THE NCIC INQUIRY/RESPONSE SYSTEM CAN PROVIDE INFORMATION TO POLICE IN THE FIELD IN AS LITTLE AS 2 TO 4 SECONDS DURING NONPEAK TIMES. LOW PRIORITY DATA REQUESTS MAY TAKE UP TO 20 MINUTES. THE SYSTEM PROVIDES ADDED SAFETY FOR PATROLMEN ON VEHICLE STOPS, LESSENS INVESTIGATIVE TIME AND COSTS, AIDS IN RECOVERY OF PROPERTY, REMOVES CRIMINAL REPEATERS FROM CIRCULATION, AND ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO BROADCAST MOST ALL-POINTS BULLETINS FOR FUGITIVES OR SUSPECTS. NCIC BEGAN OPERATIONS IN JANUARY OF 1967; IT NOW EXTENDS TO 10 FEDERAL AGENCIES, 50 STATES, 24 METROPOLITAN OR REGIONAL LAW-KEEPING ORGANIZATIONS, AND FOUR ADDITIONAL SYSTEMS (I.E. CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE). THE UPDATED SYSTEM USES AN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES (IBM) 360/50 MULTIPROCESSOR WITH A 2M-BYTE MEMORY AND A COMBINATION OF DISK STORAGE DEVICES. THE SYSTEM ALSO HAS NINE FILES: WANTED PERSONS, STOLEN VEHICLES, LICENSE PLATES, FIREARMS, STOLEN IDENTIFIABLE ARTICLES, MISSING PERSONS, CRIMINAL HISTORIES, BOATS, AND AIRCRAFT AND SNOWMOBILES. SYSTEM DESIGN INCLUDES VOICE-GRADE LINES BETWEEN NCIC AND NINE REGIONAL MULTIPLEXING CENTERS. MOST LOCAL AGENCY COMPUTERS INTERFACE DIRECTLY WITH THE NCIC AND THE REMAINING LOW-SPEED USERS ARE GRADUALLY CONVERTING TO THE FASTER TRANSMISSION SPEED. THE FBI ASSUMES ALL COSTS FOR SYSTEM USE. DAILY AVERAGE NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS HAS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY SINCE THE BEGINNING OF OPERATIONS AND WAS 234,303 PER DAY FOR DECEMBER 1976. PERIODIC ADMINISTRATIVE PURGES OF RECORDS FROM THE ACTIVE FILE AND ONLINE CLEARANCE OR CANCELLATION OF RECORDS BY THE ENTERING AGENCY ARE THE PRIMARY MEANS OF MAINTAINING UP-TO-DATE FILES. ADDITIONAL SYNCHRONIZATION AND VALIDATION MEASURES ARE ALSO USED. THE NCIC NETWORK AS OF APRIL 1977 IS DEPICTED ON A MAP OF THE UNITED STATES. (JAP)