NCJ Number
189237
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 28 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2001 Pages: 116-119
Date Published
June 2001
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the development and features of Minnesota's CriMNet, which is an integrated system that allows police officials to track and share information on offenders throughout the State.
Abstract
CriMNet is the new name of Minnesota's accelerating plan, which will develop, implement, and fund a statewide criminal information network designed to benefit police, judges, and court officers. One of the goals of CriMNet is to provide a commonly understood and shared set of legal and ethical principles to govern information exchange. A second goal is to achieve quality decision making through effective tracking of individuals and incidents to ensure that the right data is in the hands of the right people, in the right place, and at the right time. A third goal is to provide support for quality operational and police analysis through improved agency-level systems and the creation of an integrated, enterprise-wide information architecture. Another goal is the establishment of a criminal justice information system that is accountable; credible; scamless; and responsive to the victim, the public, and the offender. In the past, there was no record of a crime committed except in the county where the crime was committed. Should the offender subsequently commit a crime in another county, the police in that county would not have any information about previous offenses in another county. Using CriMNet, police, prosecutors, and courts will know a person's criminal history within seconds of his/her stepping into the courtroom or at the scene of a crime.