Competitive Intelligence

Law Intelligence

Law enforcement and intelligence really do go hand in hand. Intelligence support can be a vital ingredient in assisting law enforcement agencies to go about their daily duties, keeping us safe and staying one step ahead of those they are investigating. Counter terrorism investigations, in particular, are heavily reliant on accurate intelligence information.

In order for law intelligence to be accurate and therefore useful to planners, decision makers and other intelligence organizations (it’s no good if it ain’t right!) there are certain steps which intelligence professionals must take:

• Tasking – this really means what intelligence is needed, the task or requirement if you like, which shapes the rest of the intelligence gathering procedure
• Collection – now that you know what to collect, you can collect all sorts of different types of information – images, personal reports, intercept a few communication signals. . .
• Processing – this is where all of the information which has been gathered is translated or otherwise converted into some useful format. This also determines which of the information is useful (then it becomes intelligence) and which is not (still information!)
• Disseminating – passing the intelligence on to the people who need it the most, in this case the law enforcement agency to help them go about their duties.

Terrorism attacks are one of the most difficult crimes to predict and to stop, which is why law enforcement agencies rely heavily on intelligence to help infiltrate these organizations which hide behind anonymity and secrecy.