The objective of this effort was to identify how law enforcement can collect, use, and share gang-intelligence system in­formation across multiple jurisdictions, while supporting prevention and intervention activities. The CCJT conducted research and met with numerous law enforcement and community groups to identify best practices in the collection, use, and sharing of gang intelligence. This compilation of knowledge will benefit other states and criminal justice agencies as they explore, plan, or enhance a gang-intelligence system implementation.

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Public Safety Software-Defined Radio Roadmap, Version 2 

This Toolkit is intended to assist community supervision practitioners with the tasks of program planning, technology assessment, and request for proposal (RFP) development for Global Positioning System (GPS)/Location-Based Services (LBS) programs. The Toolkit provides key lessons and guidance in the areas of program planning, equipment assessment, and RFP development. It also generates critical task worksheets and checklists for these areas. Please visit emresourcecenter.nlectc.du.edu for more information.

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In an effort to address this, Noblis and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) designed a study to identify the kinds of successes and challenges that supervision agencies face when using GPS as well as their lessons learned. This report is the result of interviews with seven community supervision agencies about their experiences using GPS to manage defendants and offenders. The study also researched GPS and other location-based tracking technologies as well as GPS standards and evaluations of GPS programs. It is the intention of this report to provide information to practitioners and other stakeholders at every jurisdictional level that will help them to better understand the use of GPS in community supervision.

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GPS Document (high resolution - 13.8Mb)        GPS Document (low resolution - 4.1Mb)  

The CCJT undertook two years of research into how established ISSs operate and how they provide a true benefit to law enforcement. Research results to date are summarized into three documents:

1. The Metrics for the Evaluation of Regional Law Enforcement Information-Sharing Systems. This report examines the use of metrics as a tool to assess the effectiveness of an ISS and its impact on operations.
2. The Concept of Operations (CONOPS). This report describes best practices and lessons learned for establishing and operating regional law enforcement ISSs.
3. The Practitioners Handbook for Law Enforcement Information Sharing Systems: Preliminary Requirements. This document leverages the information in the documents above to identify a set of preliminary requirements for establishing and operating an ISS. The document identifies functional and operational requirements specific to regional law enforcement ISSs, based on a set of common capabilities observed in the six ISSs studied. A subset of law enforcement information sharing scenarios is used to provide context for the requirements.

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Metrics (high resolution - 720Kb)         Metrics (low resolution - 700Kb)

CONOPS (high resolution - 2.1Mb)       CONOPS (low resolution - 1.4Mb)

Handbook (high resolution - 400Kb)      Handbook (low resolution - 370Kb) 

A wealth of information is available from the basic field interview (FI) reports taken by officers on the street. Officers need a system that gives them the ability to share field interview report data among their units and with other departments. A single field interview may provide the information that reveals a pattern or provides a critical clue to current investigations.

Noblis collaborated with the Automated Regional Justice Information System (ARJIS) in San Diego, CA, to develop a pilot FI application. The CCJT worked with ARJIS to pilot an FI capability that would integrate with their existing wireless query/response system. Responses from name/vehicle queries were used to pre-populate demographic data in the FI form thus eliminating redundant key entry. Supplemental data (reason for stop, etc.) was added and then transmitted to the ARJIS data warehouse. This data was now available for the crime analysts as well as for subsequent queries from patrol officers and investigators. The goal was to significantly improve the timeliness of the ARJIS FI process in use today and develop a pilot that could be adopted for use by other law enforcement agencies.

Field Interview Report Sharing Task Appendix E: FIRST Source Code 

This report documents the second-year (phase two) results of a two-year project undertaken by the Center: Effective Multi-Agency Response: The Un-tethered Officer (UTO). The purpose of this project is to assess and demonstrate the use of emerging technologies that provide mobility to first responders at major incidents. The project focuses on the wireless communications technologies that will allow a responding officer to capture real-time voice, video, and sensor information, and access applications on the in-vehicle mobile data computer (MDC) when he/she leaves the patrol vehicle to assess and manage an incident. The officer can perform investigations and assist people without returning to the vehicle to access the MDC and can enable remotely located incident command centers to monitor activities at the incident site in near real-time.

Intelligence-Led Policing Tool: Intelligence-Led Policing Technology for State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies

Regional Data Model for Law Enforcement
June 2005: Mun-Wai Hon, Michael J. Welch, Carol J. Harris
 
In this project, the CCJT developed and piloted a regional incident data model suited for use in a regional data exchange system. The data model utilized the current records management systems of a number of municipal law enforcement agencies. Development of the data model also included creating a Global Justice XML based incident report schema that could facilitate information sharing with other regional systems. To identify a common incident data set, the CCJT analyzed incident report forms in use at law enforcement agencies around the country. Localities were identified based on differing characteristics, such as seaports and border areas, in order to accommodate the various issues that local agencies around the nation address. The data model and schemas created use elements and relationships from the Global Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM) and the Global Justice XML Data Dictionary (GJXDD).

This report contains appendices for the report: Effective Multi-Agency Response -- The Un-tethered Officer (UTO), the first-year results of a two-year project undertaken by the Center. The document details both Noblis’ and the University of New Hampshire’s (UNH) proofs-of-concept systems, the application messaging format and software, the mockup server, the UNH Project54 system and its interface with a digital video recorder, and the associated biometric verification system.

Volume Two– Appendice: Effective Multi-Agency Emergency Response – The Un-tethered Officer 

This report describes the Intelligence Led Policing System (ILPS) project. It defines intelligence-led policing (ILP) and outlines an approach that law enforcement agencies could use to implement an ILPS software system. The ILPS is a conceptual system that is described using an operational concept, a functional architecture, and a set of capabilities. The ILPS provides a platform for describing how advanced information technologies could support ILP.

This report provides an introduction to ILP and the ILPS, discusses operational concepts, covers functional architecture and capabilities, and details system capabilities and design constraints. The audience for this technical report is any law enforcement agency interested in supporting ILP using advanced information technologies.

Intelligence Led Policing System Report – Architecture and Capabilities for State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies

Biometric Authentication Credential in the Criminal Justice System – Applications to Access Control
November 2004: Linda Jones Nichols, D.Sc., Darric Milligan,
Lawrence D. Nadel, Ph.D., Eeshat Ansari, Thomas P. Murphy

Criminal justice operations rely on providing access to entities such as facilities, information, equipment, and incident sites accessible only to authorized individuals. This report examines the use of biometrics to improve the credentials of individuals associated with the criminal justice system. Access control was the fundamental application of biometric based credentialing that this project explored. Our primary focus was on the potential need for officer credentialing — including controlling access to restricted or secure areas, as well as controlling access to secure systems and information when submitting or retrieving data. A proof-of-concept demonstration at the Arlington County, VA, Detention Center and Police Department, and several scenario demonstrations, were completed during the course of the project, the methodology and results of which are presented. The body of the report closes with an examination of the costs and benefits of such a system.
Biometric Authentication Credential in the Criminal Justice System – Applications to Access Control 

Investigation Support System Research Directions Report 2003
December 2003: Archna Bhandari, Bernadette Clemente, Raju Muscu, Ericson Lori, David Vera, Catalina Gomolka, and J. Walter Vera

The Investigation Support System (ISS) Research Directions Report describes the results of the first year research work in applying advanced Knowledge Management (KM) processes and tools to augment law enforcement capabilities in criminal investigations. The first version of the ISS pilot system has been initially deployed and tested by investigators at a law enforcement agency in Minnesota. The objective of this KM-based ISS project is to overcome significant limitations of current RDBMS-based systems by providing capabilities for accepting and processing all forms of text, such that the system can “read” text, categorize and relate elements in reports, extract and link people and places from interviews and organize and prioritize large volumes of text-based material. As a result, this new form of investigation support system is capable of “connecting the dots”, “managing” case knowledge and performing many of the routine “knowledge worker” tasks of an investigator, so that s/he is freer to focus on the investigation itself. The ISS is an ongoing research project and CCJT will periodically update the report to reflect changing technology and law enforcement needs. 

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Commercial Mobile Radio Systems For Public Safety Data Applications
December 2003: Carl Kain, PE, Lynn Dargis, Calvin Yeung

Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) is being phased out by many national wireless service providers, and agencies are faced with choosing a replacement technology. When an agency chooses a commercial service, it must consider the larger wireless communications architecture. This includes evaluation of current and future applications, how an agency’s current and future public safety radio plans fit it, and an evaluation of all of the institutional issues that affect the decision. The wrong decision could be very costly.

This CCJT report addresses relevant issues and includes information on FCC dockets, descriptions of commercial wireless services and migration paths, laboratory test results and lessons learned, and discusses coverage, security, and availability issues. The intent of this report is to provide useful information on the alternative services and tips that will help lead current CDPD users into making informed and correct decisions. CCJT will periodically update the report to reflect changing technology and needs.

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Law Enforcement Regional Communications and Data Center: Strategy and Architecture
December 2003: Mun-Wai Hon, Carol J. Harris, Michael Welch

The purpose of this project was to identify alternative approaches for a regional communications and data center architecture that would support regional services including records management, computer-aided dispatch, voice communications, and mobile data processing. The CCJT partnered with five municipal police departments in Prince George’s County, Maryland, in support of this effort. The City of Greenbelt, City of Hyattsville, Town of Bladensburg, Town of Riverdale Park, and City of Mount Rainier want to best leverage their existing resources and identify whether a regional center could better serve their technology needs and the needs of their communities. This document describes multiple alternative approaches for a regional communications and data center, provides a high level cost analysis of each alternative, and concludes with a recommended approach and high level implementation strategy.

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Law Enforcement Regional Communications and Data Center: Implementation Plan
December 2003: Mun-Wai Hon, Carol J. Harris, Michael Welch

The purpose of this project was to identify alternative approaches for a regional communications and data center architecture that would support regional services including records management, computer-aided dispatch, voice communications, and mobile data processing. The CCJT partnered with five municipal police departments in Prince George’s County, Maryland, in support of this effort. The City of Greenbelt, City of Hyattsville, Town of Bladensburg, Town of Riverdale Park, and City of Mount Rainier want to best leverage their existing resources and identify whether a regional center could better serve their technology needs and the needs of their communities. This document describes an approach for governance and management and identifies specific activities and a multi-year plan for implementing regional services based on the architecture identified in the companion report, “Law Enforcement Regional Communications and Data Center: Architecture and Strategy.”

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Handbook For Information Technology Modernization For Small To Medium Sized Law Enforcement Agencies
December 2003: Carol J. Harris, Mun-Wai Hon, William B. Stevens, Michael J. Welch

This handbook was developed to guide the small to medium sized law enforcement agency in the acquisition of new information technology (IT) products and capabilities. The handbook provides a simple roadmap for IT modernization by describing each major step that must be taken while realizing that the agency may not have many resources to apply to the effort. The goal is to adequately prepare an agency to take on this challenge and to maintain the new systems once they are implemented. The IT strategic plans – the maps that will be used by the agency to determine its needs, acquire assets, and install the selected system(s) – are discussed at length. The handbook is organized into sections that focus on each of the major steps for successful completion of an IT modernization effort including: assessing the agency’s needs, defining the system, preparing the agency for the new system, and accepting the system and beginning new operations.

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Ballistic Identification Capability Modeling A Guide for State Program Establishment
February 2002: Lawrence D. Nadel, Ph.D., Linda Cherie Jones Nichols, D.Sc.

The success of criminal ballistic imaging databases has prompted interest among states to implement reference systems. States are considering using ballistic imaging technology to create statewide systems that contain reference ballistic images of shell casings and projectiles from test firings of guns sold by dealers in the state. Noblis’ “Ballistic Identification Capability Modeling – A Guide for State Program Establishment” can assist state and local law enforcement officials today to be prepared – to understand the relevant issues, assess the feasibility of a reference ballistic imaging database (RBID) program, plan an operational program, and estimate manpower and costs associated with an RBID program.

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Planning Model For A Reference Ballistic Imaging System

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Security Strategy Handbook and Budget Estimation Tool
February 2002: Cy Ardoin, Sidney Gibson, John King, IV

The Security Strategy Handbook provides guidance to criminal justice agencies (CJAs) for planning a new information technology (IT) security program or improving the program. We outline an implementation process to help establish an IT security improvement program.

Included in this Handbook are several sample documents that could be used to aid a CJA’s IT security program. We have also developed a Microsoft-Excel–based modeling tool to aid CJAs in budgeting for a new or improved IT security program. The tool is included in the electronic version of the Handbook.

Security Strategy Handbook

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Budget Estimation Tool

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Law Enforcement Information Sensitivity Assessment
February 2002: Cy Ardoin, Mark Buchen, Sidney Gibson

This is the first of two reports produced as part of the CCJT’s law enforcement information risk assessment effort. This report documents the result of the first two activities: the sensitive information inventory and the sensitivity categorization of information typical in the IT environment of a Criminal Justice Agency (CJA). The second report, entitled “Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies,” proposes a method to conduct a risk assessment and to prepare mitigation strategies for each type of risk

This report is available to any law enforcement agency by contacting CCJT at 703-610-1633 to request that a CCJT staff member return your call. A copy of the document will be sent upon verification that the request is from a law enforcement agency.