What is Security & Intelligence Informatics?

Security & Intelligence Informatics is the practical application of intelligent software to the development of search strategies and pattern analysis with multiple databases to identify, detect, and analyze threats and potential threats to the nation, the state and the community by criminals and terrorists.

Who uses Security & Intelligence Informatics, and why?

Criminal justice agencies are increasingly relying on computer technology for many tasks including administration, allocation of resources, criminal investigation, and research. This change has created a growing demand for criminal justice professionals with information technology skills. Since virtually every aspect of one's personal or business activity ( registering an automobile, renewing a pilot's license, withdrawing cash from a bank machine (in the US or abroad), making a long distance telephone call, etc.) is recorded; the myriad sources and bits of data is enormous. As is the case in other fields; however, the challenge is to understand how to select, retrieve, organize, and analyze the data in a way that provides useful information. These challenges have resulted in a new discipline-- Security & Intelligence Informatics. These individuals use informatics to provide integrated analysis for problems such as,

• Criminal data mining and network analysis
• Web-based intelligence monitoring and analysis
• Criminal and intelligence information sharing and visualization
• Spatial-temporal data analysis and GIS for crime analysis and security informatics
• Cyber crime detection and analysis
• Terrorism and Bio-terrorism tracking, alerting, and analysis
• Transportation and communication infrastructure protection
• Emergency response and management
• Disaster prevention, detection, and management
• Communication and decision support for search and rescue

How do the Security and Intelligence Informatics specialization courses complement the Informatics Certificate Core courses?

RU's Department of Criminal Justice will provide two, three credit-hour courses in Security and Intelligence Informatics. With these courses, the students studying for a certificate in informatics will be able to specialize in security and intelligence analysis. These courses will help prepare the student for exciting careers in the security and intelligence analysis field. Examples of projects or careers might be criminal detection and analysis, forecasting terrorism, emergency response and management, and working with a local police department to mine case investigation records for solvability factors.

How will a Certificate in Informatics (Security & Intelligence) benefit my career?

Intelligence analysis is a rapidly emerging career field in law enforcement and the private sector security industry. As law enforcement transitions into the era of intelligence-led policing the role of the analyst will be increasingly important at the local, state and federal level. In the private security industry, trans-national corporations are increasingly using intelligence analysts to ascertain the threat levels to corporate assets and personnel in a world hostile to their interests. These corporations are in need of individuals are in need of who are well trained in a variety of analytical techniques, key among which are intelligence informatics.

For additional information regarding the Informatics Certificate (Security and Intelligence), contact:

Dr. Isaac VanPatten, Chairperson
Radford University, Department of Criminal Justice
Phone:  540-831-6737;  E-mail:  ivanpatt@radford.edu