Law enforcement can take advantage of Lawful Intercept solutions

Government Computer News
August 13th, 2009

As the world continues its love affair with high-tech gadgets, criminals are also going high tech. Now, more than ever, criminal activity is increasingly being planned and carried out using mobile devices. Relying on mobile phones, criminals can coordinate their actions from miles away, phoning each other, sending texts and accessing online information in an effort to evade detection by law enforcement agencies.

However, law enforcement is becoming better equipped as well, with the legal ability to secure warrants to tap into criminals' communications, including those transmitted wirelessly. In addition to listening in on their conversations and data transmissions by intercepting them, law enforcement agencies are able to precisely pinpoint the locations of the handsets sending and receiving the transmissions, allowing agents to better identify, engage and capture criminals, and even prevent crimes.

It may seem like a plot twist in the latest spy novel, but Lawful Intercept (LI), which allows law enforcement to monitor communications, can now pinpoint the locations of wireless handsets to within tens of meters, allowing police and investigators to better coordinate a swift response to rapidly changing situations.

With the availability of funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a tremendous opportunity exists to equip our local, state and federal law enforcement agencies with the capability to capture this vital location information for use in criminal investigations and anti-terrorism measures. In the past, officers and agents have had to rely exclusively on interpreting intercepted data and voice communications associated only with crude cell tower location information. Now, they can use high-accuracy location information to turn intercepted data into actionable intelligence by reliably plotting the location of suspects in real time.

Location in emergency situations

To exemplify how location-enabled LI solutions can help, we can use the multi-agency effort to combat drug smuggling across the country's southern border. According to the Government Accountability Office, there are more than 500,000 illegal crossings per year over this 2,000-mile boundary, most of them assisted by people on both sides of the border who frequently communicate via wireless devices. Given that the border region is pocked with remote high desert and mountainous terrain, keeping track of the drug trafficking - much less stopping it - is an arduous task.

Read More