NCJ Number
79632
Date Published
1979
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This document outlines a decentralized program for the exchange of criminal history information among States that requires no duplication of records at the Federal level and would be a viable alternative to the current National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
Abstract
As a result of discussions among the Department of Justice, NCIC, and SEARCH, a group composed of representatives from the States' criminal justice communities, consensus concerning a nationwide criminal history program is emerging. Past experience has indicated that any national system must be based on cooperative agreements that do not limit the prerogatives of participating governments. States should play the predominant role in designing and operating a criminal history exchange program, and participation should be voluntary. Duplication of criminal history files at State and Federal levels is unjustified and economically infeasible. Control over policies regulating the interstate exchange of information should be vested in the States. Formats need not be standardized except to assure the records' intelligibility to other users. Federal legislation is needed to specify policies and procedures for a nationwide program. This report recommends specific elements that a national program should include, beginning with maintenance of a national fingerprint file by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which would contain only the subject's inked impression and personal descriptors. States would also maintain fingerprint identification bureaus and criminal history record systems that portray criminal justice processing throughout the State. The FBI would create and operate an interstate information index which would simply direct an authorized investigator to the State maintaining criminal history records on the named subject. Access to this index would be through the NCIC network, and data would be disseminated through the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System whenever possible. A confederation of States and the Federal Government would develop regulations for the information exchange. Finally, the LEAA should establish a discretionary grant program to upgrade each State's identification capabilities. The paper includes six footnotes.