Detective D. Tracey - Sharing Information

            The sharing of information is both vital and critical to any investigation, whether inter-departmentally, extra-departmentally or between different agencies.  Therefore, in this case, one of the first questions I would ask Detective Tracey of the Lawville Police Department in this situation is what makes them believe that Mr. John Smith is planning any kind of biological attack.  Has he said or done anything to warrant such suspicion?  

            The second question I would ask, what was the probable cause that the search warrant was issued under, since nothing was found at his home?  What else led Officer Tracey to believe that evidence indicated that Mr. Smith has weapons of mass destruction, other than the fact that he is carrying masks and chemicals which he claims to use for work?  Unless Detective Tracey can show me more information that indicates a need for further investigation, I do not believe that there is enough evidence to make further investigation a viable option.

            Should Detective Tracey show me that there is indeed a need for his department to access our information on Mr. Smith, we will have to take appropriate steps to ensure the secure communication of this information between the Lawville police department and the Anytown Police Department.  I would therefore suggest that there should be a team set up to work in conjunction with his department in coordinating the analyzing process.  The two teams of analysts could then pool their resources and take a look at things from different sides of the coin, so to speak.  By doing this, our department can ensure that any information that is irrelevant to Detective Tracey’s case stays outside of the investigation, as we can control the flow of information communicated between the Lawville and Anytown Police Departments.  

            As per the requirements set out in the Privacy Act of 1974, the protection of a person’s rights to “reasonable expectation of privacy”, the sharing of this (or any) information, will need to be handled with great emphasis on any and all privacy concerns (FTC, 2010).  Any information regarding this case will only be discussed by individuals involved in the investigation.  These individuals will have to have been "screened by the appropriate agencies" (Homa, 2004) and will have gone through background checks, signed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) and the Terminal Operator Certificate (TOC) (Homa, 2004).

            One resource that is available for exactly this type of police work is the computerized intelligence software known as COPLINK.  "The main goal of COPLINK is to develop information and knowledge management systems technologies and methodology appropriate for capturing, accessing, analyzing, visualizing, and sharing law enforcement related information" (Homa, 2004).  It is important to note that concise information with emphasis on details rather than volume is an important aspect of effective communication.  By eliminating the need to wade through volumes of information to glean out the pertinent facts, the investigator is able to operate much more efficiently in gathering and collating information for review.

            To ensure that all computer systems to be used are properly secured, we have taken measures to halt any and all "intruders" into our systems from outside sources.  By implementing such protective services as firewalls, encrypted passwords and by placing all computers in a secured and fireproofed location with access available only by the use of a special "key” (as per recommendations made in the article “ Information Sharing and Collaboration Policies within Government Agencies “ (Homa, 2004)), we can then  control access.

            By utilizing the resources available to us, we will then be able to determine whether or not Detective Tracey has the right to the information about John Smith that he is seeking.  If so, we can then proceed, taking the steps needed to share this information.  If, on the other hand, we have come to the conclusion that he does not have a solid enough reason for obtaining this information, we can advice him of such.

 

Reference

ü  HHoma Atabakhsh, Hsinchun Chen, Cathy Larson, Tim Petersen, Chuck Violette, 2004, Information Sharing and Collaboration Policies within Government Agencies, http://ai.bpa.arizona.edu/coplink/publications/PolicyISI_ver4-1.doc

 

ü  FTC, 2010, Privacy Act of 1974 as amended, http://www.ftc.gov/foia/privacy_act.shtm