SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DIVISION

A history of technical and scientific achievementBy Deputy Commissioner Jim Allen

n moving on to a Deputy

Commissioner’s position with

----- the AFP, I would have to say

that the past 31 months or so as

Assistant Commissioner

responsible for Science and

Technology have proved to be

some of the most testing, yet most

satisfying of my career.

Coming from an operational background and thrust into a world of technology - much of which proved to be starkly unfamiliar - the challenge was like none other I had experienced in the previous 31 years. Opportunity permitting it is, however, an experience no-one should pass up.

Having occasionally heard many of our operational people refer to Science and Technology as the junior portfolio,I want to make clear just how wide of the mark that inane and overworked observation is. Though, from some quarters, lip service alone often has been given to Science and Technology’s innate value - one clearly ought not castigate the ignorant or uninitiated.

With an annual budget of $14 million - excluding salaries - Science and Technology not only commands some of the most important projects and enterprises upon which the AFP has embarked, but is one of the substantial ingredients in the menu through which

Deputy Commissioner Jim Allen

Appointed AFP Deputy Commissioner on December 20, 1994, Jim Allen was for slightly more than two-and-a-half years Assistant Commissioner for Science and Technology.

A professional police officer with over 31 years experience in a full range of policing and law enforcement duties, his career has included territorial, federal and international law enforcement environments, external secondments, overseas service, internal security and audit and administration.

Deputy Commissioner Allen holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Monash) and is a graduate of the Australian Joint Services Staff College. In 1993 he was awarded the Australian Police Medal for distinguished service.

From 1986 to 1988, Mr Allen was the AFP’s Senior Liaison Officer to Washington DC with responsibilities in North and South America. In 1989 he was seconded to the US Department of Defense, Office of the Inspector-General, where he undertook and published a study on defence procurement fraud. He was appointed Assistant Commissioner in April 1992 heading the Science and Technology portfolio until his appointment as Deputy Commissioner.

the AFP will forge its future as a first class national and international law enforcement agency.

While Information and Technology Division under Dr Rick Wood, and Electronic and Technical Division under Barry Matson have made significant contributions to the AFP, perhaps because of forensic science’s more public face, the work of Dr James Robertson in bringing the AFP’s Forensic Services

Division to the leading-edge laboratory and quality service agency we now have, is undoubtedly an exceptional performance.

A number of personnel have now graduated in forensic disciplines as we move toward forensic laboratory accreditation. Others have successfully pursued more traditionally acknowledged academic studies.

The AFP also has successfully undergone an external review of the continued need for telecommunications interception, and has completed a far- reaching and ultimately beneficial review of Police Technical Units. Such reviews will always be accompanied by some personal heartache, whether instigated from inside or outside the organisation.

After many years of the AFP administering telecommunications interception on behalf of other state and federal agencies, in 1994 several of the state police services and the National Crime Authority assumed responsibility for telephone interception in their own right.

Ultimately, however, we rise and fall on our individual and collective abilities and on our resilience. I am proud to say that the Science and Technology team has come through with flying colours.

It has been a privilege for me to have worked with some of our agency’s foremost professionals. 1 include not only those at the upper limits of the three divisions, who are professionals in the purest sense, but also those many operational and support personnel within the technical, forensic and information technology disciplines. Without the dedication and continued high-level performance of these people, the many successes experienced in pursuing our core business would have been much more difficult to sustain.

These remarks extend also to my front office staff and the support personnel in each of the three divisions, who are essentially Science and Technology’s hidden human dimension. Without their tireless efforts the entire portfolio would have ground to a halt long ago.

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When the AFP was formed in 1979, the ACT Police, the Commonwealth Police and the Federal Narcotics Bureau had their own science and technology specialists.

The current AFP Science and Technology Division can trace its origins to those days when these elements combined in an environment where necessity truly was the mother of invention. The following articles prepared by members of each division trace the origin and development of this essential function in the AFP.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ELECTRONIC SERVICES

At the time of the formation ot the AFP each of the three law enforcement agencies had their own group of technical officers responsible for providing support to radio communications and electronic equipment. During those first months, discussions were held to decide what to do with these three groups of technical people, who should he the boss and to whom they should answer. The result was Electronic Services Branch as part of Services Division.

In the first years of its life, Electronic Services Branch was busy installing and commissioning the first telecommuni­cations interception facility, upgrading or installing radio communications systems throughout Australia and providing direct support to operations groups using specialised electronic equipment. As well, several projects were commenced including development of a relatively cheap vehicle tracking system using off-the-shelf equipment.

In 1985, with formation of Police Technical Units (PTU) in Eastern, Southern and Northern Regions and their rapid expansion to meet demand, the branch was soon considered to he of sufficient size and importance to become a division. Electronic and Technical Services Division (ETD) came into existence.

The PTUs brought to the AFP a group of members whose time could be dedicated to learning and using the techniques of installing specialised equipment. Police Technical Units have since been established in Canberra and Perth with the same high standard of work applying.

In radio communications too, things were on the move. In the regions, secure voice equipment was becoming more readily available and in the ACT a new communications control centre was installed. In more recent times, the latest digital transmission techniques have been placed into service.

The AFP moved into new headquarters in 1987. Members of the division became closely involved when it was decided that a complete new suite of telecommunications interception equipment should be installed for the move. The system was installed on time and until technology changes caught up, it was the model for other law enforcement agencies in Australia.

The system has been only recently replaced hy the latest computer-based equipment using optical disks to record audio, and capable of taking full advantage of the latest developments in technology.

With the decision by Government to require the recording of pre-charge interviews for serious crimes, the division become responsible for the acquisition and installation of the appropriate equipment. The task was completed in time tor the legislation to come into force in October 1991.

Since its inception, the division has become involved in many areas of concern to the AFP, both within Australia and overseas. As examples of some of these, the AFP is represented by ETD in aspects of the National Exchange of Police Infor­mation (NEPI), has a member on several of the Standards Australia committees, and represents the AFP at the Law Enforcement Advisory Committee (LEAC) meetings, the Working Group on International Technical Support (WITS) meetings, and at the Interpol Standing Committee on Information Technology (SCIT) meetings in Lyons, France.

Electronic and Technical Division now has several branches that cover a wide range of electronic and communications matters. The division has a role in directly supporting operations both nationally and in the community policing of the ACT. Operational support is supplied by the Police Technical Units in the use of specialised electronic equipment, and Technical Applications Branch against computer-based crime. Further essential

support is provided by Electronic Services Branch in maintenance of electronic and communications equipment as well as development of the radio communications systems and provision of video recordings of crime scenes and for training. Engineering Development Branch, the most recent addition, provides those skills necessary to keep abreast of telecommunications technology and to develop the equipment necessary to maintain the AFP’s abilities in the specialised electronics used by the PTUs.

FORENSIC SERVICES

The former Commonwealth Police Fingerprint Bureau consisted of two fingerprint experts, a small document examination bureau and photographic support located in Sydney. One member of the former Commonwealth Police worked at the Lucas Heights Atomic Energy facility performing neutron activation analysis.

The former ACT Police was supported by a small forensic group working from cramped offices on the first floor of the City Police Station in downtown Canberra. This group provided crime scene examination, fingerprint expertise, ballistic expertise, and a photographic service. The darkrooms in use at the time would give a modern day occupational health and safety officer heart failure.

In 1980, the group moved into the comparative luxury of a purpose designed building at the Weston Services Centre in the ACT, and has remained there until the present day.

The structure of the group has seen many changes since amalgamation, including the Fingerprint Branch leaving forensic and coming under the control of the Criminal Records Branch and subsequently returning.

The group was originally under the control of a senior sergeant until 1985, when the now renamed Scientific Branch was placed under the control of Information Systems, Scientific Services Division (ISSSD). The structure of the branch was changed to provide for an inspector-in-charge with a station sergeant as second-in-charge.

In 1989, the branch underwent a further internal restructure and AFP

No. 46 March 1995

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

management decided to increase the profile of forensic services by creating a Forensic Services Division (FSD) headed by an assistant secretary. At that stage, several branches were formed within the division according to the services provided. Dr James Robertson was appointed to head the division in early 1990.

Since then, FSD has made great progress in the extent of and standard of service provided to the AFR Today the base of the division in Canberra contains the Crimes Scenes Branch, Fingerprints Branch (with a section in Sydney and Melbourne), Firearms and Ballistics Branch, Training and Standards Branch as well as an administrative cell.

Perhaps the major change in Canberra was the formation of the Scientific Branch staffed by forensic scientists. This branch operates from recently refurbished and excellently equipped laboratories that are of a world-class standard. In 1995, this branch will also be able to provide an in-house DNA testing service.

Sydney remains the base of the Document Examination Branch with a small section in Melbourne and the Physical Evidence Branch with sections in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.The Physical Evidence Sections have been involved in the investigations of most of the major drug importations into Australia.

FSD has been a world leader in the area of forensic education. In conjunction with the Canberra Institute of Technology, FSD staff have designed and conducted Associate Diplomas in Applied Science in the fields of crime scene investigation fingerprint investigation, and document investigation.

COMPUTING IN THE AFP

Following the amalgamation of the ACT and Commonwealth Police, the need was identified for the AFP to have a common database and automatic data processing (ADP) facilities. Up to the end of 1979, all processing had been carried out at the Department of Health Computer Centre at Alexander Building in the Canberra suburb of Phillip.

The AFP started off with two IBM 360/65 computers in July 1980 and

communication lines were in place and functioning for the Ships Painters and Dockers Royal Commission in September 1980.

The nation-wide network was planned and was well established by the end of 1980 when all states were on line.

One of the first packages installed was the Master Names Index Facility (MN1FTY) database followed by the Intelligence database (INTEL), the forerunner of our current INTELL system. The INTELL system was requested by Costigan and Meagher to trace the Mone;y Link as it was then called.

The communication lines to Melbourne for the Costigan Royal Commission were encrypted with IBM encryption units. Following the Melbourne connection, Randata, an Australian Perth-based company introduced the first locally produced and supplied encryption units.

The Department of Health started to push for the return of some of its space and the AFP was forced to purchase new equipment. Then came the NAS 6600 units. One a 6630 and the other a 6650. Disk drives were upgraded to the NAS permanently mounted drives and disk failures became a thing of the past. During the remaining two years at the Alexander Building, the AFP shared the ground floor with Department of Health. Security was innovative and functioned well. The equipment was finally moved to the Weston site in August 1984-

New disk drives were installed at the Weston Site and one of the two NAS 6600 computers was moved in. Telecom was requested to prepare for the move of telecom lines from the Alexander Building to Weston. On the night in question all databases were frozen in inquiry state only, a copy was made and transferred under police guard to Weston. The databases were backed up on the new disks and the system was brought up in inquiry state at Weston.

The Telecom lines were switched one at a time at the Telecom exchange. Most users experienced only a short interruption, one as little as 30 seconds. Some lines failed but all were up and operational within two hours. The databases were placed in update mode and the Alexander site closed down.

The two NAS 6600 machines worked well for some years, but in 1986 a NAS 8043 system replaced one of them.The remaining machine was replaced by a AMDAHL 5860 in May 1988.This was later upgraded to a 5870 and the second AMDAHL 5870 was purchased from the Department of Finance in 1989.

In 1992 two 5870 AMDAHL machines were replaced by one AMDAHL 5890. This supports both the development and production load on one physical but two logical computers.

In January 1990 the installation of the much delayed Uninterruptible Power Supply(UPS) was finalised.This had been planned for in 1980 but cuts in building money and other financial constraints had delayed its final installation. The rooms had been built in the original contract and were converted back from store rooms to their original purpose. Following this move, the AFP Computer Centre became protected from all power failures.

In mid-1990 local area networks (LANs) were introduced into the AFP.

This technology gives the user greater control over the computing environment than is possible with the traditional mainframe environment.It also provides greater flexibility and functionality. It is for these reasons the LAN technology has been embraced by users and has resulted in the rapid growth of LANs through the organisation, so much so that the LANs have become a corporate resource.

The LAN environment will become the foundation for the new computing environment identified in the Information Technology Strategic Plan. This means that the look and feel of the new environment will be much the same as the existing LAN environment.

Information Technology Division’s head, Dr Rick Wood, has said the introduction of the LAN environment to the AFP has greatly enhanced its ability to meet the present and future business needs of the organisation and has expanded the AFP’s computing horizons in ways limited more by the imagination of each LAN user than by the capabilities of the technology.

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