NCJ Number
176779
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 26 Issue: 1 Dated: January 1999 Pages: 44-45-48
Date Published
1999
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The Los Angeles County (Calif.) police have a new database called the Consolidated Criminal History Reporting System (CCHRS), which has aided police agencies in solving crimes and in other operations.
Abstract
The county had more than 20 disparate information systems; its mainframe system did not store information in a relational fashion. No easy way existed to cross-reference information between agencies; retrieving information on a suspect took much time and patience. The new system integrates information and stores it in one place where each department can gain access. The system is also fingerprint-based to ensure greater data accuracy. CCHRS uses an Oracle data server to provide almost real-time data from multiple source systems, including those of the county court, the sheriff's department, the district attorney, juvenile justice agencies, State agencies, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The database contains 20 million records on 6 million persons and will store data for up to 10 years of cases. The system involved redesigning the rap sheet to include 30 standard pieces of information, as well as the potential for each user to customize the screen. The foundation of the identification system is its live-scan, laser-based fingerprinting. Users must identify themselves and give a reason for searching the database before they enter the system. The database has reduced the time for individual processes from 15-30 minutes to 2 minutes or less. The county plans to add digitized photographs and other graphic images to simplify suspect identification further. Photographs