Structure for Intelligence-led Policing - Research Paper Example

Structure for ILP Assignment Reflective Essay Introduction Crime preventions and law enforcement are two very important practices that ensure the safety and security of the populace. There is no denying the fact however that the achievement of absolute crime prevention and law enforcement in the community does not come easily at all. As a matter of fact, it comes about by the collective effort of a number of organisations and agencies of society. Among the agencies that ensure the promotion of crime prevention and law enforcement is the police. A country without an effective police force has been compared to a house without a gate or a person without an immune system (Dodge, 2001). Such a country is prone to unrest and attacks. But the question is what makes an effective police force? An effective police force is one that is about to go about its mandated duties in effective, efficient and responsible manner. To achieve this, several theories and models for policing have been introduced. This essay discusses how the intelligence-led policing can lead to the enhancement of the duties of the police. What is Intelligence? As the name points out, the intelligence-led policing centres on the use of intelligence in going about the duties of the police. Writing on the intelligence led policing model, Ratcliffe (2008) explains that “intelligence-led policing is a business model and managerial philosophy where data analysis and crime intelligence are pivotal to an objective, decision-making framework.” this means that effective policing cannot be achieved in the absence of crime intelligence. To this end, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (2011) explains that “intelligence is information that is received or collected to answer specific questions on who, what, where, when, how and why organised crime operates in the UK.” Simply put, intelligence is any information that leads to the uncovering of crime and discovering of culprits. Intelligence may come from the police’s own ingenuity, resulting from investigations made or may be handed to the police from a third person. By whichever way intelligence gets to the police, the most productive aspect is an effort put in place to handle the intelligence well and use it for the purposes for which is it intended for. Judging from Ratcliffe’s assertion however, it can be concluded that intelligence should be managed by the collective combination of data analysis to bring into fruition a desired decision making process. The 3-I Model In the opinion of Ratcliffe (2008), “the 3-i model aims to show the purpose of crime analysis in the modern policing world.” This means that the collective use of the 3-i model should succeed in telling the police officers “why they were doing the analysis, and what they should do with the results.” Among the three i’s are interpret, influence and impact. Each of the three i’s operates from a different perspective and these have been summed up in the diagram below. Source: Ratcliffe (2008) Focusing on the first i, which is interpret, Ratcliffe (2008) explains that ‘interpret’ works in the context of the criminal environment. As intelligence officers go about their duty, it is very important that they gain detailed understanding of the environment that criminals operate in. With such an understanding of the environment in which criminals operate in, the intelligence officer is at a better position to have access to primary intelligence. Primary intelligence here refers to the type of intelligence that is gained directly by the intelligence officer without the need to depend on a third person. If an intelligence officer is not able to interpret the criminal environment, the implication that will be created is that criminals will always be ahead of the intelligence officer in terms of the handling of intelligence and therefore the intelligence officer will be denied of any relevant information. An officer who cannot interpret the criminal environment is described as a passive officer (Parker, 2001). Ratcliffe (2008) also notes that “it is not sufficient to passively wait for intelligence to flow to the analyst.” This means that officers are challenged to be intelligence provoked by interpreting whatever piece of action and moves that take place in the criminal environment. As active officers, there must be the interpretation of the criminal environment including the conduct of people that suggests criminal plays. This is indeed the only way an intelligence officer can boast of being ahead of the criminals. Operational Aspect of CID Abu Dhabi The first point of operational aspect has to do with the delegation of mandated duty. At the CID Abu Dhabi, operations into certain aspects of everyday living are necessitated by prevailing circumstances. For instance quite recently, the CID Unit at the Abu Dhabi Tourism Police “intensified efforts to arrest those who exhibit misbehaviour at the tourist destinations, through gathering information and monitoring uncivilized behaviour during the Abu Dhabi Summer Festival” (Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters, 2011). This was because at that particular time, Abu Dhabi hosted the festival. In similar manner, the CID sets up special task force to oversee specific developing issues. One other operational aspect of the CID Abu Dhabi is the fact that the departments undertakes all its investigative operations in a collaborated manner with other stakeholders whose duties help in jurisdiction of the criminal investigation department. In a typical example, the Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters (2011) documented that the CID “exercises its functions in accordance with Abu Dhabi Government and Police overall strategy and that it cooperates and coordinates with Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, embassies and other entities.” The above efforts not withstanding, there remain certain militating challenges that fight against the successful operations of the CID Abu Dhabi. For example there is a seemingly insurmountable problem with quality of material and technical equipment at the disposal of the CID. From afar, it may appear that the CID of Abu Dhabi is one of the most resourced. However, a close look at the situation; with inference to the enormous task at the hand of the department shows that what the department has now comes no where close to what it needs in terms of logistics and personnel. The Atlantic Initiative (2011) laments that “the acquisition and purchase of police equipment is carried out for the police administration but these purchases have been significantly reduced due to the economic crisis” In the midst of reduced budget, the task for the CID continues to increase; especially in the handling of tourists and expats. Analysis of Organisation (CID) There are several concerns with the operational aspects of the CID of Abu Dhabi. Whereas some of these concerns are positive and deserve commendation, others are not too good and need swift measures to change or correct. In this section, four major organisational issues shall be discussed in relation to the 3-i model and specifically, the interpret model. First is the fact that the organisation or department as a whole directs its strategy of intelligence search depending on prevailing situation on the grounds. This strategy is very much in conformity with what Rafcliffe (2008) suggests on the need to interpret the criminal environment. Anokye (2009) explains that the criminal environment refers to the location or spot where criminal activities are suspected to take place, criminal activities take place or criminal activities have taken place before. This means that the responsibility meted out by Racliffe (2008) to intelligence officers to be able to interpret the criminal environment is a very huge one. This is because the criminal environment as explained by Anokye (2009) is a very vast area and more of a philosophical destination rather than a geographic one. In this regard, the idea that the CID Abud Dhabi gives certain locations special attention depending on the occasion that is happening at the place is an effort that will help the police to have a better understanding of the environment and by extension interpret the environment. Talking of the criminal environment, it is important to emphasise however that the police need to widen their reach in identifying so called hot spots. As an extended version of their duty, they must include all environmental factors leading to criminal behaviour as part of their duty in the criminal environment (University of Delaware, 1999). The second issue is also on the positive side and has to do with the fact that the Criminal Investigative Department works collaboratively with other agencies in the discharge of their duties. Without missing any words, this is a laudable idea that need to a better understanding and interpretation of the criminal environment. This is so said because as seen above, the criminal environment is a very large one. Its vastness even includes the need to understand and interpret environmental factors that lead to criminal behaviour. By working with other co-operating agencies, the CID will be in a position to benefit from the expertise with which that department works (Brobbey, 2003). For instance in a quest to understanding the environmental factors that leads to criminal behaviour, a police officer would have a better understanding of the issue if he or she works with clinical psychologists, who on a regular basis have encounter with people with criminal behaviours. With the use of the embassies of the various countries also, it gives the CID an opportunity to have first hand information on the criminal intelligence situation in countries where immigrants come from. With such information, the CID is always going to be put in a better position to understand and interpret every bit of action undertaken by immigrants that has suspicious interpretation (Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters, 2011). The organisation is therefore admonished to continue its collaborative interventions in order to gather and handle intelligence. The third issue is a lamentation of the un-matching supply and provision of equipment, resources funds and personnel to the Abu Dhabi Criminal Investigative Department in comparison to the duties and responsibilities at the hands of the department. As globalisation and technological advancement continues to speed up, the Abu Dhabi CID is particularly challenged to dealing with more and more complicated and twisted dimensions of criminal issues. For instance in a recent news report, “Abu Dhabi Police GHQ warned cell phones users against fraud through cell phone calls and SMS” (Abu Dhabi Police GHQ, 2009). As criminal activities take new dimension, it is expected that the CID office become well equipped to match up the dimensions. On this note, it is admonished that ‘sufficiency’ do not become judged or quantified by how much equipment, funds or personnel are available. Rather, it should become measured or judged by the proportion of criminal intelligence to be done in relation to available resources. This is said because from afar, one is tempted to believe that the organisation has a lot of resources and so that should be enough. Waddington (2010, Pp. 313-314.) has argued that if the police system continues to appear inadequate in the eyes of the public, people in the criminal environment will be tempted to believe that they can buy their ways through the police by getting the police engage in corrupt practices such as bribery. When this happens, the intelligence officers would instead of interpreting and understanding the criminal environment, begin to condone and connive with criminals in the criminal environment. The last issue under this section has to do with the budget allocation system within the police service. Writing on the cutting of funds that is supposed to go to the police, Daly (2010, Pg. 8) remarks that “due primarily to a lack of funds in both Fiscal 2006 and Fiscal 2008, only 11 percent of the grant applications for assistance in planning such police programs were approved.” If this situation continues, there is every indication that problem discussed above can never be solved. Painfully, criminal whose activities earn them so much funds and money would continue to outweigh the police in logistics and smartness. Eventually, instead of the police gathering intelligence from the criminal environment, criminals at the environment would rather be picking intelligence against the police and how they (the criminals) can always overpower the police, going unpunished (Atlantic Initiative, 2011). Strategies for Fixing Issues Raised When intelligence-led policing is allowed to exist in a free and unrestrictive environment, the overall benefits that the nation would amass can be overwhelming. In the United States for instance, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) admits that “in today’s world, the most effective way for the FBI to serve the American people is to be intelligence-led and threat-driven” (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2009). It states that with intelligence-led administration of its duties, it will not only be “investigating violations of federal law after the fact, but also seeing potential threats and crimes on the horizon and being positioned to prevent them (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2009). With such eagle-eyed vigilance and intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation succeeded in getting out in front of possible fraud and corruption associated the all popular American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that was signed into law and estimated to pump $787 billion into the United States economy. The question therefore remains if such intelligence acts can be recorded by the present organisation under discussion. Indeed such is the benefit that the people are expected to get from the police in the contest of this present organisation. In the wake of the problems discussed however, it seems that the roadmap to reaching a stage where the police will stop crime before they happen is far from coming to past. The good news is that there are intelligence focused and intelligence induced strategies that can help in addressing the challenges identified with the present organisation. First, an era of financial independence is suggested for the police. This era of financial independence should be a moment in the police and intelligence system whereby the financial regulation of the police service will be handled and managed by the police (Gardner, 2003). Gardner (2003) proposes that the police should be allowed to raise money for itself by taking charge of proceeds from fines, court damages and the undertaking of police investment projects. Most often than not, because the police is funded by government, there are several issues with the funding system that the police service is lip-tight to comment about. For instance if government cuts down budget to the police service, all the government needs to do is to give paper explanations as to why the budget was not met. No body has really held the government accountable on unmet budgets because the government is its own financier (Daly, 2010, Pg. 8). Should the police service be made to understand that it would have to raise money by itself, the service would focus its income program towards achieving the very targets its sets and once the target is exceeded, it remains in the coffers of the service. Indeed if the police service can meet its financial demands, there is every indication that all other ambitions carried by the service in terms logistic and technical resources will be taken care of. Once approved, the police would not be investing in profit making projects though the service would not have to make the running of businesses its major priority. The next strategy suggested is for the intelligence department to make its operations integrated with modern technology. The implementation of this strategy should start right from the recruitment of personnel who would go for police and intelligence training. Training of personnel to handle the most sophisticated technological innovations must be a hallmark of every graduating police officer. More into this, refresher courses and top-up courses that will make the police and intelligence department never lag behind in the use of technology must be ensured. Noting the rapid rise in advancement in the world of information technology, the Jamaica Observer (2011) advises that the use of close circuit televisions and motor registration data alone should not be enough for the service. Rather, there should be means of breaking into the works of software hackers, bank fraudsters, internet fraudsters and other criminals whose activities are pivoted with technology. Having said this, the police are advised to revisit its duty distribution program again. This is because the service seems to be getting flooded with officers such as volunteers and junior officers who are not ripe to handle sophisticated intelligence related issues but are doing. Franckel (2008) laments with shock, how the activities of auxiliary police officers seem to be killing the essence of intelligence-led policing as the inexperience of these officers often lead to the leaking of vital intelligence information and therefore the freedom for criminals to tighten their hideouts. Finally, a comprehensive external quality assurance mechanism is suggested for the police and intelligence services. Kietzman (2011) documents that “quality assurance is the process of verifying or determining whether products or services meet or exceed customer expectations.” In this contest, the customer will be populace of a residential area. Under this strategy, the services should be in an external and independent peer review agency that gives constant feedback to the police and intelligence on their level of satisfaction as seen by the ordinary citizen. The essence of the quality assurance program would be to alert the police to areas of societal needs that they might have neglected or performed extra well and so need commendation. Having discussed the need to interpret the criminal environment, there is no denying the fact that the ordinary populace happen to be the people who live among the criminals and whose lives are threatened by criminal activities day in and out. So apart from the fact that if there exists an external peer review mechanism the public will be prompting the police to their strengths and weaknesses, they will also be in a position to pick intelligence and understanding from ‘hot spots’ because clearly, people who live in such places will by their comments to the police alert the police on the need to pay attention to their vicinity. Conclusion The work of the police is extremely important for national and personal development. It is therefore important that the police service continues to embrace dynamism and innovations that are directed towards making their duty more and more effective and efficient. As the police makes efforts to use an many models and theories as there could be, it is suggested that the police service does not loss sight of the overwhelming advantage that the corporate world is taking information and technology and therefore the need for the police service to inculcate information technology in all its jurisdictions, especially in the gathering and handling of intelligence. This way, there is no way the crime causing world would be ahead of the police due to the use of sophisticated technological tools. Finally, stakeholders who are to ensure that the police force is well resourced to run its duties must play their role without fail as a handicapped police service constitutes a handicaps society. REFERENCES Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters (2011). CID Unit of Tourism Police Boosts Efforts at Abu Dhabi Summer Festival. 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