I-Corps: Innovative Use of Internet Classifieds in Law Enforcement Investigations

该项目涉及对大量在线信息使用机器学习技术，以确定在执法实践和公共政策中有用的模式。公共数据的数量和复杂性使得试图查明非法活动的调查部门无法进行人工浏览和跟踪。例如，有必要使侦查人口贩运、特别是性贩运的信息模式的过程自动化。互联网的普及使利用贩运受害者的犯罪者能够在广告网站上寻求服务。这些数据是公开提供的，其中包含的信息可能有助于执法调查人员了解犯罪模式和追踪犯罪人。该团队建议研究他们为此任务开发的原型分析工具的商业化机会。这项技术可以节省时间，并通过提供新的线索，否则会错过提高执法的生产力和有效性。该项目提供了一个框架，用于展示机器学习研究的实际效用，以前由NSF资助，在其社会重要应用的重点背景下。拟议的创新有可能彻底改变美国地方、州和联邦各级的调查过程。大量的在线数据目前没有得到充分利用。该项目旨在纠正这一问题，以造福社会。它将提高各级（地方、州、联邦）执法实践的效率，促进跨机构合作，并加强公共政策研究。拟议的创新还将在利用公共数据源检测和绘制其他非法行为（例如，销售被盗和假冒商品）和非非法行为（例如，经济活动，求职，生活方式和公共卫生）的模式方面具有更广泛的应用。

This project addresses the use of machine learning techniques on massive on-line information for identifying patterns useful in law enforcement practice and public policy. The quantity and complexity of public data make it impractical for manual browsing and tracking by investigative forces seeking to identify illegal activities. For example, there is a need to automate the process of detection of informative patterns in human trafficking, and especially sex trafficking. Ubiquity of the Internet provides the perpetrators, who take advantage of trafficking victims, with the ability to solicit services on advertisement web sites. This data is publicly available and contains information potentially useful to law enforcement investigators to understand crime patterns and to track the perpetrators. This team proposes to study the commercialization opportunity of a prototype analytic tool which they developed for the task. This technology may save time and increasing law enforcement productivity and effectiveness by providing new leads that would otherwise be missed.This project provides a framework for demonstrating practical utility of machine learning research previously funded by NSF in a well-focused context of its societally important application. The proposed innovation has the potential to revolutionize the investigative process in the US at local, state, and federal levels. The vast amount of data online is currently underutilized. This project seeks to remedy this for general benefit of society. It would improve efficiency of law enforcement practice at all levels (local, state, federal), facilitate cross-agency collaboration, as well as enhance public policy studies. The proposed innovation will also have a broader application in leveraging public sources of data for detection and mapping of patterns of other illicit behaviors (e.g. sale of stolen and counterfeit goods) and non-illicit behaviors (e.g. economic activity, job seeking, lifestyle, and public health).