OVERVIEW OF LAW ENFORCEMENT INTELLIGENCE

27 Jan 2002

OVERVIEW OF LAW ENFORCEMENT INTELLIGENCE

Intelligence collecting and analyzing have been around since even Biblical times and is often referred to as the second oldest profession. Since the early 1900s, law enforcement officials have begun to utilize the value of the intelligence collection methods. One of the first well-known uses of intelligence by law enforcement was during the “Black Hand” investigations, which lasted from 1905 to 1909. The investigations resulted in the deportation of 500 people and arrest of thousands of others.

In the 1920s and 1930s, intelligence was used to collect information on citizens thought to be anarchists and mobsters, and by the 1940s and 1950s; law enforcement agencies began to utilize intelligence methods in the fight against organized crime. By 1967, the President’s Commission on Organized Crime helped to develop the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO). In 1986, the heads of five Mafia families were convicted of violating the RICO. Other types of activities that intelligence is used against are outlaw motorcycle gangs, Russian and Asian organized crime, and street gangs.

Some of the duties that fall under the intelligence process for law enforcement are collection, evaluation, integration, and dissemination. Intelligence analysts can assist in investigation or prosecution as well. One of the main problems that analysts seem to be having in the law enforcement field is first getting into the job and then, once they are working, making it up to the higher-level management positions.

Many have confused information with intelligence. Information is only raw data, while intelligence is a process of changing this raw data into useable information in order to draw conclusions about unknown events in the past, present, or future.

The different types of intelligence collection and analyzing methods are termed “disciplines”. There are five different types of disciplines: Imagery Intelligence (IMINT), Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Measures and Signals Intelligence (MASINT), Human Intelligence (HUMINT), and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). These five disciplines are what compiles the raw information data that intelligence analysts use to draw conclusions.

IMINT is the method of using pictures to draw information. The pictures can be taken as electro-optical, infrared, radar, or multi-spectral. The greatest advantage is that a picture can speak a thousand words. A disadvantage is that a picture is a moment frozen in time, and the information may change after the snapshot is taken.

SIGINT is the method of taking information from transmissions. Within SIGINT there are three categories as well: Communications Intelligence (COMINT), Telemetry Intelligence (TELINT), and Electronic Intelligence (ELINT).