 Electronic Databases for the Fire/Arson Investigator
By Robert A. Corry
Director, Fire Investigation Specialist
American Re-Insurance
I. Law Enforcement Databases
II. Insurance Information Databases
III. Public Records Database Services
IV. CD-ROM Databases
V. The Internet
I. Law Enforcement Databases
Nearly every American law enforcement agency has, or has ready access
to, a computer terminal linking that department to the network of local,
state and federal government databases providing detailed information on
persons, motor vehicles and many other subjects of concern to police and
criminal investigators. Additionally, this same network provides the terminal
user with the ability to broadcast specific types of urgent information
from their department directly to a second department and also to regional,
national or even international police agencies.
Each state identifies its law enforcement database programs by a unique
acronym (name). Recognizing this, InterFIRE will describe the major categories
of law enforcement electronic information of interest to fire investigators.
Many developed nations have similar networks & databases.
How can a fire/arson investigator gain access to law enforcement databases?
Public Safety:
Your community's Fire Investigation Unit should contain law enforcement
personnel from municipal, county/state and federal law enforcement agencies.
Sworn police officers already have access to these databases. There are
penalties, including incarceration, for dissemination of information from
these databases to unauthorized persons. Consult with your local prosecutor
or system administrator to learn the rules governing your jurisdiction.
In an increasing number of jurisdictions, fire service personnel assigned
to fire/arson investigation units have become sworn "peace officers,"
Sheriff's Deputies, Special State Police Officers or U.S. Marshal Deputies
in order to gain authorization to use the law enforcement computer system,
to apply for and serve warrants, make arrests and carry weapons.
Training on the proper way to use these databases is available through
your state's law enforcement academies.
SIU or Claims Personnel:
Access to Law enforcement databases is usually restricted to police officers.
You have the ability to utilize public record databases that may contain
criminal docket information. Checking for law suits, judgments, liens and
attachments on a person under investigation for fraud may be helpful since,
increasingly, tort suits are filed by crime victims seeking restitution
or compensation for offenses committed against them or their property.
Some criminal records are public records. Records in trial courts of
grand jury indictments, arraignments and dispositions of trials are generally
public record. In most jurisdictions a police department's case assignment
and arrest records are also public record. Some of this information may
be available through a public record vendor database search. Check with
an attorney in the claim's jurisdiction to learn applicable state law on
this subject.
2. Important law enforcement databases for fire/arson investigators:
a. Wants/Warrants Database:
This database is queried to determine if a given person has arrest warrants
lodged against him/her. Generally, only felony warrants where the issuing
state agrees to extradite the wanted person are maintained in the NCIC (National
Crime Information Computer) maintained by the FBI. State level computers
maintain both felony and misdemeanor warrants. Persons or vehicles suspected
of involvement in a serious crime or, officially reported as "missing",
are sometimes identified in this database so the agency making the check
is alerted to this status.
To query this database authorities usually must have a name, address,
date of birth, social security number or alias or some combination of these.
"Name Only" searches are possible, but seldom used, with common
surnames. Most of these databases will support queries with a close misspelling
or even a phonetic pronunciation.
NCIC is capable of performing an "off-line" search that may
help track the movements of a specific individual over a period of time.
This search can be extended from local to national scope and can reveal
the date/time/locations where a suspect received a traffic ticket or was
queried for criminal or license or vehicle registration information. Because
this establishes the location of a suspect at an exact time this type of
search may be especially helpful in investigations involving a mobile serial
arsonist or a suspect in a major arson case.
b. Criminal History Database:
This database, called CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) in
many jurisdictions, is usually based on Board of Probation records. The
Board of Probation keeps track of criminal trial court dispositions on all
cases above minor misdemeanor crimes. A person convicted (or acquitted)
of various statutory offenses will usually have "a record" that
can often be electronically retrieved.
Note that juvenile records are usually inaccessible except under special
circumstances. Citizens who have a criminal record can, under certain circumstances,
have it sealed after remaining felony free for a minimum number of years.
In addition to records stored electronically in these databases there
are also several important categories of "paper" records on individual
defendants in court cases that fire/arson investigator's should be familiar
with.
Generally courts maintain three distinct paper files on each case. A
"Docket File" is maintained by the criminal clerk and keeps track
of arraignment, bail, case continuance and other notes and administrative
information. The "Probation Department File" usually contains
records of meetings, appointments, referrals and administrative and investigative
information. The "Police/Prosecutor's File" contains more information
about the criminal case and may include information not even present in
police investigative files.
c. Motor Vehicle Department Database:
The database maintained by the state's Department of Motor Vehicles contains
detailed information on registered motor vehicles of all types, personal
information of all licensed drivers and persons under suspension/revocation,
accident and motor vehicle driving record information and more.
A typical driver's license query usually contains information including
full name, last known address, date of birth, driver number/social security
number, maiden name and more. Most DMV databases can provide an alphabetized
list of operators that might be helpful in identifying next-of-kin.
Most DMV's can query their databases to product various types of results.
For example, most could provide a listing of licensed drivers who live on
given streets. This information could provide investigators with the identity
of adult neighbors around a suspect's residence.
DMV's usually can run a partial plate or even a vehicle description (make,
model, color, etc.) and produce a printout of similar vehicles with known
plates and owner and address information. This would give a fire investigator
the ability to run leads on a major or serious case.
Contact your DMV's "Special Investigation Unit" for additional
information on performing this type of search.
d. Stolen Article Database:
State and federal law enforcement agencies maintain computerized records
of many categories of property reported stolen. Vehicles, weapons, boats,
paintings, computers and innumerable other categories of goods are candidates
for inclusion into this database. If a fire/arson investigator comes across
an article with a defaced serial number or under circumstances that are
criminal in nature during a legal search a query may reveal a theft want.
e. AFIS (Fingerprint) Database:
A number of states and federal agencies such as the FBI maintain AFIS
(Automated Fingerprint Identification System) computers holding huge repositories
of digitized latent fingerprints from many individuals.
Convicted criminals, military personnel, persons who have applied for
firearm licenses, law enforcement officers and many others have fingerprints
on file. Latent fingerprints of unknown suspects from crime scenes are compared
against the AFIS database to identify the specific perpetrator. A fraction
of a latent print as large as the eraser on the end of a pencil may contain
enough points of comparison to make a positive identification.
Fire investigators need to know that pioneering work was done by the
Houston Fire Department to develop latent fingerprints on burned or sooted
objects from fire scenes. The AFT and FBI as well as many state level laboratories
have the ability to process burned or sooted materials for latent fingerprints.
If the laboratory/agency that processes evidence for fingerprints in your
jurisdiction is not presently capable of this contact the ATF National Laboratory,
1401 Research Blvd., Rockville, Maryland (Tel#301) 762 - 9800 and ask for
the Latent Fingerprint Section.
The FBI announced in late 1998 that they brought a National DNA database
on-line to help match blood, semen or other body products/tissue from crime
scenes, unknown persons or fire victims against known samples previously
collected from incarcerated criminals and others on file.
f. FinCEN:
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) was established in
1980 by the U.S. Department of Treasury to function a multi-agency financial
intelligence and analytical network to assist in investigation of money
laundering and other financial crimes. Federal agencies involved in FinCEN
include U.S. Customs, ATF, FBI, IRS, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and
others.
Since the profit motive is the major reason most criminal activity takes
place, including arson-for-profit schemes, the criminals involved are vulnerable
to identification of currency transfer and seizure and forfeiture of proceeds
from the crime. FinCEN collects, assesses and disseminates financial crime
intelligence and coordinates and supports sophisticated investigations aimed
at the financial side of criminal organizations.
When FinCEN receives inquiries from two different agencies on the same
criminal, it will provide in a secure manner the linkage to have the agencies
work together. Fire investigators who have investigations involving arson-for-profit
rings should contact their local ATF Field Office or state police Criminal
Information Section for most details about accessing FinCEN.
FinCEN's information sources fall into three major categories that could
be used in the course of arson investigation; Law Enforcement, Financial,
and Commercial Databases.
i. Law Enforcement Database -
This database provides, to qualified users, access to law enforcement databases
on the system containing information such as case indices files and "gateway"
databases which link into other electronic subsystems.
ii. Financial Database -
Contains information gleaned from reports filed by various types of financial
institutions and include information from Currency Transaction Reports
(CTR), Reports of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary
Instruments (CMIR); Currency Transactions Reported by Casinos (CTRC) and
Reports of Foreign Bank & Financial Accounts (FBAR) and Reports of
Cash Payments over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business (IRS Form 8300)
required by the IRS Code.
iii. Commercial Database -
FinCEN provides access into a variety of "public records" databases
valuable in locating people, conducting asset searches, records of real
estate purchase/sale transactions, courthouse records and other information.
g. ATF Arson and Explosives Incident System:
The ATF Arson and Explosives Incident System
will provide investigators with automated access to data on trends and incidents
regarding the criminal misues of explosives and arson incidents. Information
from the United States Fire Administration's (USFA's) National Fire Incident
Reporting System (NFIRS); the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's)
Bomb Data Center (BDC) and Uniform Crime Report (UCR); and the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' (ATF's) Arson and Explosives Incidents System
(AEXIS), as well as other sources, will be imported in to the Repository
and made available to authorized users. You may contact the Arson
and Explosives National Repository at: (202) 927-4590, FAX (202) 927-4570,
or http://ows.atf.treas.gov:9999/
II. Insurance Information Databases*
Today, a computer and the Internet are two very important tools for a
fire investigator. They allow access to a variety of existing databases,
which offer a wealth of information. Some of the most important insurance
industry databases for fire investigators are described here.
The insurance industry has been collecting claims loss data for many
years. Today, most insurers contribute information to a property-casualty
organization that maintains several large insurance loss history databases.
The information contained in these databases is mainly intended for use
by underwriters, claims and SIU personnel in official performance of their
different functions.
There are important differences in the extent of prior loss history information
between "Underwriting" and "Claims" databases.
The Underwriting database
An "Underwriting" database is intended to enable an underwriter
to verify the representations contained in an application for personal lines
or commercial insurance before the policy is issued for new business or
upon renewal. The underwriting database contains information on every single
claim submitted over the previous five years whether or not any settlement
was made and regardless of the amount of the claim. This database contains
submissions representing approximately 85% of the property/casualty insurance
industry's loss data.
Underwriters may query this database for prior loss history by supplying
any of the following information
Personal lines:
- Current and any former name (e.g. maiden name) or alias.
- Current and former addresses.
- Social security number.
- Date of birth.
- Policy numbers.
Commercial Lines:
- Current/previous business names and addresses.
- DBA (doing business as) names.
- Prior policy numbers.
- The names of one or more business partners.
- The Federal Tax ID number.
- The social security number of one or more owners, partners or corporate
officers.
Information contained in the underwriting database falls under the Fair
Credit Reporting Act. As such, results of queries made in the normal course
of underwriting are regarded as having the same level of protection as is
a person's credit history. Information from the underwriting database can
not be used for claim handling, special investigations or pre-employment
screening.
Access to the underwriting database is restricted to insurers who have
contributed a minimum of three to five years of loss data to the database.
The Insurance Claim Databases
The major insurance claim database receives claims information from over
1,500 insurance companies as well as 1,000 self-insureds representing 95%
of the applicable premium volume. The difference between claims loss information
in the underwriting database and the claim bases lies in completeness.
Whereas the underwriting database contains information on "every
single claim submitted over the previous five years whether or not any settlement
was made and regardless of the amount of the claim," the information
contained in the claims database is dependent on thresholds set in individual
insurance companies as to what they report. One company may choose to report
all claims made against it where another may report only claims over $5,000
or some other threshold.
Traditionally, insurance companies have gathered information and maintained
records on specific types of claims with a significant risk of fraud such
as bodily injury, property losses, worker's compensation and motor vehicle
claims. This information was isolated into databases covering a particular
type of loss i.e. fire claims.
Insurance fraud investigators have long wished for a single, combined
database that would merge all categories of claim information into a single
database to increase efficiency and save time.
The All Claims Database, promises to do just that. That database, called
ISO ClaimSearch, was developed by the Insurance Services Office (ISO) and
combines the AISG injury and property databases with the NICB Vehicle Database.
ISO ClaimSearch combines a number of formerly independent databases. These
include:
i. The Property Insurance Loss register (PILR) - PILR was established
in 1980 to help insurance carriers fight arson and other fraud in property
loss claims. More than 1200 property insurance carriers submit fire/arson,
burglary & theft losses representing over 95% of written premium. Each
year PILR receives more than 2 million new claims and issues 340,000 reports
indicating prior claim "hits" by the same individual or at the
same location. Today, this database includes loss information for all perils
including fire, theft & burglary losses. A PILR query may reveal the
following information about a loss under investigation:
- An insurer's prior claims;
- Duplicate coverage;
- Patterns of claims;
- Mortgages, partners, and other parties to the loss; and
- Potentially fraudulent claims.
ii. The Index System database - contains information on over
65 million bodily injury claim submissions. Each year participating carriers
report an additional 20 million new claims. One in three submissions results
in an outgoing report indicating a match between the claimant and past
bodily injury claims by that same person.
iii. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) which contained
65 million auto related claims.
iv. SOS-Plus database - This will connect the end user to loss
history on bodily injury and property loss claims as well as public records
and consumer and commercial information.
Searches across these various lines of insurance claims will be accomplished
through a single query to ISO ClaimSearch. This new database allows insurers
to expedite processing the majority of legitimate claims that are filed
as well as provide data for better benchmarking of claims handling performance.
This new database also makes it easier to detect patterns of fraud when
they exist and to uncover both organized fraud rings and the individual
opportunist. Using this database, it will be possible for an investigator
working in one line of insurance, such as workers compensation, to uncover
connections between the claimant under investigation and a previous auto
claim or arson fire.
A basic fire/arson investigation should, as a matter of routine practice,
include a check of the victim's claim history.
ISO ClaimSearch presently contains over 100 million claims including
personal and commercial property as well as bodily injury claims. It is
the largest database of property/casualty claims information in the United
States. The database is searched on and matching claims information is returned
to the company either electronically or on paper. Twenty million new claims
are filed annually and the database is expected to grow to 200 million claims
within three years.
The database also earmarks claims that have been determined to be "suspicious
or potentially fraudulent" in nature. These claims are regularly reported
to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) and are also part of ISO ClaimSearch,.
The property information that is returned can assist the investigator
in determining what that individual's experience is concerning property
losses.
The database will provide a 6+ year history of losses including:
- Loss history information on the individual or business.
- Specific past loss history information on the address where the current
loss took place.
- Information on all of the parties to the loss including spouses, lien
holders, banks, mortgage companies & individuals.
- Coverage Information including the carrier involved in the prior loss,
the amount of coverage, the policy number and other important information.
This query helps identify multiple or duplicate coverage's on the same
building.
Matching prior claims
Matching claims in the bodily injury, property and auto areas can also
be important to an investigator. The individual's overall claims experience
can provide valuable insight into a potential financial motive. A determination
of the claims history of the business or individual should be made as early
in the course of the investigation as possible.
How this is done.
Ninety-seven percent of the information that flows into the insurance
databanks is sent electronically. Some individual companies may send up
to 20,000 claims a day. These are filed and indexed in various ways. Information
material is sorted by social security number, address, name, former name,
alias, date of accident, type of injury, location of accident. Also on file
are a claimant's occupation, license number, policy number, doctor or treatment
facility and vehicle identification number
To track multiple claimants the computers are programmed to look for
names exactly or phonetically as well as by different variations such as
in Robert, Robbie and Bob. Streets addresses may be searched in a variety
of ways as in #10 Main, #10 Main St., #10 Main Ave, etc. Databases are set
to red flag addresses from penal facilities as well as from Post Office
boxes.
An example:
Imagine an insurer experiencing a very significant increase in bodily
injury claims related to automobile accidents occurring within a relatively
small geographic area. A database search reveals no discernible patterns
among those filing the claims but does reveal a large number of these victims
are receiving medical treatment by a single medical provider. This may
be an important lead in an fraud scheme.
In another case, an individual with a large "slip and fall"
injury claim was unwilling to provide medical records or any details of
the cause or circumstances resulting in the injury. A search under the
claimant's name revealed no prior claims, but a search under the claimant's
social security number revealed 12 previous bodily injury claims under
12 different names. Additional searches uncovered a relationship between
this claimant, a medical provider and an attorney.
Searches of this database would also be able to identify when claims
for a certain form of injury are higher in particular area of the country.
It might also turn up indications of a larger proportion of house fires
in a particular geographic area.
How do fire/arson investigators gain access to insurance information
databases?
Public Safety:
Fire related information is currently reported by the American Insurance
Service Group (AISG) to 22 State Fire Marshals on a monthly basis. State
Fire Marshals in certain states have limited access to the All Claims Database.
The investigator should contact their State Fire Marshal's Office, or equivalent
agency, to see if they already have access. If not, the agency should make
application. State Fire Marshal investigators should be a part of the fire
investigation team.
All Claims Database searches are a standard feature of professional SIU
investigations. Public safety personnel may be able to acquire search results
by filing an Arson Immunity Request according to their state law. Public
investigators, for the most part, may see this information only if it is
already included in any files they receive under applicable arson immunity
laws.
SIU or Claims Personnel:
If your insurance company is a member organization to AISG and has contributed
claims loss data according to their standards then you are eligible to query
the All Claims Database. If they do not, they need to make certain that
the loss claimed has been reported to AISG by your Insurance Company and
that they are now eligible to obtain copies of any matching reports.
III. Public Records Database Services:
Horse & Buggy Days
Only as few short years ago basic training for fire/arson investigators
included a monotonous process called the "Paper Chase." After
a fire was classified incendiary, an avenue that needed to be explored on
insured property was a possible "arson-for-profit" scheme.
A fire investigator was detailed to go down to the County Registry of
Deeds and search voluminous paper records to find out who actually owned
the building, what was paid for it, how much was the mortgage, if there
were tax liens and an assortment of other problems possibly affecting the
owner's solvency or the building's value. In the Civil Clerk's Office efforts
were made to learn if there were suits or other legal instruments affecting
the building or owner. In still another place, the Probate Office, were
the records of divorce and so forth. Few fire/arson investigators ever became
proficient in the "Paper Chase." Many prosecutions were waylaid
as a result of lack of available time or an inability to competently perform
this complicated research.
New Technology
Today, this problem has changed because of new electronic "public
record" databases in existence. Searching electronic databases for
public record information can occur in "real time." This capability
will greatly assist fire investigators who need to develop and follow leads
efficiently. Databases don't represent the actual records but rather an
"index." Investigators seeking to use public records for legal
purposes (trial evidence, etc.) usually will still need to get "certified
copies" from the custodian agency of the records.
The advantage of the public record databases is related to speed and
scope of the search. Instead of restricting your search to one piece of
property the databases are capable of performing "asset searches"
within your county, state, region or nationally. You will learn the entire
record not just what you come across on the "book & page."
The cost is surprisingly low considering savings of investigator time.
How do fire/arson investigators gain access to these databases?
Public Safety:
"Public Record" databases are generally not listed in the "yellow
pages" of most communities. The principal users of these services are
state and federal law enforcement agencies, lawyers involved in civil litigation
and debt collection, banks and credit unions, private detective agencies
and other entities that need to perform asset searches, find people or check
the veracity of information.
We recommend that you begin with a call to the Criminal Information Division
of your state police, county sheriff or the local office of the ATF or FBI.
Find out which database vendor their agency uses or would recommend. Solicit
opinions & recommendations from other users such as civil attorneys
for opinions and advice.
Contact the vendor directly and ask for brochures that describe the terms
and capabilities of their database. Find out who their major competitors
are in your area. Contact the competitors for similar information packages.
If you have the ability to search the Internet run a search engine on
"public record databases" (40,000 hits) or "premium databases"
(5000 hits).
If database research is well managed the costs can be budgeted by one
of the agencies involved in the fire investigation unit. There are some
county or federal prosecutor's offices that will financially support investigative
processes. Support can be obtained from state police Criminal Investigation
Bureau's or from various law enforcement agencies with personnel involved
in the investigation team.
SIU or Claims Personnel:
Chances are your company's SIU or outside investigation vendor already
has this capability. If your insurance company is a member organization
to AISG and has contributed claims loss data according to their standards
then you are eligible to query the All Claims Database. If they do not,
they need to make certain that the property loss has been reported to AISG
by the Insurance Company and obtained copies of the matching reports.
Individual vendors offer access to a wide variety of database options
ranging from local to national asset searches, "skiptracing" -
finding someone who is "missing", or identifying liens & attachments,
bankruptcies, divorce and other probate records and much more.
Bundled Search Packages:
Some vendors offer "bundles" or "packages" of searches.
For example, one large vendor offers a $7 search that, "scans over
2 billion records in hundreds of databases to create a single comprehensive
report on an individual using as little as a last name and providing the
individual's full name, alias names, date of birth, telephone number, social
security number, driver's license information, vehicle information, criminal
docket information, most current address and previous addresses, neighbors
names, addresses & telephone numbers. This bundled search then links
the subject to possible relatives, real property ownership (address, property
type, approximate value), bankruptcies, tax liens, judgements, UCC filings,
corporate affiliations, aircraft, watercraft, stock ownership details and
other important details."
Once a fire investigator is able to link into a premium public record
database, the daunting "paper chase" can often be accomplished
in minutes right from his/her desk. Most vendors are stronger in one part
of the country than another. Some specialize in certain types of information.
Some offer a greater variety of databases. Investigators should be aware
that different vendors might have vastly different cost structures, levels
of service and varying quality of available information. This is one area
where the expression, "Let the Buyer Beware" should be taken literally.
Comparison-shopping is a must.
InterFIRE cannot recommend one vendor over any other. It is our experience
that the top public record database vendors tend to share a number of characteristics;
they permit a free trial run, they will train your personnel for free, their
databases are updated frequently (at least every six months), and users
can either perform an on-line search themselves or have a staff expert assist
them.
Many SIU investigators and larger law enforcement agencies probably already
subscribe to one or more of these services. Filing an appropriate "Arson
Immunity Request" to the insurance carrier on a given fire/arson case
may reveal files already containing "public record" database research.
Fire/arson investigation benefits greatly from getting "Public Record"
information early in the investigative process to generate leads and reveal
lies and inaccuracies. Incorporating investigative personnel from a law
enforcement agency that has the present capacity to research Public Record
databases is another method of acquiring this resource.
IV. CD-ROM Databases.
There are a variety of CD-ROM programs available in office supply stores,
computer software stores or through mail-order catalogues that can assist
fire & arson investigators. Telephone numbers, drawing programs for
architecture and interior design and database programs are among the potentially
useful.
One CD-ROM product contains information on 115,000,000 listed telephone
numbers in the United States. Investigators can search a number of different
ways to obtain information about a particular individual. For example, with
the telephone "white pages" CD-ROM you can search the entire country
or, limit the search to a specific state, a metropolitan area, a city or
town, a telephone area code or a zip code.
You can search using a name only, an address only, or just a telephone
number. The product, if it matches, will provide the full name, full mailing
address with a listed telephone number.
A CD-ROM product, designed for business users, and available commercially,
will provide the following information on individuals:
Name & complete address.
Telephone numbers.
Estimated household income.
Estimated home value.
Age & gender of occupants.
Length of residence.
Another CD-ROM database lists over 10 million businesses by name &
address, telephone number, employee size range and estimated sales, credit
rating code, etc.
How do fire/arson investigators gain access to CD-ROM databases?
Public Safety:
These products are widely available through office supply stores, software
stores in malls and other locations, in catalogues and elsewhere. The best
products have a 6 month shelf life, have low cost upgrades available, have
databases matching or close to 115,000,000 names and allow the types of
searches described above. You may want to get recommendations from users
of the product or check PC Magazine, or similar, for recommendations and
ratings.
SIU or Claims Personnel:
Access to Law enforcement databases is usually restricted to police officers.
You have the ability to utilize public record databases that may contain
criminal docket information. Checking for law suits, judgements, liens and
attachments on a person under investigation for fraud may be helpful since,
increasingly, tort suits are filed by crime victims seeking restitution
or compensation for offenses committed against them or their property.
V. The Internet
a. The "Net"
The Internet is made up of over 80,000 academic, commercial, government
& military interconnected computer networks in more than 200 countries.
The "Net" is an important resource for fire/arson investigators
right now that promises to be even more important as time goes on.
The Internet is the world's largest network of independent computer systems
that have agreed to work together to provide a global communications facility.
Once you are familiar with a few basic techniques you should be able to
either go directly to a web site of value or "surf the net" &
find what you are looking for.
There are a number of Internet services of value to fire/arson investigators:
- "Web sites" - Literally millions of people/organizations/government
agencies that have "web sites" that a user can access with FTP
(file transfer protocol) and then have the choice to read or download text,
graphics/sounds, etc. into their own computer and print it out. Most of
the important web sites of interest to fire investigators are free.
- "E-mail" (electronic mail) - Provides a user with the ability
to send and receive letters & files to/from other users around the
world - instantly and for free.
- "Newsgroups" - Bulletin boards that contain information and
commentary from people about a specific subject (i.e. arson investigation,
explosive ordinance disposal, terrorism, etc.).
- "World Wide Web" - An electronic interface (switchboard)
that allows you to link into the Internet system.
b. Requirements
The only requirements you need to get on the Net are a computer and a
modem that hooks into an ordinary telephone jack and a service contract
with a local "Internet provider" or, membership in a national
service such as America - Online, CompuServe or similar. Today, a one-month
agreement with a Internet Provider costs about $10 and may include 20 -
30 hours of free Internet access time. One-month of unlimited Internet use
with one of the national providers usually costs about $20.
c. Researching on the Net
The first time you go on-line you will probably see the Internet provider's
"home page." Chances are you can jump from there directly to other
web sites that will give you the local/national news, weather, sports, events
of interest and much more. If you click on the icon for "Search the
Web" you will get a screen with a blinking cursor in a text box. If
you enter "arson" in that box and then click on "go"
within seconds the "search engine" will identify 90,000 or more
web sites that may have information for you.
The first ten or twenty sites that most closely match your topic will
come up automatically. Scroll down the page reading the thumbnail descriptions
until you find one that seems to meet your needs. Just double click on the
site's highlighted name to open it. If you like what you see you can read
it on the computer screen or choose to save the information to your computer's
hard drive.
Investigators can use the following formats to improve their odds at
getting the right web sites:
| A search for... |
Returns pages containing... |
| fire arson |
fire and/or arson preferring pages with the phrase fire
arson |
| "fire arson" |
the word fire next to the word arson |
| +fire arson |
fire, maybe arson |
| +fire+arson |
both fire and arson in the document, not necessarily next
to one another |
| +fire-arson |
pages containing the word fire; pages with the word arson
are ranked lower |
| John Smith |
the name John Smith (Remember to capitalize proper nouns) |
| John, Smith |
the name John and the name Smith |
d. Bookmarks
If you want to be able to return to that web site sometime just click
on the "Bookmarks" menu and click on "Add a Bookmark."
The next time you want to return to that site simply click on "Go to
Bookmarks" and then click on the name of the site and you'll be back
to it in seconds.
If you are interested in speeding up research consider disabling the
"graphics" from the websites you visit. To do this simply click
on the "Options" menu and then see if there is a checkmark next
to "Auto Load Images" on the pull down menu. If there is a checkmark
next to "Auto Load Images", click on it to remove graphics. All
the new websites that you open will be "text only." This is much
faster.
e. Search Engines
The best way to search the web for sites of interest is to simply use
one of the "search engines" supplied by your Internet vendor.
Occasionally you can locate a specific major organization's website by pulling
down the "File" menu click on "Open" (or, Ctrl + "O")
and then entering the organization's simple Internet address & appropriate
"domain."
f. Searching for fire/arson related websites
Most of these are common sense. For example, www.ford.com will take you
to the Ford Motor Company's website, www.iaai.org will take you to the International
Association of Arson Investigators website, www.atf.gov will take you to
the Bureau of Alcohol of Tobacco & Firearms website and so forth.
| Domain (i.e., zone) |
Meaning |
| .com |
Commercial organization |
| .edu |
Educational institution |
| .gov |
Government body or department |
| .int |
International Organization (e.g. NATO) |
| .mil |
Military site |
| .net |
Networking organizations |
| .org |
Anything that doesn't fit anywhere else, such as professional societies,
non-profit organizations, etc. |
g. interFIRE VR highly recommends these websites as a place to start
| interFIRE VR Recommended Web Sites |
Contents |
| www.interfire.org |
interFIRE VR On-Line
Includes articles, reprints, features, message boards, training dates,
and other fire investigation information.
|
| www.atf.gov |
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, Washington DC
Information on the agency, its programs, training, wanted persons, hot
links to fire/arson/explosion websites & more. |
| www.amre.com |
American Re-Insurance, Princeton, NJ
Information of the company, insurance, re-insurance, Arson "Tip
of the Quarter", hot links to the insurance industry, insurance information
databases & more. |
| www.fire-investigators.org |
International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI), Louisville,
Kentucky
The IAAI is the largest organization of fire/arson investigators in the
world with Chapters in 45 states and 30 countries. The site contains fire/arson
information & hotlinks to other important sites. |
| www.usfa.fema.gov |
National Fire Academy, Emmitsburg, MD
Information about fire/arson, firefighting, fire prevention & other
training programs offered by the NFA at the National Fire Academy campus
(www.nfa.gov) & remotely throughout the nation. Hotlinks to major sites
of interest including the Learning Resource Center, the largest fire/arson
library in the world (www.lrc.gov). The library's holdings can be searched
on-line. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (www.fema.gov) is the parent
organization of the USFA & NFA. |
| www.lrc.fema.gov |
Learning Resource Center, U.S. Fire Administration, Emmitsburg, MD
A major collection of information on fire/arson investigation and related
topics with over 60,000 volumes and more than 200 periodicals, magazines
and journals with a fire focus. This site allows the user to search the
library's holdings most of which can be obtained through the inter-library
loan program through your local library. |
| www.nfpa.org |
National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA.
NFPA is a world leader in formulating and publishing codes and standards
for fire safety. Its website contains information about fire protection
codes, training, consultation services and hotlinks to many of the most
important fire and arson investigation organization's web sites. |
| www.nist.gov |
National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg,
MD
A link to the Building & Fire Research Laboratory that conducts scientific
experiments and testing of products and processes to determine fire hazard
and combustion properties. |
| www.bfrl.nist.gov/fris/fmafris.html |
Building & Fire Research Laboratory - Fire Research Information
Services (FRIS).
FIREDOC is a fire research bibliographic database containing 50,000 documents
on nearly any fire research related subject. The user searches the database
using "key words", the author's name or word(s) in a title. The
service is free and can be searched from the web, the Internet or via a
modem. |
h. Other Web Sites to Assist Investigators with Research
Investigators can begin their Internet public record or fire incident
research by using a search engine right from their Service Provider's home
page. For example, if you want to see if the State of Florida put any of
its public records on the Internet begin by searching "Florida &
Public Records." Scroll down the "hits" to see if the type
of public record you are seeking is provided for free. Click on the highlighted
name & the site will open.
If the category of public record or fire investigation research is linked
to the Internet then you can open it & search for the information there.
Generally these sites provide the information for free. A few may charge
a nominal fee.
Remember some public records information is available through Law Enforcement
Databases and CD-ROM databases. Much of this information can be quickly
obtained via "Public Record Database Services" and all of it is
available by going to the records custodian in person.
A specific department or organization that provides data on the web usually
has a more complicated looking address because it is often a unit address
within a larger organization. To examine one of these sites click on the
"File" menu then click on "Open." Enter the address
exactly as shown here & click OK.
i. Two hints:
If you use the web frequently for research or education you will probably
find hundreds of web sites that have information that may be of value to
you. Once you are on-line, organize your favorite sites by simply clicking
on "Organize Favorites" and set up topic files then save each
Internet address chosen as a favorite into a specific topic file.
interFIRE VR will recommend specific websites of high value to fire/arson
investigators to get you going quickly and so you can see the incredible
value and relevance of the Internet to your work.
To reach one of these sites all you have to do is click on the "File"
menu and then click on "Open." Copy the "address" of
the site exactly as shown in our listing and then click "OK."
The site will appear within seconds. Almost all of these sites offer "Hotlinks"
to other related sites. To reach a "Hotlink Site" just double
click on its name.
j. Web sites for fire/arson & fraud investigation
InterFIRE provides additional examples of web sites that may be useful
for fire/arson investigation research. Every day more sites come on-line.
Some of these sites may go off line at some point.
Chemical Safety
Insurance Industry & Insurance Fraud Information
- www.iii.org
Insurance Information Institute - statistics and facts about arson &
fraud and other subjects affecting the industry.
- www.insure.com
Insurance News Network.
- www.iasiu.com
International Association of Special Investigation Units - insurance fraud
information & training.
- www.iaati.org
International Association of Auto Theft Investigators - information on
motor vehicle fraud.
- www.fraudcoalition.org
Canadian Coalition against Insurance Fraud - Excellent resource on insurance
scams.
- www.cfenet.com
Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
- www.propertyandcasualty.com
Information about the Property & Casualty Insurance Industry.
Juvenile Firesetting Resources
- www.sosfires.com
Youth Intervention Programs
- Also see websites for the NFPA,
USFA, NAPI
Information on Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Programs.
- www.theideabank.com
Download a resource directory on American & Canadian juvenile firesetter
programs.
- www.kidsandfire.com/
Updated resource material & training notices for juvenile firesetter
intervention programs & Strikezone Juvenile Firesetter magazine download.
Fire Investigation Resources (general)
People Locators
Public Records
Individual States Public Records Files (free)
An increasing number of federal, state and municipal governments are
putting public records on-line. These can usually be searched for free.
Contact your Secretary of State's Office or use an Internet search engine
to query (i.e. secretary of state & texas) to locate links into the
governmental office that you need.
More Interesting Web Links for Fire Investigators
*with thanks to John Swedo for his contributions to this
section.
 Reprinted with permission from the author.
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