NCJ Number
206559
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 31 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2004 Pages: 20,22,25
Date Published
July 2004
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article describes RISSLinks, a new feature of the Regional Information Sharing Systems’ (RISS) Network.
Abstract
The RISS program formed in 1995 as a federally-funded program designed to facilitate electronic networking and coordinate the crime fighting efforts of law enforcement across the country. Its consortium of six regional law enforcement/criminal justice centers share intelligence information on terrorism, cybercrime, and narcotics trafficking among other major crimes. Many law enforcement agencies depend on RISS as their preeminent source of intelligence information; RISSNet, the secure intranet operated by RISS, has received almost 1.4 million inquiries. These inquiries have just become easier with the development of RISSLinks, a new feature to the RISS Network that shortens the review process by allowing the quick visualization of data in a link chart formation. Developed by i2 Inc., RISSLinks works by instantly generating a picture of connections between people, places, and criminal activities to reveal relationships that may not have been considered. RISSLinks’ interoperability capability allows users to query a single database or all 11 databases in the RISS Network at once. Moreover, results from a RISSLinks query can be dragged over into i2 Inc.’s Analyst’s Notebook, a crime analysis tool used in highly visible cases such as the Washington, DC sniper case and the Louisiana serial murder case. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force in Hawaii served as a test for RISSLinks; after 2 months of use, members of the task force reported satisfaction with the tool. Task force members describe the major advantage of RISSLinks is the capability to identify suspects involved in other criminal activities. In its 2 months of use in Hawaii, RISSLinks assisted with the crack of a counterfeit money ring. The visualization capabilities of RISSLinks are key to making the investigative connections that solve crimes. Figures