Trancite Trains Iraqi Police in Baghdad
Trancite Logic Systems recently had the dubious honor of proving just how fast, accurate and easy its software really is.
The software is called ATTAC and for the last few years, a modified version of the program has been used by the U.S. departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security. It's been used to create electronic reports of attacks made with improvised explosive devices and other bombing and rocket attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan.
ATTAC's simple, fast and accurate mission proof did not come from an experienced field agent but from Trancite’s own Chief Executive Officer Josh Evarts. In June, Evarts was conducting software training for Iraqi police and military first responders in Baghdad when a rocket hit the camp he was staying in.
"We were getting food at an air base a quarter mile away, and we heard the attack and hit the deck," he said. "I knew it was close, but I didn't know it was where we had been sleeping."
That day, flying shrapnel from the rocket attack shattered a palm tree and punched into Evarts' sleeping quarters and gave him the perfect opportunity to put the ATTAC to good use.
Within an hour of the attack, Evarts had created a complete casebook and sent it electronically to the local Iraqi police, the U.S. military central command, and officials from the homeland security and justice departments.
Incident reports that previously took days could now take just minutes, Evarts said.
"A lot of it doesn't get reported, and I don't blame these guys," Evarts said. "I had never been in a combat zone. It's hot — 118 to 120 degrees every day. You get worn down. You're dirty all the time. I had a great appreciation for what the troops did, but I didn't understand the environment in which they work."
The program makes investigations safer by allowing investigators to spend less time at the scene.
"The bad guys are incredibly smart," Evarts said. "They are very, very good at targeting specialized response teams."
Investigators using a laptop can sketch the scene quickly, electronically and leave the site within half an hour, before a secondary attack takes place, he said.
The software incorporates an easy-to-use diagramming tool with personalized form sets, digital evidence management and multiple presentation outputs, including Microsoft Power Point and Adobe Acrobat PDF formats.
The ATTAC program grew from similar Trancite programs used by more than 3,500 police and military agencies around the world.
"Our intent is to put a decision maker, a command officer or a jury potentially in the boots of the guy on the ground and let them see the scene through his eyes," Evarts said.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been using the program to train first responders for the last two years.
"We were looking for solution to the diagramming piece of what we require people to do," said Steve Biggs, chief of the ATF's Explosives Training Branch in Fort A.P. Hill, Va.
Previously, agents drawing crime-scene diagrams either used a protractor, ruler and paper or tried to use other software programs like Word or PowerPoint. "It was like trying to put a square peg in a round hole to draw a diagram," he said. Many investigations are still done that way, he said.
"We have robust databases to collect information, but we have never given our agents and our state and local partners enough tools to feed the databases," he said. "What this allows our investigators to do is tie in a diagram, narrative and digital evidence photos all into one (file)."
Founded in 1996 by James Obenchain, Steve Carlson and Brett Murrell, Trancite's first contract was to build Idaho's first accident data-entry system, which resulted in the development of Easy Street Draw.
Trancite, 8645 W. Franklin Road, remains privately held and because of the success of the ATTAC and other programs, Evarts said Trancite expects to continue to expand in 2008.
During the last two years, Evarts has helped train almost 1,000 troops on the system.
"I try to share with our staff that we have very real people out there who are dependent on us," Evarts said. "When we're testing our software, I want them to think about the person who is out there in 120 degrees with 40 pounds of gear relying on our stuff to not fail.”
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