In St. Louis in 1998, a local prosecutor
told his colleagues that the situation was not acceptable in his
community where violent crime was rising dramatically. He
challenged them: “if we could only bring what we collectively
know to each investigation, we would dramatically reduce crime
in every community in the region”. The group agreed, doubting
that such a high minded idea would ever come to pass, but two
local United States Attorneys nonetheless commissioned a
first-of-its-kind information sharing project that was intended
to integrate the records of all law enforcement agencies within
one data base for the St. Louis Metropolitan area. And with
this, the information sharing age was born.
The idea seemed simple, as most successful innovations are:
Provide the capability for law enforcement agencies to quickly
and easily share information to develop leads to
solve crimes, disrupt criminal activities, prevent terrorism,
and protect America. That idea is now technologically possible and
financially feasible.
However, most innovative strategies
require a chief strategist – a visionary to lead the way, to
insist on excellence, to motivate others, and to provide a
sustained commitment to the effort. Unfortunately,
apart from heroic efforts by NCIS within their operating sphere, no such
person has emerged to lead the effort, either on behalf of the
nation’s 20,000 state and local law enforcement agencies or the
federal government, leaving the effort not only without
leadership, but also without a unifying concept, without a
master plan, and without any organized capability to proceed.
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