Blackwood,
N.J. – “Crime is not restricted
by boundary lines on a map,” said
Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of
the New
Jersey State Police, at a training
seminar held at Camden County College
today. “Therefore, our ability to
fight crime relies on intelligence-based
policing that enables all enforcement
to share information across jurisdictional
lines,” he added.
Attorney
General Peter Harvey welcomed law enforcement
members from local, state and federal
agencies for this first in a series of
regional intelligence conferences, which
was coordinated by the New Jersey State
Police and the Office of the Attorney
General. General Harvey has long supported
intelligence-based policing through efforts
such as his Gangs, Guns and Drugs initiative.
“Intelligence
based policing exponentially multiplies
law enforcement’s ability to attack
the scourges of gangs, drugs, guns and
even terrorism,” said Attorney General
Harvey. “Criminal investigative
work often depends on putting together
pieces of a puzzle. With the intelligence
based policing system promoted today,
we will be instantly able to put together
pieces of the criminal puzzle from every
participating agency.”
Today’s
morning session featured comments by Attorney
General Harvey, Colonel Fuentes and Major
John Hunt, commanding officer of the Intelligence
Services Section of the State Police.
This unclassified briefing was opened
to members of the media and was highlighted
by never-before-released details of connections
between street level crimes and terrorism.
These remarks were followed by a confidential
briefing outlining some specific, ongoing
cases to the gathered law enforcement
executives.
During
the following two days, interactive classroom
training will be held at State Police
Troop A Headquarters in Buena Vista Township
for representatives from municipal, county,
and even federal law enforcement representatives.
This is the first of several such conferences
planned throughout the state.
The
most important example of the effects
of intelligence-based policing involved
the connection between data from seemingly
unrelated incidents that resulted in important
arrests or the prevention of significant
criminal events. Details of a couple of
high profile incidents were offered to
the media and specifics about ongoing
investigations were divulged to members
of law enforcement.
Analysis
of the events of 9/11/01, coupled with
the current scope of organized, gang-related
activity in New Jersey underscores the
need to consolidate law enforcement intelligence
and enforcement resources in a proactive
and target-specific manner.
“Simply
put, crimes such as obtaining fraudulent
identification or selling street quantities
of drugs are necessary for larger, organized
criminal ventures,” said Major Hunt.
“If you’re able to connect
the dots between these precursor activities,
you can see the picture they make and
take the appropriate law enforcement actions.”
This
“all-hazards, all-crimes”
philosophy is critical to effectively
deploying against a highly transient criminal
element that often exploits jurisdictional
boundaries.
Both the public and confidential parts
of today’s seminar emphasized the
abilities of the Statewide Intelligence
Management System (SIMS) as a cornerstone
of these efforts. SIMS is a database used
to collect and share information on suspected
involvement in all types of organized
criminal activity. Gangs, narcotics syndicates,
traditional and non-traditional organized
crime groups, terrorists, fraud groups
and identity thieves are all found in
its files. The system allows agencies
to store their intelligence for their
own use or for use by the entire law enforcement
community. Training and access to the
system is managed by the State Police
and offered free to all qualified agencies.
Uniquely
positioned to serve as a statewide conduit
for the timely collection, analysis and
dissemination of intelligence data, SIMS
serves the role of a force multiplier.
The sheer volume of information collected
will dwarf any local or county intelligence
system, thereby breaking down the silos
that stand in the way of full cooperation
between agencies. All agencies, regardless
of size and budget, will benefit from
SIMS. The system has become critically
important to the New Jersey Office of
Counterterrorism as an early warning system
and is able to follow the progress of
a lead to its final disposition.
The
utility of Intelligence Based Policing
is evident. When coupled with a regional
enforcement perspective, IBP leads to
smart and effective deployment of our
collective assets at the tactical and
strategic levels.
The
conference also introduced attendees with
the New Jersey Regional Intelligence Operations
Center (NJRIOC). When staffed 24/7, the
center will provide immediate access to
multiple intelligence databases for municipal,
county and state law enforcement personnel
operating in the field.