In today’s world crime is increasingly becoming more organised and sophisticated on a global scale, in the process making use of scientific and technological advancements, hence the job of law enforcement bodies is also becoming more challenging and difficult, and therefore they also have to update their methods and approaches to match that of the criminal enterprise.

In this regard, intelligence gathering is one of the tools out of necessity that has to be continuously employed both as a preventative measure and in response to criminal activities.

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, at the recently concluded police conference here, acknowledged this when he observed that heads of security agencies were operating in an environment far removed from what obtained years ago.

The preferred approach to crime fighting is the preventative one and in this respect intelligence holds the key.

It should be noted that intelligence played a key role in the recent successes here against the dismantling of criminal gangs.

On this score it is worthy to note that COMPSTAT, a crime analysis and police management process developed by the New York City Police Department, was introduced to the Philadelphia Police Department in 1998.

The essence of the COMPSTAT process can be summarised briefly as follows: Collect, analyse and map crime data and other essential police performance measures on a regular basis and hold police managers accountable for their performance as measured by these data.

The philosophy behind COMPSTAT is deceptively simple. It is based on four principles which have proven to be essential ingredients of an effective crime-fighting strategy; namely:

Effective crime-fighting requires accurate and timely intelligence. Officers at all levels of the police department must understand when (time of day, day of week, week of year) various types of crimes have been committed as well as how, where, and by whom they have been committed.

Having collated, analysed and mapped this crime intelligence, the department’s commanders must develop effective tactics for dealing with the problems it reveals. In order to bring about permanent change in crime conditions, these tactics must be comprehensive, flexible, and adaptable to changing trends. They must also involve other law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA and ATF, the prosecutors, the probation services, other city agencies not directly connected to law enforcement, as well as the public (e.g. community groups, Operation Town Watch, etc.).

Once a tactical plan has been developed, the deployment of personnel and resources must be rapid and focused. To be effective, the response to a crime or quality-of-life problem demands that patrol and special units coordinate their resources and expertise and act with a sense of urgency.

All action must be relentlessly followed-up and assessed to ensure that the desired results have been achieved. This is the only way of ensuring that recurring or similar problems are dealt with effectively in the future.

On the basis of these principles, the Philadelphia Police Department has developed a process that ensures that the whole of the Department is actively involved in the fight against crime.

The process begins with the collection, analysis and mapping of accurate and timely crime information. This is the job of the Department’s Crime Analysis and Mapping Unit, established in September 1997 with the help of Federal funds provided through the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant. This unit, staffed by civilians who are experts in the use of geographical information systems, produces as many as 2000 maps a week. Crime in each police District is broken down by type and then further analyzed to identify the place of occurrence as well as the time of day, day of week and week of the year of occurrence. Homicides, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults are broken down into those committed with and without guns. Aggravated assaults are further classified as domestic or non-domestic. Burglaries are listed as residential or commercial. Thefts are classified as retail theft, theft from person, theft from an auto, and auto theft. Data are also captured involving shooting victims, shooting incidents, gun arrests, and gun seizures.

So there it is a combination of intelligence gathering, statistical analysis and then an effective response in countering the criminal enterprise.

On this note it is encouraging to see that the region’s security forces have now pledged to increase their capacity in intelligence gathering, as this is certainly the road to follow in combating crimes which is increasingly posing a threat to stability and economic growth in the Caribbean.