176 lines
8.3 KiB
Plaintext
176 lines
8.3 KiB
Plaintext
January 1991
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NCIC TRAINING: HIT OR MISS
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By
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Don M. Johnson
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Special Agent
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FBI Headquarters, Washington, DC
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Today, the National Crime Information Center (NCIC)
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continues to be the best example of law enforcement cooperation.
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Information on wanted persons, stolen guns, stolen articles and
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securities, unidentified bodies, and computerized criminal
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history information is available to virtually every police
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agency in the United States. However, without proper training
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on the use of NCIC and State computer systems, law enforcement
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agencies could lose their tactical edge and may no longer be
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able to ensure that their employees perform their duties as
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efficiently and accurately as possible.
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NCIC IN BRIEF
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Management of NCIC is shared between the FBI and the
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Advisory Policy Board (APB). The APB consists of 20 elected
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State representatives, 6 individuals appointed by the Director
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of the FBI, and 4 representatives of national law enforcement
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organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs
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of Police, the National Sheriff's Association, the National
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District Attorneys Conference, and the National Probation and
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Parole Association. Together they set policy and procedure for
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NCIC's 59,000 users.
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LAW ENFORCEMENT AND NCIC TRAINING
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Law enforcement training in the 1960s saw an explosion of
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minimum standards for police officers nationwide. From then on,
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officers were required to be trained and certified prior to
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active duty. This training included such topics as legal
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issues, firearms, mechanics of arrest, report writing, first
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aid, and defensive driving. These minimum standards for police
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have greatly increased the quality of law enforcement in the
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United States today.
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Prior to 1984, the responsibility for training NCIC and
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State terminal operators was left to the discretion of the
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various State criminal information system managers. These
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managers decided the amount and type of training given to
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terminal operators. As a result, the APB noted marked
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differences in the types and quality of NCIC/State system
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training that terminal operators were receiving.
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The APB also recognized that many States limited their
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training to terminal operators, and as a result, the training
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was very technical in nature. However, by limiting training to
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terminal operators, many states neglected the training needs of
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officers, investigators, and administrators, especially in the
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areas of data quality and user compliance with policy issues.
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For these reasons, the APB mandated that by December 31, 1986,
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all 50 states were to have NCIC training programs in place for
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the following four separate personnel levels: (1)
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* Terminal Operators--Must be trained and tested within
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6 months of employment or assignment. Their proficiency
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must also be retested biennially.
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* Criminal Justice Practitioners--The daily users of the
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NCIC/State systems are required to receive entry level
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and inservice training. They must be taught what
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signifies a "hit," the levels of probable cause needed
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for arrest, the need for hit confirmation, the
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idiosyncrasies of soundexing, and the availability and
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searchability of various fields within a record.
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* Criminal Justice Agency Records Personnel--Individuals
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who control the records management systems in every law
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enforcement agency are required to be completely
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familiar with all NCIC/State systems policy and
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procedure matters.
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* Criminal Justice Administrators and Upper-level
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Managers--Must have a thorough knowledge of NCIC
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regulations, including training, audits, sanctions, and
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the related civil liability issues to guide them in
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protecting their agencies from law suits.
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Since NCIC's beginning in 1967, one law enforcement agency
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in every State has assumed the responsibility for managing that
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State's computer system and its relationship with NCIC. This
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agency is known as the Control Terminal Agency (CTA). Each CTA
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has also designated one individual within that agency to assume
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the responsibility for complying with NCIC policy and procedure
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issues. This individual is known as the Control Terminal
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Officer (CTO). The CTO in each CTA has training programs
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available for all law enforcement agencies within that State.
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The NCIC training policy was made intentionally broad to
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allow the CTAs to employ a wide variety of methods. Under this
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policy, each CTA has the flexibility to create its own training
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program using available resources. Since the policy and
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procedures mandated by NCIC and the APB apply to all 50 States,
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as well as Federal users, each State has incorporated national
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policy issues into its training programs. As a result, the
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quality of the data in computerized systems and compliance with
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national and State policy issues has become a priority in State
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training programs.
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Even though training in one State may be handled
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regionally, another State may centralize its training program.
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Yet, no matter how a State trains its personnel, all must teach
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nationwide policy and procedural issues mandated by the APB.
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This provides assurance to the criminal justice community that
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terminal operators, police officers, record managers, and
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administrators across the country receive adequate and uniform
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training on such important issues as hit confirmation,
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validation, and the necessity for entering information into NCIC
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and the State systems in a timely and accurate manner.
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IMPORTANCE OF ADEQUATE TRAINING
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Complete and proper use of NCIC/State computer systems can
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save the lives of police officers, fugitives, and innocent
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citizens. Tragically, in one recent case, a terminal operator
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failed to enter a stolen vehicle into NCIC in a timely fashion.
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Instead, the operator waited for additional information before
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making the vehicle entry. A police officer on routine patrol
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stopped a car that fit the description of a stolen vehicle,
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queried NCIC, and received a negative response. When the
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officer approached the vehicle, the car thief killed the
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officer. This tragedy could have been prevented if the
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operator were trained as to the minimum criteria for entering
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stolen vehicle records into NCIC. Unfortunately, many similar
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examples exist as a result of improper use or inadequate
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training of NCIC and State computer systems.
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Use of available NCIC and State systems will also generate
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investigative leads for law enforcement agencies. Through
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training, officers have become more aware of the Interstate
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Identification Index, State data bases, public domain data
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bases, and the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications
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System (NLETS). For example, when an officer obtains an arrest
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warrant, the Interstate Identification Index is queried. When
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positive identification is made, the Index will produce aliases,
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fingerprint classifications, places of birth, Social Security
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numbers, and a multitude of other descriptive information that
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will aid the department in its search for the fugitive.
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CONCLUSION
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Just as terminal opeators' adrenaline rises when an NCIC
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"hit" appears on the monitor, police administrators' adrenaline
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should also rise if they have not provided their employees
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with the best available training in NCIC and State computerized
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system use. But, by using the State NCIC training programs
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available through each State's Control Terminal Agency, police
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administrators can be assured that their employees enter
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accurate and complete information into NCIC, know how to
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interpret the information accurately in the system, validate
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active records, and promptly remove old records from the system.
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While doctors can change a prescription and lawyers can
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cross-examine witnesses, the law enforcement employee must often
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make swift decisions based on the instantaneous results of NCIC
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and State system inquiries. All law enforcement agencies must,
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therefore, ensure that law enforcement employees are able to use
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the NCIC and State systems. For someone, there may not be a
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second chance.
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FOOTNOTE
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(1) U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of
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Investigation, "Minutes National Crime Information Center
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Advisory Board," October 17-18, 1984, pp 311-312.
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