STERLING, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Memex Solutions Team at SAS, a leading provider of intelligence management, data integration, search and analysis solutions, today announced that the State of Nebraska’s law enforcement fusion center, the Nebraska Information Analysis Center (NIAC), has unveiled a public-facing Web site for collection of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) from the general public. The automated Web site delivers these time-sensitive tips and leads to the Memex software platform to help law enforcement analysts prioritize, evaluate, review and respond to SARs more effectively, to help prevent crime.
By clicking on Suspicious Activity Report in the quick links box on the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) homepage, citizens will access the SAR portal, which opens a detailed questionnaire for the reporting party to provide information on suspicious activities or events they believe should be shared with law enforcement.
With the expansion of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) “See Something, Say Something” program, there is increasing public awareness of the value of submitting suspicious activity reports when something doesn’t seem right. Now, with the addition of Web site collection, NIAC can quickly work up the reports on the Memex intelligence platform, harnessing powerful search and analysis capabilities to determine the validity of such reports or activities. The platform allows actionable intelligence to be escalated to the command level and shared with other law enforcement agencies as needed for investigation and response, and the entire intelligence lifecycle is managed on Memex.
“More law enforcement agencies and fusion centers are participating in the NSI (Nationwide SAR Initiative) because it gives law enforcement an advantage,” said Neil Schlisserman, Vice President of the Memex Solutions Team at SAS. “Precursors to crime or terrorism are often suspicious acts that aren’t in violation of law, and the SAR format allows those activities to be investigated effectively.”
Nebraska law enforcement officials can compare the citizen-submitted SARs to the NSI database to find any matches in other regions that might indicate broader criminal activity or help identify suspects. In addition, NIAC’s integration with NSI allows information evaluated by analysts to be appended with the SARs in the NSI shared space, an advantage of using the Memex platform. The capability enables analysts to share knowledge and makes the system that much more powerful – compared to simply sharing just the initial SAR.
The Memex intelligence platform provides a single-source portal for analyzing RMS (Record Management Systems), CAD (Computer-Aided Dispatch), Intelligence, SAR, open source and other data sources – whether via data integration, federated access, or a hybrid approach. This compatibility empowers analysts and staff to seamlessly examine all the data in one place, using the same data mining tools and user interface, rather than having to log on and off different systems.
“It is great to have the leads going directly from our citizens into the data management system,” said NSP Captain Kevin Knorr, NIAC Director. “It’s now a standard process, and we know the SAR will be assigned and worked up within business rules we set, for operational excellence and better service to the community.”
Nebraska has been using the Memex solution for the last three months as a platform for intelligence management, information exchange, and analytical capabilities. Approximately 400 law enforcement officials throughout Nebraska use the Memex Patriarch platform, connecting 17 different law enforcement data sources through an indexed search of selected data and federated search model.
Created in 2007, the NIAC serves as the fusion center for the State of Nebraska and is a collaborative effort of the NSP, Omaha Police Department (OPD), Lincoln Police Department (LPD), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and DHS.
About SAS and Memex
SAS analytics – coupled with the Fusion Center expertise and intelligence management lineage of Memex – supports crime prevention and threat disruption through accurate, timely information and valuable foresight. Regardless of data sources, the collective, complementary strengths allow for a solid operational and analytic foundation to enhance community and officer safety and quality of life for the citizenry. For more information, visit www.memex.com.