When crime and terrorism occur they rarely respect jurisdictional boundaries. To combat these criminals, law enforcement organizations have to be prepared to share information from the bottom-up and top-down. The rise of fusion centers and information sharing initiatives across the nation have paved the way over the years to bridge intelligence gaps and put the right information in the right hands, at their point of need.
At the same time, there are still many challenges to face before information sharing becomes de riguer across local, state, national and international boundaries. To better understand and communicate these issues, i2 hosted an information sharing panel at its Americas User Conference earlier this month.
Panelists included Kathleen O’Toole, the Chief Inspector of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate in Ireland, who was previously the Boston, Mass., Police Commissioner. During her time in Boston, she was critical to the founding of the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC), one of the nation’s first fusion centers. Deputy Chief Troy Smith of the Grand Junction Police Department in Colorado also offered up his expertise gleaned from his department’s organization in getting Colorado to be one of the states that has successfully established information sharing state-wide. Tim Riley, a current i2 SVP and former CIO for the Los Angeles Police Department, played a large role in establishing information sharing agreements between the LAPD, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and Orange County. Chriss Knisley, the i2 Assistant Vice President for the COPLINK product line was also in attendance to discuss the technological standpoint of information sharing. i2’s Director of Corporate Communications Mitch Derman moderated the session.
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i2 CEO Bob Griffin
With the nation’s debt ceiling looming, it has become clear that members of Congress on both sides of the aisle will not agree to new borrowing unless government spending cuts are included in that authorization. But when it comes to reducing outlays, the programs that make up the lion’s share of spending, and which are also the most contentious – nondiscretionary spending like entitlements and health care – are often put off for another day. If we’re going to have a meaningful, long-term impact on the fiscal well-being of our economy, this can’t continue. Fortunately, we have an option available that can make an immediate difference on one of the biggest budget busters, without eliminating any programs or forcing tough choices – tackling health care fraud by leveraging existing technologies. READ MORE
On December 20, The Washington Post published an in-depth article by two-time Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter, Dana Priest, and political commentator and author, William M. Arkin, entitled: Monitoring America. Focusing on the growth and expansion of local and domestic intelligence capabilities since the 9/11 attacks, Priest and Arkin talk about the potential mis-use of information – however, they fail to mention the positive impacts the growth in information sharing between local and federal law enforcement has had in increasing efficiencies in thwarting terrorist and criminal activities – all in a way that has civil liberties protections built into the process.
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This was first posted by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an independent campaigning organisation committed to bringing about change that protects the natural world from environmental crime and abuse. Re-posted here with EIA’s permission.
By Charlotte Davies, Intelligence Analyst, EIA
Recently, I was interested to read about a physicist named John Archibald Wheeler. One of Wheeler’s theories was (put very basically) that everything is information. Meaning, literally, everything is information – that the deepest foundations of the universe are ultimately made up of nuggets of information, corresponding to a vast chorus of “yes” or “no” binary choices, from which all physical existence flows.
So this word ‘information’ no longer merely suggests something like ‘facts’ or ‘knowledge’. As information philosophy explains it, the word has now expanded to mean something greater – something that can even be described in biological, metaphysical, even cosmological terms. It’s said we’re living in an information age. In recent times, the concept of information has mutated to symbolise and represent many different things, and come to guide us into myriad new ways of thinking and doing. Likewise, in the enforcement world, the understanding that information exists, that it can be captured, expanded and enhanced to enable appropriate responses to illegal activity has also undergone an expansion in recent years. READ MORE
Sharing information across jurisdictions is essential for law enforcement to keep pace with criminals and terrorists who are not limited by geographic boundaries. More so than anyone else, local cops see this played out on their streets every day. For example, there may be a burglary that takes place in one town and the perpetrators sell the stolen goods to a pawn shop in another.
i2 Booth at IACP 2010
While some policy and process hurdles remain to make information sharing a larger reality nationwide, the technology exists today to make it happen. READ MORE
Fusion centers must rely on multi-directional information sharing between federal, and state and local law enforcement agencies. In a new white paper, i2 explores the challenges fusion centers face in achieving this multidirectional flow, some recommended solutions and reviews a few examples of success. READ MORE
Today, i2 announced at the UASI Conference in New Orleans a new partnership with Digital Sandbox that promises a compelling and unique value proposition for organizations tasked with protecting critical infrastructure. The partnership is linked with the launch of Digital Sandbox’s new version of its Risk Analysis Center (RAC). Together, the solution empowers analysts with the tools to assess, manage, monitor and analyze threats to critical infrastructure. READ MORE
i2 announced today at its EMEA User Conference in Brussels a partnership with leading risk intelligence specialist, World-Check. As a result, i2 customers can benefit from the ability to access highly structured information and create actionable intelligence faster.
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A recent Government Technology article by Andy Opsahl talks about how Regional Projects Could be Models for National Public-Safety Information Sharing. The article mentions three regional information sharing initiatives as examples, including the Colorado consortium currently using COPLINK, the Navy LInX project and ARJIS in San Diego County. I just came back from a week-long trip where I met with several i2 customers, including the Colorado Information Sharing Consortium (CISC), which manages the Colorado initiative.
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Computer hackers are no longer viewed as outsiders living in their parents’ basements — occasionally dangerous, but usually more of an annoyance to government cyber security professionals. In fact, the governments of the U.S. and the United Kingdom are actively recruiting them as their newest weapon to answer their malicious counterparts who are members of organized crime rings and hostile nation-state cyber armies. The U.S announced this year its first-ever “Cyber Challenge,” a nationwide contest which mirrors a similar competition China has been running for five years. Organizers say the Cyber Challenge is designed to identify young people with exceptional computer skills and inspire them to join the shorthanded ranks of specialists needed to protect government, military and industrial cyber infrastructure. READ MORE
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