Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Has Cutting-Edge Criminal And Gang Intelligence System.

• Author: Kocis, Julia E.

The Regional Intelligence and Investigation Center (RIIC) is a law enforcement resource that serves Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. The center is located in downtown Allentown and staffed with criminal intelligence analysts and county detectives who provide investigative case support to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. The RIIC was conceived and developed under the executive oversite of Lehigh County District Attorney James B. Martin. He partnered with a local industry-leading technology company, Computer Aid Incorporated (CAI), to help develop a state of the art information technology system that allows RIIC personnel and local police investigators to query and analyze crime and intelligence data. CAI was a primary architect in the design and development of the NYPD Real Time Crime Center. The idea was to develop a similar, albeit unique, center in the Lehigh Valley to help reduce crime through the use of technology and centralized services. Funding for the project was provided by the Department of Justice, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), the Trexler Trust, a local philanthropic organization, forfeiture funds and money from the Lehigh County Public Safety Fund. To date, there is upwards of $2.9 M invested in the development of the center's custom software.

The RIIC's software suite includes a secure web-based portal to allow law enforcement to post information regarding local crime, a robust search application to perform federated queries across all local police incidents, arrests, incarcerations, statewide warrants, driver's license information, subject photos and other state and regional datasets. Additional software components include a gang intelligence database, an illicit drug identification and tracking system, and the Blue Guardian application which tracks Naloxone administration performed by law enforcement to individuals suffering from a drug overdose, as well as clinical data entered by certified recovery specialists (CRS) from any treatment engagement performed by the CRS and police. The RIIC recently partnered with Lehigh University, AEquitas, and The Why ("The Why" is a fashion design house that promotes and supports ethical and sustainable fashion, the eradication of modern slavery, and the economic empowerment of trafficking survivors) to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) application to identify potential human trafficking victims and perpetrators within police incident...