Published: November 16, 2007 11:59 am            

Cops and keyboards: Finding the facts and bad guys online

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — The world of changing technology has crossed over into law enforcement, and officers are relying more and more on computers and the Internet to solve cases.

Some officers have attended classes to learn how to do searches with computers.

Cherokee County Undersheriff Jason Chennault has been involved in investigations where computers have been seized and information taken from hard drives. Those cases often involved other agencies.

"We've had a few cases where Jason or the other investigators have relied on computers to help them either track down a suspect or gain more knowledge about someone," said Sheriff Norman Fisher. "It's becoming more and more common."

Many police departments have computer crews that perform skillful forensic analysis on hard drives and specialize in nailing online predators.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has developed several databases for local and state law enforcement agencies. These information sharing databases help officers on the street identify people, places and crimes, said OSBI Public Information Officer Jessica Brown.

"These programs are like Google for Cops," she said. "The OSBI has spent several years developing these with the help of many other law enforcement agencies, including Oklahoma City PD, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and others."

Brown said the agency is about to kick off another database called OKLeX.

"We use computers a lot to trade information," Tahlequah police Chief Steve Farmer said. "You can correspond with other officers by e-mail or send photos of suspects or missing people."

The chief said he sent some officers to school to train them on how to search sites.

"We don't have the manpower to devote an officer or two to only work on computers," he said.

Farmer said he used a computer frequently to aid investigations before becoming police chief.

Things people once wrote in private diaries now cascade through Web sites that stimulate free expression — and are open to anyone who comes looking.

In one recent example, a detective in Newark, N.J., tracked the alleged killers of three college students by mining MySpace pages maintained by the suspects and their friends. In another, pictures and prose posted online by the killer of Taylor Behl, a 17-year-old Virginia college freshman, connected him to the victim and ended up revealing where her body was stashed.

And in an Indiana case a young man wrote on his MySpace page: "I just killed two cops." (One officer survived the shooting.)

"That's a positive side of the computer age for us," Fisher said. "If you know the right place to look, you might find someone's given you a confession to work with."

The anonymity of the Internet can make it easier for criminals to cover their tracks. The trick for cops is to figure out how to keep up — a proactive step that doesn't come easy, given that most police departments have to concentrate their limited resources on reacting to crimes.



Bob Gibbins writes for Tahlequah (Okla.) Daily Press.

        

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