While most people who become police officers do it because they want action, after they join, they discover that the job is mostly paper work. While arresting a person can be dangerous, it's the easiest part of being a police officer.
The most time consuming part of the job is paperwork. And there's no shortage of paperwork. After every arrest there are fingerprints to file, crime reports to fill out and information to gather about past incidents.
Imaging reduces investigation time, enhances productivity and improves the chances of the law enforcement authority getting a conviction.
Instead of having a person search through thousands of mug shots to identify the suspect, the police officer keys in the witness's physical description of the criminal. Images fitting this description are then brought up on the computer screen.
Fingerprints are messy at the best of times because they're rarely taken under perfect circumstances. Imaging can reduce background noise and compare the final image against a database. Turn hours of work into seconds.
Records management is simplified. Instead of searching through large filing cabinets in big rooms to find a document, police call up an electronic file on their computer. Apart from getting instant access to the information they need, documents are never lost or removed from the file. Electronic documents are almost always filed correctly.
Florida Links Law Departments Together
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is putting together an imaging solution from Stratus Computer (Marlborough, MA 508-460-2000) and Paradigm4 (Tallahassee, FL 904-671-2424) that keeps criminals with records off the streets.
In order to make Florida safer for its citizens, the state's 600+ county, local, transit, state and DMV agencies are building a system that will let them access a person's prior convictions instantly. Instead of manually gathering information and sharing it with other departments, the data will be input into the system as it's gathered.
Fingerprints will be taken at the crime scene and transmitted wirelessly to their central office in less than three seconds. They will then be compared against local, state and national databases. If the person has a criminal record, the arresting officer will know instantly.
The police are not the only people who will benefit from the $13 million imaging system. Public access is also being improved. Citizens will eventually be able to access much of the information from their PC over the Internet.
Public information will include criminals' police records, photos of missing people, photos of known gang members and most wanted listings. The benefits of the system are enormous. Police will have more time to investigate crimes because they will no longer have to answer simple questions. The public will have access to more information and taxpayers will save money because law enforcement authorities will be able to do more with less people.
This is only the first stage of the system. The state plans to spend another $75 million on enhancements and other services. Florida will be the first state to adhere to the Federal mandate to be FBI NCIC 2000 ready by the year 2000. Already they are 70% through the process.
Middlesex County Uses Imaging to Track Criminals
Middlesex County, MA is using imaging to fight crime and protect its citizens. Using Unisys' (Bluebell, PA 215-986-4011) services and products the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office is providing immediate and accurate information on inmates.
Before the system was installed it was hard to keep accurate records on current and previous inmates. Prisoners are transferred between locations and it can be difficult to track and positively identify people with a long criminal history who may have altered their physical appearance in some way.
The new Positive Identification and Tracking System (POSITRAC) integrates fingerprinting and photo-imaging technology into the Middlesex County's existing databases.
Corrections officials are now able to share critical information about inmates and detainees with corrections and law enforcement organizations, courts, human services and other government agencies.
Using fingerprinting technology, individuals with criminal records who have radically changed their physical appearance can be positively identified.
This makes it easier to track the movements of inmates between jails, prison and court systems and makes sure that an inmate is not incorrectly transported or released.
With the number of inmates being held in American jails constantly on the rise and personnel and budget cuts deepening, the use of imaging is rapidly becoming a necessity.
More and more law enforcement authorities are now looking at imaging to keep criminals under control, reduce costs, increase public access to information and improve the productivity of their staff. The advantages of imaging are limitless.
