Unit 7: Communication Skills

Computer-Aided Investigations

Some police departments have begun to build and enlarge computer data bases with the ability to cross-reference specific information about crimes in order to determine patterns and identify suspects. One such program, HITMAN, developed by the Hollywood, California, Police Department in 1985, has since been adopted by the entire Los Angeles Police Department to help detectives solve violent crimes. In similar use of computers, the LAPD keeps track of a target population of over 60,000 gang members.

The developing field of artificial intelligence uses computers to make inferences based upon available information, and to draw conclusions or make recommendations to the system’s operators. Expert systems, as these computer models are often called, depend upon three components: (1) a user interface or terminal, (2) a knowledge base containing information on what is already known in the area of investigation, and (3) a computer program known as an “inference engine” which makes comparisons between user input and stored information according to established decision-making rules.

A number of expert systems already exist. One is being used by the FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCA VC) in a project designed to profile serial violent criminals. The NCAVC system depends upon computer models of criminal profiling to provide a theoretical basis for the development of investigative strategies. A number of other systems are under development, including some which focus on serology analysis, narcotics interdiction, serial murder and, counter terrorism.

Similar to expert systems are relational data bases which permit fast and easy sorting oflarge records. Perhaps the best known criminal justice data base of this sort is called Big Floyd, which was developed by the FBI in conjunction with the Institute for Defense Analyses. Big Floyd was designed to access the more than 3 million records in the FBI’s Organized Crime Information System and allow investigators to decide which  federal statutes apply in a given situation and whether investigators have enough evidence for a successful prosecution.

Computers are also used for firearms training simulation and police pursuit driving. Other high-technology areas that are being developed by the criminal justice system include laser fingerprinting devices, space-age photography, video camera-equipped patrol cars, satellite mapping, advanced chemical analysis techniques, and hair and fiber identification. All necessary to keep abreast of the technology of modern crime.