The Joyce Foundation’s Post

Congratulations to The Joyce Foundation on publishing a landmark report on the underutilization of analysis tools to solve gun trafficking and gun violence in the US. We've been helping law enforcement agencies grapple with so many of the persistent issues called out in the Optimizing Crime Gun Intelligence report: “ATF’s record keeping system is just archaic and makes it super difficult for investigators who are trying to do the right things ..” -Joyce Foundation interview with St. Paul Police Department, March 13, 2023 “More data makes these platforms more powerful, enabling more cross-jurisdictional linkages and more comprehensive identification of statewide patterns.” -Joyce Foundation interview with IL AG’s office, December 21, 2022 The Joyce Foundation's Optimizing Crime Gun Intelligence report lays out a number of great solutions to increasing use of data analytics tools in gun crime. We especially appreciate the feature of the Illinois Crime Gun Connect platform on pages 49-55 of the report, which MK Analytics built and maintains in partnership with the Illinois Attorney General's Office, Illinois State Police, and the support of @everytown. With the support of ILAG and the Illinois State Police, we help make use of and promote use of eTrace, participation in CDS, and powerful database tools. Many thanks to our partners at the Illinois Attorney General's Office for their praise in The Joyce Foundation's report. The Crime Gun Connect portal from MK Analytics and ILAG offers a range of unique tools, from drawing gun trafficking networks, to making obscure data easily available to law enforcement users, to creating the only state-wide tracker of the surge in ghost guns used in crimes. Check out our website for more information and a peek into how the platform works here: mk-analytics.com/gtip Read the full Joyce Foundation report here: https://lnkd.in/gr3gP7HW #GunViolencePrevention #PublicSafety #crimegunintelligence

It’s all about utilizing ALL the available data you have at your disposal to help investigations. It’s time to get outta the dark age thinking of “we’ve always done it this way.” There are many newer technologies that are helping agencies solve gun crimes everyday. #BallisticsIQ #Connecttheshots #Colloboration #EvidenceIQ

MKA's work on the Crime Gun Connect portal to help Illinois with gun violence prevention and identifying gun trafficking got a great call-out in the Joyce Foundation report about the many underutilized opportunities to use existing data to connect the dots in gun crime cases. This has been a focus of my work since 2015, back when I was at the NYAG, developing the first iteration of their gun intelligence portal. Our current partners in Illinois are incredible and we love working with them. It's tough, it's complicated, and it requires a lot of creativity. If you've ever wondered what the heck I'm talking about when I talk about my gun trafficking work, this is a great explainer. You can go directly to the full report here: https://lnkd.in/ecEavJ_f .

I am grateful that we got to partner with the Joyce Foundation on this report! Through interviews with law enforcement leaders who use crime gun intelligence tools, we heard how crucial these tools are for solving gun homicides and non-fatal shootings. In interviews with ATF, we got insight into the resources they need to keep improving eTrace, CDS, and NIBIN. Through the ATF's responses to our FOIA requests, we gained a new understanding of just how far we have to go to get full law enforcement participation in the suite of ATF tools meant to solve gun crimes. https://lnkd.in/eBs8_Wqz

Exciting Development for Northeast Ohio's Public Safety! This spring marks the inauguration of the Crime Gun Intelligence Center in Cleveland, a significant stride forward in our collective efforts to combat violent crime. Announced by Steve Dettelbach, the director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), during a speech at The City Club of Cleveland, this center embodies a pioneering, data-driven strategy to address the surge in gun violence. With the collaboration of cities like Cleveland, and Akron, and the backing of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department, the initiative seeks to foster regional cooperation in tackling this pressing issue. The recent statistics highlighting over 650 mass shootings last year underline the critical need for such a center. This center aims to unify law enforcement agencies, crime analysts, federal agents, and gun experts in a concerted effort to analyze crime trends and implement proactive measures to prevent future violence. The ATF's advanced forensic capabilities, including innovative methods for extracting DNA from bullet casings, are expected to significantly enhance investigative outcomes. As we anticipate the opening of the center, the focus remains on expanding engagement with more police agencies, reinforcing our commitment to disbanding the small yet destructive factions that perpetuate violence in our communities. This initiative represents not just an advancement in technology and collaboration but a hopeful step towards ensuring the safety and well-being of our neighborhoods. Let’s support this pivotal movement towards a safer, more secure Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. #PublicSafety #CrimePrevention #CollaborativeEffort #InnovationInLawEnforcement #ClevelandCommunitySafety #SaferCleveland

Hear from law enforcement experts on using AI to combat gun crime. Gain insights into identifying offenders, enhancing police cooperation, and engaging communities. Learn strategies for better intelligence gathering and multi-agency collaboration. Click here for the replay. https://hubs.la/Q02td7V10

The state brought an “expert” to testify on behalf of Colorado’s 3-day waiting period and when asked about how gang violence shows the ineffectiveness of the waiting periods the expert said, “Well you can’t call it gang violence because these incidents are really just disputes over respect, women, and territory by neighborhood organizations.” The MSLF response: “So you mean a gang?” Expert: “No”. MSLF: “But you just described a gang?” Expert: “No, they are just neighborhood organizations settling disputes.” MSLF: “So a gang, correct?” Expert: “No, not a gang.” Yes, this really happened in court for our Garcia v. Polis case. A state expert was attempting to talk about crime statistics as a reason for why Colorado’s 3 day waiting period is needed. But when asked about if he controlled for gang and gangland crime (because gang members obtain firearms illegally, therefore making the waiting period irrelevant for them and the crimes they commit) the expert’s reply was that you can’t call it gang crime because those incidents are really just disputes over respect, territory and women. The MSLF response was quite literally, “So a gang?” The expert was insistent that it wasn’t. This is a prime example of the state twisting statistics to support their gun control legislation. #guncontrol #colorado

New article alert! A few colleagues and I examined the association between firearm availability (using proxy measures for illegal and legal access) and police shootings of citizens at the city-level among a sample of jurisdictions in California & Florida. TLDR: police shootings of citizens are heightened in those cities that have higher rates of federally-licensed gun dealers (even after controlling for factors like concentrated disadvantage and the gun homicide rate in the general population). https://lnkd.in/ehHhnFn5

https://lnkd.in/ekVnDA6F More and more law enforcement agencies and prosecutors are seeing the benefits that exploiting Crime Gun Intelligence (CGI) brings to violent firearms related investigations. By linking firearms crimes though NIBIN, law enforcement can focus our limited resources on the triggerpullers and work together to remove them from our communities.