Peregrine Alternatives

Modern law enforcement agencies depend on technology to make the most of limited resources and personnel. A key tool is a data management system that enables easy access, consolidation, and organization of critical investigative information. Agencies considering alternatives to Peregrine typically look for systems that:

• Prioritize user-friendliness to ensure swift and effortless information retrieval, enabling field officers to obtain required information promptly and independently of crime
• Enhance officers’ situational awareness and bolster officer safety.
• Interface with a wide variety of data sources, simplifying the task of assembling the investigative puzzle.
• Seamlessly integrate with other investigative software, such as license plate recognition (LPR) and case management software.

Note: CrimeTracer’s law enforcement data management system includes all the features just discussed. You can read about it in detail below or reach out to our sales team to learn more about how CrimeTracer can help your agency expedite investigations.

Peregrine is a company that provides data management solutions for law enforcement and public safety agencies. Its platform is designed to help agencies collect, organize, and analyze investigative data, aiming to support efficient case management and improve operational effectiveness. Peregrine’s tools typically focus on enabling secure information sharing, collaboration, and streamlined workflows within and across departments.

What Are the Leading Peregrine Alternatives?

While many agencies have adopted Peregrine as a core component of their investigative process, it may not meet every need or use case.

This article explores alternative solutions, with a focus on CrimeTracer’s law enforcement data management system and the features that make it a compelling option for agencies to consider.

Peregrine Alternative # 1: CrimeTracer

CrimeTracer, formerly recognized as COPLINK X, stands as a robust search engine granting access to over 1 billion local and state law enforcement records, supplemented by billions more sourced from the National Data Exchange (N-DEx), the Law Enforcement Information Exchange (LinX), the Thomson Reuters CLEAR database of public records, and various other repositories.

CrimeTracer leverages AI, particularly its natural language search capabilities, to deliver highly relevant search results that can expedite investigations. The platform also generates link charts to visualize relationships between people, vehicles, and other entities found in records. Additionally, it provides geographic maps that highlight crime patterns in specific areas, offering valuable insights for command staff, investigators, and the communities they support.

Key Feature # 1: Generate Tactical Leads Through an Intuitive, User-Friendly Platform, Empowering Officers and Accelerating Investigations

Effective investigations depend on strong leads and the right tools. CrimeTracer’s upcoming AI chatbot release is designed to simplify the search process by removing the complexity from traditional workflows. By allowing users to enter queries in plain language—whether describing a lead or a potential suspect—the chatbot provides a faster, more intuitive way to uncover critical information.

Recognized as the “Google for cops,” CrimeTracer earns accolades from departments for its accessibility. Captain Aaron Yarnell of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office highlighted, “The most significant aspect of CrimeTracer is its user-friendliness. The interface is clean and simple. Our officers can navigate it with minimal instruction… it’s an intuitive database.”

Several other databases entail multiple steps, numerous logins, and frequent password changes, as Yarnell notes, posing challenges for officers accustomed to a particular investigative workflow. However, with CrimeTracer, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office managed to deploy the application seamlessly through their mobile management program for cell phones and iPads, ensuring easy accessibility for all officers and investigators within the department.

Key Feature # 2: Rapid Search Capability Enhances Situational Awareness and Protects Officer Safety

For officers and investigators who frequently operate in the field, responding to incidents, attending crime scenes, and interacting with witnesses, tools that enhance situational awareness and prioritize officer safety are paramount. CrimeTracer furnishes essential historical information, providing field officers with the contextual understanding necessary to ensure their safety.

For instance, whenever a user conducts a search using a name, license plate, or address, the system automatically consolidates and presents a comprehensive list of every interaction associated with that entity. By reviewing the list of incident types, officers can swiftly grasp an overview of all previous involvements of the targeted individual, vehicle, or location, irrespective of the involved agencies. CrimeTracer generates a “Tag Cloud” featuring the most prevalent names, plates, and addresses linked to any queried person, place, or object, facilitating investigative teams in identifying patterns. In contrast, similar searches conducted within the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) or against state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) systems do not yield such extensive data richness.

CrimeTracer’s Person Search feature provides investigators with a detailed view of a suspect’s activity, including frequented locations based on their documented history of interactions. This context equips officers—whether in a patrol car, at a doorstep, or interviewing a witness—with critical safety insights. Being aware of a subject’s violent history or past resistance to law enforcement enables officers to take appropriate precautions and make more informed decisions, ultimately leading to improved outcomes.

Criminal activity moves quickly, and law enforcement must respond just as fast. For example, when tracking a suspect in a shooting, it’s vital to share descriptive details with other officers and jurisdictions immediately.

CrimeTracer’s Crime Bulletin feature enables authorized agencies to upload BOLOs and urgent alerts, which are instantly distributed nationwide. Agencies can customize notifications, filtering alerts by source or topic. Within minutes of a bulletin being issued, any CrimeTracer user can locate it via search. Officers in the field can also access bulletins from other jurisdictions, enhancing both situational awareness and public safety.

Key Feature # 3: Extensive Data Sources Guarantee Thorough and Precise Data Outputs

CrimeTracer brings together data from over 1.3 billion records, integrating sources like RMS, CAD, LPRs, ShotSpotter, JMS, court warrants, Thomson Reuters CLEAR, and more. It draws from both your agency’s systems and those of neighboring jurisdictions. Agencies consistently highlight the value of this broader access. As Assistant Chief of the Knoxville Police Department David Powell notes, “The key benefit is retrieving police reports from other agencies. It offers insight not just locally, but from across the country, helping us better understand individuals, their networks, and their activities.

Furthermore, CrimeTracer can work in tandem with other SoundThinking products like ShotSpotter and PlateRanger to produce a faster and better investigative response.

For example, if gunfire is detected, a ShotSpotter alert provides a precise location of the incident within one minute. Officers will then secure the area and can run an LPR solution, such as PlateRanger, to scan nearby vehicle plates, capturing critical evidence in real-time. Investigators can access PlateRanger’s fixed cameras to track suspect vehicles leaving the area.  Then, CrimeTracer can connect license plates to people, analyze relationships, and uncover leads across jurisdictions, advancing real-time policing.

Key Feature #4: Seamless Integration with LPR Solutions and Case Management Software

Integration with LPR Solutions

Unlike many competitors, CrimeTracer seamlessly integrates with a wide range of sources and systems.

As we discussed in the previous section, CrimeTracer can integrate with LPR solutions to effectively expedite investigations. We’ve added some new LPR fields to CrimeTracer to search the PlateRanger data and bring those results back into CrimeTracer.

For example, in the context of the armed robbery investigation listed in this demo scenario, we can search for the make, model, and color of the suspect vehicle based on witness statements. We can then zoom in on the area where the robbery occurred, draw a polygon, and add the date and time of the incident, and click Search.

From there, we see that the LPR camera caught a vehicle matching that description at that time, with an accompanying license plate. We can then check if any matching vehicles in CrimeTracer match this description, and from there, identify who the vehicle belongs to. With this information, we have what we need to pursue this lead in the armed robbery.

Seamless Integration with LPR Solutions and Case Management Software

Real-time intelligence often stems from information tied to ongoing investigations. CaseBuilder, part of SoundThinking’s SafetySmart platform, enables investigators to create digital case folders that organize documents, scene details, officer notes, CCTV footage, citizen tips, and other relevant evidence into a searchable, indexed repository.

Thanks to its integration with CrimeTracer, CaseBuilder simplifies the process of searching for individuals. With a single click, users can launch a search, leading to two key outcomes:

• Exact Match: If the individual exists in one of the databases accessible through CrimeTracer, users can instantly view a profile that includes demographics, mugshots, and more, and quickly attach that data to the case folder.
• Network Discovery: If no exact match is found, users can explore related connections. For example, CrimeTracer might identify a sibling or associate, reveal shared addresses, and surface other individuals tied to those locations. All this information can be added to CaseBuilder with a click, providing new leads and deeper context for the case.

Importing a CrimeTracer lead into CaseBuilder – 10-second overview

Conclusion

Faced with budget constraints and staffing shortages, police departments nationwide are under growing pressure to address the rising crime rate. To meet these challenges, agencies are leveraging technology to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

Platforms like CrimeTracer—a law enforcement search engine and data management solution—empower officers with critical tools to support smarter decision-making, enhance situational awareness, and promote officer safety, ultimately leading to better outcomes in the field.