Accessing Data
Police departments in different States in the United States share critical criminal offenses as a way of enhancing security in the region; in this case it was noted that Uncle Bob has lived in California State all his life and he had not traveled outside California State. He planned for a vacation in Miami, Florida state; he was speeding the car, a move that led him to be caught, arrested and handcuffed. Miami police department in Florida had first hand information on crimes uncle Bob had committed in California including his name, height, birth date, weight, date of his previous offenses, information on trials and the punishments attached to the previous crimes in California.
Technology advances have facilitated information sharing among the security agencies in the United States; technology has changed the traditional method of investigation to platforms that are offering first hand information on crimes committed by individuals. The criminal justice community has been on increased need for instant information, a move that has led to different localities and states diversify on information sharing, analysis and gathering capabilities through enhancing integrated justice information systems (IJIS) (Currie, 2013). It has been noted that integrated criminal justice systems facilitate seamless and instantaneous information access in the justice system (Jjuuko & Othieno, 2012).
The seamless and automated justice system is changing the attitude of the society towards security agencies in the United States (U.S. Department of Justice et al, 2012). Personal information in the justice system has the capability of leading to irreparable damage to the individuals involved depending on the crimes committed. Integrated justice information systems calls for advanced level of responsibility of the part of the officials in the justice agencies (U.S. Department of Justice et al, 2012); Surveys indicated that integrated justice information systems create a virtual picture of the individuals, an indication that the privacy of individuals is at stake.
Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) is part of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in the United States, the security body was enforced in 1992 comprising of criminal justice information that is computerized (U.S. Department of Justice et al, 2012). The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) is part of the FBI and the security information is centralized in the capital city of the United States in Washington D.C. surveys have indicated that the security information is maintained by the DOJ (Department of Justice) in each and every state (Currie, 2013). This is why Uncle Bob’s information was available in Florida State while he had never traveled to the state. Florida State was able to access personal and criminal information for Uncle Bob from California State. Security agencies had loaded the personal and criminal information in the centralized integrated justice information systems.
Personal and criminal information in each and every state in the United States can only be accessed by authorized federal law enforcement, local, state and other criminal justice agencies (Jjuuko & Othieno, 2012). There common law enforcement communication system’s identifying with criminal information system in each state, National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS) and International Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (INLETS). CJIS has the capability of accessing more personal and criminal information than NCIC (Jjuuko & Othieno, 2012). It has been noted that CJIS has a number of databases and subsystems that are updated and retrieved online, an indication that the security agencies in the United States have real time information. In the same concept, integrated justice information systems facilitated availability of Uncle Bob’s personal and criminal in Florida, a state he had never visited before.
Information sharing by the Miami police department was facilitated by a number of agencies namely: FBI’s NCIC, NLETS, DOJ and through CJIS (Currie, 2013); the federal agencies and local agencies facilitates sharing of the information, a model that facilitated uncle Bob’s information sharing between California state and Florida State. The security agencies work together in giving out the best results possible, in making sure that the information is not misguided or used inappropriately against the citizens of the United States.
CJIS services are attached to Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), NCIC, National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), Law Enforcement Online (LEO), Law Enforcement National Data Exchange (N-DEx), National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR) among others. Integrated justice systems in the United States have facilitated technologies and information sharing among courts, law enforcers, prosecution, corrections, defense, parole and probation (Currie, 2013).
Florida traffic tickets are serious, in the case of Uncle Bob from California State, his traffic offenses will be sent to the California DMV. If uncle Bob pleads guilty of speeding, he will be accorded three points on his driver’s license that are permanent. If uncle Bob pleads not guilty, then he will be directed to the traffic courts and Uncle Bob may choose to Elect Traffic school option. The offenses will then be wired to the integrated justice information systems (U.S. Department of Justice et al, 2012).
Once uncle Bob was arrested, the law enforcer at Miami police Department entered the information about Uncle Bob into the operational booking office. Common information entered into the system identify with address, electronic fingerprints, offense charged, the name and social security number among other critical information. The information is then pushed over to the subsequent agency in the process. Different states have variations on the next agency although in most times the information is pushed to pretrial services, courts, defender or and to the prosecutors. The information is then pushed to the subsequent component agency. The e-record information will be available electronically to different security agencies within the United States.
References
Currie, E. (2013). Crime and Punishment in America. London: Picador.
Jjuuko, N. & Othieno, J. (2012). Integrated Criminal Justice Information System (ICJIS). Saarbrücken: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing.
U.S. Department of Justice et al. (2012). Mission Possible: Strong Governance Structures for the Integration of Justice Information Systems. New York: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
