CrimeCog Helps Cops Track Down Bad Guys

SHENANDOAH, Texas - Few things bother police officers more than unsolved crimes and unnecessary paperwork – and the Shenandoah Police Department has a new service from CrimeCog Technologies of Milford, Michigan that it expects will put a big dent in both of those things.

Police officers are entering crime incident reports, arrest records and other important data into the CrimeCog integrated criminal justice system using personal computers and a common Internet browser. The information is encrypted as it is sent to a secure data center, where it can be accessed by other authorized users, including other police departments.

“All our data is at the officer’s fingertips in the field,” said Thomas Kiefer, commander of the patrol division of the Shenandoah Police Department. The department recently installed laptop computers with Internet access in patrol cars. They can use those to look up any information that’s stored in the CrimeCog system – including notices of outstanding warrants that officers used to carry around in weekly printed reports. “The paper copies could be 65 pages long, and were quickly out of date,” said Kiefer. “Officers can now search the warrant list from their patrol cars.”

The Shenandoah department turned to CrimeCog because it offered a comprehensive system with a minimal investment in computer hardware and software that would have to be maintained and upgraded regularly. To Kiefer the logic was compelling. “We thought, ‘They maintain the hardware. All we have to maintain is the desktop and Internet,’” said Kiefer.

Law enforcement officials have been reminded about the importance of data security by the way hurricane Katrina destroyed important public records in New Orleans. Many of the lost and/or ruined documents may likely never be retrieved or recovered. In contrast, CrimeCog maintains all of Shenandoah’s law enforcement data off-site in secure locations with regular backups. “If one goes down there’s duplication,” said Kiefer.

Although other systems can collect and process crime information, the CrimeCog service is unique in the way it both eliminates wasteful re-entering information and allows a single service to handle all information about a crime from the first report through arrest, preliminary incarceration, prosecution, sentencing and parole. Departments maintain complete control of their data and can share selective information without jeopardizing a suspect’s rights or the system’s security.

CrimeCog Technologies is exhibiting its criminal justice records management system today at the Texas Police Chiefs Association conference, and will be doing the same at the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas meeting in July. The CrimeCog service is powered by E*Justice™, a software system developed by $30-billion defense and aerospace company Northrop Grumman. The E*Justice system has been installed in a number of large cities and counties across America since 1997. By creating a way to deliver the benefits of E*Justice through a simple but secure Web browser, CrimeCog Technologies made the powerful system accessible to any police department, sheriff, county prosecutor or state court system for the price of a monthly subscription. The CrimeCog service can manage all forms of police reports, court records and information about prisoners in county jails or state prisons. It can work with existing victim notification systems that also operate in many states.

“This is a great step along a very important journey,” said Tim Daley, Chairman and founder of CrimeCog Technologies, Inc. “As more departments come online, the benefits of sharing critical information will quickly snowball. We can create instant and universal access to important data improving the homeland defense of our nation – without compromising any individual rights or department security.”