Featured Article
MAGLOCLEN Provides Action Response Plans for Schools
By Steve Tori, MAGLOCLEN Senior Supervisory Intelligence Analyst
Active shooter incidents across America are at an all-time high. In 2017, there were 30 separate active shootings in the United States, the largest number ever recorded during a one-year period (FBI, Pre-Attack Behaviors of Active Shooters, June 2018). Even more alarming is the fact that many of these premeditated attacks target our most vulnerable population—children attending school. Regardless of an individual’s motive, troubling warning signs, or tactics, American law enforcement personnel must prepare and train for these tragic events…
RISS Center Highlight-ROCIC
Lessons Learned From the ROCIC Spring Training Conference
How do you dismantle a Colombian drug cartel? Attendees obtained valuable information at the ROCIC Spring Membership Training Conference held on March 18–21, 2018, in St. Augustine, Florida. Former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Agents Steve Murphy and Javier Peña chronicled their contributions in the takedown of the infamous Colombian narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar and his Medellin Cartel, who was the largest cocaine distributor…
RISS Centers Make a Difference Every Day
Quotes
“The RISS Property and Recovery Tracking System (RISSProp) database is a valuable tool for investigators. Thank you for providing such a tremendous resource.”
—Sergeant Scott Gallerani
Plainville, Massachusetts, Police Department
“You provided us with analytical products in a manner that exceeded all expectations. As a result of your work, the visual evidence was overwhelming and helped play a direct role in the plea agreements. I can assure you that our agency will be reaching out to MOCIC in the future for similar investigations.”
—Detective Sean Edmondson
Arlington Heights, Illinois, Police Department
Shared Successes
A case agent with the Yolo County, California, District Attorney’s Office contacted the WSIN analytical staff for assistance with a homicide case in which the defendant fatally stabbed the boyfriend of his estranged wife. The WSIN staff developed communication analysis charts and a PowerPoint presentation and testified in court regarding the WSIN analytical products. The defendant was convicted and received a sentence of 16 years to life in state prison.
The Maricopa County, Arizona, Attorney’s Office and the Phoenix, Arizona, Police Department contacted the RMIN analytical staff for assistance with enhancing a critical surveillance video as well as mapping a cell phone for one of three suspects involved in the shooting homicide of a 17 year old male. The RMIN staff mapped the suspect’s cell phone and provided a chronological timeline of communications between multiple suspects that proved critical to the success of the prosecution. The case went to trial against two suspects. The jury returned a guilty verdict against both defendants for first degree murder. According to the prosecutor, RMIN’s analysis and testimony were an important part of the case. Afterwards, the jury indicated that the phone evidence was critical to the convictions.
RNPG Chair Participates on Panel at IACP Conference
Information is critical to solving crimes and ensuring officer safety. Historically, many law enforcement agencies held pieces of information but were not able to share the information securely across jurisdictions. Programs such as RISS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Law Enforcement National Data Exchange (N-DEx) have helped break down silos and solve information sharing gaps. In addition, technology has streamlined and advanced the ability to quickly query systems and obtain results, but the vast amount of…
Celebrating 45 Years of RISS
2018 marks the 45th anniversary of the RISS Program. The RISS Directors, RISS Center staff, and the RISS Technology Support Center staff are proud of this milestone and honored to serve our nation’s criminal justice community. For more than 4 decades, RISS has been committed to advancing information sharing, providing critical investigative support services, and safeguarding our law enforcement officers and citizens.
RISS looks forward to bringing you the highest quality services and state of the art resources as it embarks on its next 45 years. Thank you for supporting the RISS Program and for joining us in this celebration.
To view the 45 year anniversary video, click here.
Questions?
Your RISS Chief Information Officer, Matt McDonald, is representing you at numerous nationwide meetings and working to identify new resources and partnerships to help you in your efforts. Questions or ideas?
Contact Matt at mmcdonald@riss.net
Technology Corner
Migration of RISS Services Into the Government Cloud
RISS is transitioning its software and network solutions to the cloud-based, government-regulated information technology system (Government Cloud). This move will enable RISS to reduce costs, while increasing speed, productivity, and performance. In addition, this will enable RISS to scale its software offerings to agencies and officers while maintaining the highest level of security and system availability. Cloud computing is a system of information technology solutions whereby software and systems services are shifted to a cloud-based assemblage of servers, storage, databases, and networking. The Government Cloud takes this idea and adds layers of assurances and requirements to ensure that the systems are secure and increasingly available.
Cost savings are realized by shifting the expense of buying, maintaining, and licensing expensive and power-hungry servers and networking equipment to cloud providers. Productivity is enhanced by shedding the administration of these systems. Speed and performance are improved by the on-demand style of resources available in cloud computing. The scalability of cloud computing enables RISS to increase its resource pool as needed. Security and availability are ensured by the built-in security, constant administration, inherent redundancy, and scalable server and network resource availability.
This method of providing software solutions is known as Software as a Service (SaaS). Shifting the current set of RISS-provided systems to SaaS enables RISS to expand the availability and scope of RISS systems by making them available to more law enforcement agencies of all sizes and budgets. The SaaS model will enable RISS-provided systems to be more responsive and agile with their services and security in a more cost-effective manner.
