BEATING CRIME WITHOUT WASTING TIMEHOW IMPROVING LAW ENFORCEMENT PROCESSES CAN TRANSFORM POLICE INVESTIGATIONS

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WHIlE THE MEdIA MAy qUESTION WHy THE pOlICE NEEd TO fIll IN AS MANy AS 50 fORMS fOR MINOR CRIMES, THE fACT REMAINS THAT dOCUMENTATION ANd INfORMATION pROCESSING ARE vITAl TO EffECTIvE pOlICE pRACTICES. WHETHER CApTURING, ANAlyzING, REvIEWING OR lOGGING EvIdENCE, METHOdICAl pROCEdURES MUST BE fOllOWEd TO HANdlE THE INCREASING vOlUME ANd COMplExITy Of CRIMES. ACCENTURE BElIEvES pRIORITIzING pROCESSES ANd USING TECHNOlOGIES TO STANdARdIzE CASE ACTIvITIES CAN BRING dRAMATIC IMpROvEMENTS TO lAW ENfORCEMENT pROCEdURES.

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pRIORITIzING pROCESSESfEW CITIzENS CONSIdER HOW A CAll TO THEIR lOCAl pOlICE fORCE INITIATES NOT ONly THE pHySICAl pRESENCE Of OffICERS BUT AlSO A WHOlE SERIES Of BACk-OffICE pROCESSES THAT ARE ESSENTIAl TO THE RESOlUTION Of ANy INvESTIGATION. BUT THE STEpS TO RECORd ANd fORMAlIzE CRIMES ARE OfTEN AS COMplEx AS THE CASES THEMSElvES.

And while technological advances have had many positive implications for our lives, they also bring a degree of complexity. Indeed, although the police can benefit from technology as an enabler for automation and digitization, they must also deal with the new waves of crime it generates—such as incitement through social media and the opportunity for identity theft using biometric technologies.

From an operational perspective, when the justice system is overwhelmed, the courts are more likely to handle those cases that can be more easily concluded. As a result, police forces need to be able to access information readily and share across departments and jurisdictions, when required, to build a robust case that can be processed swiftly through the legal channels. For many police forces, this end goal is not in question but the means to get there is less clear. With so many variables—How long will it take to catch the criminal? How easy will it be to capture enough evidence?—having the right tools to analyze, action and communicate information to speed up investigative processes is fundamental to delivering an effective law enforcement service.

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THE CASE fOR STANdARdIzATIONAlthough police forces operate their systems and processes independently, the stages of law enforcement are common across all forces. Indeed, Accenture research and experience suggests that more than 75 percent of the processes required to track and respond to crimes are essentially the same around the world. Such commonality offers a prime opportunity for performance enhancements. Accenture suggests that police forces worldwide might consider addressing some of the following elements challenging their operations:

InItIal case data collectIon. There is often no standard collection, documentation or archiving methodology for quick retrieval or research of cases, resulting in missed opportunities, the need for additional resources and limited information synergies.

IncIdent reportIng. Valuable resources—time and money—are spent providing channel reports of incidents to senior personnel. Yet neither the methods nor the report format are standardized; as a result, supervisors may not be privy to crucial case content.

evIdence collectIon, trackIng and documentatIon. Evidence backlogs may develop quickly, increasing the opportunity for evidence misplacement or loss. Tracking can prove more difficult without a methodology behind the documentation and recording of evidence.

case coordInatIon and approvals. Investigators may need to coordinate with others or seek approvals before marking a case for investigation. Frequently, information and evidence is collected but no case is made until there is a strong chance of solving it.

trackIng fInal dIsposItIon. Once a conviction is obtained, investigators continue to track the results of their cases until the sentence is levied. Sentencing may take months and, with no notification process, there is a negative impact on resources and the metrics around case closure.

case management metrIcs. Investigators and management tend to track unrelated and unmanageable metrics and then attempt to make decisions. One metric that is commonly tracked is the amount and type of hours spent on a case, even though the investigator has little or no control over the metric; this may mean resources are expended fruitlessly tracking the metric and any decision made based on the data could be flawed.

requestIng support. Investigators require support from technology and forensic teams and other specialized entities. Some departments might not use standardized processes. Some cases require legal review or corrective action prior to granting the request or may be rejected without explanation, wasting the time and effort of resources and allowing criminals to continue to commit crimes. Often, requests are abandoned because the process is too difficult or the guidance is not clear.

If police forces today aim to combat the complex crimes of the future, a step change is needed in how they manage the fundamental aspects of law enforcement. Police forces must approach the way they measure their processes with a new found vigor, extending their willingness to adopt innovative information management techniques, such as the use of data mining and the analysis of patterns of behavior and response.

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TRANSfORMING lAW ENfORCEMENTThrough a careful analysis of the common processes of law enforcement, Accenture has discovered how standardization, automation and digitization can lead to dramatic improvements in managing law enforcement efforts (Figure 1). We recommend police organizations:

Introduce standardIzatIon: Standard data collection and request forms should be used to profit from leading policing practices. For automation to be effective, it is vital to first streamline and standardize existing processes.

enhance case management complIance: The case management database must comply with current data management standards. Worthwhile analysis depends on data integrity throughout the life cycle of a case. Metrics can be used as a powerful tool to reveal hidden trends and maintain compliance for the smooth running of the law enforcement database.

embrace mobIlIty: Large crime labs around the world have digital capture and bar coding systems, electronically tying the evidence obtained to the case. Access to these systems can be provided wirelessly, using tablets or other mobile devices, making sure that any evidence collected at the crime scene can be effectively cross referenced with evidence previously collected and analyzed.

use technologIes to transform: New technologies and tools can help the many different areas of the police force handling information that needs to be entered into a management system, improving processes, enabling better analysis and metrics and freeing up officers for higher value tasks.

In areas such as IncIdent reportIng, expected gaIns of 60 percent can be achIeved In both tIme and workload capacIty as a result of streamlInIng and standardIzatIon. sImIlarly, case management metrIcs can typIcally reveal tIme and workload capacIty gaIns of more than 50 percent.

We have worked with police organizations worldwide to improve the processes behind effective law enforcement. One area where we have seen cost savings being realized quickly is the forensic lab. Evidence submitted to a lab often needs to be analyzed by many different areas of the lab (for instance, testing, fingerprinting and photographic departments). Without proper timing and tracking, the evidence can be held up for several weeks which may then have a negative impact on the case.

fIgure 1. levers to transform law enforcement

Preliminary case established

Arrest/No arrest

Case determination

Prosecution and sentencing

Investigation initiated

Standardization

Compliance

Mobility

Technology

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pROCESS IMpROvEMENT REdUCES ERROR AlARMSfOR AN INTERNATIONAl lAW ENfORCEMENT AGENCy WITH dECAdES Of CASE dATA, USING THE pRINCIplES Of pROCESS IMpROvEMENT HAS MEANT REdUCTIONS IN THEIR AdMINISTRATIvE INvESTIGATION OvERHEAd. THROUGH THE USE Of pROCESS STANdARdIzATION ANd dATA ANAlySIS, THE AGENCy WAS ABlE TO REdUCE THE vOlUME Of EMplOyEE ERROR AlARMS By 70 pERCENT.

Other benefits to be gained include:

•Usingprocessimprovementtoolsforitsillegaldrugtestingprocess, the agency is likely to be able to reduce handling and shipping cost and increase output by a projected 60 percent.

•Therefinementoftheagency’scasemanagementsystemreduced its documentation requirements, improved the quality of its cases and greatly improved its data integrity.

•Theimproveddatacoupledwithredefined,moreconcisemetrics, led to better reporting and a more accurate understanding of the challenges the organization faces.

•Aligningprojectswiththeagency’sstrategicgoalsandknown “pain points” meant rapid results across the entire organization.UsingLeanSixSigmamethodstheagencywas able to streamline its up-channel reporting process, reducing rework, approvals and improving the accuracy and timeliness of the information.

In all, through the process improvement effort the law enforcement agency was able to identify and correct duplication of efforts providing additional resources to support the investigative process.

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INSIGHT INTO INvESTIGATIONMAkING lAW ENfORCEMENT pROCESSES MORE EffECTIvE ANd USING TECHNOlOGy AS AN ENABlER, pOlICE fORCES CAN ENHANCE THEIR OpERATIONS ANd SUpplEMENT THE INvESTIGATIvE SkIllS Of INdIvIdUAlS AS WEll AS ExpEdITE STANdARd pROCEdURES. RElEASEd fROM MUNdANE TASkS, pOlICE OffICERS CAN ENjOy MORE TIME fOR IN-dEpTH THINkING TO SOlvE THE CASE. IN SHORT, IMpROvING lAW ENfORCEMENT pROCESSES HElpS pOlICE OffICERS fOCUS lESS ON CHASING CASE dETAIlS ANd MORE ON USING THEIR dETECTIvE SkIllS TO SERvE CITIzENS WEll.

contactsBilly Asbell Manager george.w.asbell@accenture.com +1 703 947 2819

about accentureAccenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 249,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’smostsuccessfulcompanies,Accenturecollaborateswithclients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.ThecompanygeneratednetrevenuesofUS$25.5billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

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