NCJ Number
60001
Date Published
1978
Length
16 pages
Annotation
THE SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, FIELD INTERVIEW SYSTEM, A COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION SYSTEM DESIGNED TO AID POLICE DEPARTMENTS BY IMPROVING INFORMATION EXCHANGE, IS DESCRIBED.
Abstract
THE FIELD INTERVIEW SYSTEM IS THE FIRST OF NINE AUTOMATED REGIONAL JUSTICE INFORMATION SYSTEMS SCHEDULED FOR IMPLEMENTATION IN SAN DIEGO. THE HEART OF THE SYSTEM IS THE 370 MODEL 158-1 COMPUTER RUNNING UNDER THE IBM PROGRAM PRODUCT IMS/VS1 DATA BASE AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM. DATA IS ENTERED AND RETRIEVED BY IBM 3270 AND 3275 DISPLAY TERMINALS; HARDCOPY REPORTS ARE PRODUCED BY ACCOMPANYING 3286 PRINTERS. FOURTEEN AGENCIES ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE NETWORK WHICH OPERATES 20 HOURS PER DAY. ACCESS TO STORED DATA IS RESTRICTED TO AUTHORIZED LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. FIELD INTERVIEW INFORMATION IS STORED IN THREE PHYSICAL DATA BASES. THE FIRST DATA BASE CONTAINS THE REPORT NUMBER, INFORMATION ENTERED BY THE OFFICER, AND A CROSS REFERENCE TO THE NAME INDEX DATA BASE. THE NAME INDEX DATA BASE CONSISTS OF NAME AND PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION DATA SUCH AS SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. THE SECONDARY INDEX ALLOWS ACCESS TO THE FIELD INTERVIEW DATA BASE BY IDENTIFIERS OTHER THAN FIELD INTERVIEW NUMBER. INFORMATION OBTAINED BY POLICE OFFICERS IS COLLECTED ON FIELD INTERVIEW CARDS, AND THE INFORMATION ENTERED INTO THE COMPUTER FILES DAILY THROUGH THE TERMINALS. ALL ENTRIES ARE VERIFIED TO MAINTAIN A HIGH DEGREE OF ACCURACY. UNVERIFIED DATA IS DELETED FROM THE SYSTEM. THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE FIELD INTERVIEW SYSTEM IS TO SEARCH THE DATA BASE FOR RECORDS THAT MEET CRITERIA SUBMITTED FROM ONLINE TERMINALS; THIS IS CALLED THE ONLINE INQUIRY OR RETRIEVAL FUNCTION CAPABILITY. SEARCHES MAY BE CONDUCTED ON SEVERAL KINDS OF CRITERIA INCLUDING DATES, DRIVER'S LICENSE NUMBERS, AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIVIDUALS. SEARCHES MAY BE CONDUCTED EVEN ON THE BASIS OF PARTIAL INFORMATION SUCH AS A PARTIAL LICENSE PLATE NUMBER. PHOTOGRAPHS AND EXHIBITS ARE PROVIDED WITH THE TEXT. (KWM)