Jails and prisons house some of law enforcement’s best and unexpected assets. Individuals behind bars are some of the best information sources when it comes to uncovering crime operations. This is the second of a three-part webinar series discussing Detention Intelligence. The previous session looked into defining detention intelligence and its benefits. This time around, David Grantham focuses on detention intelligence planning and collecting.

David Grantham is the Director of Intelligence for the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office and currently serves as a Senior Fellow with the Center for a Secure Free Society. His previous work experiences were with the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI). He is sought after for his expertise in intelligence strategies, investigations, and operations.

This session’s discussion focuses on:

• The concept of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) and why it must be leveraged alongside technological innovations in investigation.
• The nature of intelligence that does jusr not aim to find answers or conclude cases but uncover more problems to address and prevent inside and outside the jails and prisons.
• The planning phase of developing your jurisdiction’s detention intelligence model.
  • The common factors observed in most county settings and special considerations dependent on the area of responsibility and capabilities that must be considered to determine the framework of the initiative.
  • Coming up with essentials and limitations that will shape the development of policies and priorities.
  • The importance of having a chief intelligence strategy that will allow to focus on and address the needs and restrictions within your jurisdiction.
  • Understanding your jurisdiction’s priorities and developing a collection guide for the identified priorities to facilitate information gathering.
• The collection phase of the detention intelligence initiative.
  • Using human touch, the importance of providing as many touchpoints and developing relationships, and the ultimate goal of intelligence gathering.
  • The different approaches that may be employed to obtain information safely from individuals in the detention and corrections setting.
  • Utilizing technology to verify and enhance the level of information acquired from individuals by analyzing phone calls, mails, and the electronic messaging system.
  • The limitations of the information collected based on the freshness of the intel, the motivation of the informant, the legal ramifications of the information gathered, and the impact of the environment on an individual’s attitudes.
  • Working around these limitations to still get valuable information.
• Examples based on Tarrant County’s detention intelligence strategy were provided throughout the discussion.

Questions from the audience were about:

• What CRAP stands for in terms of the motivations of inmates to provide intel.
• The day-to-day activities that detention and correction staff should be doing to collect information.
• Recommended resources for intelligence collection guides and gathering intelligence.

This is the second in a three-part series:

• Part 1: The Center of Emerging Threats
• Part 2: Building Detention Intel the Right Way  (this webinar)
• Dec 2: Analyzing and Producing Actionable Insights

Resources and Handouts

• Consequences: An Intelligence Officer’s War by Dr. David Grantham
• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It by Chris Voss
• Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy by Mark Lowenthal
• Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E Douglas
• The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA’s Clandestine Service by Henry Crumpton

Audience Comments

• “I loved his amicable voice and interactive tone.” — Tammy Jo
• “Great webinar lots of great information compiled in an hour. I learned home to gather intelligence on gang affiliation in jails from tattoos to gang signs to self-admission! Identify a specific gang affiliation is crucial in the jail so that gangs member from different affiliations can be separated to avoid riots etc. I got two books referenced for more and information on the subject.” — Marie
• “Incredible knowledge, very helpful information.” — Mary
• “I am part of an active intel unit and this was all refresher. I appreciated the emphasis on human intelligence and relationships. They are typically undervalued and it was good to see an emphasis made on it.” — Michael
• “Other ideas as to how to collect and look for intelligence. I am now more motivated to reach out to LEO’s and encourage more intelligence processes. As a civilian LE analyst, hearings jail intelligence ideas and best practices is a great way to open my mind to the opportunities at a jail/prison. I am looking forward to the next webinar from David.” — Abbigael
• “The CRAP model as explained by Dr. Grantham.” — Patrick