TEARING DOWN THE STOVEPIPES

May 1, 2005 12:00 PM, BY NEIL KURLANDER

In order to secure local communities and the nation, the public's protectors must be able to collect, organize, evaluate and disseminate information effectively. It is through this process that information becomes intelligence.

Intelligence — information that has meaning and relevance — is the first line of defense to identify and defeat threats.

The old saying, “If I only knew then what I know now” should be updated to “If I only could use the information that I have.” There is no shortage of information: Today's computerized world stores more data about individuals, locations, vehicles, organizations, businesses, groups and criminal activity than ever. However, the information is of little value unless it can be readily accessed and processed into intelligence.

In the world of public safety, enormous amounts of information are collected and entered into thousands of law enforcement agencies' legacy databases. The data in these “stovepipes,” or information silos, is not tied to other systems, and integrating it has tended to be financially impractical or politically restricted.

In today's interconnected world, public safety officials at all levels of government are at last attempting to establish standards and protocols to share information about criminal activity.

Extensible Markup Language (XML) has become the standard for data sharing for government and industry. New XML data dictionaries are being created to provide common definitions of exchanges among users. The Global Justice XML Data Model is the standard being widely deployed by government agencies at all levels for inter-organizational communication and data sharing that will span the spectrum of law enforcement, judicial, correctional, and related bodies.

This article will examine several current initiatives focusing on the integration of criminal justice information.

National criminal databases

National databases such as the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) are already in place to archive and provide access to data concerning fugitives, missing and wanted persons and vehicles, criminal histories, and stolen property. Sometimes, sharing criminal information involves entering the data into separate databases, such as the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP), a nationwide data information center designed to collect, collate, and analyze crimes of violence — specifically murder. The FBI provides the VICAP database software free to state and local law enforcement agencies. The program has been embraced by many large and small agencies nationwide.

Unfortunately, no national database exists for sharing information among criminal justice agencies concerning the criminal activity and information contained within law enforcement incident reports.

National initiatives

Several large-scale efforts are working to develop criminal justice integration standards. Successful integration of data depends on the development and adoption of accepted standards. Following are descriptions of some of these:

• The GLOBAL Initiative: A consortium of 32 local, state, federal and international justice organizations works to share information using a common XML standard. Member organizations participate out of shared responsibility and a shared commitment to inter-organizational communication and data sharing spanning the spectrum of law enforcement, judicial, correctional, and related bodies. GLOBAL released the first operational version of its XML Data Model (GJXDM) in February 2004.

  As part of the effort, the GLOBAL Advisory Council (GAC) was established to advise the U.S. Attorney General — the nation's highest-ranking law enforcement officer — on public safety matters. GAC aids its member organizations and the people they serve through initiatives such as the facilitation of the GLOBAL working groups, the development of technology standards (such as the GLOBAL Justice XML Data Model), the creation of white papers on data sharing issues (such as the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan), and the dissemination of information via the Office of Justice Planning Web site, (http://it.ojp.gov/topic.jsp?topic_id=8).

  GLOBAL is developing standards-based electronic information exchange capability, thus providing the justice community with timely, accurate, complete, and accessible information in a secure environment. The efforts of the GLOBAL Justice Information Sharing Initiative Advisory Committee have directly impacted the work of more than 1.2 million justice professionals.

• SEARCH: The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics is a nonprofit membership organization created by and for the states. It is dedicated to improving the criminal justice system and the quality of justice through better information management, the effective application of technology, and responsible law and policy.

  Since 1969, SEARCH's goal has been to identify and help solve the information management problems of state and local justice agencies confronted with the need to exchange information with other local agencies, state agencies, or with the federal government.

  SEARCH (www.search.org) is governed by a membership group comprised of one gubernatorial appointee from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as eight at-large appointees selected by SEARCH's chair. Members are mostly state-level justice officials responsible for operational decisions and policymaking concerning the management of criminal justice information, particularly criminal history information.

  A staff of professionals works from SEARCH headquarters in Sacramento, Calif., to implement solutions identified by the membership group. SEARCH provides justice agencies with diverse products, services and resources through three program areas: systems and technology, law and policy, and research and statistics.

  Funding for SEARCH activities is provided by annual fees from member states for the operation of the consortium and Board of Directors' grants from various U.S. Justice agencies, state grants and federal, state and local contracts.

  The Justice Information Exchange Model (JIEM) is a product of SEARCH. Its components include a conceptual framework, research and planning methodology and the JIEM Modeling Tool, a Web-based software application that enables users to document and analyze justice information exchanges. JIEM is the model preferred by NASCIO (National Association of States Chief Information Officers) for inter-state integration of justice systems.

  JIEM incorporates the use of the GLOBAL Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM). GJXDM has been created to facilitate a common set of XML definitions to allow information sharing by all levels of justice professionals.

• The Law Enforcement Information Technology Standards Council. LEITSC has the goal of developing information standards specific to the law enforcement community. A joint effort of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs' Association, The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and the Police Research Forum, LEITSC (www.leitsc.org) uses integration practitioners, industry representatives and justice standards representatives to review and evaluate existing information standards, specifically designed to meet functional and technical XML standards.

  Working cooperatively with the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), the Corrections Technology Association (CTA) and the American Probation and Parole Association's Standards Committee (APPA) and others, LEITSC is researching and compiling data needed to develop and prepare recommended standards.

Other national programs

There are a number of other national integration efforts, including:

• The Office of Law Enforcement Standards' (OLES) Public Safety Communications Standards program. Working closely with GLOBAL, it develops standards for voice, data, image and video transfer. Coordinating are the Office of Justice Planning (OJP) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

• Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Information Exchange Model (N-DEx). This effort to share crime information among federal, state and local law enforcement organizations is being beta tested. N-DEx is part of the FBI's Law Enforcement Information Sharing Program (LEISP), an effort to distribute nationwide data captured by all levels of law enforcement. Effort is being undertaken to standardize N-DEx with GLOBAL's Justice XML Data Model in order to resolve differences in the two approaches.

• Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). It has developed Legal XML Lawful Intercept (LI-XML) and other XML-based standards for the criminal justice community. OASIS (www.oasis-open.org/who/) has also developed Emergency Management standards (EM-XML) such as the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP). CAP is a simple but general format for exchanging all-hazard emergency alerts and public warnings over various kinds of networks. CAP allows a consistent warning message to be disseminated simultaneously over many different warning systems, thus increasing warning effectiveness while simplifying the warning task. CAP also facilitates the detection of emerging patterns in local warnings of various kinds, such as might indicate an undetected hazard or hostile act.

• National Law Enforcement Telecommunication System (NLETS). An initiative using XML, it is supported by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), a voluntary body of state and provincial officials in the U.S. and Canada that administers and enforces motor vehicle law.

• Integrated Justice Information Systems Institute (IJIS). Representing more than 200 private companies that specialized in criminal justice technology, IJIS (www.ijis.org) members participate in standards development at the national level through subcommittees of the GLOBAL Justice Information Sharing Initiative and by directly assisting jurisdictions.

Intelligence data sharing

Sharing of information about individuals or groups involved in criminal activities is very limited. In fact, a survey conducted by the Major Cities Chiefs Association revealed several problems:

• Lack of communication and information sharing — specifically, lack of a centralized analysis and dissemination function, either at the state or federal level, lack of intelligence from federal agencies, and state statutory requirements that present hurdles to sharing information.

• Technology issues — specifically, lack of equipment to facilitate a national intelligence data system, lack of interconnectibility of law enforcement and other databases (e.g. immigration services), limited fiscal resources, lack of technological infrastructure throughout the state, and lack of uniformity among computer systems.

• Lack of intelligence standards and policies — specifically, lack of common standards for collection, retention, and dissemination of intelligence data; a need for increased local training on legal standards for collection, storage, and purging of data; access to classified data; and lack of standards for determining when to disseminate intelligence to federal agencies.

• Lack of intelligence analysis — specifically, lack of compatible analytical software and lack of analytical support, personnel, equipment, and training.

• Poor working relationships — specifically, unwillingness of law enforcement agencies to provide information due to parochial interests and a culture within the federal system that does not foster sharing of information or trust between agencies.

(Source: National Criminal Sharing Plan — Oct 2003 — Office of Justice Programs — U.S. Dept. of Justice — GLOBAL Justice Information Sharing Initiative)

U.S. Department of Justice

In February, 2004 the U.S. Attorney General created the Justice Intelligence Coordinating Council to coordinate intelligence sharing among Justice Department components. The federal government designated the six Regional Information Sharing Centers Systems (RISS) to share information with state and local law enforcement. RISS was linked to LEO (Law Enforcement On-Line), the FBI's information sharing system, to form RISS/LEO. The system is being used to provide security information to be distributed quickly to users through a new Internet-based Alert System.

A new project called ATIX-RISS Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange recently began testing in several states running across the RISS/LEO system. This plan grew out of the recommendations of the GLOBAL Justice Information Sharing Advisory Committee (GAC).

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Since DHS' inception in early 2003, it has been developing and implementing a national security communications net. The DHS communication net is designed to provide threat analysis and intelligence information among the component agencies of the DHS and to state and local agencies.

The net has three components, JRIES (Joint Regional Information Exchange System), HSDN (Homeland Security Data Network), and HSIN (Homeland Security Information Network).

JRIES is a secure network and a suite of applications currently operating at the sensitive but unclassified (SBU) level. Participants currently include approximately 100 organizations, including federal agencies, states, municipalities and other local government entities, with a significant law enforcement user base. Participating entities have a certified counterterrorism mission. Approximately 1,000 users currently have access to the system. JRIES's collaboration tools are used for threat analysis and provide real-time links to the DHS Operation Center.

HSDN is a private secure network for the sharing of information among the 22 DHS agencies. HSIN is the primary network for sending alerts and sharing information in emergency situation between DHS and all states, 50 major urban areas and five territories.

In October 2004, the Department of Homeland Security launched the Office of Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC). As part of the Science and Technology directorate, OIC will oversee public safety interoperability programs currently spread across Homeland Security. These programs address critical interoperability issues relating to public safety and emergency response, including communications, equipment, training, and other areas as needs are identified.

State initiatives

In 1997 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania created a secure virtual system online environment to share criminal justice information among participating agencies.

As of September 28, 2004 JNET is connecting more than 15,000 users; 54 counties; 56 state and federal agencies; more than 220 municipal police and 200 state police departments; and more than 500 District Justice Offices.

The JNET Office is involved in two national information-sharing efforts with the National Governors Association (NGA). One effort involves developing a national framework for Homeland security information sharing — the model is being endorsed and sponsored by the National Office of Homeland Security. The JNET model and governance structure will be used as a framework for the initiative.

Another effort, “The Middle Atlantic Justice Information Sharing Initiative,” was initiated, hosted and sponsored by the JNET Office (www.pajnet.state.pa.us). Representatives from seven surrounding states, the National Office of Homeland Security, Office of Justice Programs, National Governors Association, SEARCH and the National Criminal Justice Association are collaborating to share information among participating states as a pilot for a national integrated justice system. The JNET model and governance structure will be used as a framework for this initiative.

JNET is considered the most advanced state initiative and a national model for information sharing.

Regional initiatives

The most successful regional effort for sharing criminal justice information is the San Diego region's Automated Regional Justice System (ARJIS), a complex criminal justice enterprise network used by 50 local, state and federal agencies in the region. ARJIS is chartered with supporting a regional Web-based enterprise network that uses technical and operational standards to build interfaces to criminal justice systems in the region. The ARJISNet secure intranet contains data on the region's crime cases, arrests, citations, field interviews, traffic accidents, fraudulent documents, photographs, gang information and stolen property.

ARJISNet integrates more than 2,500 workstations and printers throughout the 4,265 square miles of San Diego County. There are over 10,000 registered and authorized users generating more than 35,000 transactions daily.

ARJIS (www.arjis.org) is also used for tactical analysis, investigations, statistical information and crime analysis. Officers and investigators also can request electronic notification when information is obtained by another agency or officer concerning an individual, location or vehicle. The critical success factor for ARJIS is the “single point of entry” to query all regional justice data.

ARJIS is currently collaborating with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to build new Web-based technologies to continue the support of the criminal justice community.

Barriers to integration

Some initiatives for information sharing have had only limited success due to legal and political concerns over privacy rights. One example is the Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange System (MATRIX).

Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) decided to improve the way it shared information. Working with an industry vendor it developed the MATRIX system.

MATRIX started as a way for law enforcement officials in Florida, Georgia, New York, Oregon and Pennsylvania to share data, but a handful of other states also were attracted to the project. By mid-2003 it had grown to encompass 13 states, accounting for about 50 percent of the U.S. population.

Using the Factual Analysis Criminal Threat Solution, the Web-based technology core of MATRIX, users can submit a query on a possible suspect or a criminal situation and get back a slew of related information within seconds. From a technological point of view, the system was a success. However, in late 2003, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) started campaigning against MATRIX, claiming that law enforcement agencies could mine an array of personal information contained in the databases.

Stories began appearing in newspapers nationwide comparing MATRIX to the Total Information Awareness program, which was conceived by officials at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency as a way of tracking potential terrorists in the general population. Officials had to shelve the project after a public outcry over privacy implications.

Several participants dropped out after the ACLU's campaign gathered momentum. Utah officials backed out because of privacy concerns after the governor and other state political leaders complained that they learned of the state's involvement only through the media. Other states opted out of the program due to cost and considerations such as control over data.

Involvement in MATRIX is now down to five states: Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Law enforcement officials who use MATRIX are making adjustments. For example, they recently decided to move to a distributed database so that states would be able to control their own data, thus alleviating concerns about the security of data is moved to a central database.

Legal restrictions on the sharing of intelligence data have slowed the progress of several initiatives. The Criminal Intelligence Systems Operating Policies of 28 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR Part 23) and state laws in some cases prohibit agencies from participating in a data warehouse that commingles criminal and intelligence data or sharing local records with the federal government.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Neil Kurlander's dual careers in public safety and technology span four decades. He is a lifetime member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and currently serves on the association's Communication and Technology Committee, and is vice president of public sector solutions for Asynchrony Solutions Inc., an information technology consulting firm. It specializes in middleware architecture, system integration and application development, including XML.

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