Maricopa Starts On Criminal Dat Network
Arizona’s Maricopa County is attempting to simplify data related to criminal cases in order to provide easy tracking capabilities by using common case numbers among several county agencies, such as the sheriff, county attorney, county clerk, public defender, and Superior Court.
Previously, Maricopa County agencies used varying criminal case numbers, so tracking cases proved difficult.
The county is only in the first phase of implementing the criminal justice information system and already has 30,000 of its 100,000 cases per year using a common number.
Eventually, the county hopes to assign common numbers to criminals as soon as they are arrested.
The county produces up to 70 percent of Arizona’s criminal filings due to its large population.
When the first phase is finished in 2005, the county will use common case numbers, an online pre-booking system, business process improvements, and an integration server, according to project data integration manager Larry Bernosky.
The next phases will include more effective information-sharing with government agencies, use of XML standards, and public access to information.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from Federal Computer Week (08/04/03); Sarkar, Dibya.
