Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin has announced a partnership between his office, the Lehigh County Regional Intelligence and Investigation Center and the Washington field office for Homeland Security Investigations to address transnational criminal activity involving gangs has resulted in a $1.1 million grant.

“Today I am extremely pleased to announce that as a result of this partnership, the U.S. Government through HSI is awarding a grant in the amount of $1.1 million to the district attorney of Lehigh County for my use and the exclusive use of the RIIC to continue development of the gang intelligence application for the benefit of both HSI, the RIIC, the citizens of the Lehigh Valley, and the citizens of the United States, Martin said. “Having the ability through the RIIC to track and understand the inter-intra dynamics of gangs and to break apart these criminal networks in our region has helped us on a local level and is scalable for a regional, state or national level.

“I am extremely pleased that we in Lehigh County are able to provide this assistance to HSI and, of course, very appreciative of the grant funding which will permit us to build out this system to its full potential.

“This will enhance public safety here in the Lehigh Valley and wherever it is implemented and operational.”

Julia Kocis, director of the RIIC, worked very closely with Joseph M. Day, then chief intelligence officer at HSI Philadelphia to initiate a pilot of the RIIC’s gang intelligence application.

The gangs that operate in the Philadelphia region are involved in various illegal activities including narcotics, human trafficking, illegal firearms and violent crimes.

This area of responsibility includes the Lehigh Valley and is considered a pass-through route to cities such as Detroit, Chicago, and New York and to New Jersey.

The Washington and Virginia region experiences similar activities from transnational gangs.

In referencing the recent shooting at the Deja Vu night club in Allentown, Martin said at the news conference, the RIIC was key in locating many of the “actors” responsible for the shooting, though he declined to name any specific local gangs or individuals as potential participants.

Kocis employed the expertise of South Whitehall’s Computer Aid Inc. in developing the RIIC’s gang intelligence system software.

Funding was provided by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the Trexler Trust and forfeiture funds provided by the district attorney’s office.

The RIIC team will partner with Noblis, a non-profit technology company that serves government clients in the defense, intelligence, and federal civil sectors, to integrate advanced analytic capabilities into the RIIC’s Gang Intelligence application and provide engineering support to migrate it to the cloud.

“Further, I want to compliment and thank Julia Kocis, whose work at the RIIC has been and continues to be exceptional, and I thank and compliment Computer Aid, Inc. for their outstanding contributions to the development of the RIIC and especially the Gang Intelligence application,” Martin stated. “Last, but certainly not least, I thank and compliment Chief Intelligence Officer Joseph M. Day for his foresight, professionalism, and partnership.

“And of course, I thank the United States Government represented here by Sen. Pat Toomey, Homeland Security Investigations, and Officer Day for this $1.1 million grant.”