Criminal justice leaders work to integrate system

Colorado Springs Business Journal, May 2, 2003 by Becky Hurley

In today's tech-savvy business environment, E-access to information is a fact of life.

So how do law enforcement and the criminal justice agencies access each others' systems in order to track and convict criminals? How integrated are their databases - and does information get exchanged in a timely way? If the police, the sheriff and the DA are willing to share information on law-breakers, can they do so electronically? Surprisingly, the answer to these questions is "no".

Electronic integration and information exchange was the focus of the fourth annual Criminal Justice Summit, held April 23 at Penrose House and sponsored by the Justice Advisory Council (JAC) of the Pikes Peak Region. An estimated sixty attendees represented local governmental and private organizations involved with the criminal justice records integration process.

Presenters included representatives from each of the local criminal justice agencies, city and county IT officials, and a speaker from the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and the Justice Link program.

"We are all in agreement that the need is urgent," says Commander Richard Larson of the El Paso County Sheriff's Department.

He cites the example of a perpetrator who is picked up for robbing a liquor store. A quick laptop background check is initiated by the arresting CSPD officer. The bad-guy has a prior warrant out for his arrest and has spent time in county jail. He is no doubt also on file with the El Paso County Sheriff's department and probably the DA's office - but his information is housed in separate databases, not accessible to CSPD.

According to Shelly LaGrill, computer services administrator for the District Attorney's office, the jailed suspect's attorney or public defender also requests documentation for every step of his criminal journey prior to going to court. But the DA's information technology program does not interface with CSPD or the El Paso County Sheriff.

Dr. Henry Sontheimer, El Paso County Criminal Justice Planner, is a solid proponent of enhanced public safety and promotes the development of a regional, integrated, criminal justice information system. Sontheimer joined the county's staff almost three years ago. He came from the Pennsylvania state corrections department which has earned national recognition for its work in records and information integration.

"Eight of 10 arrests made by city police with mobile computers," the justice planner adds, echoing Larson's comments. "We have too much redundancy in keying in information. And it's not just a matter of efficiency or accuracy. With each agency operating separate records systems, a criminal has time to keep offending or leave the area.

The Sheriff is making major strides, however. Several sizeable Bourne grants, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, were awarded to both the Sheriff and to the District Attorney -- and will help finance upgrades to both agencies' antiquated systems.

"Our old Tiburon system is really just a depository for internal use," Larson says of the sheriff's record management system. "it has no Web-interface capability."

With its federal monies, the sheriff's office is replacing two main databases covering the detention bureau and record management. The courts are also discussing electronic criminal case filing which will mean that attorneys and criminals won't have to go to the courthouse. That, in turn, means fewer clogged courtrooms or backlogs and a more streamlined process.

"The Washington sniper case really drives the need for better information exchange," says Sontheimer. He points out that John Mohammed and Lee Malvo were known to the Immigration and Naturalization Service prior to their murderous spree. "Both men's fingerprints were on file with the INS, but the state of Alabama didn't subscribe to a matching database which could have linked the pair to a later crime scene. That lack of information stymied the investigation."

The City of Colorado Springs, acknowledges Sontheimer, has already implemented some justice networking between the city attorney, CSPD and the municipal court. And, within the next five to ten years, all local, regional and state criminal justice authorities expect to be able to share information nationally.

Assisting the JAC in its mission to integrate disparate systems is URL Integration, a Colorado Springs-based start-up founded by the former statewide Criminal Justice Integration System chief information officer, David Usery. His team has worked with the Department of Justice's SEARCH project - and is currently working with law enforcement agencies in six states and counties," Usery says.

"We see our most interesting opportunity to assist local and regional jurisdictions." He also announces that the company may be working with the National Chiefs of Police Association (NCPA).

The company assists each agency in defining its information exchange needs; how much information it can share; and what needs to remain protected. The names of juvenile offenders and victims, for example, would be two fields that could not be a part of generic Internet-based generic access.