Data-Dependent Goal Modeling for ML-Enabled Law Enforcement Systems

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how applying Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering (GORE) with KAOS can improve the development of ML-enabled law enforcement systems by emphasizing early goal and data alignment.

Contribution

It presents a reference model integrating GORE with data-driven development and highlights the importance of data elicitation and goal refinement in ML system design.

Findings

Data requirements influence goal refinement and agent assignment.

Goal elaboration impacts data collection and quality expectations.

Iterative dependencies exist between goals, data, and ML performance.

Abstract

Investigating serious crimes is inherently complex and resource-constrained. Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) grapple with overwhelming volumes of offender and incident data, making effective suspect identification difficult. Although machine learning (ML)-enabled systems have been explored to support LEAs, several have failed in practice. This highlights the need to align system behavior with stakeholder goals early in development, motivating the use of Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering (GORE). This paper reports our experience applying the GORE framework KAOS to designing an ML-enabled system for identifying suspects in online child sexual abuse. We describe how KAOS supported early requirements elaboration, including goal refinement, object modeling, agent assignment, and operationalization. A key finding is the central role of data elicitation: data requirements constrain refinement choices and candidate agents while influencing how goals are linked, operationalized, and satisfied. Conversely, goal elaboration and agent assignment shape data quality expectations and collection needs. Our experience highlights the iterative, bidirectional dependencies between goals, data, and ML performance. We contribute a reference model for integrating GORE with data-driven system development, and identify gaps in KAOS, particularly the need for explicit support for data elicitation and quality management. These insights inform future extensions of KAOS and, more broadly, the application of formal GORE methods to ML-enabled systems for high-stakes societal contexts.