COPLINK: Exploring Usability of a Multimedia Database Application for Law Enforcement

Introduction The development of information technologies during the past few years has improved many organizations' ability to understand and disseminate data. The development of powerful databases permits the organization of information in a manner that improves information accessibility, speed of retrieval, and searching flexibility. In addition, the expansion of the Internet provides a vehicle for the sharing of information across geographical distance, encouraging collaboration among people and organizations. Knowledge management tools that also have been developed not only pull together information but also present it in a manner that allows for easy processing of enormous amounts of data. These tools provide a means for understanding data at a more advanced level that may incorporate many different types of available data and allow for their integration and categorization. Combining databases, the Internet and knowledge management tools can produce an information retrieval system that can greatly enhance the processing of organizational data. Law enforcement agencies across the United States have begun to focus on using such innovative information technologies to help manage criminal information by serving as intelligence tools to combat criminal activity, by aiding in case investigation, or even by predicting criminal activity. However, many issues and obstacles must be addressed to ensure the successful deployment of these and similar information technologies in local law enforcement agencies. One important aspect of problem solving is the ability to cluster related information to permit querying across many different data types and sources. This requires the ability to integrate and access the vast number of law enforcement data sources [14]. In many local law enforcement agencies, criminal information databases exist as isolated stand-alone 3 systems. While many law enforcement agencies depend heavily on crime-related information systems, most of their systems are not networked together; thus deterring collaboration [11]. Inability to share information with other systems prevents an agency's receiving timely information which could be used with that from other data sources to increase the efficiency of crime prevention and investigations [15]. Similarly, law enforcers often have a problem accessing valuable information sources. Because time can be such a crucial factor in the completion of an investigation, access to information in a timely fashion is critical. Obstacles to acquiring information promptly can include restricting access to some systems to certain types of officers and long wait times for query returns. Although a detective may need information within 3-40 hours, he or she may have to …