Enhanced investigate analysis to deliver prosecutable human trafficking cases | i2 Group

Anti-Predator Project is a non-profit, investigation agency that combats human trafficking and sexual predators in the United States. Having recently adopted i2 Analyst’s Notebook, its co-founder, President and Director of Investigative Operation, Trent Steele, explains how the software has helped its analytical team fill critical knowledge gaps relating to the importance and scale of the networks behind these criminal activities. Since then, Anti-Predator Project has presented two cases to U.S. enforcement agencies, which have been actioned by federal and state prosecutors thanks to i2 Analyst’s Notebook’s visual representation of the criminal hierarchies and the organizational flow of the individuals involved.

Anti-Predator Project deploys specially trained private investigators to help law enforcement agencies fill vital intelligence gaps in complex criminal investigations, with the aim of identifying and tracking down the individuals and organizations behind human trafficking across the United States and prosecuting those involved.

As a non-profit organization that employs expert interrogators and interviewers, Computer Voice Stress Analysis (CVSA examiners), field work operatives and software analysts, the project’s work extends to ‘the location and recovery of American children that have been kidnapped or sold on the black market, witness/victim protection, and missing children’.

One of the biggest challenges the investigative agency has encountered to date is demonstrating the true scale and importance of the criminal networks behind these activities to U.S. prosecutors.

Historically, the complexity and reach of these networks have been hard to accurately map, which is how Analyst’s Notebook came to transform the agency’s operational approach shortly after the software’s adoption in May 2025.

“We have been able to use the i2 software to help prosecutors visualize the hierarchy and organizational flow of organized crime bodies and how they operate,” explains Trent Steele, President and Director of Investigative Operation at Anti-Predator Project, who describes the software as “an absolute game changer in the way we do our work”.

Informed by these critical insights, the agency can present this intelligence in such a way that federal and state prosecutors can easily grasp how extensive these criminal activities are and how far reaching the tentacles of these criminals stretch. “It has helped me understand the importance of quality analytical work and how important it is to build a prosecutable case,” says Trent. “We have been able to pitch cases that had some very strong circumstantial evidence and have them accepted because we were able to paint a visual picture that prosecutors could understand.”

Building prosecutable cases and results

Operationally, i2 Analyst’s Notebook delivers many benefits in the work the investigative agency does and the support it provides law enforcement. Trent explains how the thorough analysis and high-quality insights the software delivers has enabled its investigators to achieve results. “The visualization aspect of the software has been absolutely key to building prosecutable cases,” he says.

Previously, the agency’s investigators had relied on link analysis charts to source intelligence, but this has limited how accurate, comprehensive and ultimately how valuable the intelligence has been in informing these cases.

i2 Analyst’s Notebook has also enhanced the attitudes and roles of the investigators using the software in the pursuit of intelligence gathering, Trent explains.

“I specifically had no knowledge of i2 or how it worked but we had two members of our team that had experience with the product,” he says. “Both individuals were adamant that using i2 would be a game changer for our operation, and they were right.

“Using i2 Analyst’s Notebook has helped me to understand how important it is for investigators to be more hands-on during the analytical phase of investigations.”

As a result, Anti-Predator Project is investing more heavily in how the evidence is being presented to prosecutors. Part of this comes down to being able to recognize the importance of high-quality analytical work in delivering a solid criminal investigation and building a prosecutable case.

Although the agency has only been using i2’s software for a matter of months, Trent says it has already successfully pitched two cases to law enforcement and prosecution: one at the federal level and the other at state level. In both cases the recipients have actioned the cases and are pursuing the criminal parties involved.

One of the main benefits that i2 Analyst’s Notebook offers is the ease of information transfer it provides through entity info cards.

“These cards, which allow the prosecutor to look at a chart, click on any entity or individual involved in the investigation and get a detailed explanation of their involvement, has helped immensely in the pitches we have made,” Trent says.

The ease of information transfer through entity info cards is part of the reason i2 Analyst’s Notebook has become such an effective tool for communication. “In order to build a case for prosecution, you have to make people care about it. i2 is able to do that better than any other software I have ever seen,” says Trent.

“It is very difficult to make prosecutors understand the scale or importance of a criminal network without the ability to visualise their connections.”

Next steps

Trent admits the agency is “busier every year” and consequently its management team plan to grow with the addition of more investigators. “We will be expanding our analytical operation as we get more involved with organized crime and cartel cases” he says. 

This is where Analyst’s Notebook can help, too, says Trent. The software’s ability to visualise criminal connections means the investigative agency can take on more cases.

“We [also] plan on revisiting old cases to see if i2 can help us build a better visual picture for prosecutors,” he says.

A final word on i2 Group’s charity program

i2 Group runs a program for registered charities that use its software. “We have been getting everything we need and the i2 support team has been absolutely wonderful!” said Trent.

“The charity program is amazing and has been a game changer for our organization and our ability to be able to help families in need and law enforcement agencies facing challenges.”

For further information about the work the Anti-Predator Project is involved with, head over to their website https://www.antipredatorproject.org/