Unit 7: Communication Skills
Law Enforcement Technology: National Crime Information Center
NCIC is the acronym which stands for the National Crime Information Center, a computerized source of criminal intelligence data maintained on a mainframe at the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and accessible to state and local police through a central terminal in each state.
The NCIC system is managed by a board which includes representatives of the terminal managers in each state. In many states the terminal manager for the NCIC system is the State Police Communications Center.
The FBI and the state terminal manager have a joint responsibility for the completeness and accuracy of data inputted and maintained in the system. Local police agencies share this responsibility, because they are the source of much of the data in the system. If you input the wrong serial number of some stolen property, or neglect to cancel a wanted person or wanted vehicle after it has been apprehended, a number of serious consequences can result. Someone can be injured or killed by mistake, or a false arrest and resulting lawsuit can occur.
Perhaps equally as serious in the long term, if the public and the police lose confidence in the system, we stand a good chance of losing it, because many people are critical of its ability to track persons and property and feel that if misused, it could infringe on peoples’ right to privacy. Therefore, it is incumbent upon every police service to do their part to maintain the accuracy and viability of the NCIC system, so that it will be there and be dependable when needed.
The NCIC computer, which is as near as the radio microphone in a law enforcement officer’s cruiser or the NCIC computer terminal in many police headquarters, stores a wealth of information, in files labeled 1) article,. 2) violent felon, 3) boat, 4) foreign fugitive, 5) gun, 6) interstate identification index, 7) license plate, 8) missing person, 9) originating agency identifier, 10) securities, 11) unidentified person, 12)U.S. Secret Service protective file, 13) vehicle, 14) wanted person.
The initial step to having information entered in NCIC or searched through NCIC occurs at the terminal of a local agency, which can make inquiries and entries into NCIC files. Local police interface via a message switching computer at State Police headquarters. Entries into the Canadian Warrants file can only be made by Canadian authorities.
Like all computerized systems, NCIC is mainly a numerical record system, and depends on identifiers such as dates of birth, social security numbers, vehicle identification numbers, driver license numbers, computerized fingerprint classifications, license plate numbers, and serial numbers of property. You must know the proper NCIC identifier for the file you wish to search. Where multiple identifiers are available, using them makes the search easier and reduces the chance of error.
The ARTICLE file is used to store information concerning stolen property not meeting the entry criteria for other NCIC property files, such as auto accessories, bicycles, camera equipment, sports equipment, household appliances, musical instruments, office equipment, personal accessories such as badges, credentials and jewelry, and electronic equipment such as TV’s and stereos.
An item of stolen property can be entered if it is valued at $500 or more, or is one of many items stolen in a single theft, the aggregate value of which exceeds $5,000, or if the circumstances of the theft indicate a probability of interstate movement or the seriousness of the crime dictates that an entry should be made for investigative purposes. It is important to determine serial numbers, brand names, models, and the article type and date of theft and your originating agency case number when entering articles in NCIC.
Information needed for the BOAT file includes the registration or document number, state and year of expiration, hull serial number, outer hull material, type of propulsion, make and type of boat, overall length, color, date of theft, and originating agency case number.
An agency making an NCIC wanted person inquiry and receiving a “hit” (positive response) on a Canadian entry should realize that no arrest can be executed in the United State based on a warrant from a foreign country. You must contact the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to initiate the process of obtaining a United State extradition warrant. If the subject wanted is not a Unites States citizen, you should also contact the nearest office of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).
The III (Interstate Identification Index) file consists of the criminal history records of offenders arrested by federal law enforcement agencies since January 1, 1970, and of offender records entered by states participating in the III program. In addition, it contains the records of some persons who are fugitives, regardless of when they were last arrested. Not all states participate in the III program, so data is only available from a limited number of states.
The purpose of this file is to speed up the criminal justice process by bringing about more realistic decisions on bail, sentencing, probation and parole. All information must be supported by a fingerprint card for each arrest, and the arrest must be for a serious violation. The response is a summary of the record, but a complete record can also be mailed to the requesting agency or transmitted on-line. The system is not infallible, since only records received from participating states during a certain time frame is contained in the file, and it is not unknown for several persons to have the same name and date of birth.
The use of technology in criminal investigations is referred to as criminalistics. The future will see criminalistics aided by a number of new technologies. They include DNA profiling and new serological techniques, on-line clearinghouses for criminal justice information, computer-generated profiles and photographic enhancements, forensic animation (computer simulations of cnnunal activity), and chemical and microscopic examination of fibers and other materials. A of these technologies follows to provide you with a general understanding ofthe technology available to law enforcement, but also to acquaintwith some opportunities that exist that may interest and with which you may not otherwise have been familiar.