nationwide fingerprint-supported identification of subjects on record. IAFIS provides a 2-hour turnaround time for electronically submitted criminal prints, which potentially can result in positive identifications in criminal cases.5

Conclusion

Various users have an ever-increasing demand for access to criminal justice information for a variety of reasons. Criminal justice practitioners should have immediate access to all of the information necessary to make informed quality decisions and to help ensure the safety of the officers involved. While certain procedures for fingerprinting, entering wanted records, and checking wanted status remain at the core of law enforcement information management, officers must remember the importance of the information each user provides and the impact it can have on other individuals or activities.

Good information management in law enforcement is more than mere record keeping, it provides tools for solving cases and preventing crime. Such information systems remain vital to continue progress in reducing crime rates, to aid in the effective administration of justice, and, ultimately, to help officers protect the communities they serve.

Endnotes

1 For more information on the NCIC, see Stephanie L. Hitt, “NCIC 2000,” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, July 2000, 12-15.

2 U.S. Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems, 1999 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, NCJ 184793, October 2000), table 10, 33.

3 U.S. Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Compendium of State Privacy and Security Legislation: 1999 Overview, by SEARCH (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, NCJ 182294, July 2000), 5.

4 A Wanted Person File inquiry also will cause an automatic crosssearch of the Foreign Fugitive, Missing Person, Violent Gang and Terrorist Organization, Protection Order, Deported Felon, Convicted Sexual Offender Registry, Convicted Persons on Supervised Release, and U.S. Secret Service Protective Files.

5 U.S. Department of Justice. Federal Bureau of Investigation. The CJIS Link (Clarksburg, West Virginia, fall 2000), 8.

6 Supra note 3, 9. Major Huguley serves with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division in Columbia, South Carolina.

Wanted: Photographs

The Bulletin staff is always on the lookout T for dynamic, law enforcement- related photos for possible publication in the magazine. We are interested in photos that visually depict the many aspects of the law enforcement profession and illustrate the various tasks law enforcement personnel perform.

We can use either blackand- white glossy or color prints or slides, although we prefer prints (5x7 or 8x10). Appropriate credit will be given to contributing photographers when their work appears in the magazine. We suggest that you send duplicate, not original, prints as we do not accept responsibility for prints that may be damaged or lost. Send your photographs to:

Art Director,
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,
FBI Academy,
Madison Building, Room 209
Quantico, VA 22135.

 

 

 
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