1. COPLINK: A Collaboration of Research and Application for Law Enforcement Rosie Hauck, MIS Dept., Research Associate Sgt. Jennifer Schroeder, Tucson Police Department

2. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop2 Presentation Outline The Need for COPLINK –TPD Critical Information Issues –Issues in Law Enforcement –COPLINK Development In the Hands of the Users –Goals –User Evaluation –Real Case Examples –Lessons Learned Looking Towards the Future –Knowledge Management –Legal and Ethical Issues –Human-Computer Interaction –Organization Change

3. The Need for COPLINK Leveraging Knowledge Management Technologies for Law Enforcement

4. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop4 TPD Critical Information Issues Aging, isolated systems Lack of access to information in neighboring jurisdiction Federal funding opportunity to participate in research and development

5. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop5 NIJ Funding Improve internal and external access to case level information Partnership oriented –TPD Relationship with UA AI Lab –Size of agency perfect for research Goal was proof of concept prototype

6. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop6 Problems in Law Enforcement The Law Enforcement environment –Pressure of Time –Incomplete information (Harper & Harris, 1975) Access to Information –Lack of information sharing and system integration –Interface Design (Nielsen, 1993) Different user abilities Different job functionalities

7. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop7 Knowledge Management (KM) [Davenport, 1995; O’Leary,1998] Acquiring (and reacquiring) knowledge Information Overload (Blair, 1985) Knowledge management tools? –Time Analysis System (Pliant, 1996) –Future ALert Contact Network (FALCON, UNC-C) –Expert systems (Bowen, 1994; Braham, 1998)

8. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop8 COPLINK System Development User-Centered Design Methodology (Norman, 1988) –Data source identification and integration –Functionality –Interface Design Data Accuracy: Verification and Testing

9. In the Hands of the Users COPLINK Initial Deployment Effort

10. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop10 Goals of Deployment Effort Understanding end users’ needs Future development direction

11. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop11 User Evaluation Approach Field Experiment –Challenges Lack of control Effort level –Benefits External validity Real cases Data Collection Methods: Triangulation –Demographic Questionnaire –Structured interviews –User journals –Focus groups –Database Transaction Logs

12. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop12 Participants* Unit/Job Classification CASgtDetOfcTotals Aggravated Assault:156 Auto Theft:145 Homicide167 Major Offenders Undercover 1146 Surveillance:156 Crime Analyst99 9516939 *Total of 30 machines

13. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop13 TPD’s Perspective 40 participants Fruits of user-centered design Productivity gains: –Will we investigate/solve more cases? –Will we save time? Real Case Examples

14. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop14 Auto Theft Boyfriend steals woman’s car Sergeant quickly checks suspect and finds priors for auto theft, shootings, and gang affiliation Case is assigned that normally would have been discarded if only the first piece of information were noted

15. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop15 Undercover/Surveillance Units Use of integrated information to identify suspects Person Details information used to find suspect Suspect under surveillance commits another burglary and is arrested

16. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop16 Aggravated Assault A teenaged victim falls into a coma after ingesting possible antifreeze The detective quickly finds information on the four suspects by finding a prior case in COPLINK User Comment: “Compared to RMS [the current system], I saved at least an hour. I was able to run this search even after having COPLINK for just one day.”

17. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop17 Robbery A highway robbery case where three males rob two girls A crime analyst assigned to the case used COPLINK Connect to find suspects' prior offenses, addresses, and associates. User Comments: “…more user friendly…mug shots help immensely…and the fact that you can sort entries in any of the tables.”

18. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop18 Lessons Learned from Deployment Key issues for users –Speed of system –Integration of mugshots (especially for detectives and officers) –Desire to integrate other agencies system Use of transaction logs/search queries User integration of COPLINK –Interesting correlation between time at unit/TPD with total number of COPLINK sessions –Looking for full RMS functionality in COPLINK

19. Looking Towards the Future Technology Development and Adoption Issues in Law Enforcement

20. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop20 Knowledge Management Technology Research and Development Tacit knowledge representation (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995) Design of Knowledge Management technologies –Functionality –Interface design Transference of knowledge

21. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop21 Legal and Ethical Issues Trust and perceived trust –With other agencies –With information Training and adoption issues Evaluation of technology –Avoiding misuse and abuse –Judging quality of technology

22. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop22 Human-Computer Interaction Interface design Defining and testing for usability Individual differences –E.g. job classification and/or detective unit –One system  Different job functionalities, different user characteristics

23. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop23 Organizational Change Methodological approach –Longitudinal evaluation, data collection over time (e.g., Orlikowski, 1996) –Logic of Opposition (Robey & Boudreau, 1999) Persistent structures New intended structures (technologies)

24. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop24 Organizational Change Social Informatics (Kling, et al., 1998) –Communication shifts –Social network analysis: Modeling communication patterns within and/or between agencies Similar agencies: Specifically law enforcement Dissimilar agencies: General government –Collaboration across agencies –Unintended uses of technology (e.g., Manning, 1996)

25. Jan. 25, 2001NSF COPLINK Center Workshop25 Organizational Change Work Practice/Knowledge management skills –Technology Adoption: “On the Streets” –Development of norms in technology use –Redefinition of job functions within agencies

26. Where to go from here?