Justice Information Sharing

IA105 Intelligence Writing and Briefing

This course covers basic intelligence writing and briefing principles as well as methods for effective and clear intelligence sharing. Topics covered include creative and critical thinking, critical reading skills, source evaluation, privacy and civil rights, intelligence writing style and structure, and generating and presenting intelligence briefings. With guidance from experienced experts, students gain hands-on experience by working through data sets based on real cases to produce intelligence products. Instructors and peers provide feedback on briefings and reports produced and presented in class.

*Foundational skills. Creative thinking. Critical thinking. Critical reading.
*Information sources. Identify sources of intelligence information. Evaluate sources for validity and reliability.
*Analytical reports. Develop a structured and actionable analytical report based on a data set given in class.
*Privacy considerations. Ensure protection of privacy and civil rights while producing intelligence products.
*Briefings. Construct and deliver an intelligence briefing based on a data set given in class.

FC101 Financial Investigations Practical Skills

This course provides hands-on investigative training at a basic level. Students develop the practical skills, insight, and knowledge necessary to manage a successful financial investigation from start to finish, including the acquisition and examination of financial records, interview skills, and case management and organization. Additional topics include forgery and embezzlement, financial exploitation of the elderly, working with spreadsheets, financial profiling, and state-specific statutes and legal issues.

*Emerging issues. Current trends in various types of financial crimes. Recent cases and their implications.
*Financial records. Learn to obtain and manage bank records, including basic spreadsheeting skills.
*Working with data. Extract leads and draw conclusions from bank records and other financial data.
*Hands-on experience. Work a mock financial case as part of an investigative team.

FC105 Financial Records Examination and Analysis

This course covers the acquisition, examination, and analysis of many types of financial records, including bank statements and checks, wire transfer records, and business records. Topics include recognizing and investigating common indicators of fraud, using spreadsheets to facilitate analysis and pattern recognition, and financial profiling. There is a strong focus on presenting financial evidence in multiple modalities: spreadsheet data outputs, graphic representations, and written/oral presentations.

*Introduction to analysis. Best practices. Finding patterns. Indicators of fraud. Presenting your findings.
*Financial records. Bank records. Business documents.
*Financial profiling. Methods of profiling. Reasons to create a profile. Creating a profile.
*Hands-on experience. Work a mock financial case as part of an investigative team.

FC201 Financial Records Investigative Skills

This course builds on the concepts introduced in FC101 (FIPS) and FC105 (FREA), introducing investigators and prosecutors to emerging issues in financial crime. Topics include money laundering, analyzing large financial data sets, conducting effective interviews, and managing large amounts of financial evidence. This course consists of a mix of lecture, discussion, and hands-on exercises. Students conduct a mock investigation that includes interviews, data analysis, and the examination of various documents.

*Money laundering. Methods of laundering money. Tracing illegal funds. Emerging issues. FinCEN.
*Spreadsheeting skills. Spreadsheet architecture. Formulas and calculations. Pivot tables.
*Working with financial data. Benfords law analysis. Disentangling commingled funds.
*Hands-on experience. Work a mock financial case as part of an investigative team.

FC102 Tools and Techniques for Financial Investigations

This course provides an overview of the actions investigators can take at the outset of a financial crime investigation. Students learn to ask critical questions, gather documentation, and analyze information for leads. Topics include obtaining and working with financial records, red flags in financial cases, money laundering, investigative strategies for different types of financial crimes, and commingled funds.

FC099 Basic Level Spreadsheeting Skills

This one-day course provides foundational spreadsheeting knowledge and skills to enhance workplace productivity. The course covers basic navigation of Microsoft Excel by combining live demonstrations and hands-on exercises.

Work with multiple worksheets within a workbook
Hide, unhide, and protect worksheets
Adjust rows and columns
Use copy and paste options
Find, select, and sort data

CI240 Intermediate Cyber Investigations: Virtual Currency

This course provides students with the fundamental knowledge and skills they need to investigate crimes involving virtual currency. Instructors explain foundational concepts like the characteristics of money, virtual currency, and cryptocurrency. Blockchain technology, proof work, and proof of stake are covered; and students learn how industry-leading cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero) work and how they differ from each other. Finally, students learn investigative techniques for tracking and documenting transactions; and best practices for seizing and securing cryptocurrency.

*Virtual currency basics. History of money and of virtual currency. Categorizing virtual currency.
*Blockchain. History of the blockchain. Understanding different protocols.
*Cryptocurrencies in detail. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero and other privacy coins.
*Investigative techniques. Seizing virtual currency; tracking transactions through the blockchain; documenting investigative results.

IA102 Introduction to Link Analysis

This course introduces analysts to the broader concepts of connecting the dots through link analysis. A critical portion of conducting a successful analytical investigation is the ability to link together and understand the complexities of the connectedness between people and organizations. Introduction to Link Analysis (ILA) expands on the basic principles of link and association analyses explored in the Foundations of Intelligence Analysis Training (FIAT) while building a framework for more advanced methods such as social network analysis.

Expanding basic knowledge of link and association analysis
Explaining the process of social network analysis
Understanding the visual mapping and mathematical components associated with link and social network analyses

FC111 Financial Crimes Against Seniors Seminar

This course promotes a multi-agency approach to the problem of financial exploitation of senior citizens. Topics include working with senior victims, examining documents like bank records and power of attorney, and resources for investigation and community awareness. Detailed examination of a case study from initial complaint to prosecution reinforces and illustrates the course content. With a dual focus on financial abuse by trusted persons and common scams aimed at seniors, the course introduces senior-specific investigative skills while facilitating networking and cooperation that can extend out of the classroom and into real cases.

IA101 Foundations of Intelligence Analysis Training

This course addresses the critical need for well-trained intelligence analysts to interpret growing amounts of information. Topics include the intelligence cycle, analytical thinking skills, the importance of strategic analysis, communication and social media analysis, recommendation development, and legal and ethical issues. Students work hands-on with specialized software to synthesize information and develop various products of intelligence. The course was developed by a consortium that included NW3C, Law Enforcement Intelligence Units (LEIU), the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysis (IALEIA), and the Regional Information Sharing System (RISS).

*Analysis basics. History and purpose of intelligence analysis. Legal issues and ethics. Sources of information. The intelligence cycle.
*Types of analysis. Crime patterns. Associations. Flow. Communications. Financial analysis.
*Creative and critical thinking. Brainstorming. Mind mapping. Steps to critical thinking.
*Deterring crime. Strategic analysis as a tool for law enforcement personnel.
*Hands-on experience. Work as part of a team to analyze information pertaining to several hypothetical cases.

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