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Summary:
This article summarizes the history and mission of the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center and illustrates the services it provides to Alabama Law Enforcement Officers.
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ACJIC
History and Mission of ACJIC 
Mr. Roger Humber, Deputy Director, Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center.
The history of law enforcement is distinguished with advancements and innovations that hopefully improved the profession. Tactical and strategic developments facilitated officer safety and encouraged the exchange of information between agencies on an international scale. The development and expansion of the criminal justice information network (CJNet) is an example of such an enhancement.
The National Criminal Justice Information Center (NCIC) exemplifies progress made in the area of information collection and sharing between criminal justice agencies. The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) website gives a brief overview of how NCIC came into being. Because of increasing crime and the need for quick accurate crime related information, in 1967 the Bureau began development of a nationwide communication network. Careful to include criminal justice stakeholders in the process, the FBI set standards and by 1967, NCIC was operational. In its first year, NCIC handled about two million transactions dealing with wanted persons and stolen property. Today NCIC handles that many transactions in one day. Currently NCIC provides access to 17 different files containing information on wanted and missing persons, stolen property, criminal history files, and violent criminal and terrorist files. Access to state drivers license and vehicle registration is provided over the CJNet through the efforts of the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS).
Much of the data provided to the FBI's NCIC originates from state and local agencies. Users of this network generally access NCIC through state systems. In Alabama, the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center (ACJIC) is the state agency responsible for providing access to the NCIC and other criminal justice information resources.
ACJIC was established in 1975, with the mission to collect, store, retrieve, analyze, and disseminate information relating to crimes, criminals and criminal activity. The ACJIC mandate is to assist the entire criminal justice community (police, courts, corrections) through fulfillment of various legislated responsibilities. The ACJIC telecommunication network provides direct computerized access to databases maintained by ACJIC and other Alabama agencies, as well as, providing connectivity to other states' data and the FBI's NCIC. The ACJIC network currently connects in excess of 350 state agencies representing thousands of direct terminal access to not only this state but also agencies throughout the United States.
In a recent report submitted by ACJIC, it was noted that the state CJNet was processing between 4 to 5 million transactions monthly. ACJIC also is responsible for various analytical reports of crime data and provides a comprehensive picture of crime through the Crime in Alabama yearly publication.
Today ACJIC strives to provide timely, accurate information to criminal justice practitioners. None more important than the street patrol officer who needs this information quickly, sometimes as a matter of officer safety. ACJIC strides to push access to this important information to the field level. Thus giving officers the ability to make network inquiries through cell phone technology or from a vehicle mounted laptop.
The current ACJIC Director shared his vision for the future of ACJIC. His desire is that ACJIC be the leading provider of integrated information to a unified statewide criminal justice, public safety, and homeland security enterprise for the purpose of public protection. Never has so much information been available to the criminal justice user. For the first time in the history of Alabama criminal justice, practitioners can access the CJNet through a secure portal (AlaCOP). NCIC has never been as accessible to the end user as it is now. Of course, the confidentiality of that information dictates that ACJIC, through technology and enforcement, ensure that citizen privacy and security is maintained and protected.
The Director is firm in his resolve that through the efforts of the ACJIC, crime is reduced, money saved, law enforcement improved, property protected, and ultimately, lives saved and Alabama citizens secure.
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