FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sheriff Brasfield appointed to HITS Advisory Board
May 23, 2003
The Attorney General of Washington’s Chief Criminal Investigator, John H. Turner, has announced the appointment of Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Brasfield to the Homicide Investigation Tracking System (HITS) Advisory Board. Turner indicated that Brasfield was placed on the because of his long-term professional involvement and knowledge of the state’s criminal justice system, as well as his extensive contacts in the state law enforcement community.
BACKGROUND (http://www.wa.gov/ago/hits/home.html)
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Development of HITS began in 1987 in response to a need identified by cases involving notorious murderers such as Ted Bundy and the Green River Killer. Such cases emphasized the fact that criminals have no respect for boundaries. Whether by design or accident, they often commit many types of crimes across many different jurisdictions.
Law enforcement, on the other hand, has very distinct boundaries: federal, state, county, and city. In larger agencies, boundaries even exist between homicide, rape, robbery and other investigative units. In many cases, these units are further divided into districts, with each investigator investigating a specific type of crime in that district. Historically, the fight against crime has been hampered by a lack of communication between law enforcement agencies and their sub units. If a criminal commits several different types of crimes within the same district or jurisdiction - or commits the same type crime in different districts or jurisdictions - there is good chance that he or she will avoid capture. If he or she is caught, it will most likely be for a single crime, since the arresting agency will be unaware of crimes committed in other jurisdictions.
The
problem of inadequate communication between law enforcement
agencies and their sub units is the problem that HITS was
designed to overcome.
The HITS design allows each agency to enter, maintain,
search, compare, analyze, and view its own information
in its entirety, while also making
comparisons
against the information supplied by other agencies. To maintain the
integrity and confidentiality of other agencies' information, only
the name of an investigating
agency and other basic contact information are provided when the
computer identifies comparable cases in other agencies.
If further information
is necessary, the
inquiring agency must contact the listed agency or investigator.
Between 1990 and 1996, HITS determined that 39 serial rapists (defined as having committed three or more rapes) were operating in Washington state. Analysis of these rape cases led to the identification, location, and/or conviction of 22 such rapists. In one case, HITS staff identified a brutal child rapist by using physical characteristics and the suspect's vehicle description provided by the two victims.
The original funding to develop HITS came from a National Institute of Justice grant to study the salient characteristics of murder. HITS' success was apparent even before all of the collected data had been entered. As a result, the Washington State Legislature in 1991 mandated that HITS also track all violent crimes, including sex crimes
The
level of interstate cooperation in violent-crime information
sharing exemplified by HITS is unique to the Pacific Northwest.
Without question,
HITS has been
responsible for enhancing public safety throughout the region.
HITS OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS
In addition to general information about tracked crimes, HITS also stores specific information on evidence, victims, victimology, offenders, offender MO, offender demographics, associates, geographic locations, weapons and vehicles. It also tracks and maintains information on known murderers and sex offenders living in the community. Specific services HITS can provide to law enforcement include:
Murder Case Analysis
Determines case solvability. If potentially solvable, provides solvability factors. Establishes case, victim or offender linkages. Provides statement verification when offenders give information relating to alleged murder.
Tracking of Sexual and Violent Offenders
Maintains
historical and current information on criminal activities of
violent offenders released into the community.
Networks existing criminal justice agency computers that
contain information relating to violent offenders.
Standardizes the type of information stored and maintained
on offenders who have committed rape, robbery, arson or other
serious crimes.
Flags the name
or file of each violent offender released into the community.
Notifies agencies responsible for tracking flagged files
each time an inquiry
is logged on a
flagged name or file. Makes a record in that offender's file
concerning the time, date, location, agency, and reason for
making such an
inquiry. Determines
linkages between victims of violent crimes and offenders.
Provides resource information and/or advice to law enforcement
agencies
relative to the investigation
of violent crimes.
Developing Suspect Time Lines
Develops time lines as requested, using information obtained from local, state, and federal computer systems, plus all relevant information supplied by the investigating agency (bank and credit card receipts, case reports, etc.). When completed, provides the investigating agency with a copy of the time line and any other information generated as a result of developing the time line.
Additional information may be obtained from The Attorney
General of Washington’s
Chief Criminal Investigator:
John H. Turner
Chief Criminal Investigator
Attorney General of Washington
900 4th Ave, Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98164
(206) 464-6286
johnt@atg.wa.gov