Last modified: Thursday, September 11, 2008 2:33 AM EDT Raynham Police Chief Louis Pacheco works with the computer information sharing system. (Staff photo by Tom Maguire) 'Security begins at home' BY RICK FOSTER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF When an evil casino mogul played by Al Pacino in the film "Oceans 13" unmasks a corrupt gambler at his tables, Pacino has his security chief run a search for "known associates," instantly flashing pictures of co-conspirators portrayed by Brad Pitt, George Clooney and others on a computer screen. While such industrial crime detection might seem futuristic, some area police departments are already using computers and existing databases to turn the tables on crooks - in some cases accomplishing in minutes or seconds what might have taken detectives days searching file cabinets and prodding informants for leads. It's an unintended consequence of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks seven years ago today. The technological push to round up suspected terrorists has branched out to haul in garden-variety criminals. Attleboro police recently received a $54,000 grant that permits the local department to link with several other urban jurisdictions. The computerized system would allow local officers and detectives to get virtually instantaneous access to incident reports, criminal investigations and vehicle records from five other Southeastern Massachusetts police departments and share local data with investigators in those cities. Using computer analysis, a detective could instantly search for the name of a suspect, a license plate number or a telephone number in several databases simultaneously. In return, the investigator could learn whether the suspect was involved in previous cases in other jursidictions, as well as the names of others associated with them in previous criminal cases, accidents or other police records. Currently, Taunton, Raynham, New Bedford and Fall River are members of the system, along with Brockton and Attleboro, which were recently added. A system with similar capabilities is now in place in North Attleboro and the western Norfolk County area. And a multi-million dollar state initiative called the Statewide Information Sharing System would eventually take such technology statewide. Departments would be able to control the amount of information they share within the linked system. The new computerized policing is an outgrowth of federal Homeland Security funding, which followed the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The grants, which funded everything from airport scanners to video surveillance equipment, was intended to give law enforcement a leg up on detecting and foiling potential terrorists. But many of the devices and technologies are in use on a day-to-day basis to catch criminals, fight fires and increase local security. "Homeland security begins at home," said Raynham Police Chief Louis Pacheco, who along with others foresaw the possibility of putting sophisticated computer analysis in the hands of detectives and patrolmen several years ago. Pacheco, along with the Regional Electronic and Computer Crime Task Force, began tapping into technology in an attempt to link police record systems with investigators at crime scenes. The result was the pioneering, locally developed police information sharing system funded with $400,000 in Homeland Security seed money. Not only can the new software tap into several police record systems at once, it can also perform virtually instantaneous analysis of what it finds. The heart of the concept is "link analysis," which uses speed and instantaneous access to data to sniff out relationships and potentially criminal patterns. For example, police acting on a name dropped during a murder investigation in New Bedford could instantly find out if the same name turned up in a violent assault case in Taunton. Similarly, police working a suspected shoplifting ring could link a suspect in Attleboro with similar crimes or known associates in Brockton. Such instantaneous linking of names and clues can save days or even weeks over traditional, Sam Spade-like methods. "You can potentially do in a few seconds what might take days to do looking through filing cabinets," Pacheco said. Other law enforcers are similarly bullish on the latest computer tools. A five-town consortium consisting of police departments in the North Attleboro-Plainville-Franklin area insituted their own information-sharing system using software developed by a New Jersey company that allows them to track and store data on people arrested or involved in a variety of incidents in their communities. Police reasoned that since criminals don't confine themselves to just one town or legal jurisdiction, quick access to investigative records from neighboring law enforcement agencies could pay big dividents. "We all know that criminal behavior doesn't stop at the town or city line," Plainville Patrolman Greg Kiff said. "If someone's looking to commit a crime in Plainville, there's a good chance he's been involved in similar behavior in nearby communities - or he associates with others from those communities." The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, meanwhile, has spent millions toward the creation of the Statewide Information Sharing System. According to the state Executive Office of Public Safety Web site, the system, known as SWISS, would collect and store information from local, state and national law enforcement agencies statewide, and in return share it with local law enforcement and the Commonwealth Fusion Center, a newly created state intelligence-gathering and analysis agency. The SWISS system, years in the planning, is in the process of being implemented, said Curt Wood, executive director of the Massachusetts State Criminal History Systems Board. The system is scheduled to begin tying in local police agencies this month and plans ultimately to include law enforcement agencies in all of the state's 351 cities and towns. SWISS would not only permit sharing of information between police in the Bay State, but would also connect to databases in all 50 states, plus the FBI. Data would be warehoused by the state, but could be available down to the cruiser level using wireless laptops, Wood said. Existing database searching systems, such as the one developed in Raynham, would also be able to share data. Wood expects the system to be fully functioning by the end of the year. Law enforcement officials caution that while such a system has plenty of potential, much depends on what kind of analysis and information will be sent back to individual departments in real time. Pacheco says it's also important to give as much input as possible to officers on the local level so that use of analytical tools will become a daily part of crime detection. While powerful, computerized crime-fighting systems are among the latest developments, federal grants channeled through the state since 2003 under the Homeland Security Act have also produced a rich harvest of security gear, police radios and training funds for local police and fire departments. A prime example is Mansfield, which has used its grants to expand technical capabilities and speed the sharing of video and other evidence for use during investigations. In 2005, the police department received $77,753 in radio system upgrades and in 2006 a "Bullard" Tacsight Thermal Imager valued at $13,000. In 2007, the department obtained a Pyramid Vision Technologies "Video Detective" worth $50,000 used to view, enhance and distribute video images. Police added an "XOA" Mobile Video Command Center, or wireless surveillance system, in 2008. Police have an application pending for a Thermal Detection/Deterrence System to be used to search such areas as attics and crawl spaces for contraband and weapons and to locate trapped victims following an accident or disaster. Mansfield was also involved in a joint grant through the Bristol County Police Chiefs organization that obtained $151,844 for cruiser radios. Mansfield received six radios, valued at about $18,000. Similarly, Attleboro has reaped a number of grants over the past three years, including $40,000 for police overtime costs and money for items such as helmets, increased video surveillance and an advanced traffic control system. There has also been money for training and regional emergency response exercises, including a simulated train derailment, police Lt. Scott Killough said. Many of the purchases are already helping local law enforcement perform their daily duties. When an elderly woman went missing in South Attleboro, police Capt. David Proia, officers tapped a thermal imaging system purchased under Homeland Security to aid in the search. Plainville received $225,000 to upgrade its emergency communications, including tying in schools and public works departments, Police Chief Edward Merrick said. The police department is also now able to monitor schools and Telford Memorial Park via closed circuit video. Besides providing additional surveillance capability, Merrick said the new equipment would provide for better coordination of police, fire and others involved in a response to a major emergency. "You have to get all the players to play well together," he said. Other communities have also reaped grants covering everything from overtime to the purchase of seven new portable police radios in Wrentham. Other public safety gear, such as emergency lighting sets and portable electronic signs that can be set up to flash warnings to motorists at blocked intersections, are often granted to specific local departments, but shared with other jurisdictions. While area police and fire departments have reaped bounties in training and equipment funds under Homeland Security, some officials are highly critical of continuing cutbacks in funding support. Massachusetts is receiving $ 17.2 million in federal assistance this year from the Homeland Security Grant Program, down 15 percent from last year. State homeland security funds have been steadily declining. In 2005, the Commonwealth received over $30 million.