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The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has deployed a customised version of CCube Solutions' electronic document and records management (EDRM) and eForms technologies - called CADS - to digitally automate the management, approval and auditing of all communications data requests between police officers and service providers. This kind of forensics information is now used extensively in a broad range of criminal investigations.

Founded in 1946, JCF is the national police force of Jamaica employing almost 9,000 police offices who serve a population of around 2.8 million covering some 4,240 square miles. The Mission of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and its auxiliaries is "to Serve, Protect and Reassure the people in Jamaica through the delivery of impartial and professional Services aimed at maintenance of law and order, protection of life and property, prevention and detection of crime and the preservation of peace".

The Communications Forensics and Cybercrime Unit (CFCU) was formed in December 2010 and currently has a staff of SPOC (Single Point of Contact) officers who manage communications data requests between the JCF, two other auxiliary police forces and independent investigators on the island, and Jamaica's three main communications service providers (CSPs) - Digicel, Flow and Lime - who provide landline, Internet and mobile phone connectivity.

Historically the process of making requests for information, managing applications, getting a response from CSPs, analysing the data, and providing this to investigators in the field could take months as it was all done manually.

Inspector Warren Williams, head of the JCF's CFCU explains, "The focus of the CADS project has been to automate this process to vastly reduce the turnaround time of applications, improve the efficiency of both the CFCU and CSP teams, and ultimately provide a better service for investigators who are using this kind of information more and more. The response will now be measured in hours and days not months with the system currently being tested to provide support in 'live' operations."

In 2012, there were just over 1,000 applications - an increase of 15% on the year before - with just 400 returned. Inspector Williams adds, "As applications have increased, the backlog has grown. The new solution will quickly close this gap. In 2013, over 1,800 applications have been made as officers see the value of using the system as part of their investigative tool kit."

The JCF team reviewed the market and travelled to the UK to meet with the Metropolitan Police, who use a similar award winning system - also developed by CCube Solutions - called TIMS (Telecommunications Intelligence Management System). Based on this, CCube Solutions was selected for the project because it met JCF's needs. CCube is an award-winning provider of ECM solutions, comprising electronic document and records management, workflow, electronic forms, portal software, and systems integration. Founded in 1995, it has a proven track record working with the police, local government and healthcare institutions as well as in the private sector providing cost effective and scalable solutions, tailored to meet the individual requirements of customers.

Vijay Magon, CCube Solutions' managing director, explains: "Originally developed about eight years ago, TIMS was the first system of its kind in the UK. Capitalising on its extensive workflow capabilities, TIMS is used to make, track and report on all communication data requests from operators in line with RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000) legislation which protects an individual's human rights. The JCF system is a variation of this and meets guidelines in Jamaica's Interception of Communications Act."

The JCF is currently in the process of doubling its CFCU team. Telecommunication Liaison Officers will be appointed across the island to manage inputting requests into the system from other investigators. CADS has now been fully deployed and runs on a dedicated server at the JCF's Kingston headquarters. Officers in the field will connect to CADS using SSL VPN technology.

Inspector Williams says, "We understand that Jamaica is the first country in the Caribbean to use this type of system and we could certainly act as a hub for the region when it comes to managing requests from other islands, given that some service providers like Digicel operate throughout."

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