Police To Get Faster Data Access In Connecticut
Connecticut law enforcement agencies will share a combined criminal information database and browser-based query system that will improve officer safety by giving them more detailed information about suspects.
Officers still need names of suspects before they can check the system, but it will save them from having to make different searches to find out whether people have an outstanding warrant, a protective order against them, a court case pending, a history of violence, or are on probation.
The COLLECT system will enable officers to access back-end information through a browser interface similar to that used for surfing the Web. Police used to rely on a “green screen” system that ran off a single mainframe.
The other initiative, dubbed Offender Based Tracking System, will combine information from state criminal records, court records, prison information, re-arrest warrants, and other registries or databases.
Civil liberties groups worry that the consolidated database will increase the danger of misuse or incorrect information, but officials say the system is safe because input and changes can only be made from special terminals and all users must be trained and certified.
Discussion about police safety has increased recently since Newington Police Officer Peter Lavery was killed by a man while responding to a domestic violence call.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Hartford Courant (01/17/05); Kovner, Josh .
