Computers In Law Enforcement

Computers, the Internet and Criminal Investigation...
by Det. Mark Woodward, Denver Police Officer, November 17, 1999 Illustrated by Det. Paige Lyda, Denver Police Department
The phrase that I hear often from many investigators who feel that technology is being forced upon them is, "But this is the way we've always done it and it's always worked. Why change?" We all tend to resist change and we all fear the unknown. Now I realize that anyone who has arrived at this page and is reading this article probably does not fall into this category, but we are the ones who must help educate our fellow investigators and assist them and be patient with them and do whatever we can to ease them into the twenty-first century!
We owe it to ourselves and to the people we protect to use whatever tools we can to enhance our chances of a successful investigation. This is not to say that old fashioned police work is out-dated. On the contrary, modern technology can help give investigators that elusive starting point, from whence we can use our investigative skills to identify, track down, interview and interrogate witnesses and suspects. These are some of the tools from the realm of computer technology that we should be educating ourselves about and using:
	Computer Databases In any investigative unit, especially units that specialize in pattern crime, unit-level databases can be utilized for: Case management Identification of trends and patterns Suspect MO files Statistical analysis Major case lead control Equipment inventory Track parolees as well as many other uses limited only by one's imagination.
The Internet The internet not only opens us up to a world of information (the life blood of the investigator), but allows us to see what is going on in other locales, police departments, organizations, etc. Surveillance photos can be posted for the public to see. Contacts can be developed with members of other police organizations world-wide and discussions of any subject conducted. Information can be transmitted, exchanged or obtained. The internet is so wide open that we would do ourselves a disservice to not learn everything we can about it. And, of course, the internet opens many new worlds to the criminal. We must stay up with him, if not ahead.
Some Helpful Internet Sites Investigative: Fair Property Tax, http://www.fairpropertytax.com Reverse address lookup for Denver and Arapahoe Counties Search, http://www.search.org/default.asp Justice Information and statistics InfoSpace.com, http://www.infospace.com/ Name and general searches WhoWhere?, http://www.whowhere.lycos.com/ People Finder World E-Mail Directory, http://www.worldemail.com/ E-mail search AccessData, http://www.accessdata.com/ Password recovery Amnesi, http://www.amnesi.com/ Internet site and domain searches WhoIs, http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois Find who registered a web site, IP address, etc. Police Related: Calibre Press, http://www2.calibrepress.com/ Newsletter, survival information CopNet, http://www.copnet.org/ In The Line of Duty, http://www.lineofduty.com/ Law Enforcement Links, http://www.leolinks.com/ Police Officer's Internet Directory, http://www.officer.com/ An excellent police resource site PoliceOne.com, http://www.policeone.com/ Police Links, http://www.policelinks.com/main.html Law and Order Magazine, http://www.lawandordermag.com/index2.html Police Magazine, http://www.policemag.com/ General Search: 37.com, http://www.37.com/ AltaVista, http://www.altavista.com/ Deja.com, http://x28.deja.com/ Dog Pile, http://www.dogpile.com/ GoTo.com, http://www.goto.com/ HotBot, http://www.hotbot.com/ Lycos, http://www.lycos.com/ Yahoo, http://www.yahoo.com/

E-Mail E-mail is a quick, easy and inexpensive way of communicating with others. Pattern and suspect information, mug and surveillance photos and daily business can be transmitted to and from large groups of investigators within seconds. Long distance communications are a snap. Any investigator whose department does not currently provide internet and e-mail access should strongly encourage them to do so. Any investigator who has access to e-mail but is not familiar with its use or thinks e-mail is a waste of time should learn its use post haste!
Make sure that you tell others that learning to use computers, the internet and e-mail is like jumping into cold water - it's a shock at first but one quickly gets use to it. And tell them that they won't blow the computer up.....we hope!!??