LAW ENFORCEMENT TECHNOLOGY

	Sharing information reduces crime and apprehends criminals.

Demonstrating that Sharing Information Provides an Edge

Information technology helps law enforcement agencies be more effective at preventing crime and catching criminals. The challenge is that most agencies have unique Records Management Systems, and useful data is trapped in ‘information islands.’ ISG’s National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center – Southeast Region (NLECTC-SE) is developing technology to link disparate systems so that information can be quickly and accurately exchanged between agencies and jurisdictions.

The NLECTC-SE has developed an inexpensive solution that allows for the creation of an up-to-date data warehouse of all Records Management Systems located within a given geographic region. The system created for South Carolina is called South Carolina Information Exchange (SCIEx) and contains police incident, arrest, and warrant information from 173 law enforcement agencies across the state.

The overwhelming success of the SCIEx initiative spawned a similar project in Tennessee called the Tennessee Regional Intelligence Center. This project has begun in the eastern portion of Tennessee and eventually is expected to spread to the rest of the state. ISG has received inquiries from other states as well, including North Carolina, Georgia, Colorado, and Missouri.

The next challenge is to develop a capability that enables this robust exchange of information between law enforcement agencies located in multiple states. ISG is already in dialogue with North Carolina about development of such a system.

A New Focus: Combating Gang Activity

Working with North Carolina, ISG is developing a Mobile Communications Center Test Bed for responding to disasters where normal operational capabilities have been diminished. ISG is providing support to the National Institute of Justice “CommTech” program, providing both short and long-term interoperability solutions involving wireless telecommunications and information technology applications.

Gang activity has been on the rise across the Nation for the last several years. Many of these gangs are sub-factors of, or loosely connected to, larger organizations that conspire to commit illegal activities in an organized manner. Developing gang-related databases has historically been a challenge for law enforcement agencies since there has consistently been little funding made available to create adequate capability. Those few gang databases that have been developed are stand-alone systems, with virtually none linked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Gang and Terrorist Organization File (VGTOF).

ISG’s law enforcement experts, leveraging highly efficient encoding techniques developed by SCRA, have established a gang activity database that is currently being tested. Once fully operational, it will be the first such database to be included in the VGTOF system, thus allowing for the creation of a national exchange of gang-related information. Currently there are no other systems capable of interfacing with and exchanging data through the FBI’s system.

SCIEx: The National Model for State-Wide Law Enforcement Information Sharing SCRA, working side by side with the U.S. Department of Justice and state and local law enforcement agencies, has developed and implemented what is today the national model for a state wide law enforcement fusion capability: the South Carolina Information Exchange (SCIEx). Leveraging our extensive systems engineering expertise, coupled with over 200 years combined of law enforcement practitioner experience, the system ISG designed and installed today represents the foundation for the information sharing and fusion capabilities across South Carolina. The system receives and fuses data from over 100 sources and allows the rapid query, retrieval, and sharing of law enforcement intelligence information statewide. ISG has successfully integrated the local intermodal fusion center in Charleston with the state fusion center to allow even greater information sharing in a safe, secure manner while maintaining the required privacy of the data being supplied.