NCJ Number
103730
Date Published
1985
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the development and current status of police computer-aides operations in Australia and its separate State and territories.
Abstract
The significant use of computers by Australian police has occurred only within the last decade. The cost and disruption to daily work involved in installing computer facilities has been a major constraint to the more rapid use of computers. The reluctance to employ specialized computer staff has also been an inhibiting factor. The first computerized systems were for vehicle and vehicle owner identification, followed by information systems on 'persons of interest' and lost/found/stolen property. Typically, such systems were installed in a single host computer using magnetic tape or fixed disk storage and operated in batch mode. A patrol officer would call the central operations room by two-way radio to request information. The request would then be transmitted to the information center for retrieval by computer, followed by the transfer of the information to the officer by radio. The next stage, which is not yet complete even in the major States, was the use of real-time networked computers with message-switching capabilities and numerous visual display terminals remote from the computer headquarters. Current activity in such systems involves increasing the geographic coverage of the networks, completing the development of complex cross-referenced systems such as criminal histories and crime reporting files and the development of analytical systems to assist in the detection of frauds or the collation of modus operandi information. Tabular information for each State and territory covers computer system descriptions, software, planned developments, and usage rates.