CYBER DETECTIVES
Cops Go Online to Catch Criminals
by Richard D. Morrison
| Richard D. Morrison is a Lieutenant with the Lynn Haven, Florida, Police Department, in charge of the Criminal Investigation Division. Morrison is a frequent contributor to public safety magazines including 9-1-1 Magazine. |
Sidebar:
Using the Internet
to Solve Crimes
| Photographs: (select thumbnail to view detail image) |
 Given Internet access via a laptop computer in a patrol car, officers have access to even more information to help them solve crimes. K. L. Morrison |
This article can be found on
page 38 of the Jan/Feb 1998
issue of 9-1-1 Magazine.
This is the Information Age. Technology has made cyberspace available to the world at large. All you need is a computer and modem to be part of the latest boon to information gathering efforts.
For years police investigators have used the same old places for information - the local courthouse, the power company and water department were all mainstays of the seasoned investigator. No doubt, these old faithfuls still offer some valid, although limited leads for modern police investigators.
Recently, however, the Internet or World Wide Web has become a major factor in police investigations. For $20 or so a month, unlimited use is available nearly everywhere in the country.
The only quandary for investigators is exactly where to look for what particular kinds of information. Naturally, using the correct URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the fastest way to cut straight to the chase - as opposed to searching the Web by topic.
As far as police investigations, there are some exceptional sites which should be on your bookmark or favorites list.
For example, how many times have you found a telephone number written on a piece of paper and wondered to whom it might be listed? Sure it might be listed in a city directory, but that information is at least a year and a half old by the time the book is published. It is much easier and quicker to dial up www.databaseamerica.com and get the listed name, address and zip code of the residence or business. Plus, this information is updated daily.
If you have the "N" number for an airplane, you can check the registration at www.landings.com. You can also find the aircraft serial number, make, model, year and owner's name and address.
A really good source of information is the Investigative Resource Center at www.lainet.com/factfind/database.htm. Here you can find the following and much more:
The Social Security Death Index. Online search current through 1995.
The Business Crime Database. Over 27,000 names related to organized crime, fraud, etc. (Fee only if name located).
The United States Code. Search by keyword - over 50 titles.
The Code of Federal Regulations. U.S. House of Representatives Internet law library.
The Codes for all 50 states. State law furnished by Washburn University School Law Library.
All of the following offer free information for the taking:
National Address Server. www.cedar.buffalo.edu/adserv.html. Improve whatever address information you may already have on file for a suspect.
Date And Time Gateway. www.bsdi.com/date?us/pacific. This site gives time zones of the world in case you are checking on alibis or fugitives.
Missing Children Database. http://inept.scubed.cour8001/publicservice/missing.html. The national center for missing and exploited children.
Reunion Hall. www.xscom.com/reunion. High school registry with international listings. If they signed up for the alma mater, you can find them.
Dormant Swiss Bank Accounts. www.dormantaccounts.ch/list.htm. An alphabetical order of the names of all non-Swiss persons since 1945 who opened a Swiss bank account that has been dormant.
Newstand - http://206.107.148.2/news/newstand. Newspapers available from 50 states and U.S. Virgin Islands. Not every city, of course, but, for example, Florida has 26 papers listed. Handy if you need to see the headlines for a particular area of the country in order to verify an alibi, etc.
Find military people on www.shipmates.com. Military - buddies, pals, shipmates, families and friends. People locators - reunions - military associations. Former and current, active and reserve military personnel. U.S. Army, Coast Guard, Marines, Navy and Air Force.
Find people on www.switchboard.com. People, businesses, e-mail, by name, city and state - the last name is all that's required for a search.
Investigative Tools. www.netrail.net/~hotline/investigatives. Includes the FBI Bulletin - IGNET - Inspector General - Most Wanted Sites - NYNEX Nationwide Yellow Pages and CNN, plus a lot of other valuable resources.
Check out the National Fraud Information Center at www.fraud.org. Everything you would ever want to know about telemarketing fraud with many links to other agencies, plus all 50 states attorneys general contacts.
If you need forensic help, check out The Forensic Web at www.eskimo.com/~spban/forensic.html. A ton of information on everything from AFIS to handwriting analysis, etc. is here. Hundreds of sites all valuable in police investigations.
Another good source is the Info Service at http://info-S.com, with over 348 pages of information on virtually everything, including 499 law enforcement links.
For communications information, look at UNCLENET at http://pages.prodigy.com/unclenet. This site includes info on telecommunications theft/fraud, satellite TV piracy, computer related crimes - technology piracy, etc. A valuable tool for high tech crimes.
From www.infospace.com you can go to a search site for local governments, county, state and federal too. If you need information on your own city or a distant one, this is a quick source. This can be helpful if you need to contact someone in another city. Also, they will provide toll free numbers for companies, if you provide the name. This site also has a reverse phone and address feature. If you know the address, you can find the telephone number and vice versa.
Another good source is www.pimall.com. Some of it is free, some of it has a fee attached. Be sure to check out Dig Dirt, Inc. on this site. You can find unlisted telephone numbers, do payphone trace locations, pager trace, cellular trace, fax trace, etc. and that's just for openers. The fees range from $45.00 to $69.00 depending upon what you need. An awesome source for private information.
If you need credit checks, current addresses, nationwide caller ID trap (to locate missing people, etc.) marriage records search by state and a lot more, then try www.sourceresource.com. It costs, but the hard to get information is there. You choose the information you need from a menu list complete with price schedule.
USdatalink offers reasonable prices ($9.75 for a credit report from any bureau) at www.usdatalink.com. The turn around time is usually one day.
As you can see, buying information can be a time saving device. Most agencies routinely pay for information on the street, so buying Internet information should not be taboo. In fact, it makes good business sense as well as providing a wealth of investigation sources.
Typically, sites like these all link off into hundreds of other locations with a lot more information. It is all there just waiting to be discovered.
Remember, things change quickly on the Internet. Sites come and go. URLs change frequently. A book written on URL sites may only be half correct when it is published. So, don't be afraid to search and bookmark new investigative sites as you travel the world wide web.
Fortunately, things have changed for the good in recent years. The good guys can now get the information they really need with very little effort.
In the future, there will be even more information available on the web. In fact, I'll predict that all police investigators will routinely use the Internet in a few short years from now. So why wait? Get online now and get a net over the bad guys today.
