Here is a little information on an online law enforcement group so that all law enforcement agencies can connect and share information to better perform their jobs.
So you’re a police officer in Topeka, Kansas who’s looking for information about gangs in your state. Or an intelligence analyst in the U.K. who wants to chat with peers about the latest counterterrorism trends. Where do you turn?
One important answer: to Law Enforcement Online, or LEO.
LEO is a secure, Internet-based communications portal for law enforcement, first responders, criminal justice professionals, and anti-terrorism and intelligence agencies around the globe. LEO catalyzes and strengthens collaboration and information-sharing by providing access to sensitive but unclassified information and various state-of-the-art communications services and tools. It is available to vetted users anywhere in the world around the clock and is offered free of charge to members.
LEO started in 1995 as a small dial-up service with just 20 members. Now, it has more than 100,000 members across the world and a host of features and capabilities offered through a Virtual Private Network on the Internet.
What does LEO offer specifically? Here’s a rundown:
1. A national alert system directing members to the LEO site for information on emergencies (like the London bombings, for example);
2. Some 540 Special Interest Groups (SIG) that allow members who share expertise or interests to connect with each other, including sections on terrorism, street gangs, and bombs;
3. Access to important and useful databases, like those run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children;
4. E-mail services, which enable members to submit fingerprints to the FBI for processing by our Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System;
5. A Virtual Command Center (VCC)—an information sharing and crisis management tool that allows the law enforcement community to use LEO at local and remote sites as an electronic command center to submit and view information and intelligence;
6. Distance learning, with several online learning modules on topics like terrorism response, forensic anthropology, and leadership; and
7. A multimedia library of publications, documents, studies, research, technical bulletins, and other reports of interest to LEO users.
Do you all feel that this improves our society?
I think it's a step in the right direction. I wonder how many cases will be solved now thanks to this database. Before it can have a significant impact on society it will need to grow much larger, and be utilized by all levels of law enforcement. In my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a wonderful idea. In this society, we should do all that's possible to decrease crime and with technology we are able to connect more quickly and gain the information we need. In my opinion, like the person before me stated, a program like this should be used by all levels of law enforcement in order for it to be more efficient.
ReplyDeletei think as the world keeps moving toward a global society that is interconnected through the internet databases and services such as law enforcement online are going to become more and more important until it is almost a necessity in getting cases done. It should help law enforcement agencies tremendously if they can all share information.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the post above. This world is quickly becoming more and more interconnected. I wonder if we would ever have a "world police"?
ReplyDeleteThere's a book called "The World is Flat" that I read that talks about how technology has leveled the playing field for countries like India to compete with countries like the U.S. Some pretty interesting stuff!