NCJ Number
139079
Journal
EuroCriminology Volume: 2 Dated: (1988) Pages: 91-99
Date Published
1988
Length
9 pages
Annotation
The rapid advance of computer technology has revolutionized traditional approaches to data collection, processing, retrieval, and use in the field of criminal justice administration.
Abstract
Computerization has reduced court delays in the processing of offenders, provided more comprehensive crime- related information for policy purposes, helped to assess the performance of criminal justice agencies, and integrated criminal justice system data bases. The 1986 Directory of Automated Criminal Justice Information Systems lists over 1,000 systems in the United States and Canada alone that are used by the police, courts, corrections, and other criminal justice agencies. Due to the multiplicity of systems and the associated problem of incompatible software and hardware, there is a need to share information on programming languages and to develop user friendly approaches to the computerization of criminal justice information. Toward this end, the United Nations Economic and Social Council adopted a resolution in 1986 requiring the Secretary General to establish a global crime prevention and criminal justice information network. In addition to software and hardware issues, the computerization of criminal justice information requires consideration of other human and legal issues such as data privacy and access to criminal history records by researchers. 14 footnotes