Justice program looks for ways to share crime data with states

As the federal government works with state governments to find ways to use technology in anti-terrorism efforts, one organization is working to educate law enforcement and policymakers on how to use technology to bring the criminal-justice system into the 21st century.

SEARCH is a program under the Justice Department's National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP). Members of SEARCH are primarily state-level justice officials responsible for operational decisions and policymaking on the management of criminal-justice information.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration has called for increased information sharing among governments, more background checks on certain employees, and more thorough checking of visa applications, among other things. And federal measures such as those in the airport security and anti-terrorism laws enacted last fall all affect privately managed databases.

The mandates could have a great impact on how states oversee their criminal-information systems, SEARCH Executive Director Gary Cooper said. "There's great pressure because of those bills to implement programs as quickly and inexpensively as possible, and to be able to complete the checks as quickly as possible," he said.

Cooper said the temptation is to only check federal databases held by agencies such as the FBI. "The fact is, there are many more criminal-history records at the state level collectively than presides at the FBI, and they're more complete records," Cooper said.

SEARCH has advocated that agencies conduct checks based on fingerprints and scan state records.

Cooper said one of the most exciting SEARCH projects is creating a methodology on common information exchanged among justice agencies because every state has its own laws and practices. With increasing calls for more information sharing among governments, the effort may prove vital, he said. The software tool is being tested in states such as New Mexico, Colorado, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

"What you're ultimately promoting is the ability to share this information nationally," Cooper said.

Missouri Chief Information Officer (CIO) Gerry Wethington serves as the SEARCH board chairman. He said state CIOs and law enforcement officials increasingly are joining to create a cross-pollination of ideas for using technology in the criminal justice system. He said SEARCH also has worked with the National Association of State Chief Information Officers to develop software to facilitate information sharing and interoperability.

Wethington stressed that players must be familiar with representatives from the National Law Enforcement Telecommunication System, which is a message-switching network linking local, state and federal agencies to allow information exchanges on criminal justice and public safety.

"It's important all the major players are aware of each other and what directions are being taken," Wethington said. "I think there is a much more cohesive group [working on these issues], and that was certainly accelerated by Sept. 11."