Transcript Chapter Eight - Agency Systems

Police Technology
Chapter Eight
Agency Systems
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Learning Objectives



The reasons good record keeping is critical
to law enforcement
Operator security (right to know and need
to know).
Purpose of Record Management Systems
(RMS), Jail Management Systems (JMS)
and Evidence Management Systems (EMS)
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Learning Objectives

Impact of Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) on police records
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Police Records
Information retained Information needs to
be:
By police agencies
 Readily available
runs the spectrum
from crime reports to  Kept for a long
time
Personnel records.
 Held confidentially
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Record Keeping Systems

Police agencies create
a lot of paper –
automated record
keeping systems are a
combination of
hardware, software,
policy and procedure
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Record Keeping Systems


First tier manufacturers are large companies.
They are set up to product quality customdesigned software and hardware
configurations.
Second tier manufacturers may be large
companies, but the products are off-theshelf, not custom-designed.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Record Keeping Systems
The result is:
 Many of these systems are incompatible
 Smaller agencies do not gain the expertise
that the larger agencies have
 Fragmentation and its resulting effects
continues to grow
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Criminal Justice vs. Police Records
Includes every piece
of info gathered in
and used by the
criminal justice
system.
A fully integrated police
records management
system is going to have
access to all of the
other records
maintained by different
criminal justice
organizations.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
A few of the sources of information
Commercial
Records
Probation Records
NCIC
Police Officer
Other
Agencies
Vehicle Records
Prison Records
Court Records
Local Agency
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Both Input and Output
Commercial
Records
Probation Records
NCIC
Police Officer
Other
Agencies
Vehicle Records
Prison Records
Court Records
Local Agency
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Information Security and Accuracy
In law law enforcement, when information
is compromised, authorized users primarily
do it intentionally.
In other words, most
security breaches are as a
result of intentional acts,
not hackers, etc.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Information Security and Accuracy


law enforcement personnel also have general
access to a wide variety of information about
the average person that is confidential and
protected by law.
Generally, information available to law
enforcement users is considered privileged
information (for official use only)
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Right to know vs. Need to know
Derived from the
officer’s
occupation. Police
officers have a
right to know
certain privileged
information.
Derived from the
situation. Does the
officer need to
know this
information in
order to further
his/her criminal
investigation?
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
First layer of protection . . .






Training people to realize their ethical
responsibilities with confidential
information.
Having clear rules and regulations
concerning the field use of equipment
Using passwords
Data logs
Different levels of access
Authentication
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Privacy Issues
For example, the names of victims
sexual assault. Failure to protect the
victims’ privacy can result in civil
litigation.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
For Law Enforcement Agencies:




Information about someone can be
considered their personal property
Victims trust the agency will not reveal the
information
If the information is reveals, it could cause
the person to suffer (e.g., defamation)
Using a person’s likeness (photo) raises
issues of ownership
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
To Balance Public Confidence



The times in which law enforcement
agencies are prevented from intercepting
communications by private citizens
Fulfill a citizen’s demand to know what
information the government has obtained
[Freedom of Information Act FOIA)]
Government take affirmative acts to
inform people of information.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Turning Data into Information
Indexing
 Master file with
cross-referenced
numbers
 Now done with
databases.
 Evolved into. . .
Relational databases
 Foundation of
Records
Management
Systems (RMS)
 Can be link to
external sources of
information
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Record Management System



Several smaller systems (like
CAD and GIS)
That exchange information with
a master server
You may only ask questions of a
specific database within an
agency
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Jail Management System

Information
containing:




Screen capture provided by Crimestar, Inc.



Inmates status
Photographs
Fingerprints
Visitations
Special needs
Medical information
Security information –
like gang affiliation
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Evidence Management Systems


Screen capture provided by Crimestar, Inc.

Documents chain of
custody
Assists in orderly
transfer of evidence
to labs and courts
Assists in the proper
storage of evidence
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Case Management Systems

Assists detectives and
detective supervisors
in the assignment of
cases and
coordinating
investigations
Screen capture provided by Crimestar, Inc.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Many different uses of police data
Screen captures provided by Crimestar, Inc.
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Many different uses of police data
Strategic Purposes:
 Deployment
 Crime Analysis
Two types of
inquiries:
 Conditional
 Ad Hoc query
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
New mobile office systems
The mobile Office
consists of:
 Vehicle
 Mobile Radio System
 Mobile Data Computer
(laptop in vehicle)
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
New mobile office systems
Allow officers to
access:
 Mugshots
 Fingerprints
 GIS maps
 Aerial Photographs
Challenges:
 Bandwidth
Photograph provided by Woodcrest Vehicles
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
New mobile office systems

Like a desk top PC,
the Mobile Office has
a computer CPU,
usually mounted in
the truck
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Image Processing




Documents
Photographs
Fingerprints
Crime Scene
photographs
Can be:
 Scanned
 Digitized
 Stored in a
database
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster
Police Technology
Explore Police Books at
www.police-writers.com
Copyright 2005 - 2009: Hi Tech Criminal
Justice, Raymond E. Foster