When an elderly woman in Ohio went missing, law enforcement response time became the difference between life and death. Her niece called the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) to report the disappearance, expressing concern that the missing woman may have had a stroke. The OSHP quickly contacted the Critical Information and Communications Center—known as the Hub and supervised by OHSP commanders in Columbus, Ohio. Center analysts used the woman’s cellphone number to set up a ping to determine its location.
She was in her home, and, as her niece suspected, was experiencing a medical emergency. Local police officers entered the home, and the woman was transported to a nearby hospital where she later recovered. Without the swift response of law enforcement and the immediate and accurate information provided by the Hub, however, she may not have been saved.1
Ohio has found a way to dramatically improve public safety services through an investment in intelligence analysts, while also integrating existing resources in law enforcement, emergency management, homeland security, and public safety. While many states have intelligence centers and 24/7 operations, Ohio has merged its emergency management agency (EMA), criminal intelligence, homeland security, school safety, and threat analysts into a unified public safety mission. The tactical and strategic work these analysts have done in the short period of time since startup has resulted in lives saved and disasters averted.
The potential of integrated intelligence in public safety has never been more promising. By employing methods focused on communication, intelligence gathering, and analysis, agencies devoted to public safety can make more informed and efficient decisions quickly.
The Ohio Department of Public Safety (ODPS) has adopted integrated intelligence into its daily functions with the establishment of the Hub. It incorporates all components of public safety intelligence—intelligence support, strategic intelligence, and analytical intelligence—while also integrating the law enforcement, homeland security, and emergency management disciplines of public safety. Ohio has benefitted immensely from this integration since the Hub’s creation in 2011, and agencies that follow suit will be at the head of public safety’s future.
The Hub
At ODPS, integrated intelligence is applied to public safety at the Hub, a round-the-clock operation consisting of the OSHP’s watch desk, criminal intelligence unit (CIU), and statewide dispatch center. The Hub offers constant communication between analysts with data at their fingertips and the officers and other end users who need the data to help determine the best course of action in a given scenario.
The Hub was designed to replace a slow system of command and control. Instead of taking a pyramid approach to communication—demanding that information be passed up a chain of command before decisions can be made—it utilizes a shape like the hub of a tire where the communication center sits in the center and all those who need information can contact it directly. The Hub provides a centralized point of contact to collect and disseminate critical information and expedite the deployment of assets during critical incidents.
Analysts manage and share relevant, reliable, and actionable information with law enforcement, homeland security, and emergency management units within ODPS to support operational duties. After those units close for the day, their phone lines direct to the Hub—meaning many facets of public safety have coverage at all hours.
Types of Integrated Intelligence
When ODPS first applied integrated intelligence to public safety through the Hub, the goal was to enhance drug interdiction efforts. That endeavor has been successful; utilizing information provided by the Hub, OSHP succeeded in identifying drug trafficking routes and putting them off-course.
The Hub’s functions evolved after OSHP’s achievements. More recently, integrated intelligence has also been used in Ohio to fight human trafficking, enhance the efforts of the Ohio EMA, and improve school and workplace safety, as well as assist law enforcement departments across Ohio.
Integrated intelligence separates into three categories: (1) intelligence support, (2) strategic intelligence, and (3) analytical intelligence.
Intelligence support backs up the front-line forces. It’s the logic behind the broken windows theory and CompStat—when intelligence supports on-the-ground functions, crime rates fall. Gathering information and analyzing it allows law enforcement leaders to understand who, what, where, and when the problem is, thus helping them determine effective asset deployment.
Analysts at the Hub receive information from the public through calls to Ohio’s #677 tip line, as well as from Facebook and a public email account. The Hub takes the information, changes it into a usable format, and sends resources to appropriate locations.
This intelligence-led policing technique is nothing new. Information gathering helps reduce crime by allowing officers to act proactively rather than reactively and helps them understand the motivations and methods of the individuals who commit criminal acts and deploy resources accordingly.
Strategic intelligence is the process of connecting the dots and finding patterns. The Hub primarily assists three ODPS divisions—OSHP, Ohio EMA, and Ohio Homeland Security (OHS)—by putting information into useful formats so they can be as informed as possible as they move forward. The Strategic Analysis and Information Center (SAIC), a fusion center within OHS, is vital to strategic intelligence in Ohio. SAIC and the Hub are separate operations, but they work together; the Hub receives SAIC’s calls after hours. Other divisions also utilize strategic or tactical products written by the Hub to aid in deploying resources more efficiently.
OHS has made use of information sharing through the SAIC since 2005 in an effort to investigate terrorism and support the national intelligence community. The SAIC is one of 78 centers in the National Fusion Center Network—created through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Department of Justice, and the Office of National Intelligence—and is designated by the governor as Ohio’s primary fusion center. OHS is made up of 17 sectors, interconnected by the SAIC to share information and work together.
OHS also produced the Safer Schools Initiative, accomplished by the Threat Assessment and Prevention Unit for the 2014–2015 school year. The initiative brings together several disciplines within the fusion center, including analytical and threat assessment processes and partnerships with both private and public sectors. The goal is to create a circle of protection for students and faculty and serve as a resource for law enforcement, local schools, and the Ohio Department of Education.
The unit receives information from a 24/7, 365-day tip line used to report threats that could jeopardize school or workplace safety. Sometimes the proper response might be to contact law enforcement; conversely, letting the school or parents know of the problem may be best. Either way, the round-the-clock nature of the unit gets information to the right place quickly, in order to prevent as much violence as possible.
Analytical intelligence is the byproduct of strategic intelligence. Analysts create a “bulletin” using the intelligence gathered to make a recommendation on how to reduce the possibility of violence and crime when proceeding. The bulletin is written communication that conveys the analytical outcome reached.
Ohio EMA has benefited from the Hub’s products for both near- and future-term events. A near-term product might focus on a storm system brewing in Colorado that will likely impact Ohio in a week. Future-term reports are more predictive in nature; an analytical product can be developed to look ahead at something like propane supply for the upcoming winter to help determine if counties might run short.
The Hub can provide specific information during an event that helps construct either kind of product. Oftentimes, when liaisons or safety teams deploy across the state to help out in a crisis, they have to get moving before they have a full assessment of what’s occurred. With the Hub, information can be pulled together while the team is in transit and sent to them either electronically or directly to the location they’re heading to.
The analysts at the Hub have specialties in homeland security, criminal intelligence, or emergency management, but are cross-trained so all personnel can handle large-scale events. By the time EMA personnel arrive at an incident, there’s enough information for the team to be briefed.
Bright Future of Public Safety
Police chiefs or superintendents interested in creating a center like the Hub are taking steps to make the United States safer. What started as a simple idea has grown into an amazing operation because of the people involved. At the start, there was just a concept, not a specific idea of how operations had to look. Nobody was sure whether troopers or police officers on traffic stops or the EMA would really utilize the resources, so it started small. To everyone’s surprise, demand for Hub resources quickly outpaced the services it could provide. From 2011 to 2012, requests for the Hub’s services grew by 208 percent. In the beginning, two analysts were hired; in 2015, there were 15 analysts employed at the Hub.2
Analysts at the Hub have contributed to countless success stories. In September 2012, an officer investigating an act of arson at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo in Perrysburg Township, Ohio, shared surveillance video of the suspect and photos of the suspect’s vehicle with the Hub. Through the work of intelligence analysts and communications staff working there, the tip was quickly transformed into intelligence.
A Hub analyst created a bulletin and disseminated it to other agencies and partners, one of which received a tip—the suspect’s name and that they might be from Indiana. That tip was sent back to the CIU, under the Hub.
Searching through various databases, the analyst discovered the man was, in fact, from Indiana, where he worked as a truck driver. She also found his wife and called her. The wife hadn’t heard from her husband in a couple days, but she said he was off his medication and she wasn’t sure what he was capable of.
This launched a full-scale investigation. Analysts determined the location of the suspect’s employer and identified his truck’s location when he crossed back into Indiana. Police deployed to his trucking station and, upon the suspect’s arrival, arrested him on the spot. A search of the suspect’s vehicle yielded an assault rifle, a few other guns, and arson materials.3
The work of intelligence analysts informed the law enforcement officers in the field, who focused their efforts where they’d be most effective, resulting in not just the apprehension of a criminal, but also the prevention of further crimes.
The potential of integrated intelligence in public safety is limitless. Ohio’s Hub has already expanded greatly, going from a center for communications to a remarkably effective intelligence operation. From catching traffickers, to arsonists, to petty criminals, there’s no question that coordinated efforts yield better results. The Hub’s efforts to provide support for state agencies as well as local, federal, and out-of-state agencies—all at no cost to the agencies—speed up information gathering and bring impressive results.
Impacting crime statistics is important, but it’s imperative to remember the human element, and the long-term effect on individuals facing financial or emotional loss. Embracing new technology and new, but proven, techniques is crucial to ensuring the well-being of citizens and communities.
Through the application of integrated intelligence, public safety efforts in the United States can be smarter, faster, and more effective. An approach that includes all components of integrated intelligence into all disciplines of public safety will ultimately save lives. ♦
Notes:
1 Ohio State Patrol, Incident Recall Report, October 17, 2013.
2 OSHP Hub Intelligence Unit, statistics based on number of requests in RIMS Intel Module, 2011–2012; Brenda Collins (captain, OSHP Hub), personal conversation, May 2015.
3 Isolde Raftery “Man Arrested for Arson of Ohio Islamic Center; Mosques Increasingly Targeted,” NBC News, October 3, 2012 (accessed May 14, 2015).
Please cite as
John Born, “Integrated Intelligence for Public Safety,” The Police Chief 82 (June 2015): web-only.
