Legacy Tech Hampers Digital CSI
- By Lachlan Colquhoun
- June 26, 2023
Databases are not just essential business tools; they are also critical in administering justice and catching criminals.
A case in Sydney this week has highlighted the importance of database management in the justice system and exposed the New South Wales Police as an organization lumbering under a legacy burden undermining its ability to solve historic murders going back decades.
Supreme Court judge John Sackar is currently heading an inquiry into hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community in the years between 1970 and 2010, and in particular, this week was looking at the case of Crispin Dye, who was the long-term manager of the iconic rock band AC/DC.
Dye was found dead on Christmas Day 1993 in the inner-city suburb of Darlinghurst after a party to celebrate the release of his debut solo album.
This week, the judge blasted the NSW Police for missing and losing crucial evidence in addition to what he said was “shambolic” record keeping.
NSW Police are the only source of information for the inquiry. However, despite being asked for the information one year ago, the police are still searching through six computer systems, police area commands, forensic services and state archives.
“How can any member of the public in NSW be confident that unsolved homicides can be looked at if need be if you have no idea where the documents might be in relation to each and every case,” the judge said.
“Is it a lack of imagination? Was it a lack of curiosity, or is it just plain ineptitude?”
On-the-spot decisions
The experience of the NSW inquiry contrasts with claims by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission that Australia has a complete and readily searchable national database.
There is a National Police Reference System (NPRS) which is claimed to “equip operational police, anywhere in the country, with the knowledge they need to make on-the-spot decisions when dealing with persons of interest.”
The NPRS is reportedly accessible by handheld devices, in-car terminals and desktop computers and is available to more than 75,000 police officers across Australia, giving access to more than 11 million records, 10 million photographs and core data on warnings, warrants and “wanted persons.”
“How can any member of the public in NSW be confident that unsolved homicides can be looked at if need be if you have no idea where the documents might be”
Each year, the system processes over 6 million checks.
It falls into five categories: frontline information concerning essential operations in the field, biometric and forensic, criminal history checks, and a whole government criminal intelligence system.
This includes databases of intelligence holdings that can be “accessed and analyzed by approved users to keep themselves and the community safe.”
In addition to the NPRS, the system includes two separate databases on firearms, one on ballistics, an automated fingerprint database, a national child offender system, a missing persons and victims register, a DNA database and a database on national vehicles of interest.
State-based police forces are also investing in digital. In Western Australia, the force services 2.5 million square kilometers with a population of only 2.4 million people and has identified digital policing to improve policing outcomes but also “provide the tools and platform necessary to collaborate and integrate with other agencies.”
In response, the force worked with Telstra and rolled out a mobile solution in eight weeks, connecting around 4,000 devices to a platform hosting a range of relevant policing apps.
Announced in late 2019, WA is spending AUD39 million on a digital network which includes a doubling of the bandwidth to Police stations and other WA Police Force sites around the State.
End-to-end encryption will enable the network to ensure absolute protection for sensitive police communications and greater resilience against cyber security attacks.
Languishing on old databases
The failure of NSW Police to extract historical data from their systems for the hate crimes inquiry shows that while there has been a significant investment in shared database technology, networks, and mobile systems, the efforts have only been partly successful.
Some information can be accessed swiftly and remotely, but much remains inaccessible.
Historical data, which may not have been considered consequential or related then, was likely collected on paper-based systems. It is now languishing on old databases where it is difficult to find, extract and triangulate with other data to bring new perspectives on old crimes.
It may never be possible for police to bridge the gap between this mountain of historical data and a modern database system. In all fairness, police forces worldwide are embracing the digital world fast.
AI is automating the often mundane work of filing police reports, threats are being detected on CCTV footage, and biometrics are identifying suspects from among the general public.
Technology offers an unprecedented opportunity for a new kind of police force that is diverse and more flexible.
Several years ago, Accenture did a report on “Reimagining the Police Force,” which identified vital themes which needed to be brought together for law enforcement to embrace digital technologies.
These were: a flexible labor market and accessing external skills, technology and humans (change management and training), the data explosion, new threats, demands and political turbulence.
A Deloitte report on U.K. policing extolls the potential of digital policing. It makes it possible for police “to be where crime is happening, when it happens—even in virtual locations:
This would come from “powerful, instantly available insights, based on the analysis of vast amounts of data.”
“The location and time of criminal activity can now be identified—or even predicted—fast.”
There is a challenge, however, in “old school” infrastructure, manual processes, paper-based systems and face-to-face briefings.
Perhaps these were why NSW Police were so tardy with their information for the hate crimes inquiry.
It could also suggest that while police are rapidly digitizing their systems to address the crimes of today, the burden of legacy will be a barrier to solving many of the crimes from the past which remain unsolved.
Lachlan Colquhoun is the Australia and New Zealand correspondent for CDOTrends and the NextGenConnectivity editor. He remains fascinated with how businesses reinvent themselves through digital technology to solve existing issues and change their entire business models. You can reach him at [email protected].
Image credit: iStockphoto/Stock Depot