Juha Knuuttila

Robust mobile multichannel data communication for Rescue and Law Enforcement Authorities

Emergency vehicles are increasingly dependent on ICT systems. Public safety responders need is to enhance mission critical voice with broadband data. Command and control applications aboard a vehicle are commonplace. There is a need to ease situational awareness and decision making by using cameras and sensor information. However, countries and user organizations are developing own solutions according to their legislation and requirements, because uniform standards are missing. This paper is a kick off for creating a common international ICT infrastructure for all emergency vehicles. This design research study concentrates on the data communications layer representing a tested prototype for a new multichannel data communication concept based on the Distributed Systems intercommunication Protocol (DSiP). This study is a part of a larger R&D project, aimed at starting development of standards used by like-minded countries and possibly with EUROPOL and FRONTEX.

Law Enforcement Authorities' Legal Digital Evidence Gathering: Legal, Integrity and Chain-of-Custody Requirement

When carrying out criminal investigations, Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) apply new technology in very effective ways. However at worst, LEAs must perform many stages twice with the help of different technical tools. When investigating the identity of criminals LEAs may apply totally different technical tools than when gathering evidences for charge, because the data provided by investigating may not be valid in court. For that reason, a new monitoring system that goes beyond state of the art is needed. Three organizational layers need attentions: 1) LEA, the people that actually retrieve and store the information. 2) Prosecutors and their offices, how they get access to the information. 3) Courts, the final destination of the retrieved information. Until now, the information gathering tools for LEAs have been engineered focusing only on the best way to retrieve the information from the target. The attention paid to the legal, integrity and chain-of-custody requirements as well as social acceptance and legal oversight in connection with retrieving information has been inadequate and guidance on the matters has existed only in manuals written by legal departments.

The usage of social media in crisis communication

The usage of social media (SOME) has increased during the last few years due the increase in the amount of smartphones. SOME has emerged alongside the traditional channels of communication in crisis communication. SOME has become extremely popular in recent years and the authorities have adopted it as part of their communication strategy. This paper explains how SOME is used in crisis situations, what kind of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) it has, and how its use could be improved.

Arctic Maritime Safety: The Human Element Seen from the Captain’s Table

The maritime industry is safety critical, where the element of uncertainty is present especially when entering high-risk shipping areas like the Arctic. The element of uncertainty increases, as the working environment gets more unpredictable and systems more complex. Unpredictability and complexity is making it difficult to define comprehensively and in advance which exact courses of action one should take when facing challenging ad hoc situations while navigating the Arctic. The human element is a vital part of successful and safe shipping in the Arctic. Recent resilience engineering and safety studies see the human element and their ability to adapt and adjust their performance to emerging situational needs, possible shortages in work descriptions and resources as a key to successful operations. High performance of the crew strongly contributes to the high performance of the ship where the captain plays a key role. This chapter addresses the safety issues in a more holistic way including uncertainty and unpredictability as a part of safety management in the Arctic shipping.

Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) for Extreme Missions in the Arctic and the Monitoring of the Ukraine Crisis by the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE)

Arctic conditions and the territorial politico-economic crisis in Ukraine are two different types of extreme conditions, where civilian authorities need to use Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) to support manned processes and other information systems. Due to the lack of adequate research and publications, best practice may remain unshared. Therefore authorities may not be aware of potential rewards and knowledge sharing is also restricted. This paper is a contribution to the research and development of innovatory ideas in order to better attach RPASs to the activities of authorities and related information systems, helping them fulfill their duties.

Transparent Surveillance of Suspects for Building Trust between Citizens and Their Governments

The most intrusive parts used in law enforcement surveillance operations are the pieces of surveillance equipment and the data they produce. At the moment, no authenticated permission token is needed. If a token is not required, this simply means that the usage cannot be monitored. There is not even proof of correct usage of the equipment. A similar kind of a problem exists with the data produced by the processes. With the current systems, it cannot be determined when, where and by whom the data were produced. Also, it cannot be said whether the collected data are the same kind of data that were authorized to be collected. When coercive methods are used, the authority should be asked if the equipment is able to work without a token, if there is someone who knows about the operation and can be identified, if the equipment can be used without authorization, if the amount of data can be identified, and if the equipment used has been under control the entire time.