IBM announced i2 COPLINK Everywhere, a MobileFirst application that securely delivers access to police data to officers, analysts, and commanders when they are in the field.
The new offering is an expansion of IBM’s i2 COPLINK portfolio, which also includes office and patrol car applications.
i2 COPLINK Everywhere is designed to help law enforcement organizations solve crimes faster, keep officers safer and disrupt crime by applying analytics to vast quantities of seemingly unrelated data utilized by law enforcement via mobile devices.
i2 COPLINK Everywhere accesses the same extensive i2 COPLINK database as desktop clients, but minimizes keyboard and pointing device input. This capability will enhance officer safety by eliminating or minimizing the need to concentrate on the device interaction in favor of focusing on the situation at hand.
“The Integrated Law & Justice Agency for Orange County (ILJAOC), which serves 24 member agencies in the county, has worked with IBM i2 for many years on a variety of successful projects, and we are happy to see that COPLINK will be available on handheld devices,” said Bob McDonell, ILJAOC executive director, in a statement. “It is another example of technology being placed in the field at officers’ fingertips, to increase both officer and citizen safety.”
The convenience of mobile access to data and analytics enables officers to validate information and compare partial observations, such as vehicle license plates, distinguishing markings such as tattoos, known affiliations and recent addresses, during an ongoing investigation. Photo match and mug shot identification provide crucial information during interviews with victims, witnesses and others at the scene. The user advantages of mobile device tap and swipe technologies speed queries, saving critical time that can be used for further investigation and crime mitigation.
“Technology has long intertwined with law enforcement, but through the advent of mobile we can enter a new era of police work and crime prevention that can provide direct access to insights of immense amounts of law enforcement data in the field,” said Robert Griffin, general manager of IBM i2, Threat and Counter Fraud, in a statement. “Our team has vast experience with public safety technology development and deployment, making i2 COPLINK Everywhere a flexible, scalable solution that can support a variety of law enforcement needs around the world.”
Among its many benefits for officers in the field, i2 COPLINK Everywhere can be used to help identify people with no form of identification used in traditional public safety situations. For instance, by accessing a photo and profile of an escaped suspect while in the field, officers can show citizens the photo, thus enabling them to locate and apprehend the suspect faster than through regular means.
Roberto Villasenor, chief of police for the city of Tucson, Ariz., said his department worked with IBM and the University of Arizona artificial intelligence lab to create IBM i2 COPLINK, a database application that consolidates policing data from many sources, aids collaboration and helps generate tactical leads. Villasenor says he looks forward to using IBM’s Watson technology to advance law enforcement efforts in Tucson. “If cognitive computing can help us to analyze all the mounds of data we have to go through, that would be tremendously beneficial to law enforcement,” he said.
“Anything to help us do our jobs more efficiently and better, we welcome,” Villasenor said. “We have to monitor social media, blogs, etc., and use that information to draw leads. Tools like COPLINK and Watson enhance our capabilities tremendously.”