Of course, we all know that change is inevitable, and for law enforcement, this is no exception. With that said, we fully understand that change can raise a lot of questions, and at no time is this more apparent than following a corporate rebrand. In April 2023, there were a lot of changes announced at our company: ShotSpotter rebranded to SoundThinking, its suite of technology products was collectively named the SafetySmart Platform, and the product you have come to know as COPLINK X became CrimeTracer.
Many longtime COPLINK customers might be wondering: why? Specifically, why did we change our name to CrimeTracer? And more importantly: how will this change help support your agency’s ongoing mission to keep your community safe? In this blog post, we’ll discuss all of this.
But to fully understand all the changes in the present, let’s briefly revisit CrimeTracer’s past.
CrimeTracer’s History
CrimeTracer had its roots in Knowledge Computing Corporation’s COPLINK Detect, introduced in 1998. COPLINK Detect aggregated law enforcement documents and structured data and provided analytics, mapping, and alerting functions. The product was extremely popular and saw nationwide adoption between 2006 and 2015.
Meanwhile, in 2003, Forensic Logic launched the LEAP Network, a revolutionary law enforcement–focused search engine. The LEAP Network was able to take in and index a wide variety of structured and unstructured data, and it supported natural language searches.
In 2017, Forensic Logic acquired COPLINK Detect from IBM. At the time, the COPLINK Detect product, popular as it was, had some infrastructure and geographic limitations, particularly around how much data it could support, as well as around the number of nodes available to route the data across the United States.
This 2017 Forensic Logic acquisition was an opportunity to rearchitect COPLINK Detect from the ground up so it could become the product you know and recognize today: a powerful law enforcement information platform capable of accessing over 1.3 billion records using natural language and traditional search terms.
But, as effective as COPLINK X was in generating leads, the product by itself couldn’t manage the tracking, prioritization, augmentation or documentation of leads. It was only one piece of the puzzle.
It wasn’t until ShotSpotter acquired Forensic Logic (and COPLINK X) in 2022 that the COPLINK X product could ultimately find its forever home, becoming a critical component of a larger law enforcement lifecycle platform.
SoundThinking’s Corporate Rebrand: The Puzzle Pieces Come Together
In 2022, ShotSpotter acquired COPLINK X, and while this was a major milestone from both the ShotSpotter and COPLINK X perspectives, the puzzle was still incomplete. Why?
The COPLINK X product, as we discussed earlier, was on its own unable to manage the longitudinal journey of a lead, from crime scene to conviction. And ShotSpotter, though it supported an entire suite of public safety products, was still known primarily for its acoustic gunshot detection platform, which became increasingly limiting as time went on.
Ultimately, ShotSpotter’s corporate rebrand to SoundThinking helped everything click into place. The rebrand served as a critically important reminder that our company’s focus goes beyond gunshot detection. While ShotSpotter still remains a key product in the company’s technology suite, it is now one of four products in the SafetySmart Platform that work together to make neighborhoods safer and improve community confidence.
Similarly, the COPLINK X name change to CrimeTracer signifies an important shift in how we hope that others view our product: as one of four key products in a larger SafetySmart platform that ultimately provides the kind of cohesive platform needed to address all the challenges in policing today. Let’s take a closer look.
How CrimeTracer Fits Into the Larger SafetySmart Platform
SoundThinking’s SafetySmart Platform works in tandem with community programs to provide end-to-end support for law enforcement.
The effort starts with crime prevention, and providing communities the resources they need to deter crime and improve quality of life. SoundThinking’s Data for Good initiative focuses on directing critical services to at-risk communities based on ShotSpotter gunfire data.
Additionally, ResourceRouter, a resource management tool that automates the planning of directed patrols, reduces “over-policing” and provides transparency around engagement activities across an entire jurisdiction. It is also a valuable tool for crime prevention as it enables agencies to identify crime trends and better determine where additional resources are needed.
The goal, of course, is to prevent any gunfire from occurring. But in the event that gunfire occurs, ShotSpotter’s acoustic gunshot detection technology ensures officers can arrive at a scene promptly, render aid, collect evidence, speak to potential witnesses, and reassure the community.
Whether a gun crime or another crime has occurred, viable leads will need to be obtained and investigated, which is where CrimeTracer, the powerful law enforcement search engine and information platform, comes into play.
Once leads are generated they need to be tracked and prioritized, allowing CaseBuilder, a proven and secure investigation management platform, to capture, manage, augment and share investigative elements from a single, shared digital case folder. The platform’s investigation, analytics, and reporting tools make detectives more efficient and effective, enabling law enforcement agencies to achieve higher clearance rates.
Collectively, these tools work together to help officers in each stage of the law enforcement lifecycle, from crime prevention all the way to submitting a case to prosecution.
Why the SafetySmart Platform Works for Today’s Policing Landscape
In light of police staffing shortages and rising crime rates, police departments across the country are in great need of force-multiplying technologies that help keep communities safe and improve quality of life. CrimeTracer, and by extension the entire SafetySmart Platform, are geared toward every stage of the law enforcement lifecycle to precisely address this.
