How the Oregon Fusion Center used i2's Analyst’s Notebook to identify and convict the mastermind behind an attempted homicide.
The Oregon Fusion Center has a dedicated staff of Department of Justice analysts as well as partnerships with federal, state, local, and private security personnel from across the state.
When a request is made to the fusion center, the gathered information is sent to the Intel Center to be assigned to analysts. At that point, they can utilize the information-sharing capabilities of the fusion center with access to local, state, and federal data sources. This provides them with the maximum amount of information possible to help them solve the case.
When local investigators were at an impasse in an attempted homicide case, they turned to the Oregon Fusion Center for help. The case involved a man who had been shot and survived to call 911 from a nearby bar. Authorities were able to identify the men involved in the shooting, but were unable to determine who had hired them. It was at this point that they turned to the Oregon Fusion Center, and analyst Chris Cardona began working on the case.
Chris has been using i2 Analyst’s Notebook since 1998 in a wide array of fields, from his former days in the military, as a part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, and currently in the Oregon Fusion Center. So when it was time to track down the mastermind behind the attempted homicide, he turned to i2 Analyst’s Notebook again.
Chris was able to quickly import and visualize incoming and outgoing call detail records captured from the arrested suspect’s phones using i2 Analyst’s Notebook. He leveraged the timeline feature to analyze and visualize the times, dates and participants for each call. By overlaying multiple timelines within a single visual chart, he was able to identify a pattern showing the person who likely set up the assault and who also contacted the participants immediately after the crime. These connections instantly created an iron-clad case.
i2 Analyst’s Notebook saves time and allows analysts to focus their efforts on analysis, not data entry.
Chris Cardona, CICA, Criminal Intelligence
Analyst, Oregon Fusion Center
When the mastermind behind the attempted homicide was arrested, he denied his guilt, but when shown a visualization of the evidence proving his involvement, he changed his story and asked for a plea arrangement. As a result, he and three other accomplices pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison, post-prison supervision, and restitution to the victim. By being able to draw connections and clearly show them in a chart, the Oregon Fusion Center helped local authorities solve their case.
i2 Analyst’s Notebook’s ability to visualize the data and portray easy-to-understand connections has been incredibly useful in helping the Oregon Fusion Center and the Oregon Department of Justice see cases through to conviction.
Chris argues that “As an analyst, if I do my job, using tools like i2 Analyst’s Notebook, I can take disparate data and transform it to solid evidence that leads to conviction. Pictures speak a thousand words and if there is evidence against a suspect that convinces them to plead guilty, we can save time and money without having to go through a full-blown trial.”
When cases do go to trial, i2 Analyst’s Notebook still helps the state of Oregon by making the evidence clearly understandable to grand juries. The ability to visualize their case helps attain convictions since it lets the jury refer back to the evidence, allowing no detail to be forgotten or to slip through the cracks.
From the beginning to the end of the case, i2 Analyst’s Notebook’s visualization capabilities allowed the Oregon Fusion Center to catch and convict the perpetrator. Chris remarked that “i2 Analyst’s Notebook provided me with the ability to automatically import a large amount of data and visualize it into a clear, concise product that was understandable by detectives, attorneys, and grand juries. We have seen the benefits of the i2 software suite and are currently progressing toward incorporating iBase as part of our arsenal against crime and criminal organizations in Oregon."
Find out more about i2 Analyst's Notebook or contact us to see how we can help you with your law enforcement investigations.