Police and Fire Service Share Data in Effort To Identify Arsonist

Norfolk,UK -- Police in the Norfolk Constabulary were long suspicious that a number of fires recorded by the Fire Service were arsonous. But it wasn't until they enlisted Watson® to analyze Fire Service data in tandem with their own arson reports that a criminal connection could be established.

The Fire Service keeps record of fires that don't meet the criteria for criminal activity (criminal intent cannot be proven) and therefore do not appear in police reports. In fact, only about one in ten fires becomes a matter for the police. But valuable information about the location and nature of all fires fought is retained in the Fire Service database.

Detective Sergeant Bob Brown suspected that many fires not classified as criminal are in fact set by individuals who go on to commit further acts of arson. For example, the Fire Service responded when a small grass fire was set on a plot adjacent to a supermarket. The very next day, at the same time, an attempt was made to set fire to the supermarket itself using matches and an accelerant.

Following Detective Sergeant Brown's hunch, the Norfolk Constabulary began exchanging database information with the Fire Service. Using Watson, Fire Service reports were graphically depicted in such a way that they could be immediately distinguished from the Constabulary's criminal arson reports in a chart of times and events. The charts revealed just what Detective Sergeant Brown suspected: a trail of related fires consistently preceded many incidences of known arson.

By using Watson to compare Fire Service records with subsequent arson reports, police have been able to identify a number of arsonists. In addition, Detective Sergeant Brown hopes that the intelligence generated by Watson will make it possible to prevent some acts of arson by taking action against offenders sooner.

Technological advances will soon make Detective Sergeant Brown's formidable task a little easier. Currently Norfolk Force Intelligence Bureau scans and imports Fire Service data manually. But by next year, police will receive geocoded data directly from the Fire Service — data which won't need manipulation before analysis. The Constabulary also plans to add Watson Mapping, which will highlight "fire corridors:" areas where fires are frequently reported.