Criminal networks do not stop at prison walls. They rarely operate in isolation. They extend across correctional facilities, communities and communication channels, making them difficult to detect through traditional investigative methods.
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PA DOC) operates 22 state correctional institutions and more than 28,000 individuals under parole supervision.
For the Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence, every investigation depends on understanding relationships, not just between inmates, but also between parolees, visitors, financial contributors, phone contacts and individuals operating outside prison walls.
The information needed to understand those relationships already existed. The challenge was that it was spread across numerous operational systems.
Analysts searched independently through intelligence databases, visitation records, telephone systems, financial transactions, inmate messaging, mail records and parole information before manually connecting findings into individual case files.
This approach made it difficult to answer critical investigative questions:
Without seeing the wider network, investigators risked missing opportunities to intervene before criminal activity escalated.
Instead of investigating each case in isolation, the Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence adopted an intelligence-led approach centered on understanding networks.
Using i2 Analyst's Notebook, investigators connected fragmented information from multiple operational systems into a single intelligence picture, making criminal networks easier to understand, monitor and disrupt.
Today, the department brings together information from numerous data sets. This creates a connected picture of relationships instead of isolated records stored in separate applications.
The scale of information analyzed is significant. Over a typical three-month period, analysts can examine millions of available records.
Instead of reviewing these datasets separately, analysts can now identify patterns that reveal organized criminal activity. Examples include. These relationships help investigators identify previously unknown criminal networks and prioritize monitoring before incidents occur.
The investigation began after two inmates overdosed inside a correctional facility. While responding to the medical emergency, multiple correctional officers were exposed to an unknown substance and required hospital treatment.
Rather than treating the incident as an isolated event, the Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence launched an investigation to identify how the drugs had entered the facility and who was responsible.
Using i2 Analyst's Notebook, investigators combined communications, financial transactions, visitor information and intelligence records to build a connected picture of the criminal network.
Relationship analysis identified a key inmate linked to unusually high financial activity. Further [text cut off in original screenshot].
After several days of monitoring communications, investigators identified another planned attempt to introduce drugs into the facility. Acting on this intelligence, agents recovered paperwork believed to have been treated with controlled substances before it could be used inside the prison. During the operation, investigators also identified a correctional staff member linked to the criminal network.
The investigation continued to expand, ultimately uncovering a nationwide Facebook group used to coordinate the distribution of drugs into correctional facilities across the United States. The intelligence also enabled investigators to intercept a second package and identify additional inmates connected to the wider operation.
Before i2, our analysts spent too much time gathering information and not enough time analyzing it. Today we can understand criminal networks much faster, allowing us to focus our efforts where they have the greatest operational impact. We moved from tactical analysis to a more strategic, intelligence-led operation."
Damien Mscisz, Intelligence Analysis Supervisor
For the PA DOC, the greatest value of i2 is not simply helping investigators understand what happened. It is helping them anticipate what might happen next.
By transforming disconnected information into actionable intelligence, the PA DOC can identify threats earlier, target resources more effectively and better protect correctional staff, incarcerated individuals and the wider community.
Criminal organizations continuously adapt how they operate inside and outside correctional facilities. By connecting intelligence across prisons, parole and external agencies, the PA DOC is better equipped to identify threats earlier, support safer operations and protect people both inside and beyond prison walls.