do and what skills are important.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

A fine balance: Encouraging imagination, evaluating evidence

Another interesting article - on imagination, evidence and intelligence analysis.

Internal recruiting for an intelligence analyst

This is an article posted in the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals's scip.online website, written by Mark Sullivan, Manager of Strategic Analysis, General Motors Corp. While it is not related analysts in to policing, its concepts certainly are. This week this blog will focus primarily on analysts - the qualities needed for analysts, including educational background and characteristics.

Important points in the article that relate to analysts in policing include:

"But, a good intelligence analyst is more than just an analyst. He or she should also have a set of fairly unique personal attributes. Among these are:

* The ability to deal with a high level of ambiguity and lack of structure.
* The ability to be a self-starter.
* The ability to be comfortable and articulate with people in the organization who are considerably more senior then he or she is.
* The ability to get the customer to define what is really needed and why.
* The humility to understand that, as a support person, an intelligence analyst is not an advocate.
* The personal fortitude to push an intelligence finding so that it gets the attention it deserves by senior managers -- even if this means crossing the formal hierarchy of the company. "

NYPD poaching counterterrorism hires from federal government

A Tool for Turning News Into Intelligence

Friday, February 15, 2008

ixReveal Software

Read information about how the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office uses ixReveal software and watch a video prepared by the JSO's Crime Analysis Unit.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Why Following the Money Leads to Terrorists

Statement of Charles E. Allen, Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis Before the Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrori

Intelligence Preparation of the Community

As reflected in this past week's posts, information sharing and use of intelligence in the community are important issues. I wrote the article Intelligence Preparation of the Community: Adapting Aspects of Military Intelligence to Policing to describe a "positive intelligence" that might be used to help our communities increase safety. While I am not at all advocating for a more military-like police, I do think we can learn how to view intelligence as an integral part of our work in policing from some of the the approaches of the military in this regard.

New crime-tracking system launches in Palo Alto

This news article (click on post link) reflects an interesting trend in crime mapping - it is updated daily for citizens.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Mapping and Analysis for Public Safety Tenth Crime Mapping Research Conference: Looking for Papers/Submissions/Workshops from Practiomners

I was asked to post this on the blog by MAPS. The deadline was extended for a month and is up soon - they definitely want input from practitioners.

Tenth Crime Mapping Research Conference

- Solving Problems with Geography and Technology
September 17 - 20, 2008
Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana
Call for presentations and workshops

Solutions to crime and public safety problems are necessarily about where. Those solutions are a combination of research, practice, technology and policy that provide the full perspective of breadth and depth of a problem and the results of its solution. The application of geographic principles to these problems has come into the mainstream as the reemergence of geography has become a primary component in solving problems.

Advancements in geographic-based technologies have brought a better understanding of crime, the more efficient deployment of public safety resources and a more critical examination of criminal justice policies. This is due to the reciprocation that occurs between research and practice, often resulting in better technology. Research provides a foundation of theories. Practice operationalizes the theories through technology. Policy decisions are then enacted with a more precise focus based on research and practical demonstration. Geography has been the constant in the expansion of each of these areas and technology has been the facilitator.

The Crime Mapping Research Conference is not just about presenting where crime is. The conference is about understanding crime and public safety and their effect on community. It represents a range of research findings, practical applications, technology demonstrations and policy results.

Presentations and workshops for the 10th conference will highlight the principles of geography in research findings, applications in practice, technology demonstration and policy results in solving crime and public safety problems.

(~See the site for the forms you need)

Call for presentations and workshops due February 18, 2008 (7 pm EST) - Deadline extended!"

Note that the MAPS staff says "we definitely want practitioners to go ahead and submit about innovative things they are doing with crime mapping and analysis. We are trying to go beyond just basic mapping, but also include topics about geography and how it can inform understanding of crime (at the practical level). We also need people to give workshops. People submitting to present should know that NIJ will cover travel expenses to the conference for presenters."

All the forms for submitting are on the website at the post title link and can be returned to Ron Wilson, by e-mail at at Ronald.Wilson@usdoj.gov.

Thank you on behalf of MAPS!!!

Houston Opens "Real-Time" Crime Analysis Center

"Houston police officers now will have more information than ever about the situations they face as they roll onto crime scenes, Police Chief Harold Hurtt said today. They'll be armed with details gathered by a dozen newly hired crime analysts who will searching data related to crime scenes as the officers respond to calls, Hurtt said."

Read the full article at the post title link. Also read the Police Chief magazine article "Stopping Crime in Real Time."

While this is a trend that will continue to grow grow, There are some concerns about what real-time "analysis" means.

I am hoping someday people will understand that analysts shouldn't be spending their time looking things up on a computer because other people don't know how to do that. You can have other "look-up" people to do that job; trained analysts should be thinking and working at a higher level. Analysis should not be similar to looking up numbers in a phone book for busy people.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Information Sharing: ViCap and Crime Databases

From the article "The Violent Criminal Apprehension Program," by retired FBI profiler Greg Cooper, page 72 in the Forensic Examiner Fall 2007 issue:

"There are literally thousands of separate and independent federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in the United States. Although each of the agencies share common goals in their distinct jurisdictions of “keeping the peace,” “protecting the public,” and “maintaining law and order,” they do not generally share common databases or records management systems. Amazingly, each agency maintains separate and independent systems aligned with their own geographical or legal jurisdiction.

This condition exists in spite of their common goals and the common sense of sharing and maintaining inter-dependent systems that could otherwise effectively facilitate coordination and cooperation between agencies."

During his career, Mr. Cooper supervised the ViCAP unit and subsequently served as Chief of Police in Provo Utah.

Click on the FBI Bulletin Article on ViCAP for an explanation of how the FBI has tried to improve its database designed for information sharing among agencies to track serial violent criminals.

Read the articles at the links below for examples of the consequences of the failure of our current policing systems in using the existing ViCAP system:

FBI System to ID Serial Killers Went Unused in Sniper Case

Murder One Jurisdicton at a Time

How can we improve this situation?

Monday, February 11, 2008

Combating Enemies Online: State-Sponsored and Terrorist Use of the Internet

Homeland security needs require law enforcement analysts to be aware of issues affecting national security. This interesting article discusses "state sponsors of illicit computer activity, which are increasingly using the Internet to conduct espionage, deny services to domestic and foreign audiences, and influence global opinion" and how "terrorists exploit the Internet as a tool for recruiting, fund raising, propa­ganda, and intelligence collection and use it to plan, coordinate, and control terrorist operations."

An interesting blog called Politically Motivated Computer Crime and Hactivism is resource to help you learn more about this timely subject.

Let my data go! the case for transparent government


Transparent government: a revolution in the making


This provocative blog post describes the concept of transparent government:

"Transparent government combines Web 2.0 tools and citizens’ passions, making the public potential partners in government. In an age of limited resources, making government data available on a real-time basis stretches those resources and creates benefits ranging from more informed debate on policy issues to improved service delivery."

W. David Stephenson is described on his blog as "a leading homeland security, e-government (especially “transparent government“), and crisis management strategist and theorist."

He uses an example related to crime analysis to highlight a move toward transparent government:

"History may record transparency began with the award-winning Chicago Crime site.It is a mashup creating a searchable and visual report of what crimes happen and where in the city, displayed on a Google Map.A Web developer with a background in journalism and databases — not a police employee — created it.Since Chicago only releases crime data a week after it occurs, Chicago Crime has to do a screen scrape of data from an official site."

The government can't seem to analyze what it has - so maybe it will be the public who starts the path toward greater widespread analysis. When I was a working crime analyst, having access to a variety of government databases would have helped me tremendously - but because of issues of territoriality, technical interoperability, inadequate human capital and lack of vision, it was impossible.

I agree with Stephenson's assertion that more data analysis through a more transparent government can create "new insights into issues (especially complex ones where a variety of factors may be involved and multi-faceted solutions required)." But I would like to see government become more transparent to itself - by sharing its resources to strengthen its utility.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Police catch car break-in thief red handed

Here is a crime analysis "success story" in the news.

The gangs of Providence

This interesting news article describes the gang problem in Providence, Rhode Island. It mentions that an FBI intelligence analyst works within the police department on this problem. Collaboration is good, but why don't police departments have intelligence analysts of their own? Some of the largest of agencies do bu many don't. Isn't this important work?

Friday, February 8, 2008

Information Sharing for Homeland Security

The 2005 report at the post link highlights legitimate factors in intelligence analysis that limits the ability of analysts to pro-actively analyze and share data. One of these factors is "the need-to-know."

"This commission recommendation highlighted what it considered to be a significant impediment to comprehensive intelligence analysis — the “‘need-to know’ culture of information protection.”4 The commission suggested that, while the federal government has access to huge volumes of information, procedural and organizational cultural barriers undermined the government’s ability to capitalize on these resources. The commission also cited two specific factors that have helped to perpetuate need-to-know” information practices. One was the lack of robust internal information sharing procedures, which, in turn, contributed to the compartmentalization of information as a standard practice, rather than the regular dissemination of information to the external community of users. According to the commission, current procedures allowed information to be shared if someone specifically requested the information, and then only according to classification and other security protocols. The purpose of such an approach was to guard against the disclosure of information that could create security risks."

It is still true that it is difficult to get law enforcement agencies to share information within their own boundaries, much less with other agencies. In law enforcement, the desire to make a good investigation lead to a successful prosecution for a particular agency and, in many cases, a particular investigator is an obstacle to the development of analysis and information sharing. Analysts have difficulty getting the information they need to do a good job because of the nature of the structure and culture of law enforcement.

The US Department of Justice's (USDOJ) Law Enforcement Information Sharing Program report highlights some of the problems. Here is an excerpt of that October 2005 report:

"Notwithstanding examples of successful information sharing, the current environment requires the adoption of an entirely new paradigm for information sharing. Current information collection and dissemination practices have not been planned as part of a unified national strategy but rather have evolved incrementally over time to meet certain needs or address specific challenges as they have surfaced. While sharing does occur through these stovepiped efforts, it is commensurately limited in degree and effectiveness. A tremendous quantity of information that could be shared is still not effectively shared and utilized among the various law enforcement communities."

Television and movies portray intelligence, whether for policing or national security, as sophisticated and technologically elaborate, but those in the trenches know that the fragmentation of information and the lack of understanding by managers and policy-makers stand in the way of a real integration of the existing tools and information that could help us become excellent problem solvers. Unfortunately, it took the events of 9-11 to shine a public awareness light on the shortfalls of our current systems.

Next week I will be posting some information on possible changes to the status quo. Have a great weekend!

Read:

Overcoming Information Sharing Obstacles and Complexity
by Jüris Kelley, President, Knowledge in Motion LLC, and Diana Abrials, Writer-Editor, Office of Training and Professional Development, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Washington, from The Police Chief, vol. 70, no. 11, November 2003.

Sharing Law Enforcement and Intelligence Information: The Congressional Role
by Richard A. Best Jr.. a CRS Report for Congress.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

National Information Exchange Program

Information sharing is both formal and informal. The National Information Exchange Model focuses on the mechanism of sharing data, an important aspect of future public safety and homeland security endeavors. We are not in very good shape as a nation in our formal information sharing infrastructure. More about that tomorrow!

"NIEM, the National Information Exchange Model, is a partnership of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. It is designed to develop, disseminate and support enterprise-wide information exchange standards and processes that can enable jurisdictions to effectively share critical information in emergency situations, as well as support the day-to-day operations of agencies throughout the nation."

Interagency Information Sharing: The National Information Exchange Model
By Michael Haslip, Chief of Police, Blaine, Washington, and Paul Wormeli, Chairman, Communications and Outreach Committee, National Information Exchange Model, Ashburn, Virginia. From The Police Chief, vol. 74, no. 4, April 2007.

X(ML) Marks the Spot: A data-sharing model is already simplifying the exchange of law enforcement files, but the ultimate goal is to ease such exchanges governmentwide.
By Susan M. Menke in FedTech online

Paul Wormeli is chairman of the NIEM Communications and Outreach Committee and executive director of the IJIS Institute.

In 2003, I met Paul Wormeli on an airplane - in fact, he was sitting in the same row as me! I was in the window seat and he was in the aisle seat. In between us sat a gentleman from the Bureau of Indian Affairs - he and I were discussing crime analysis when Paul politely interrupted to tell me he had written a book (now unavailable) on crime analysis in the 70s when he administered the Law Enforcement Assistance Program grants that were key to the start of formalized crime analysis in the United States!!!!

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Free Web site maps crime reports, calls

"The free site relies mainly on police departments paying $100 or $200 a month, depending on their size, to have CrimeReports.com extract the information from their internal systems and publish it online. Public Engines LLC, Whisenant's seven-person company in Salt Lake City, Utah, pledges to post no ads on the site."

This is an interesting service which also shows how privatization will take the technical aspects of being an analyst out of the equation someday - analysts need to analyze rather than be chart-makers and map-make-makers.

Police Futurists Resource Blog

The blog at this link has resources for possibility thinking to help police futurists adapt ideas to create their preferred futures. Check it out... It is also posted at the Society of Police Futurists website.

Analyzing Markets

Here are some links that relate to studying drug markets.


A Review of Approaches to Study Illicit Drug Markets


A study of marijuana markets indicated the drug is seldom bought from strangers.

Home Office Online Report Tackling prison drug markets: an exploratory qualitative study

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Takoma Park Police Blog

Here is an example of a blog (click post title) for citizens instituted by a local police department. It includes crime analysis information. I believe we will see more things like this in the future....

Learning from Failure

Learning from Failure

"Learning from failure was the topic of a roundtable discussion sponsored by the Center for Court Innovation and BJA. The roundtable brought together police chiefs, probation officials, prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys from across the country to discuss lessons they have learned from projects that did not succeed. The message from the gathering was that these lessons can be just as helpful as best practices in nurturing effective justice programs."

Trial and Error: Failure and Innovation in Criminal Justice Reform

Learning From Failure: A Roundtable on Criminal Justice Innovation

Failure and Criminal Justice Reform: A Policy Inquiry


As we look to develop the field of crime and intelligence analysis in policing, we should examine our failures as well as our successes. As analysts, we can examine how the way we work doesn't work in order to find paths to greater, lasting impact. Educators and trainers can learn from this as well.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Interesting Blog: Kent's Imperative

"This blog chronicles ongoing research in the art & science of intelligence analysis and a number of related fields. It is part of an informal and unofficial effort which has emerged in response to the call by Sherman Kent, the father of modern intelligence profession, to develop a "literature of intelligence" to advance the profession and its unique tradecraft."

While it is not directly relevant to crime and intelligence analysis in policing, there are concepts in this blog that can be adapted and concepts that should be understood by those seeking to develop intelligence analysis as a profession in our times.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Friday, February 1, 2008

Relevant Online Resources from the National Defense Intelligence College

The following publications (available at the post link as well) are relevant to those working in law crime and intelligence analysis in policing.

Improving the Law Enforcement-Intelligence Community Relationship

edited by Timothy Christenson
Out of Bounds: Innovation and Change in Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis

by Deborah Osborne
Intelligence Essentials for Everyone

by Lisa Krizan
Critical Thinking and Intelligence Analysis

by David T. Moore