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UMASS/AMHERST Special Issue MASS February 2006 KFM 2962 CRIMINAL A15 JUSTICE news Per 2006:Feb The CJIS Extranet: New Technology Informs Criminal Justice Agencies New web-based technology debuted an instant electronic system to perform by the Criminal History Systems Board record checksfor issuing firearms (CHSB) in March 2005 is giving criminal licenses and for gun purchases, known justice professionals better, faster, and as the Massachusetts Instant Record more cost-effective access to critical in- Check System, or MIRCS. Three formation. Known as the Criminal Jus- months later, MIRCS became accessible tice Information System (CJIS) Extranet, to lawenforcement agencies through the CRIMINALJUSTICEnews this secure application is available only CJIS Extranet. The instant record to law enforcement and criminal justice checks available through MIRCS are appreciatestheassistanceand I agencies. It provides a single, efficient more up-to-date and accurate than those icooperation oftheexecutive access point to state and federal data- required by the national Brady Law, staffoftheMassachusetts bases containing criminal records, war- which requires a telephone check with Criminal HistorySystems Board rants and restraining orders, parole and the F.B.I, or state police priorto gun pur- I \inthepreparation ofthisspecial probation status, and motor vehicle li- chases. edition. cense and registration data. MIRCS allows a person's identity to For the first time, the Extranet per- be verified by scanning a single finger- mits police officers to search Registry of print. When someone first applies for a MotorVehicles (RMV) databases for par- gun license, in addition to providing a full tial plates and digital driver's license pho- set of prints, a single fingerprint is tographs. Police can access information scanned into MIRCS, along with a digital on the latest changes in the criminal photograph and identifying information. laws, forms for traffic stop reporting, and MIRCS provides an immediate record forms in 13 languages for persons ar- check, including recent court action, rested for operating under the influence. such as a felony conviction or issuance They can also retrieve advisories such of an arrestwarrant or domestic violence as the issuance of certified paper copies restraining order, that would disqualify a of Hurricane Katrina victims' drivers' li- person from holding a gun license. censes, reports ofchild kidnappings, and When the person returns to pick up the required notifications regarding release license, a scanned fingerprint again veri- of sex offenders from prison. The Extra- fies identity and checks for any recent net may also be accessed over a secure disqualifying activity. wireless connection from a laptop com- When the person then seeks to pur- puteror hand-held device. chase a gun, the dealer again scans the fingerprint, along with identifying informa- Electronic Firearms Record Checks ~ tion. MIRCS automatically checks the First in the Nation print against its database to verify a per- In December of 2004, Massachu- son's identity, that he has a current gun setts became the first state to implement (Continuedonpage2) Digitized by the Internet Archive 2015 in https://archive.org/details/criminaljusticen2006mass Specia[ Issue (CoMinuedfrompage 1) can gain immediate access to a driver's license photograph. license, and that he is not disqualified In the past, these searches and RMV from holding a license. Once identity is photographs either were unavailable or verified, MIRCS automatically enters the took days or weeks to obtain. Now, digi- identifying information, eliminating the tal color photographs can be obtained CRIMINALJUSTICE hbws need for sales clerks to fill out a paper from the RMV immediately and are more isapublicationofthe form. The gun sale data is then entered recent and of higher quality than booking MassachusettsAttorneyGeneral's electronically into MIRCS and submitted photographs that may be years old or CriminalJusticePolicyDivision. It iisnfionrtmeantdieodnttoopcrriomviindaelojbujsetcitcieve tauetmosmaBtoiacradl.lyto the Criminal History Sys- lProicnattsedcainnbae mdiasdtaentdirpeocltilcyefrdoempatrhtement. professionalsandthosewithan Through MIRCS, police departments database without losing time or quality interestinthefieldbyfocusingon are now receiving immediate notice of resulting from using a scanner or facsim- news,trends, programs,current court action that would disqualify a per- ile. RMV photos are available for all issuesandaccomplishmentsthat son from holding a gun license and Massachusetts drivers regardless of willenhancetheabilityto require him to surrender his guns or fire- whether they have an arrest record. understandandmakeinformed arms to police. Information regarding These photographs can be used in a criminaljusticepolicydecisions. arrests, warrants, restraining orders, and proper identification procedure, to help Tthhiespiunbfloircmaattiioonndcooenstaniontedin other court activity is automatically sent identify the subject of an arrest warrant, representtheviewsoropinionsof to MIRCS on a nightly basis. MIRCS or in missing persons cases where the theAttorneyGeneral. matches this court information against family does not have easy access to a Pleaseforwardquestions, the MIRCS database and generates an photograph. suggestionsorrequeststo: automatic notice to the local police if a person with a gun license becomes dis- CRIMINALJUSTICEnews qualified. The local police can also AttorneyGeneral'sOffice check the records of gun purchases and CriminalJusticePolicyDivision immediately effect the surrender ofa dis- OneAshburton Place qualified person's firearms. This prompt Boston MA02108 notice, not reliably available before E-Mail: [email protected] Phone: (617) 727-2200,x2559 MIRCS, is particularly important in the case of restraining orders, since the risk EditorialStaff: of violence rises just after issuance of a PamelaL. Hunt, Esq. restraining order. CatherineE.Sullivan, Esq. MarshaCohen %* Registry ofMotorVehicles Access Perhaps the most extensive impact of the CJIS Extranet has been the new and powerful search capabilities for Reg- istry of MotorVehicles information. More Alinceinnsveesptliagtaetinnugmobfefircewrilclofnidnudc4t2in2graegsiesatrecrtiedovfethhiicslepsa.rtiFaulr- than 300 local police departments out of thersearchbyvehiclecolorshowsthat48oftheseareblue the 351 cities and towns in Massachu- and43aregreen. Additionalsearchesmaybeconducted setts are utilizing the CJIS Extranet and bygeographicarea. Forexample,sixvehicleswithaplate have access to RMV information through beginningwiththisnumberareregisteredinSpringfield, two the CJISWeb RMV application. For the iNneCwamBberdifodrgde,,asnevdeonnieneWaocrcheisnteDre,dthwaominanLadwBroesntcoen,.seInvveenstiin- first time, a police officercan entera par- gatorsmaythenobtaindriver'slicenseinformationanda tial license plate number or other identi- photographoftheregisteredowner. fying information, quickly retrieve a list of matching vehicles, and narrow it down by type, color, and place of registration based on information received from wit- nesses. Also for the first time, an officer (Continuedonpage3) Page 2 (Continuedfrompage2) ticular town, or for particular offenses, or forcrimes arising out ofa particular loca- Sex OffenderTracking tion. Included will be a current release The CJIS Extranet also serves as a photograph, sentencing information, and portal for a pilot project, known as the prospective address. CJISWeb Address Locator Service, to track down unregistered sex offenders CJISWeb and other wanted persons. Forty-seven This application, being piloted by the departments are currently working with State Police, Boston Police, Parole the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) Board, and some courts, enhances the and the CHSB on this project, including usability of CJIS and other databases by departments with the highest number of providing access through web-based registered sex offenders and small technology. It permits officers to use departments that share access to the personal computers, including laptop and locator service regionally. A single user handheld devices using secure wireless in each department is authorized to technology, without the need for adaptive access the database, which contains software or other restrictions of the old addresses gathered from national con- CJIS terminals. The interface is user- sumerfiles and public records. friendly, allows searches of multiple This effort, combined with other pro- databases at the same time, and permits jects of the SORB to locate and register accessto photographs. sex offenders, collaborating with state In addition to information on Massa- and local police and other agencies, has chusetts driver's licenses, vehicle regis- shown significant results. As of March tration, and gun licenses, which are also 2005, when the program began, 4,800 of available on the Extranet, CJISWeb the approximately 16,000 sex offenders gives access to traditional criminal jus- in Massachusetts were either unregis- tice databases containing arrest war- tered or in violation of registration rants, criminal history, suicide watch requirements, such as providing a cor- information, and missing and wanted rect address. Nine months later, by persons from the National Crime Infor- December 1, 2005, this number was mation Center (NCIC) database main- reduced to 2,900, a reduction of approxi- tained by the Federal Bureau of Investi- mately40 percent. gation. Also included are criminal history records from other states, NCIC records Notification of Inmate Releases on out-of-state stolen, missing and Two applications, still in develop- wanted vehicles, and certain out-of-state ment, will permit the CJIS Extranet to be driver's license information and driving used to notify police departments about history. the release of inmates from correctional facilities. One, the Massachusetts State What's Next? Police ID Bulletin, supports the statutory The CHSB is also working to duty of correctional facilities to notify develop applications that may be intro- local cities and towns and the District duced in the future. They include inter- Attorney, via the State Police, of the state exchange of driver's license photo- release of inmates after serving time for graphs, issuance oftraffic citations using certain sex offenses. See G.L. c. 220, magnetic data from drivers' licenses that § 37. The other, the CJISWeb DOC would be electronically transmitted to the Inmate Release application, will allow court, and identity fraud protection to Sources: MassachusettsCriminal law enforcement agencies to have keep people from having their identities HistorySystemsBoardand access to information about Department fraudulently used in the criminal justice MassachusettsSexOffender of Correction inmates released to a par- RegistryBoard system. Page 3