Month: May 2022

Approaching the riverbank, I could not help but think of how serene this area was. Yet, when I closed my eyes, I could easily imagine the scene unfolding around me. The smell of burning wood and black powder, the sounds of groaning men passing by and muzzle fire echoing in the distance, and the din of the marching columns and horses nearby completed the imagery in my mind. I felt the need to turn away from the river and face the house the Zabriskie’s built along the water’s edge. Today, this home is well kept, manicured, and freshly painted, but something was missing out front. Nonetheless, my imagination filled that void and placed the old fox back on that porch. I could see his stoic outline and his gaze looking intently past me to the timber bridge watching the commotion occurring just yards away. While it was some time ago, being here conjured up all the emotions one would expect when you are reminiscing about one of history’s greatest leaders.

Aschatking, as it was once called, is where the Hackensack River narrows significantly from points south that lead into to the Newark Bay. During the American Revolution, this area, New Bridge Landing, served as a strategic bridge crossing for the Hackensack River. It is where, on November 20, 1776, General George Washington led his troops in retreat from the surrounding British forces. In his own words, Washington described this day as one of luck that allowed him to gain the bridge before the British, and in the end served to save his men.

As a result, New Bridge Landing is referred to in history books as the bridge that saved a nation. Yet, from a leadership perspective it provides another lesson. Several accounts of the day describe Washington as standing steadfast on the riverbank as his garrison crossed the Hackensack ultimately retreating to Newark. Within earshot of musket fire, he sacrificed his own safety to demonstrate to his men that he stood with them regardless of the challenges they all faced.

How many times as a leader have you found yourself in retreat? While the circumstances were surely different than what Washington experienced, nonetheless the pressure to achieve the mission may have been the same. Did you make a decision that did not turn out well? Did you implement a policy or strategy that was not favorable among your team? Did you find yourself on the wrong side of circumstances outside your control? What did you do?

While you would never know it today, considering the New Jersey State Police NIBIN program has become a national model, several years back that was not the case.[1] Complaints were coming from police departments around the state that the ten-month turnaround time to process NIBIN “hits” was just not meeting expectation in terms of generating investigative leads. Unfamiliar circumstances placed me and my team in the awkward position to address the problem. Not knowing much about ballistics or NIBIN at the time, we did what most commanders would do to address a problem. We called a meeting, and then another, and then another. After eight months, we could not figure out why nothing was changing. While the folks responsible for making improvements reported some progress, we still had complaints coming in from on high regarding turnaround times. At the same time, we also learned something even worse – agencies were taking their NIBIN evidence to other labs for faster processing. We felt like we were in full retreat.

Not sure how or why it happened, but we found ourselves spending time in the Ballistics Unit to observe the operation firsthand. It is here where incredible things began to happen. We came to understand that when NIBIN was first introduced into the lab it was squarely focused on an evidentiary perspective. There was no national movement to leverage NIBIN like it is today on developing investigative leads. We learned so much to help us question how the operation could be made more efficient and effective in its focus on supporting the evidentiary process by providing additional resources, training, and personnel. At the same time, working together we identified opportunities where, without sacrificing the evidentiary process, the unit could also adopt a premonitory capability that could turn around the NIBIN leads much more rapidly to provide investigators with actionable intelligence. The men and women in the unit were exceptional and demonstrated that once they understood the vision for change, they could meet the challenge. After only a few months, they adopted the processes and leveraged available technologies to move from a 10-month turnaround time on NIBIN leads to 24 to 36 hours. More importantly, not only did the complaints from the consumers of their service go away, but the unit also developed cutting edge processes making them a leader in the field. Our lab was now a go-to location in our state, and, in many respects, across the country, for providing comprehensive crime gun intelligence in a timely manner.

While none of us claimed to be George Washington, what we did in this case to improve our NIBIN program in New Jersey was to model his form of leadership. We were present on the line for all to see. We took a first-hand account of the situation. We sought out information to understand the challenges surrounding the problem. We empowered our personnel to innovate and solve their own problems. This was all done by stepping back, visiting the rear, and showing we cared and were invested in their problems as well as the solutions.

Today, I still accompany folks to the Aschatking, often with Pat Schuber (a past guest on the RF Factor). Pat, a local historian, provides the historical context related to the area and what it means for leaders today to consider within their own commands. Whether it be local law enforcement commanders, international counter terrorism leaders visiting the United States, or even young Scouts on a weekend leadership outing they all seem to come away with the same lesson provided by the Old Fox: A leader can have tremendous value on those being led just by being present during challenging times.

[1] Note: NIBIN stands for the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network. It is a program that is sponsored by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and leverages the individual NIBIN labs across the country within municipal, state, and federal agencies. NIBIN offers law enforcement investigators information related to the association of fired cartridge cases left behind at a crime scene to other crime scenes as well as crime guns recovered from criminal possessors on the street.

When we think of technical innovation, we often conjure up images of the rich and famous entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates and their paradigm shifting products and initiatives. These technologists were bold enough to advance big ideas that continue to have a big impact on the world. Their popularity and legacies grow by the day.

In my experience though, most bold ideas and innovations come from everyday folks. Their names may not be well known and some of us would hardly consider them hi-tech innovators.

Take for example, the story of Chief Mike Bradley, the former chief of the Long Beach Township Police Department, in New Jersey. He ignited a spark across the state to layer the various types of existing and disparate law enforcement data sets and leverage it to combat crime.

Long Beach Township is a shore community in Ocean County. During the summer, the town swells with thousands of vacationers and beach goers. In the colder months, the population dwindles, and the traffic light cycles are switched to continuous flash.

During his tenure, Chief Bradley discovered several public safety concerns that were unique to the ebb and tide of the tourists and the sea – they were “shore things.” One “shore thing” of particular concern, was the phenomenon of cross-jurisdictional criminals visiting the beach. It is a problem for Long Beach Township throughout the year.

In the winter, these serial offenders, particularly burglars, would take advantage of vacant summer homes to ply their trade. In the summer, these offenders would blend in – camouflaged by the crowds of vacationers. Chief Bradley knew that these circumstances would make it a challenge for his cops to identify the perpetrators. He knew there had to be a technological solution.

When we think of Jobs, Musk, and Gates and their respective innovations we think of teams of technologists huddled together daily collaborating over what their constituents need. But in law enforcement, there is often this wide gap between the technologists and what is truly needed in the field operationally.

Those able to bridge this gap often reap long lasting benefits that not only aid their own departments but the larger community in the long term. Here was the genius of Chief Bradley. Knowing a local technologist, he challenged him in 2013 to help solve his transient crime problem. Nearly a hundred years earlier, the highwaymen, as they were called, would rob unsuspecting victims on their weekend jaunts as they travelled outside the cities. Police then were limited to the technology of the day – flags, automobiles, and saddled horses – to combat the problem. That would not be the answer for today’s highway and byway criminals.

Chief Bradley knew that the data from the automated license plate readers coming onto his barrier island layered with other law enforcement data sets he had access to could somehow identify perpetrators of the crimes in his jurisdiction. The collaborative partnership between the operator in the field and the technologist would take close to two years to develop a prototype of what is now a core component across the state for identifying, arresting, and prosecuting serial offenders whose victims’ span jurisdictions.

Most importantly, with accurate data driven information police can target criminals with a high degree of precision.

So how did this all occur?

First, Chief Bradley did not accept the status quo as it related to investigating serial crimes occurring in his jurisdiction.

Second, he understood that value of technology as a force multiplier, and how aggregated disparate law enforcement data sets could yield a far greater awareness of criminal activity and its offenders.

Third, he knew that if he had the patience and spent enough time collaborating with a technologist to tease out and understand the problem, they could collectively develop an effective solution.

Fourth, the technologist was willing to listen to the needs of the Chief and not think he had a solution before a problem was identified.

And lastly, the two were willing to invest the time and energy into developing a capability that while not an overnight success would achieve great benefit in the long-term.

There are said to be three phases of innovation: insight, identifying the problem, and creating a solution. While this description is useful for understanding what underscores innovation, it does not do justice toward delineating what it takes in terms of time, collaboration, and the implementation challenges that will be faced along the way. More importantly, the timeline of the innovation will consist of the highs and lows related to the people, processes, and technologies involved. In other words, innovation is not for the weak at heart or the impatient, it takes time, perseverance., and relentless follow up.

Seven years later, Chief Bradley’s vision of leveraging law enforcement data sets to identify burglars victimizing his residents has been realized. However, his vision has now blossomed into something much larger: a crime fighting tool that provides commanders, investigators, and analysts with the necessary information needed to identify and combat patterned crime, gun violence, and those serial offenders committing these crimes.

Over the years, more and more believers in Bradley’s vision came together to contribute their insights and experiences into the project. Today, this endeavor has evolved into a much larger capacity that underpins the state’s precision policing capability, which overlays and leverages available law enforcement data to provide justice to victims, resolution to their families, and peace to impacted communities.

What can we learn from Chief Bradley? It is not enough to have a big idea; it is just as important to seek out a team to advance that idea and see it to fruition. We are grateful to Chief Bradley for showing us the way!