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Intelligence-led policing (ILP) represents a collaborative enterprise grounded in improved intelligence operations and community-based policing and problem-solving. ILP helps the law enforcement agencies in highlighting, appraising, and implementing the pre-emptive, protective, and responsive operations in order to address certain threats, targets, and problems. The Jameis Winstons case reinforces the notion that the present policing model of the Tallahassee Police Department suffers from inconsistencies and deficiencies in terms of investigation and skills. The police investigation on Jameis Winston rape charge revealed the errors that led to the loss of the crucial evidence. Overall, ILP had not played the main role in the Winston case. Indeed, the steps undertaken by the TPD were ineffective and needed reform; this fact necessitates implementation of the intelligence-led policing. Both the TPD and FSU officials took steps aimed at either hiding or hindering the criminal investigation into the allegations facing Jameis Winston. The situation was even worsened by the deep gap between the intelligence analysis and crime analysis manifestations. The paper argues that the implementation of ILP would have allowed a smart exploitation of resources at operational, tactical, and strategic levels, which would have translated to an effective investigation and successful prosecution of the case.

Police Investigation of the FSU’s Quarterback

By the 21st century, the mission of the police has significantly widened the present one can be considered unsustainable unless the mode of the police operation is re-shaped with the focus on addressing the competing demands. The demands placed on the police are not only swelling but also constantly shifting. It is no surprise that the present operating model for the Tallahassee Police Department appears to be struggling so as to cope with the growing policing demands (Bogdanich, 2014). The intelligence-led policing (ILP) qualifies as a tool for the information sharing, which aids the law enforcement agencies in identifying the threats and coming up with effective responses to counter and prevent the real threats. The objective of ILP rests in forming the actionable intelligence crucial in shaping the tactical responses to any security threats and/or strategic planning to counter the emerging or evolving threats (Bell & Congram, 2013).

The New York Times unearthed that, in the past, the TPD has stalled the investigation of the FSU football players (Bogdanich, 2014). It appears that the TPD and FSUPD took active steps to protect the star quarterback probably to avoid invalidating Winston for the Heisman Award or jeopardizing the football championship. In defense, the police department asserted that they took the rape case seriously, conducted a thorough investigation, and processed evidence as per the information accessible. The TPD highlighted a strong tradition of defending the community rights and upholding the laws. Since 2006, the TPD has apprehended the FSU football players for diverse offenses, ranging from accessory to murder to plain traffic infraction (Bogdanich, 2014). The TPD has adopted the community-based policing and problem-solving as the philosophy guiding the police department in addressing the problems in the community (Bogdanich, 2014).

An Overview of FSU’s Jameis Winston Rape Charge

Rape is an appalling crime that occurs when a person has sex with another person without his/her consent. Rape represents a unique violation that leaves the victims with deep psychological traumas that last for long periods, sometimes forever. Winston faced the accusation of raping a freshman at the Florida State University at an off-campus location after heavy drinking at a popular bar called Potbellys (Bogdanich, 2014). The victim recalled that she had met three men at Potbellys; the four took a taxi home later that evening. Nevertheless, the investigating officer was unsuccessful in contacting the cab driver.

The victim sustained injuries consistent with sexual trauma, including the presence of semen and bruises. For close to a year, the events that occurred that evening on December 7, 2012, had remained a secret until the victim made her allegations public because of her frustration with the TPD (Bogdanich, 2014). Winston, a winner of the Heisman Memorial Trophy Award, was one of the prized players in the college football team (Bogdanich, 2014). In three weeks after the public identification of Winston as the main suspect in the rape case, the local prosecutor, William N. Meggs, declared that he did not have adequate evidence to charge Mr. Winston with rape. Football occupies a precious place in the State of Florida; the Seminoles have a central role in shaping Tallahassees economy and identity (Bogdanich, 2014).

The university faced accusations of doing minimal to establish what had happened in sober fact. In the case of any awareness of the alleged sexual misconduct, an inquiry by the university should be promptly commenced, but the university decided to wait for the season to end before taking any actions. The university administration failed to investigate the rape allegation or check the witnesss acknowledgment that he had videotaped the part of the sexual encounter. According to Bogdanich (2014), the police failed to follow the clear procedure that would have allowed finding the suspect and potential witnesses to the crime quickly. Even after the victims identification of Mr. Winston as the perpetrator, the TPD failed to both interview the man and obtain his DNA (Bogdanich, 2014). Only after the prosecutor had reviewed the case, the authorities received Mr. Winstons DNA, which matched the DNA found on the victims clothing. Although, the DNA match does not prove that Winston sexually assaulted the woman, it does imply that Winston was involved in the case in some way. The detective had delayed for two months before writing the first report and then hastily suspended the inquiry devoid of informing the accuser. When the prosecutor got wind of the case, some crucial evidence had vanished away, including the videotape documenting the sexual assault. After having questioned Mr. Casher and Ronald Darby, the police learned that Mr. Casher had secretly videotaped a part of the sexual encounter (Bogdanich, 2014). However, Mr. Casher admitted that he had deleted the video several days later. If the police had promptly found and interviewed Mr. Casher, the police might have preserved the crucial evidence.

In roughly a month before Winstons rape charges became public, the FSUs victim advocate had got to know about another case of a woman who required counseling because of a sexual encounter involving Mr. Winston (Bogdanich, 2014). Despite no crime being committed, the prosecutors office deemed the encounter disturbing since it proved that the incident might be a recurring problem rather than a single accident (Bogdanich, 2014). Winston also faced other offenses including episodes of shoplifting and using forces to undertake a community service. In March 2013, a grand jury probing the police misconduct within a separate matter considered the Tallahassee police supervision an incompetent, high-handed, casual, and insensible one(Bogdanich, 2014).

The “Sweet Spots” and Hard Spots in Winstons Case

In the Florida State Seminoles QB investigation, there was a fundamental failure to investigate the account provided by the victim. When the victims attorney talked with the Tallahassee Police Department detectives, Scott Angulo reportedly emphasized that Tallahassee was a prominent football city. As such, the victim had to think twice prior to continuing the case against Winston since she risked being raked over coals and her life being rendered miserable (Bogdanich, 2014). It is even more disappointing that the Tallahassee Police Department (TDP) had held the case for 11 months prior to handing it over to the State Attorneys office in late November (Bogdanich, 2014).

The prosecution in the Winston rape case has consistently revealed the inexplicable series of missteps and delays that negatively characterized the Tallahassee police investigation in general. The investigating officer, Scott Angulo, failed to collect information promptly from the phone and social media accounts. The interviewing officer failed to question Winston concerning the events and decided not to question the cab driver, despite the possibility of acquiring corroborative evidence. CCTV from the Potbellys nightclub, in which the victim was prior to the assault, was available; nevertheless, the investigating officer failed to collect it until it was too late. The prosecution office was only made aware of the case in 11 months after the alleged encounter (Bogdanich, 2014). By this time, all the surveillance tapes had been recycled. Furthermore, Angulo failed to find Winstons friends including Chris Casher, who had videotaped a part of the sexual encounter (Bogdanich, 2014). Consequently, by the moment the authorities get to know about the recording, Casher had deleted it. The TPD had been unable to identify Mr. Winston as a suspect in the case until January 10 when the accuser did it, at last. Bogdanich argues that, it took the TPD too long to speak to Winston, and when the TPD contacted the man via telephone, Winston received an opportunity to contact a lawyer (2014).

Tallahassee Police Department Reorganization: The ILP Approach

Intelligence-led policing has had a minimal or no effect on the Florida State Seminoles investigation. It is apparent that the TPDs handling of the Winston case was flawed. Therefore, a cultural shift may be needed to encourage the adoption of ILP practices and philosophies (Bogdanich, 2014). The core aim of the ILP is to provide the public safety decision-makers with all the information needed to safeguard the citizens. The intelligence-led policing plays a crucial role in highlighting the crime threats and related variables in the respective community, which in turn, shapes the strategies that will eradicate or mitigate the threat. Although, the community policing enjoys some merits such as effectiveness in bringing the police and community closer together, the approach faces harsh criticism for being overly bureaucratic, resource intensive, and hard to access (Carter, 2009). When utilized strategically, the policing can not only identify the long-term issues regarding the problem crimes but also establish the long-term solutions. Intelligence is considered a powerful tool with the capacity to provide the leaders with an operational picture of the environment, which demands focused resources (Carter, 2009). The ILP offers vital elements to be incorporated into the future strategic directions of the Tallahassee Police Department: (a) evidence-based policing, which necessitates the application of research to the police practice in order to keep all policing decisions and test hypotheses in line with the empirical research findings. (b) Intelligence-led and predictive policing, which constitutes a paradigm shift from crime counting to its predicting, thwarting, and responding more effectively. (c) The adoption of the problem-oriented policing, which entails the police identifying and solving problems, instead of only responding to the crime reports (Carter, 2009; Ratcliffe, 2012).

Philosophical Dimension

The focus is put on the crime prevention, victim support, and tackling the biggest harms to ensure a sustainable and improved service. In this case, the most important thing is the creation of a dynamic force that strives to get ahead of demand; it should recognize the value of social representation and cultural understanding. The philosophical element may also entail the adoption of the local and strategic approaches that take the golden thread, according to which, the neighborhood security is considered the national security (Carter & Carter, 2009). Strategic Dimension The strategic dimension spotlights the redirection and reallocation of resources to satisfy the known and potential demands from the community. Some of the factors that can foster the strategic direction include the workforce mix, infrastructure, and technology (Bell & Congram, 2013). The Tallahassee Police Department should appreciate that the policing can be effectively delivered via strategic partnerships.

Tactical Dimension

This dimension recognizes the value of the intelligence-driven operations utilizing rich and quick data analysis and proactive information collection from the local community and emerging community of interest and identity (Carter & Carter, 2009). The adoption of ILP can improve the visibility and capacity for reassurance via the well-selected partnerships, which allow efficient support of its functions (Carter, 2009).

Organizational Dimension

The Tallahassee Police Department has to take full responsibility for the overall priority setting and resource allocation. The objective, in this case, is to empower the local communities to shape the local priorities and increase accessibility via mobility. The focus is put on the constant improvement and evaluation, as well as the best evidence and experience-based practices.

Handling the rape reports provides the police with the operational challenges necessitating highly competent officers. The investigating officer should always presume that the victims are telling the truth, unless proved otherwise, based on the emerging facts during the investigation. The next phase for the investigating officer in dealing with a complaint relates to gathering all possible evidence to construct a prosecutable case for court. In all cases, especially rape, a prompt and efficient investigation and early engagement of the prosecutor pays huge dividends. Largely, in a rape case, the work of the investigating officer is not in identifying the perpetrator since the victim mostly knows the attacker, but seeking the evidence that proves that the act was non-consensual.

The Tallahassee Police Department must conduct a review of the existing intelligence infrastructure to adapt to the challenges in the era of limited resources. An architectural restructuring of the police department can help to eliminate any barriers and foster the information and intelligence exchange. The adoption of ILP can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the police departments in general (Carter, 2009). One way of tackling the sexual violence crimes involves conducting campaigns meant to raise the public awareness on the criminal incidence. The police department can also launch programs with the aim of providing corresponding knowledge and skills to the university students to help them recognize and resist any sexual or physical violence, as well as encourage prompt reporting.

Remedying the Tallahassee Police Departments Weakness in the Tactical and Strategic Intelligence

The ILP is a platform of the innovative intelligence and investigation solutions that aid the law enforcement in preventing and combating crimes in the local communities and cities. The most effective way of satisfying the public expectations is preventing the crime from occurring. The prevention also makes the operations highly effective and efficient by resolving the issues before escalation of the situations. Gathering and evaluating information in order to deliver the finished intelligence products will provide the decision-makers with the situational awareness and a shared understanding of the operating environment. Intelligence can be considered the synergistic outcome aimed at presenting evocative, robust, and actionable knowledge necessary to address the basic principles of the crime prevention (Bell & Congram, 2013). The crime prevention relates to attaining or establishing information associated with the crime or terrorist threats and exploiting the information to apprehend offenders. The two forms of intelligence targeted at prevention include tactical intelligence (actionable intelligence of the near-term or imminent threats) and operational intelligence (actionable intelligence on long-term threats employed to develop and execute the preventive measures). Planning and resource allocation, on the other hand, provided the decision-makers with the information regarding the altering nature, features, and methodologies of threats, and materialization of the threat idiosyncrasies.

The Winston case is a classic demonstration of the failure to employ intelligence. The emergence of a second woman reporting sexual violation by Winston reveals the patterns that might have become evident sooner if the university and police had incorporated effective intelligence (Bogdanich, 2014). It is apparent that the Tallahassee Police Department did not have a full picture of the crime, which translated to lack of access to synthesized information required for the effective strategy planning. The TPD should reconsider sharing information with the local bodies in order to improve the public safety, as well as thwart and identify offenses. For the intelligence purposes, there is a requirement to keep whatever evidence on the rape reports possible. If in the future, a similar rape case occurs, it will be easier to identify a sexual perpetrator. Training on rape reporting remains valuable, especially in shaping the crime prevention strategies (Carter, 2009).

Establishing the organizational capability to highlight the problems and shift resources quickly is central to the success of the strategy. The movement towards ILP and a centralized process for the collection and interpreting intelligence will demand changes in the very psychology and culture of the Tallahassee Police Department (Ratcliffe, 2012). It is imperative for the TPD to create a new generation of the police officers acquitted with the peculiarities of sexual crimes. Effective execution and maintenance of the ILP framework in a law enforcement agency necessitates a strong commitment by the police agencys leadership (Bell & Congram, 2013). The TDU should re-design the approach of the crime investigation.

The self-assessment should lead the TPD to adopting a strategy of the actionable intelligence, agency restructuring based on the intense analytic abilities and accountability at all spheres of the organization. The Tallahassee Police Department struck a reform note by cooperating with the women advocacy group to reshape the existing sexual assault complaint policy, in which sexual offenders would be considered a policing priority (Bogdanich, 2014). Undoubtedly, this event is a step in the right direction; the creation of specialist police units is needed to facilitate a high-level investigation, increase focus on the vulnerable people, and improve the victim care. The specially trained officers can create an intelligence cell to investigate the reports of rape in close cooperation with the partner agencies and focus on the victim support. Such specialist police units can improve the cost-effectiveness of the reporting and investigation procedures, enhance the level of victim satisfaction, and create a platform for the strategic approach to the crime, in this case rape. The leaders of such units have to embrace the idea that there are serious cases of sexual assault to justify the presence of a specialist unit.

The other reason for the creation of the unit is based on the fact that the present performance of the Tallahassee Police Department is inadequate, and instituting a dedicated unit is the best tool for improving the police service. As such, the role of the police would be to approach the crime of rape strategically within the Tallahassee community, and offer all support and protection to the victims. The creation of a specialist unit allows employing the strategic approach to rape and other sexual offenses. As such, the police will work closely with other local agencies to guarantee the adequate prevention of sexual violence and protection (especially of highly vulnerable social categories) within the local community Founding a dedicated specialist unit will guarantee that the victims get a quick and professional response. A specialist unit can increase the number of victims reporting because of the increased confidence in the police department.4

Conclusion

The ILP had not played any role in the Jameis Winston case. Indeed, at the operational, tactical, and strategic levels, the concept of ILP either is absent or not incorporated or does not work in the TPD. The investigating officer took a series of missteps that severely weakened the case and brought it on the verge of collapse. The Winston case illustrates that the law enforcement agencies cannot operate in the information-poor world; the operating environment must be rich in data on the criminal activity and environment. The law enforcement agencies appreciate the significance of intelligence not only as an evidentiary collection tool but also as a strategic planning source providing a vital guidance in the deployment of the law enforcement strategies and resources. The challenge is in collecting the data on criminality and processing them into knowledge so as to improve the strategies for tackling the crime, improving decision-making, and providing the crime prevention benefits.

Undoubtedly, the policing model of the Tallahassee Police Department is ineffective; it requires restructuring in the form of intelligence-led policing. The Tallahassee Police Department must establish priorities and deploy resources in a smart and highly flexible ways with the focus on the crime prevention, rather than law enforcement. Prevention is central to the police mission; it should always be the most significant pillar of policing. According to the experience, early engagement of the prosecution office can address some of the presentational or evidential issues. A reorganization involving the creation of a Serious Sexual Offences police unit may be required to give the priority to the rape cases. The action plan should force the changes in the manner, in which the TPD deals with the reports of rape, to ensure that the treatment of victims improves and prosecutions succeed. The creation of a dedicated unit will ensure that all the information is collected and analyzed. The support and care of the rape victims should also be addressed, to guarantee that justice is both conclusive and swift. The ILP can help to eliminate the scenarios, in which there is witness intimidation, rape charges dropping, or the alleged perpetrator clearing. In addition, the adoption of ILP by the Tallahassee Police Department can eliminate the series of failings such as the loss of evidence and breakdown in gathering evidence, which characterized the Winston case. Special focus should be put on the vertical information sharing fostered through the intra-agency coordination. As such, the patrol officers should be encouraged to pass any valuable data to detectives, especially information on crime according to the respective jurisdictions.