The 21st-century criminal is leaving an unfettered trail in disparate databases across the globe. When these stores of information remain static and unconnected, agents and officers are denied a complete, real-time global picture of every individual they come across during routine patrols or investigations. These trails and clues are often discovered and connected after an incident has already occurred. The right technology needs to be in place and a culture shift must occur to solve this challenge. Fortunately, the basic technology exists to help agents and officers share information across the street or across the globe. The real challenge now is how to break down cultural barriers to make this potential solution a reality.

The 2002 murders of 10-year-old Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England, rocked the small English community to its core. The murders were committed by Ian Huntley who had been hired less than a year earlier as a caretaker at a nearby secondary school. In the aftermath, it was discovered that a total breakdown in the information sharing continuum prevented officials from unearthing Huntley’s highly questionable past. They were not aware that Huntley had been accused or suspected of four rapes in the late 1990s, four sexual relationships with underage girls (one only 13), and indecent assault on a 12-year-old girl.¹

A formal inquiry to identify failures in police intelligence gathering and sharing was launched the day after Huntley was found guilty and the resulting report spurred the creation of the Police National Database (PND), a national information sharing management system intended to safeguard children and vulnerable people; support, disrupt, and investigate terrorism; and prevent and disrupt violent and organized crime. Available to all police forces and select criminal justice agencies throughout the United Kingdom, the PND allows UK law enforcement agencies to access, search, and share local information electronically, thus overcoming artificial geographic and jurisdictional boundaries. Not only are these agencies successfully using technology, they are successfully changing the culture of law enforcement information sharing from a “want to share” to “need to share.”

While it’s encouraging to hear that the girls’ murder led to substantive changes in how law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom link and share information, those same changes haven’t spread throughout the rest of the global law enforcement community.

Utilizing a Two-Step Process to Affect and Accelerate Sharing

While it’s true the U.S. law enforcement community has become far better at sharing information related to terrorist activities, the same  cannot be said for criminal investigations. Unlike the girls’ murders in the United Kingdom, it’s not necessary to go back 20 years to find instances where information sharing between U.S. law enforcement agencies may have prevented heinous criminal activity. One only needs to look at recent tragedies—such as the Parkland High School shooting in 2018—to find events where connecting and sharing data may have helped prevent or at least intervene sooner to reduce the impact of crimes carried out by individuals who had been flagged.

Law enforcement agencies and social media providers across the globe maintain thousands of disparate databases. Hiding in these databases are nuggets of valuable information, which, if freely shared and connected through technology, could help law enforcement identify criminals and their organizations in real time and possibly disrupt them before a criminal act. Using the example of Huntley, what if he had somehow escaped justice in the United Kingdom and fled to the United States or another country? What other unspeakable crimes could he have committed if he had applied for the same type of caretaker position and local jurisdictions were unaware of his nefarious background? Law enforcement around the world needs to be able to reach into databases like the PND on a real-time basis to see the whole picture and connect the dots.

While stigmas against sharing information do exist, the advantages are overwhelming. They include

• • • Enhancing public safeguarding and protection
    • Preventing and resolving crime
    • Delivering new intelligence insights through the use of analytics
    • Improving the targeting and prioritizing of operational activities to realize productivity improvements
    • Applying law enforcement best practices

Make no mistake: the lack of information sharing between law enforcement agencies is a global problem with global—and potentially tragic—consequences. Therefore, in order to create an environment that’s more conducive to information sharing, the law enforcement community needs to follow a two-step process: (1) create a culture in which information sharing is not just encouraged but expected and rewarded, and (2) work together with industry leaders to create technology to make information sharing easier and less burdensome.

Breaking Down the Cultural Barriers to Information Sharing

The antiquated attitude that local and foreign law enforcement agencies won’t freely share information with each other must go by the wayside—and soon. The global law enforcement community, as a whole, needs to understand that, in order for information to be valuable, it needs to be immediately available to all relevant personnel at all times.

Further, law enforcement entities need to operate with an unsaid understanding that those who are entrusted with newfound information will use it only for its intended purpose. Trust is paramount. It is crucial that law enforcement navigate all the relevant policies and legislation around data privacy and protection. What would help is for lawmakers and the civilian community to come to a consensus on the proverbial “line” when it comes to data collection and use by law enforcement. Currently, there is no single principal data collection legislation in the United States. The community needs to work together to catch today’s criminals because—as is stands—21st century criminals are not abiding by data privacy and protection laws; they are using technology more effectively than law enforcement is, and they know how to get around the system that’s currently in place.

While overcoming cultural roadblocks to information sharing is a fundamental piece to the final puzzle, it can’t be denied that technology also plays a major role. Simply put, technology gone unused is unsuccessful technology. That’s why the law enforcement industry also needs a cadre of early technology adopters who are willing to start shaking things up.

Embracing Technology to Connect the Dots

The problem isn’t necessarily one of technological capability; the same powerful software used to run the PND is available to other jurisdictions. The more complicated issue is the widespread application and acceptance of the technology. Criminals every day across the globe use technology to their advantage—it’s time law enforcement starts doing the same.

For the past 10 years, the PND has been powered by an information technology (IT) software solution using commercial off-the-shelf products that offers an efficient and structured means of securely sharing information between agencies and across borders. Currently available as a desktop platform, the technology acts as business intelligence for law enforcement. Its analytical engine connects and consolidates disparate databases, providing law enforcement officers with the information they need at their fingertips. It allows users to input and visualize data sets in a range of meaningful ways, as users are able to perform text and photograph searches across large data sets and combine data in new ways, providing new insights. This wealth of knowledge not only eases the burden of searching the thousands of databases individually, but it also allows law enforcement to make quicker, easier, and more accurate decisions based on all the available information.

In short, technology solutions can equate to less time behind a desk and more time in the field. But no technology is a one-size-fits-all solution. The industry needs to work hand-in-hand with law enforcement globally to determine how to develop and implement technologies for long-term success.

Soliciting Law Enforcement Opinions to Ensure Success

These 21st-century criminals are committing 21st-century crimes, and there’s simply no way that law enforcement can consistently catch them using 20th-century methods. Police officers and officials need to make their voices heard in order to successfully implement new technologies and change the information sharing culture.

Successful technology is neither built nor implemented in a vacuum; law enforcement professionals need to participate to break down cultural barriers and develop solutions that will resonate with stakeholders and bring the maximum benefit to the greatest number of people across the globe.

To paraphrase one of the investigators in the aftermath of the Huntley murders, while law enforcement officials can’t eradicate evil, they can make it difficult for evil to thrive. Championing the use of technology and changing the way law enforcement thinks about sharing information are things the profession can do right now to help turn the tables and give the law enforcement community advantages it’s never before enjoyed. And help start the conversation to ensure that evil, indeed, will not and cannot thrive.

Note:

¹ “Ian Huntley,” Biography, May 12, 2019.

Please cite as:

Tom Krall, “21st Century Criminals: Hiding in Law Enforcement Databases,” Police Chief Online (March 2020).