Police are investigating a series of robberies and
burglaries spanning three jurisdictions around Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The investigation
involves two detectives from the Kent County Sheriff’s Department
(KCSD) Criminal Investigation Bureau and several patrol deputies. Additionally,
the Kentwood Police Department is investigating one case while the
Criminal Unit of the Grand Rapids Police Department is investigating
two others.
Police have not identified the perpetrators and have little or no physical
evidence.
Based on incident and field reports on each crime report entered
into N DEx, KCSD investigators using both the analytics and incident
correlation
capabilities, discover that a pattern extends beyond their cases
into the neighboring jurisdictions. Investigators from all three agencies
agree to create a collaborative workspace within N DEx, and begin
to
share reports and other related investigation information.
The KCSD
designates one investigator as the lead investigator with responsibility
for gathering additional case information from the
other jurisdictions
and creating analytical reports for the multi-jurisdictional team.
Using the N DEx analysis and visualization capabilities, the lead
investigator plots the location of the crimes, which N DEx automatically
correlates
and then presents the results on a map that shows “hot spots” throughout
the cities in question. These analytical results are presented to
the remaining team members for further analysis. The team “drills
down” on
the “hot spots” to discover if there are other crime
attributes or relationships between their cases and other criminal
activities within
the “hot spots.” The team learns that thieves previously
abandoned a stolen car used in the crimes near several of the robberies
and burglaries. They determine that many of the stolen cars came
from a neighborhood located in western Kent County, near the City
of Kentwood.
A closer examination, using N-DEx’s visualization capability
and analytical charting tools, reveals that many of these crimes
also can
be linked by the time of day and days of the month. The investigation
team documents these findings and disseminates this information to
the appropriate supervisors within each agency (and other neighboring
law
enforcement jurisdictions).
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