Visual Analytics for Sense-making in Criminal Intelligence Analysis (VALCRI) is a

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

tool that helps investigators to find related or relevant information in several criminal

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

s. The software uses

big data Big data primarily refers to data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional data processing, data-processing application software, software. Data with many entries (rows) offer greater statistical power, while data with ...

processes to aggregate information from a wide array of different sources and formats and compiles it into visual and readable arrangements for users. It is used by various law enforcement agencies and aims to allow officials to utilize statistical information in their operations and strategy.Improvements to machine-intelligence will improve accuracy and speed up police investigations
/ref> The project is funded by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

and is led by

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

William Wong at

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

Features

Automatic search

VALCRI can automatically search numerous databases using dedicated

search engine A search engine is a software system that provides hyperlinks to web pages, and other relevant information on World Wide Web, the Web in response to a user's web query, query. The user enters a query in a web browser or a mobile app, and the sea ...

s. Previously, investigators would need to employ an average of 73

SQL Structured Query Language (SQL) (pronounced ''S-Q-L''; or alternatively as "sequel") is a domain-specific language used to manage data, especially in a relational database management system (RDBMS). It is particularly useful in handling s ...

queries and wait up to three days to find the right cases.Visual analytics for brighter criminal intelligence
/ref> The tool utilizes

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...

mechanisms to screen through masses of

unstructured data Unstructured data (or unstructured information) is information that either does not have a pre-defined data model or is not organized in a pre-defined manner. Unstructured information is typically plain text, text-heavy, but may contain data such ...

to identify similarities between cases, and performs associative searching to comes up with reports based on the search criteria of users.

Data visualization

VALCRI can present data and information in visual formats such as maps,

timeline A timeline is a list of events displayed in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events. Timelines can use any suitable scale representing t ...

s, dispersion diagrams, and process charts. This creates an analyst

dashboard A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel or IP, or fascia) is a control panel (engineering), control panel set within the central console of a vehicle, boat, or cockpit of an aircraft or spacecraft. Usually located directly ahead of the ...

that is designed to be integrated within the workforce and allow for investigative reasoning based on database information. The visualizations are interactive and encourage cooperative input from human analysis. VALCRI also employs

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...

s such as PCA, MDS, and t-SNE to embed data points into graphical representations. This feature allows for the statistical and mathematical calculation of similarity and correlation levels between different crime data sets through different algorithmic models which each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Concerns

Legal and ethical challenges

During the development of VALCRI, an Independent Ethics Board (IEB) and Security, Privacy, and Legal Group (SEPL) was created to monitor potential ethical challenges and roadblocks that the project would introduce. With the specialists in these boards, there were numerous concerns that were identified in respect to potential ethics and legality issues. One issue that was identified by these boards was potential complications with human

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

. With the advent of a comprehensive database system that would be able to share billions of different data points for law enforcement, VALCRI faces potential roadblocks in navigating through different regional policies and laws regarding data privacy and security. This potential issue has been addressed in VALCRI by creating a dedicated group supervising

data management Data management comprises all disciplines related to handling data as a valuable resource, it is the practice of managing an organization's data so it can be analyzed for decision making. Concept The concept of data management emerged alongsi ...

policy in the software.

Cognitive and sense-making bias

VALCRI's data analysis capabilities offer criminal analysts a wider set of data points to base their conclusions on.

Vienna University of Technology TU Wien () is a public research university in Vienna, Austria. The university's teaching and research are focused on engineering, computer science, and natural sciences. It currently has about 28,100 students (29% women), eight faculties, and ...

's research based on 120 case studies introduces the risk of cognitive and sense-making

bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is inaccurate, closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individ ...

playing a significant role in influencing the conclusions that law enforcement agents draw, based on the visualizations provided by VALCRI. These risks can be mitigated in VALCRI by redesigning machine learning models and implementing de-biasing mechanisms such as Klein's data frame model so that it becomes easier to identify

cognitive bias A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from norm (philosophy), norm or rationality in judgment. Individuals create their own "subjective reality" from their perception of the input. An individual's construction of reality, not the ...

and adjust analysis objectives based on the findings.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Criminal investigation Law enforcement E-government in Europe