NCJ Number
71015
Date Published
1980
Length
449 pages
Annotation
This study examines the social costs of computerized systems used by the criminal justice agencies in the U.S. and the problems of identifying and controlling these costs.
Abstract
Social costs are defined as uncompensated costs to individuals or groups in society. These costs arise from the activities of public organizations and result in significant infringements or denials of individual rights, such as privacy and due process, or restrict social, political, or economic opportunities. The principal finding of this study is that the prevailing policymaking process does not ensure that the social costs of criminal justice records will be significantly reduced and weighed against the interests of criminal justice agencies that use computerized information systems. The study suggests that the relationship between technology and politics has mutually interacting variables, since technology does not operate autonomously. It is contended that some deleterious, seemingly inevitable results of technology are largely the consequence of political and organizational structures and processes biased in favor of nonrecognition or only limited recognition of social costs and the need for their control. Materials and documents for the research were collected between 1972 and 1978 and are essentially based on extensive interviews with key participants in the LEAA-supported information technology programs of California criminal justice agencies. These data were expanded with information gleaned from involvement with the Federal Data Reorganization Study of the President's Reorganization Project and the 1979 studies on the Assessment of the National Crime Information Center and Computerized Criminal History Program. The volume has a tripartite organization, considering first the practical and conceptual matters of gauging the relationship between technological information processing innovations, policymaking processes, and their impacts on the individual rights of citizens. Second, a case study of criminal justice information systems and information policy is presented, illustrating the perspectives identified in the preceding section. Part three assesses the political and administrative implications of the effects of technological change in government agencies in a democratic society. Tabular data, an index, and a bibliography are provided. The appendixes contain the text of the Senate Bill 2008, Federal Privacy and Security Regulations for Criminal History Information, and LEAA privacy and security survey data. (Author abstract modified)