GIS on the law enforcement front lines
September 16, 2008 21 Comments
GIS Analysts are usually in the back room performing support rolls with most law enforcement operations, but recently a GIS Analyst was part of a marijuana eradication raid in California.
A GIS specialist went in with the raid teams for the first time in NPS history to perform an immediate on the ground evaluation of the impacts to the natural resource during the raid.
Just think how much better some law enforcement situations might have gone if GIS had been part of the raid.
GIS on the front lines of law enforcement
Redwood National and State Parks (CA)
Major Interagency Raid Conducted On Marijuana Plantation
On September 10th, Redwood National and State Parks conducted a marijuana eradication raid, utilizing an interagency anti-drug task force. The focus of the effort was a marijuana plantation in Redwood Creek that contained 9,564 plants and covered approximately five acres on steep terrain. This marijuana site is within six miles of the world’s tallest tree in a park that is also a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve. Rangers detained five Mexican nationals for questioning about a mile from the marijuana growing operation. Three of them had prior deportations and were transferred to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). One who is on felony probation for marijuana was held on that violation and will be deported later. The fifth was charged with providing false information to an officer. A GIS specialist went in with the raid teams for the first time in NPS history to perform an immediate on the ground evaluation of the impacts to the natural resource during the raid. This documentation will be very beneficial for the restoration process. Significant resource damage has resulted from this illegal activity and an initial cleanup operation using California National Guard soldiers and helicopter is planned for October. This raid included almost 60 law enforcement and support staff. The National Park Service wishes to acknowledge and thank the support provided by Humboldt County Sheriff Office, Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), North State Marijuana Investigation Team, California Department of Justice, California Fish and Game, California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, Green Diamond Resources Company, United States Coast Guard, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Marshall Service, California State Park Rangers, National Park Service SETT II team and ISB Pacific West special agents.
[Submitted by Rick Nolan, Chief of Interpretation and Education]
About James Fee
Boy when I interned at the NPS I never got to even sniff (inhale?) something that cool. All I remember was cleaning up metadata.
And that image James, simply classic!
Great pic!!
KoS
Genius picture, like that you used the rugged laptop.
obviously these poor criminals are guilty of excessive water usage – caught in the act with GIS! (You can tell by the map.)
@Jarlath: A warrior needs to choose his weapons well. That is true for ninjas and true for GIS Analysts.
Hilarious picture.
Interesting story, awesome picture.
Great story and *definitely* one of the most hilarious pics ever on your blog (and you’ve had some great ones)!
Cheers,
-Matt
Ninjas? Bah! Pirates FTW!
Maybe folks are starting to realize there more to GIS than some underpaid analysts in their cubes making maps…
I should start by saying that my background is in both natural resource management as well as a MS in GIScience…..
On what basis is a GIS Specialist qualified to make on the ground assessments? Perhaps it is a poor choice of wording and the NPS meant to say that a resource manager with GIS skills went along with the team?
In any case, the story illustrates a trend that seems wonky at best where GIS Specialists are venuring out into disiplines where they are very thin on knowledge, simply because they know the tool (GIS) better than anyone else. I mean seriously, would you rather have the scalpel salesman doing your surgery over the doctor simply because they knew more about the tool?
At the end of the day, GIS is just a tool to help do something else. Without that something else, there is no GIS. Do we like that fact that GIS has a steep learning curve? Does this translate to job security for us? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but sometimes I think maybe….
I look forward to the day when GIS doesn’t need to be specifically mentioned in news stories, because it has become so easy to use that everyone uses it without even thinking about it.
AA
Ahhh does that ever dredge up old memories. I spent my college years in Arcata running around all over those woods.
I did my internship at the NPS when I was completing my masters but my field activities were restricting to helping to GPS the trail system in the Santa Monica Mountains and aerial photo interpretation.
Along a similar line, I found an article in Computerworld the other week where it is just about the opposite and bringing GIS like tools in the form of mashups to the people that really need them in law enforcement.
that is a great picture, especially the guy in the back with the Trimble and backpack antenna! What is the PDOP? I repeat , what is the PDOP?!
LMAO!! That picture is Hilarious!! Thank you, James Fee. Now if only that GIS Analyst will publish his newly created metadata, especially the X, Y
He may claim to be a GIS analyst, but clearly the guy in the picture does not know here California is!
James: Best blog pic ever.
But man, you have WAY too much free time
Cheers,
tom-tom
that picture is awesome. possibly pic of the year.
Entirely off- topic, but I thought some of you might be interested in how GIS (satellite image analysis) is revealing some interesting perspectives on the “surge” in Iraq.
There’s a summary of the story at the New Scientist magazine website:
http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14768-satellite-images-cast-doubt-on-success-of-iraq-surge-.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts
And the actual paper is available at:
http://www.envplan.com/epa/editorials/a41200.pdf
Got any pictures for this one, James?
ChrisW
Actually, the low level of light may indicate a better communication infrastructure. They’ve now heard about global warming, so they’re doing their part to battle the problem by using less electricity.
Nice work on the picture, this is really funny. As for GIS in law enforcement, I’m sure it is used a lot more than publicized in the media. I can tell you it’s really a useful technology to track people.