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INFORMATION COMMUNICATION

Getting a Handle on CRIMES
 in Hampton Roads

By Chief Mark A. Marshall and
Chief Dennis A. Mook
police photo.jpg
Mook in Uniform JPEG.jpg
No wonder why the bad guys are always one up on us.  They are working together, and we’re not .
-”Capt. Donald Cragen”
on NBC’s Law and Order
Much of law enforcement’s success is predicated upon its ability to gather, collate and disseminate information in a usable format.  To that end, most police agencies created manual systems to manage information and when possible, have computerized those systems for additional efficiency.  Many departments have made significant investments in their information systems.  Most of the systems are powerful databases that, in an Intranet environment, can process, retrieve, and analyze information very quickly.
Unfortunately, the majority of these databases are stand alone proprietary systems. These strong information structures contain much valuable data.  This data, if accessible, has the ability to significantly increase the crime solving capability of law enforcement.
Lessons learned from September 11, 2001 have further revealed the inadequacy of information sharing at the local, state, and federal levels. We must look at interjurisdictional criminal patterns rather than just those events that occur within our political or organizational boundaries.
NEED TO SHARE INFO
In the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, there are a number of law enforcement agencies serving approximately 1.5 million residents in the metropolitan area.  There are 14 localities providing law enforcement services.  Additionally, there are a number of state and federal agencies that have significant law enforcement responsibility, some of which overlay the localities.  Each of these agencies utilizes information technology
Chief Mook is the Newport News Police Chief.
Chief Marshall is the Smithfield Police Chief.  He is a past contributor to the Virginia Review.
in an effort to more successfully augment their crime fighting capabilities.  These information databases and records management systems further have the ability to perform trend analyses and resource allocation in an effort to more effectively develop and maintain strategies for crime prevention and enforcement applications.
Recognizing the need to share information in this environment is not a new concept in this region of the state.  Hampton Roads has a number of law enforcement related associations that regularly meet.  Specialized groups that share areas of commonality and expertise have formed in an effort to exchange information about criminal trends and activity.  These efforts have brought some success.  However, the contiguous nature of the Hampton Roads area jurisdictions easily allows the criminal element to pass back and forth across political boundaries with simplicity and relative impunity.  Past efforts were predicated on the cultivation of the individual investigator’s network.  Simply put, the reliance rests on who the investigator knows in order