NCJ Number
230941
Date Published
2010
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This chapter describes and analyzes the evolution of a Swiss regional police intelligence analysis center in order to illustrate how intelligence-sharing frameworks tend to develop in a pattern of adaptation in complex and continuously changing environments.
Abstract
The regional analysis center is based in a convention signed by several cantons in Switzerland. Each canton organizes its own structure and designs the size and position of this structure in its own organization. Similar structures have been developed across the country, constituting vital bridges between different linguistic regions. Central intelligence analysis is conducted through a shared database that is fed into by all the contributing analysts, as well as during a monthly analysis meeting. The intent is to provide an overview of crime patterns at a certain time. The center's main product is a weekly synthesis of crime information intended to assist investigators, chiefs of operations, and border guards. In certain cantons, specific documents extracted from the global synthesis are produced. These provide the basis for decisionmaking at the force level. The challenge comes in making intelligence-sharing relevant to both local police action and cooperative regional police action that involves the resources of multiple local forces. Switzerland has developed an ability to conduct valuable, local, regional, and central intelligence analyses by using a strategic, operational, and tactical perspective. This involves grouping similar experiences into recurrent problems and searching for specific solutions, drawing upon the resources of the worlds of academia and technology. Academic researchers specialized in the fields of data mining or geographical information systems can provide creative applications for crime data. Technologies must be systematically sought in order to address the variety of problems with which crime intelligence activities are faced. 1 figure, 1 table, and 4 notes