As crime globalizes, so does crime fighting. Mobsters, serial killers, and terrorists cross state li...

1. Crime Fighting Computer Systems And Databases
As crime globalizes, so does crime fighting. Mobsters, serial killers, and terrorists cross state lines
and borders effortlessly, making use of the latest advances in mass media, public transportation,
telecommunications, and computer networks. The police - there are 16,000 law enforcement
agencies in the Unites States alone - is never very far behind.
Quotes from the official Web pages of some of these databases:
National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC)
Its mission is to combine investigative and operational support functions, research, and training in
order to provide assistance, without charge, to federal, state, local, and foreign law enforcement
agencies investigating unusual or repetitive violent crimes. The NCAVC also provides support
through expertise and consultation in non-violent matters such as national security, corruption, and
white-collar crime investigations.
It comprises the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), Child Abduction and Serial Murder Investigative
Resources Center (CASMIRC), and Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP).
VICAP is a nationwide data information center designed to collect, collate, and analyze crimes of
violence - specifically murder. It collates and analyzes the significant characteristics of all murders,
and other violent offenses.
Homicide Investigation Tracking System (HITS)
A program within the Washington state's Attorney General's Office that tracks and investigates
homicides and rapes.
Violent Crime Linkage System (ViCLAS)
Canada-wide computer system that assists specially trained investigators to identify serial crimes
and criminals by focusing on the linkages that exist among crimes by the same offender. This system
was developed by the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) in the early 1990s.
UTAP, stands for The Utah Criminal Tracking and Analysis Project
Gathers experts from forensic science, crime scene analysis, psychiatry and other fields to screen
unsolved cases for local law enforcement agencies.
International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) - Interpol's DNA Gateway
Provides for the transfer of profile data between two or more countries and for the comparison of
profiles that conform to Interpol standards in a centralized database. Investigators can access the
database via their Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB) using Interpol's secure global police
communications system, I-24/7.

2. Interpol's I-24/7
Global communication system to connect its member countries and provide them with user-friendly
access to police information. Using this system, Interpol National Central Bureaus (NCBs) can
search and cross-check data in a matter of seconds, with direct and immediate access to databases
containing critical information (ASF Nominal database of international criminals, electronic notices,
stolen motor vehicles, stolen/lost/counterfeit travel and ID documents, stolen works of art, payment
cards, fingerprints and photographs, a terrorism watch list, a DNA database, disaster victim
identification, international weapons tracking and trafficking in human beings-related information,
etc).
Interpol Fingerprints
Provides information on the development and implementation of fingerprinting systems for the
general public and international law enforcement entities.
Europol (European Union's criminal intelligence agency) Computer System (TECS)
Member States can directly input data into the information system in compliance with their national
procedures, and Europol can directly input data supplied by non EU Member States and third
bodies. Also provides analyses and indexing services.
By: Sam Vaknin
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Sam Vaknin ( samvak.tripod.com ) is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and
After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He served as a columnist for Global Politician, Central
Europe Review, PopMatters, Bellaonline, and eBookWeb, a United Press International (UPI) Senior
Business Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The
Open Directory and Suite101. Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government
of Macedonia. Visit Sam's Web site at samvak.tripod.com