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Too Little, Too Late - The Development of a Statewide Criminal Justice Information System

NCJ Number
82716
Date Published
1980
Length
93 pages
Annotation
The status of New York State's Criminal Justice Information System is assessed, its development detailed since its inception in 1975, and recommendations for improvement offered.
Abstract
After spending over $6.5 million in Federal funds and untold State and Federal block grant funds, along with 4 1/2 years in the development of the State's criminal justice information system, participating agencies indicate that only scattered parts of a system are in place, and there is no central plan for the coordination of data collection or policy research. Specifically, the major findings of this report show an information system which, to date, is incapable of presenting clear and concise statistical information; a failure of the coordinating agency (the Division of Criminal Justice Services) to ensure integration of the individual agency systems; a misuse of Federal and State dollars; a master plan which remains incomplete; and an evident failure of the participating State agencies to cooperate to develop and meet the goals set in the three Federal grant proposals. Recommendations are that (1) criminal justice agency commissioners convene to discuss the status of the statewide criminal justice information system and the remaining steps required to implement the system as quickly and efficiently as possible, (2) an outside consultant be employed to review the existing system at agency levels and propose a plan which will ensure that all the final systems operate effectively, (3) a master plan be completed, and (4) legislation be enacted to provide effective State oversight of incoming Federal monies. Appended are the system's on-line communication links flow chart, the on-line data reporting flow chart, and system data elements. A glossary is also included.