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Florida to
Deploy COPLINK to Support Crime Solving and Anti-Terrorism
Initiatives.
First Statewide
Information Sharing Initiative to Incorporate both NIEM and LEXS
API Standards.
09/26/07
Tucson, AZ
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Knowledge Computing Corp. today announced
that its critically-acclaimed COPLINK® Solution Suite will be deployed
to support Florida's Regional Law Enforcement eXchange (R-LEX). Funding
for the project was made possible primarily by grants from the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security.
"Florida is a nationally-recognized thought leader on information
sharing, as well as the creation and adoption of model standards," said
Robert Griffin, CEO of Knowledge Computing Corp. "The decision to deploy
COPLINK in an expanded capacity not only validates our proven
performance in installations across the country, but reinforces why over
550 other jurisdictions nationwide rely on COPLINK's tactical and
scaleable solutions for crime-solving and anti-terrorism initiatives."
"We're proud of the R-LEX initiative because it's a powerful tool for
fighting crime across multiple jurisdictions statewide, and it's among
the first to incorporate the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM)
standards, which create greater flexibility for sharing critical
information between local, state and federal law enforcement," said
project manager Mike Phillips, who oversees the Florida Law Enforcement
eXchange (FLEX) initiative.
COPLINK provides unparalleled analysis and decision support for rapidly
identifying criminal suspects, relationships and patterns that help
solve crime and thwart terrorism. Using a GJXDM compliant interface, it
works by allowing vast quantities of structured and seemingly unrelated
data - including data currently housed in various incompatible databases
or records management systems - to be securely organized, consolidated
and rapidly analyzed over a highly secure intranet-based platform.
One search using known or partial facts from an ongoing investigation
can produce qualified leads that would otherwise be unapparent in
seconds - a process that prior to COPLINK was not possible or often
takes days or weeks to accomplish. Through sophisticated analytics,
including powerful visualization tools, COPLINK builds "institutional
memory," reduces knowledge gaps and prevents criminals from falling
through the cracks.
Florida's R-LEX will be accessible to authorized law enforcement
investigators, detectives, line officers, and crime analysts throughout
the state and will be used for law enforcement purposes only. The
Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), eleven select state
criminal justice agencies, along with three of Florida's seven domestic
security task force regions will contribute data such as traffic
citations, pawn data, dispatch records, local warrants, and offense
reports from a total of 160 sources.
Domestic security task force regions contributing data include: the
North Central Region which serves thirteen counties and the metropolitan
Tallahassee area; the Southwest Region which serves nine counties and
the metropolitan Naples/Ft. Myers area; and the Southeast Region which
serves four counties and the metropolitan Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area.
A future phase of the project, which has yet to be awarded, will link up
the four remaining regions including the Tampa Bay region which has been
using COPLINK since 2005. Known as the Florida Law Enforcement Exchange
(FLEX), when completed it will provide effective, secure and credible
data interoperability among FDLE, State agencies, and all seven regions
to assist with statewide domestic security and crime control
initiatives.
The innovative model for this project was conceived by FDLE and its
partners, and involves multiple vendors for execution and delivery. Data
will be mapped, using a metadata mapping tool by Sypherlink, to a
central NIEM-compliant warehouse hub to be built by systems integrator
Keane, Inc. This hub will then feed into COPLINK, which will serve as
the universal access point for the R-LEX. Based on FDLE's model, COPLINK,
Sypherlink and Keane, Inc. are developing uniform interfaces that
facilitate rapidly scaling information sharing statewide, and with
additional state and federal partners in the future. When complete, the
initiative will be the first in the nation to incorporate both NIEM and
Law Enforcement Information Sharing Program (LEISP) EXchange
Specifications (LEXS) at the state level.
Access to R-LEX will be restricted based on individual user security
clearance levels, and the sensitivity of the data itself based on strict
policy protocols to be spelled out in a memorandum of understanding
between participating agencies. COPLINK also creates a detailed audit
trail for every search conducted. This serves two purposes. Officers
seeking to question or obtain a warrant on suspects identified through
COPLINK are able to clearly demonstrate with hard facts how that person
fits the criminal profile and how others were excluded. The Systems
Administrator is also able to monitor use for audit purposes to identify
any abuse that would result in suspension of a user's access privileges
under the privacy and use protocols established by R-LEX participants in
accordance with local, state and federal laws.
When COPLINK is used to create regional or statewide networks, each
participating agency has real-time control over what data is shared,
with whom and when. In addition, data continues to reside and be updated
at its existing source, with automatic refresh mechanisms triggering
updates within the hub and then COPLINK. These safeguards help protect
the integrity of the data and sensitive information while allowing for
the creation of ad hoc regional task forces to address specific criminal
activity.
COPLINK first catapulted into the national spotlight for its proof of
concept role following the Montgomery County, Maryland sniper
investigation. Today, the solution is in use in over 550 jurisdictions
nationwide including four of the nation's five largest cities, helping
police officers fight crime, thwart terrorism and improve community
safety. A powerful force multiplier, COPLINK is documented as
conservatively providing a 14:1 investigative time advantage, reducing
the time it takes to identify qualified suspects, thereby enabling law
enforcement to keep more feet on the streets.
Winner of numerous awards, COPLINK was recognized twice by the
International Association of Chiefs of Police for deployments in Tucson,
Arizona and across the State of Alaska. The Center for Digital
Government also recognized COPLINK as one of the best-of-breed and most
innovative IT projects undertaken by cities in the nation.
About Knowledge Computing Corporation
Knowledge Computing Corp. provides technology-based crime-fighting
solutions to leading edge law enforcement agencies nationwide. Its
critically-acclaimed product, COPLINK®, in use since 1998, is based on
knowledge management technology first prototyped by top-ranked
researchers in the Artificial Intelligence Lab at the University of
Arizona in Tucson through a grant by the National Institute of Justice.
The technologies developed at Knowledge Computing Corporation have been
tested and proven by law enforcement agencies around the country. For
more information: www.knowledgecc.com or www.coplink.com.
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