Local Law Enforcement Agency Integrates Real Time and Historical Information to Make More Knowledgeable Decisions

Information Builders, the independent leaderin pervasive business intelligence (BI) systems andits subsidiary iWay Software, an innovator of enterpriseintegration solutions, today announced that the Erlanger KentuckyPolice Department has used Information Builders technology to create thefirst operational BI system with integrated search capabilities for locallaw enforcement applications. The new information system combines currentcrime data from 19 government agencies to link formerly unrelatedinformation about suspects, incidents, arrests, and crimes. Once theinformation system is fully deployed this summer, patrol officers will beable to respond more effectively to all types of calls and provide betterservices to Erlanger's citizens.

"As local police departments strive to offer expanded services in the faceof tight or dwindling budgets, law enforcement personnel have to worksmarter to offer the same level of protection to their citizens," said MarcFields, Erlanger chief of police. "Erlanger PD now has an intelligentcrime-fighting tool that will boost productivity and ultimately savelives."

According to Chief Fields, the primary motivator for this project was adesire for better information-sharing among multiple agencies.Historically, the Erlanger Police Department used mapping and statisticalsoftware to provide information to patrol officers and supervisors.Neighboring cities were using different systems, and lots of police recordswere stored in filing cabinets instead of online. Today, law enforcementpersonnel in ten cities throughout Northern Kentucky can share up-to-dateinformation through this system. It merges data from 19 government agencieswith crime records and incident reports stretching back over five years.

Information Builders Professional Services used WebFOCUS Magnify to createthe real-time search index. Patrol officers access the system viacellular-powered displays in their vehicles. For example, if an officerstops a speeding car and performs a quick search of the license platenumber, Magnify could display a police report from earlier in the day in aneighboring city involving a hit-and-run incident, even if the witness atthe scene only got part of the license plate number. In this way, a suspectin two crimes could be apprehended through a small piece of shared data.

Dispatchers and supervisors can view a different slice of this crime datathrough BI dashboards at headquarters.