Overcoming Sustainability Challenges and Risks
Even well-established CGICs experience setbacks and most CGICs that fail do not do so overnight. Instead, they gradually lose momentum as leadership changes, personnel leave, priorities shift, established processes stop being followed, or partners disengage. The key is to recognize those warning signs early and correct them before they affect investigations or program performance.
The strategies below can help prevent problems, address them when they appear, and ultimately help sustain the program in the long term.
Leadership Turnover and Transitions
Leadership changes can quickly affect program support and jeopardize the CGIC’s future. To counter this risk and ensure that incoming leadership and decision-makers are well informed to make good decisions, they should be briefed early on the CGIC process and how crime gun intelligence has connected shootings, identified offenders, recovered firearms, and supported prosecutions. Agencies should leverage current performance data to show how the CGIC supports their violence reduction strategy. To further mitigate sustainability risks associated with leadership transitions, it is also important to build support throughout the organization so the program is not dependent on a single champion. The collection of resources below can help inform incoming leadership about what a CGIC is and why it works.
Policies and Procedures
Successful CGICs rely on documented workflows, not institutional memory. It is crucial to document and formalize all procedures related to CGIC operations to enhance sustainability success, including evidence submission, NIBIN processing, intelligence development, lead dissemination, case reviews, investigative follow-up, and information sharing. Responsibilities should also be clearly defined in policy. Policies and procedures should be reviewed regularly to keep them current, practical, and aligned with daily operations as things adjust and evolve. Agencies should ensure that if one or more roles are removed from the CGIC workflow, there is clear guidance indicating what a replacement must do. Below are some examples of comprehensive CGIC SOPs.
Staffing and Single Points of Failure
Personnel changes are inevitable. Chiefs retire, supervisors promote, analysts transfer, and investigators move to other assignments. That is why CGICs should prepare for turnover before it happens. A sound strategy is to cross-train investigators, analysts, supervisors, and forensic personnel, by using mentoring, job shadowing, and on-the-job training to transfer knowledge. It is also important to maintain reference guides, case examples, and lessons learned so new personnel can quickly assume key responsibilities. The resource below can help ensure that a comprehensive succession plan is in place for different CGIC positions.
Organizational Culture and Buy-In
Generating buy-in is often harder than buying equipment and a strong culture requires continual reinforcement. Cultural change happens organically and is the result of coordinated efforts sustained over time. In addition to the steps discussed previously, agencies can foster buy-in and reinforce cultural change by training personnel on how crime gun intelligence works and how it can improve investigations. Sharing successful cases and recognizing personnel who follow CGIC processes and share information can further increase buy-in for the CGIC program because people tend to support what they see working. It is important to reinforce that crime gun intelligence is part of everyday police work and not a special assignment. In turn, this collective understanding will propel lasting cultural change. The resources below can help build awareness for the CGIC model from the ground up.
Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement
Maintaining stakeholder engagement is an ongoing challenge that affects all CGICs. Stakeholders remain engaged when their priorities align with those of the CGIC. In the same manner that it is crucial to close the feedback loop to recognize the work of individuals who contributed to successful investigations, stakeholders should also be recognized for their contributions in fulfilling common goals.
It is also important to develop opportunities for the various stakeholders to be active participants. Periodically sharing operational metrics, holding regular partner meetings to discuss successes and lessons learned, and asking for feedback when improving workflows are some ways that personnel can be engaged and motivated. Structured, data-driven accountability meetings, such as GunStat, are one effective way to keep leadership and partners engaged. The resources below provide guidance on strategies for securing and sustaining stakeholder engagement.
“Once NIBIN leads are received within 8-48 hours by investigators, the culture and investigative buy-in for the program will change forever. The keys to sustainability are a quality SOP fostered by continued stakeholder involvement. Whether you are a department having regular NIBIN meetings or having informal case conversations, having all stakeholders working collectively together on violent crime is essential to longevity.”
Kevin Armbruster
Lieutenant (Retired), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Police Department
Funding
If the CGIC program was established through a grant, the sustainability of the program is inherently at risk because maintaining a CGIC requires funding. Agencies should plan early to transition critical positions, equipment, software, and training that may have been funded through grants into their regular operating budget whenever possible.
Administrators should have a plan to absorb operating costs into the regular budget or identify additional funding sources before external funding sources end. Securing funding is an ongoing challenge that requires a meticulous approach to collect performance metrics that help justify the existence of the program and ensure it remains funded. This should be a consideration from the very beginning.
Agencies should proactively plan for the replacement of critical technology, like BrassTrax terminals, and associated maintenance contracts. Because budgeting and procurement processes often take significant time, sometimes years to complete, replacement planning should begin well before equipment reaches end-of-life to ensure uninterrupted operations. The resource below can help plan for sustaining CGIC funding beyond the life of a grant.
