Hardworking Crime Maps Sophisticated Cell Tower Analysis Helps Los Angeles Law Enforcement Pinpoint Criminals

Highlights „„ ArcGIS extension specializes in the display of movements and events through time and space. „„ With GIS and temporal tracking software, LA CLEAR maps cell towers to assimilate and comprehend complex cell datasets. „„ The district attorney’s office can now demonstrate both time and space for its court presentations.

Catching criminals and enforcing the law can be arduous and time-consuming. It’s a piece-by- piece, evidence-based process. And it doesn’t stop at apprehension. Arming prosecutors with the evi- dence they need to get a conviction is just as vital. For years, tracking cell phone usage and lo- cation information has helped law enforcement put offenders behind bars by establishing mo- tive, placing suspects at the scene of a crime, reconstructing timelines, and connecting sus- pects to victims and each other. Unfortunately, the technology used in these types of investiga- tions has been limited. Reconstructing time- lines can take investigators many hours. And while hand-drawn link charts and paper maps have helped, they’ve lacked intuitiveness, and connections may be missed. Two-dimensional maps don’t clearly show the necessary rela- tionship between cell towers, call locations, cell phone movement, and criminal activity. Moreover, the lack of a temporal dimension— which tracks movement through time as well as space—limits the effectiveness of the map. This screen shot shows a shooter’s cell phone traveling with an associate’s cell phone from the Los Angeles area to Las Vegas and back. The Los Angeles Regional Criminal Information Clearinghouse (LA CLEAR) has maps can show movement and activity over government executive branch’s Office of and conference opportunities to the more than implemented an innovative approach to ad- time, whether it’s throughout the course of a National Drug Control Policy’s High Intensity 184 LA HIDTA-specific agencies and task forces dressing these challenges. Using a solution day, a week, or an entire month. Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Intelligence within the four counties of the LA HIDTA. based on ArcGIS from Esri Partner Oculus Info Support Center. LA CLEAR provides strategic LA CLEAR is managed by sworn law enforce- Inc. (Toronto, Canada), the agency has rapidly LA CLEAR and the Need to Track in investigative research and postseizure analy- ment executives and staffed by a fully integrat- streamlined the mapmaking process for track- Both Time and Space sis, tactical case support analysis, electronic ed team of nonsworn law enforcement, military, ing cell activity. It has overcome the time and Based in Los Angeles, LA CLEAR is nation- surveillance capabilities with accompanying and contract specialists organized into the fol- dimension problem as well—sophisticated 3D ally recognized and modeled after the US operational intelligence support, and training lowing component units:

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32 ArcNews Winter 2012/2013 esri.com/arcnews Mapping the use of cell phones GIS Education Made Easy by criminal suspects assists in making arrests and securing convictions.

• The Intelligence & Deconfliction Watch investigators to trace movement, reconstruct Center (“war room”) travel patterns, and confirm meetings and com- • The Analytical Unit munications between suspects. • The Special Operations Support Unit Gang member interactions and social net- • The Los Angeles HIDTA Training Initiative works can be analyzed to place gang members (hosted by LA CLEAR) together and in the vicinity of crime locations. • The Information Systems Support Unit For illegal drug transportation, data is re- These days, conference travel and expenses are being slashed from budgets. • The Administrative Support Services Unit corded that details meeting locations between Don’t fall behind on technology – attend our free webinars! dealers and buyers. These locations can then be For years, LA CLEAR analysts have mapped mapped so that drug houses can be identified Upcoming Topics Include: individual crimes, the locations of known and interdictions planned. Vehicles of suspects criminals and suspects, and related crime activ- are also mapped along Los Angeles County » Knock Down the Silos and get to the Enterprise - creating a GIS RoadMap! ity. This has proved invaluable in assisting law highways and streets. This helps law enforce- » 25 Mobile (Geospatial) Ideas in 25 Minutes enforcement. ment officials from the 214 agencies and task » GIS-based Asset Management – From Citizen Request to Completed Work Order In particular, mapping the use of cell phones forces within the six counties that make up LA by criminal suspects assists in making arrests CLEAR set up future traffic monitoring in high- » So Many Choices, So Little Time – Developing a Mobile Framework for Your Organization and securing convictions. Yet it hasn’t always risk areas. The GeoTime tool is also used for » Cradle to Grave – Keeping your GIS and Spatial Applications Rock Solid been easy. GPS tracking of offenders and suspect vehicles, “We were limited to two-dimensional views as well as in courtroom presentations. of cell tower hits,” says Toni Nunez, senior lead Prior to the use of GIS and temporal tracking Visit webinars.timmonsgis.com to learn more. analyst, LA CLEAR. “Deputy district attor- software, analysts received call detail records neys were asking us for something that could provided by the phone company, determined express both time and space for their court the latitude and longitude of each cell tower presentations.” during a specific time range of interest, and in- For example, these first digital maps did not dividually plotted towers into MapPoint. This clearly display multiple hits in the same loca- was a time-intensive manual process, and it tion over a period of time. On a two-dimension- was difficult to make changes to produced al map, one dot appears where, in fact, there maps. Analysts can now process in seconds are multiple calls. A three-dimensional map what used to take hours or days. extrapolates this information in time to allow The process of cell site analysis is an emerg- anyone using the map to easily visualize and ing skill and is being used more and more in understand where multiple calls and violations support of investigations. Datasets containing 866.635.6951 | [email protected] | www.timmonsgis.com have occurred over time. Staff needed to find a phone records are subpoenaed from the cell way to include time variables within its maps phone companies for investigative purposes. to be able to see if two suspects were not only LA CLEAR staff members easily import all sub- at the same place but at the same place at the poenaed cell site keys, which gives GeoTime same time. unique identifiers on which to map locations, After looking at different technologies, LA allowing analysts to batch import call records CLEAR staff contacted Oculus to view dem- for the handsets they requested. The cell tower onstrations of its GeoTime solution, which ID is the unique tower that is identified from provides data visualization and analysis, spe- the site key. The analyst can map locations by cializing in the display of movements and triangulating the points between cell towers. As events over time. It provided LA CLEAR with a a cell phone is “pinging” various cell towers used unique 3D time viewer to simultaneously visu- by a person traveling or changing locations, the alize geospatial, temporal, and link data. It was analyst is able to pinpoint that phone’s location exactly what LA CLEAR needed to support its by the towers it is hitting. mission. At different times, these various views are With its new capabilities, LA CLEAR was each invaluable at corroborating or disproving able to map cell towers, which in turn allowed suspect statements about their locations or vi- it to assimilate and comprehend complex cell sualizing different theories of the progression of datasets. Officials could make faster, more ac- a crime. curate decisions by identifying where suspects Now a case involving four cell phones will had been and where they were headed. typically take only 4 to 12 hours to develop a After a successful evaluation and trial pe- presentation that displays slides in three differ- riod, the agency implemented the solution in ent views. Previously, it would have taken 20 to 2010. LA CLEAR then expanded its Esri ArcGIS 30 hours to complete one to four charts for the license for all analysts who would be map- investigators or court prosecutors. GRM® ping cell sites, and analysts are trained in both The maps not only depict cell phone use for GOVERNMENT REVENUE MANAGEMENT® ArcGIS and GeoTime. the hours surrounding a crime but also depict MANAGE THE ENTIRE PROPERTY LIFE CYCLE the entire date range of the cell phone records. Expanding the Map An investigator can see if the suspect has typi- Proudly providing our 1600+ government Eighteen analysts use ArcGIS in the agency’s cally been in the crime area, cased the loca- customers around the globe with the power war room to plot critical events, such as search tion prior to the crime, or left the area after the to manage over 65 million parcels. warrants, surveillances, and active cases involv- crime, etc. ing other agencies, onto situational maps. They “We can see if multiple cell phones meet be- Let our unique combination of technology also enable detectives to deconflict cases—or fore or after a crime to, say, deliver or hand off and experience help you to optimize revenue connect agencies that may be working the a weapon,” says Nunez. “We can also display all generation, support sustainable growth and same address/location so that they are aware of this movement in a video that dramatically in- improve services to the public. each other’s presence. Prosecutors can use the creases viewers’ understanding of what they are mapped information to help win cases. looking at.” We invite you to learn more at Another nine analysts use ArcGIS and grm.thomsonreuters.com. GeoTime to analyze call detail records, gang ac- For more information, contact Toni Nunez, tivity, or illegal drug transportation. senior lead analyst, Los Angeles Regional For analyzing call detail records, the ana- Criminal Information Clearinghouse (e-mail: lyst can easily map and research call patterns [email protected], tel.: 323-869-2576). from all major cell phone carriers. This allows © 2012 Thomson Reuters. esri.com/arcnews GIS in Action 33