Project INSIGHT - Visual Analysis

Project INSIGHT
leaves criminals nowhere to hide in East Midlands
Police forces in five counties across the East Midlands have
significantly improved their level two capabilities thanks to
a data sharing initiative called Project INSIGHT - leaving
criminals with very few places to hide.
The need to share intelligence on a
regional and national level has been
the subject of many initiatives over the
years; NSPIS, PNIP, COLIN, VALIANT
and CRISP were all, in a multitude of
forms, forerunners to the Bichard
inspired IMPACT programme. For
various reasons, these projects did not
deliver but now, through Project
INSIGHT, this objective has become a
reality for police forces in the East
Midlands.
Typically data is shared between police
forces following a specific, but often
speculative, request potentially causing
important information or links to be
missed. However, Project INSIGHT
draws together a wide range of critical
data, including ANPR, command
and control, crime and intelligence
information, from the participating
forces. This information is then
transferred into a central analytical
environment via a secure webbased
solution. This data can then
be very quickly and effectively
cross-referenced, using the advanced
analytical capabilities integral to
i2 Analyst's Workstation.
Analysts based in the regional hub can
then create complex queries to identify
links that may have previously been
unknown - significantly improving
operational intelligence for investigative
teams. In addition, by combining
the data of multiple police forces,
analysts can look at the information
from a truly regional perspective
to identify crime trends, vehicle
movements and associated events or
activities.
The regional data sharing project
started at the beginning of Q2 2008,
with phase one completed by the end
of Q4. This phase of the initiative
saw the sharing of regional crime,
intelligence and ANPR data, with the
additional integration of the 'DVLA
White List' - facilitating make, model
and colour searches where the
registration is unknown. The data is
also accessible to East Midlands
Special Operations Unit (EMSOU)
and East Midlands Counter Terrorism
Intelligence Unit (EMCTIU) to
maximise the value of 'pooling'
information.
The use of i2 Analyst's Workstation
was a natural choice due to existing
awareness of its capabilities and its
capacity to handle significant volumes

"One of the critical benefits of this data sharing
initiative has been in terms of ANPR data.
Previously analysts would only have been able
to look at their own force's data, which meant
critical vehicle sightings or links from
neighbouring counties could have been missed.
By pooling the data and having access to
regional ANPR data, using Analyst's Workstation
we can identify links that would have previously
been invisible, facilitating investigations and
improving our overall intelligence capabilities."
of data, including 230 million ANPR
records. Its selection for this initiative
creates a critical return on investment
as it builds on existing technology that
is prevalent across police forces today.
Kate McCafferty, Senior Analyst, Project
INSIGHT: "One of the critical benefits
of this data sharing initiative has been
in terms of ANPR data. Previously
analysts would only have been able to
look at their own force's data, which
meant critical vehicle sightings or links
from neighbouring counties could
have been missed. By pooling the data
and having access to regional ANPR
data, using Analyst's Workstation we
can identify links that would have previously
been invisible, facilitating
investigations and improving our
overall intelligence capabilities."
'Convoy analysis' has been one of the
major successes of Project INSIGHT.
Utilising ANPR data from across the
five counties, analysts have been able
to identify new vehicles that have been
travelling in convoy with known
vehicles, opening up new links and
uncovering potential new associates to
recognised criminals. This information
has been particularly effective in
relation to organised lorry load theft,
distraction burglary and people
trafficking, where data on offenders
can be cross referenced with unsolved
crimes to identify potential links.
Jimmy Cockerton, Project Manager,
Project INSIGHT commented: "Phase
one of Project INSIGHT has been
a fantastic success and really
demonstrated the value of sharing
data across multiple police forces.
Phase two will bring in new data sets
that will only increase that value of the
initiative. Thanks to this project,
we now have access to tangible
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intelligence that will help us tackle
crime more quickly and effectively."
Phase 2 of the project is nearing
completion, adding further data
sources, such as command and
control into the force data systems
and regional hub as well as advanced
auditing and management facilities.
Julian Midwinter, Vice President of
Sales, i2 said: "This is an outstanding
achievement by the East Midlands
Forces on this ACPO-led initiative.
It has been a privilege to work with the
Northamptonshire team on this project
and leverage the extensive potential
of i2 technology and the deep
understanding of intelligence analysis
across this region. The initiative
has demonstrated the exceptional
capabilities of i2 Analyst's Workstation
and the tangible value of making data
available across multiple constabularies
in an advanced analytical environment".
For more information, please contact:
+44 (0)1223 728660
or visit www.i2group.com