The Technical Intelligence Report provides intelligence regarding technical items or issues that are currently, or may in the future, become a threat to the criminal justice community. It is produced in the Operation Modifications Phase as shown in the diagram.

Technical intelligence provides guidance in three general areas:

• Assessment of new criminal technical capabilities and vulnerabilities
• Warnings of changes in tactics utilized by criminals as they relate to a new or developing technology
• Countermeasures available to or needed by law enforcement

Technical intelligence research and reporting is an ongoing process. The report contains intelligence on each item under scrutiny and addresses:

• Capabilities
• Vulnerabilities
• Limitations
• Effectiveness
• Specific dangers to the criminal justice community

An additional function of Technical Intelligence Report is to seek information relating to known or suspected items being utilized by the criminal elements. Technical intelligence, like general intelligence, is an ongoing process that is constantly being updated. Many of the items addressed in technical intelligence reports are not used exclusively by the criminal community. In these cases, the intelligence is used to report on criminal applications of legitimate items.

Many in the criminal justice community will encounter items that they cannot identify. It is the mission of technical intelligence to identify the item and determine its value to the criminal community. It is the responsibility of the operational units to bring items of interest to the attention of the technical intelligence unit.