Digital Sherlock Holmes wins gong for Ai crime fighting

Former top cop and Sherlock Holmes fan Craig Doran has picked up a big gong in the US for his efforts in using artificial intelligence (Ai) to fight crime.

Ai now being used as a crime-fighting tool.

Former top cop Craig Doran has picked up a big gong in the US for his efforts in using artificial intelligence (Ai) to fight crime.

Doran’s digital evidence platform Comtrac was announced this week as a winner in US-based Business Intelligence Group’s 2025 artificial intelligence excellence awards, recognising the Brisbane-based firm’s expertise alongside international Ai heavyweights.

“The award is an exciting acknowledgment of the real difference that Comtrac is making in overcoming investigative frustrations and inefficiencies,” Doran (illustrated) says.

“What is really encouraging is that the judging panel included representatives from Amazon, Google and Apple.”

As a child, Doran dreamt of being a detective after reading the stories of Sherlock Holmes. But during his 22-year career with the Queensland Police he became increasingly frustrated at how long it took to bring organised criminals to justice.

He founded Comtrac in 2016, with the firm now employing 35 people, including software engineers and customer support workers, at its Ann St headquarters. With the company’s annual turnover approaching $10m, the firm is valued as much as $100m.

Comtrac harnesses Ai to fight crime.

The veteran cop says a reliance on cumbersome, paper-based witness statements, photographs and other materials meant criminals sometimes escaped with a lighter sentence or waited years to come to face justice.

It sometimes took eight to 12 months to collect the evidence and a further 12 months to prepare the case. “It essentially meant we could only do one case every two years,” says Doran, who says up to five hours of paperwork for a police officer or regulator can be cut to 20 minutes using the Comtrac platform.

Comtrac now provides its services to more than 40 law enforcement and regulatory agencies replacing paper briefs with a digital, cloud-based platform that also provides a step-by-step guide to building evidence that meets the required legal standard.

Doran describes it as a “bit like a jigsaw puzzle” as prosecutors collect each piece of evidence they fill in a gap.

Olympic dream

It was the hottest ticket in town with 500 people plus a large media throng squeezing into Rivershed at Howard Smith Wharves for the 2032 Olympic Games venues announcement.

But first they had to negotiate past about 50 protesters against using Victoria Park as the main stadium for the Games.

The protesters were disappointed but those cheering on the announcement by Premier David Crisafulli included 12 current Queensland majors and former mayor Sally-Ann Atkinson as well as a host of sporting and business heads.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon was no doubt interested to hear about the Gabba’s future while Olympic silver medallist and developer Mark Stockwelland restaurateur John Gambaro were looking to the impact on tourism and property.

Olympic protesters at Howard Smith Wharves this week. Photo: Chris Herde.

Noel tops up

High-profile Brisbane financial guru Noel Whittaker has topped up his holdings in Sydney investment firm VGI Partners Global Investments where he sits as a director. 

Whittaker, whose most recent book Wills, Death & Taxes is aimed at the baby boomer generation, acquired just under 9000 shares in VGI for $16,825 on March 25.

Whittaker now holds 289,321 shares in VGI whose shares have fallen 4.7 per cent to $1.72 so far this year. City Beat readers will recall VGI is the former stomping ground of Terrace old boy Doug Tynan, who now serves as chief investment officer of Sydney-based investment house GQQ Funds.

Brisbane financial guru Noel Whittaker at home with his new book. Picture Lachie Millard

Originally published as Digital Sherlock Holmes wins gong for Ai crime fighting