Criminal Justice Information Services Division

Criminal Justice Information Services Division

Since September 11, 2001, the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division—which was established in February 1992 to serve as the focal point and central repository for criminal justice information services—has been an integral partner with state, local, federal, and international partners to combat both crime and terrorism.

Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS)

• IAFIS—which had 42,203 transactions per day during its inaugural year in 1999—now has the capability to process up to 400,000 ten-print fingerprint and latent searches daily.
• The growth in fingerprint transaction volume is due to about 20,000 Department of Defense submissions per day, both domestically and overseas; and about 40,000 US-Visit Customs and Border Protection transactions per day, representing non-criminal fingerprint submissions of individuals at ports of entry into the United States.

Next Generation Identification (NGI)

• With the NGI program’s implementation of advanced fingerprint identification technology in February 2011, there is an automated system true match rate of more than 99 percent, exceeding the previous IAFIS true match rate of approximately 92 percent. Processing speeds have also improved dramatically; the average response rate for criminal submissions was just eight minutes and 42 seconds in fiscal year 2010—down from two hours pre-9/11.

Biometric Technology Center

• To house the ever-expanding biometric business, the FBI has begun constructing the Biometric Technology Center, which is scheduled to be completed in late spring 2014.
• The new building will serve three purposes: it will provide additional space for CJIS to accomplish needed biometrics services; it will house the FBI’s Biometric Center of Excellence, which will provide training, conference space, and office and developmental facilities; and it will accommodate joint biometric research and development efforts between the FBI and the Department of Defense.

National Crime Information Center (NCIC)

• Over the past 10 years, NCIC transaction levels have increased from an average of three million daily to eight million daily. The largest increase is to support Department of Homeland Security checks at U.S. ports of entry.
• Following 9/11, the NCIC’s Violent Gang and Terrorist Organization File took on added significance, becoming a central collection point for information about terror suspects and forming the basis for the Terrorist Screening Center and its centralized terrorist watchlist.  

National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)

• CJIS has vastly improved the NICS program, enabling it to handle transactions that have grown from 8.5 million in 2001 to well over 14 million NICS background checks for gun transfers completed in fiscal year 2010.
• To date, NICS has prevented 850,186 prohibited persons from obtaining guns.

Law Enforcement National Data Exchange (N-DEx)

• Launched in 2008, N-DEx provides a secure, online national information sharing system to the criminal justice community for their data, including incident, arrest, booking, incarceration, probation, and parole reports.
• As of May 10, 2011, N-DEx possesses more than 100 million searchable records with 500 million entities (persons, places, and things) from 4,000 agencies available to more than 20,000 users.

Law Enforcement Online (LEO)

• LEO today supports virtual command centers that provide critical Internet-based, real-time monitoring of the detached parts of an operation, from a local agency’s function to national security needs. This capability is used in a wide variety of circumstances—from criminal investigations to major sporting events such as the Super Bowl, and from counterterrorism exercises and investigations to major international meetings.

CJIS Division Intelligence Group (CDIG)

• Established 2006, CDIG provides investigative and intelligence support to local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Defense, DHS, and other U.S. intelligence community members.
• Since its inception, CDIG has disseminated a wide variety of intelligence documents, including intelligence information reports, intelligence assessments, threat assessments, intelligence notes, and security risk assessments.

August 2011