Computers in the Criminal Justice System

Computers have been integrated into the criminal justice system in several ways over the last few decades. Such integration has had numerous advantages such as faster identification of repeat offenders, better training and safety possibilities for law enforcement personnel and faster filing of court documents. In many ways, the federal government has spearheaded computer integration in law enforcement aided by the cooperation of law enforcement agencies at all levels (Moser, 2000).

The collection of crime statistics is now automated in many agencies where data are submitted using the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Under the traditional Uniform Crime Reporting summary system, arresting officers were required to write descriptions of crimes. Now, with computer software, data fields guide officers step by step through the reporting process, thereby eliminating the need for narrative descriptions (Moser, 2000). Furthermore, two new FBI programs went online in July 1999. The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) 2000 and the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) enhance the law enforcement community's ability to identify known criminals by rapidly providing vital information (Moser, 2000). NCIC 2000 can accept, store, and retrieve digital images such as mug shots and right-index fingerprints, thereby allowing officers to obtain or verify suspect identification within minutes (Moser,

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tment began installing Toshiba laptops with Cerulean software in police cars 3 years ago with a grant it obtained from the Department of Justice under the Community Oriented Policing (COPs) Programs (Bowers, 1997). The software displays the location of all cruisers in the 14-square-mile city and a vehicle's license plate shows up on all screens whenever one officer is checking a plate. This allows officers to respond faster whenever back-up is needed. COPs issues grants for hiring new officers, redeploying desk officers and purchasing technology that allows the officer to perform duties more effectively. Says COPs spokesman Charles Miller, "overwhelmingly, it's laptops the departments purchase" (Bowers, 1997). Lt. Arthur Ryan says the technology, combined with an integrated community policing program has dramatically lowered Lowell's crime rates (Bowers, 1997). Many police departments have integrated technology as has the Lowell Police Department. Cities such as New York City, Los Angeles and Houston have installed in-car computers that allow officers to run license plate checks, insurance violations and outstanding warranty information (Harvey, 1998). Furthermore cities such as the Louisville Division of Police and the Je
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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)