Applying law enforcement technology to counterinsurgency operations

Joint Force Quarterly, July, 2007 by Giles Kyser, Matt Keegan, Samuel A. Musa

A Northrop Grumman proprietary system--the Biometric Automated Toolset (BAT)--provides the foundation for a technological enhancement to the current environment in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, BAT currently is not available at the checkpoint/ squad level, so important information is not in the hands of those who need it most: the Soldier or Marine on the checkpoint. Conversely, when one considers systems such as the one currently used in Chicago, the technological answer seems simple. But we must examine whether such successfully applied capabilities can overcome encounter-point demographic challenges, as well as the constraints imposed by rotation-driven SA limitations, insurgent and terrorist mobility, and detainee movement requirements.

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Because many of the tactical level operations currently conducted by coalition and Iraqi forces more closely resemble police work than traditional warfighting, adopting police techniques may help overcome stability and support operations problems. The conventional force-on-force operations for which the world's (and our) militaries were designed ended within months in Afghanistan and Iraq, and force requirements migrated toward constabulary and counterinsurgency capabilities. Many conventional units found themselves functioning in a police role for which they were untrained and ill equipped. Likewise, Iraqi security forces (to include police), whose local knowledge and cultural familiarity provide instant SA, cannot yet assume full responsibility for such operations. Consequently, coalition forces continue to conduct nontraditional, nonconventional missions within a culture whose willingness to accept policing by outsiders is problematic at best.

CLEAR and Associated Techniques

Juxtaposing this background with the success of the Chicago Police Department initiative drives our problem statement: How can the integration of police database and biometric identification capabilities improve stability and support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan?

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Modern American metropolitan police forces leverage information technology to overcome deficiencies in actionable intelligence when prosecuting law enforcement operations against gangs, drug cartels, and other organized crime. Biometric identification--using high-resolution hand, facial, or retinal scanning--eliminates the criminals' ability to disguise their identity regardless of demographic background or to fool captors. The complementary use of police systems and biometric scanning capability at the tactical level (squad), associated with appropriate sub-battalion level authorities and thresholds for action, will create conditions that will mitigate many limitations and act as a force multiplier for friendly units in exactly the same fashion as it has for U.S. law enforcement organizations. Such a capability, if deployed with patrolling formations, could be left with Iraqi security forces for continued use to ensure little loss of continuity once American forces begin to reduce their presence.