Mr. Schiff: Hi, welcome to "FBI 100, A Closer Look." I'm Neal Schiff of the Bureau's Office of Public Affairs along with FBI Historian Dr. John Fox. John, for many years police officers around the country have had access to the NCIC? What is that?
Dr. Fox: "Neal, NCIC is the National Crime Information Center, a computerized information system that allows police across the country to get information on crimes and criminals."
Mr. Schiff: What are some of the categories that the NCIC offers?
Dr. Fox: "Today’s NCIC has 18 different categories. They include records of guns that were stolen and recovered, license plates, vehicles that have been stolen and recovered, violent gangsters and terrorist organizations, wanted person files and many others.”
Mr. Schiff: How does the NCIC work when a police officer in his car has something to check?
Dr. Fox: "Let’s say a policeman stops a suspicious car on the street and wants to run the license plate number for a check to see whether or not this car is stolen or is wanted in some other context. After the license plate number is cleared through state systems, it goes to the NCIC in West Virginia at our Criminal Justice Information Services complex."
Mr. Schiff: How often does this happen?
Dr. Fox: "Well Neal today it happens 6,000,000 times a day which is pretty amazing. Back in 1967 when the NCIC first came on line, we did 2,000,000 transactions in the first year. So we are doing three times that many in just one day now.
Mr. Schiff: The NCIC is based at the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division in West Virginia. More on the Internet at www.fbi.gov. From the FBI’s Public Affairs office, along with Bureau Historian Dr. John Fox, I'm Neal Schiff with "FBI 100, A Closer Look."
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