The NOC
Investigative knowledge & modus operandi research
An investigative-unit commander approached me with a knowledge-retention challenge: retirements and promotions were taking decades of detectives’ experience out of the unit. The team needed a way to preserve knowledge of offender modus operandi and make it accessible to newer detectives working cases.
Working with the unit’s lead detective, I designed, built, and deployed a database-driven application to record and search that information. I created a normalized SQLite database, a data-entry interface, and a query interface that translated detectives’ selections into dynamically constructed SQL queries. SQLite provided local storage without requiring a separate database server.
The problem
Valuable investigative knowledge was held largely in experienced detectives’ memories and risked being lost as personnel moved on.
My contribution
Collaborated with the lead detective to design the data model, build entry and search interfaces, and implement selection-driven SQL queries.
What it delivered
A searchable knowledge resource that preserved offender-pattern information and helped newer detectives access accumulated investigative experience.