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CENTERFOLDProsecutor's Office Uses Network To Crack Crimeby Linda NicastroIt may take some time to load in your browser! It should take less time to downoad than the gif! In a dramatic leap, a staff that once used typewriters and pure old-fashioned grit to solve crimes and prosecute criminals turned to computers and networking technology to increase its muscle. As a result, the prosecutor's office automated investigative and administrative processes and increased efficiency within, and between, its office and other agencies. Dedicated phone lines and T1 links provide connections that allow headquarters' staff to communicate with remote homicide, narcotics and sex crimes units. On a broader scale, 12 county police departments and the sheriff's office can tap network resources via dial-up communications and, in return, provide a daily information feed on local arrests, restraining orders and warrants. A notch up, the prosecutor's staff can search criminal records and court information at the state level through an SNA g
ateway to law enforcement facilities at the capitol.
For example, Mosaic, a law enforcement database, makes it possible to generate and share reports, affidavits, transcripts and case materials electronically. Likewise, Unisys' InfoImage Folder document-imaging system helped the prosecutor's office transfer historical records and thousands of old case files to optical disc. The newest addition to the network is a digitized imaging solution from Unisys that will enable local police departments and the prosecutor's office to create an on-line, countywide database of criminal mug shots and arrest data. The system will also be used in schools to gather images of children on CD-ROM that may ultimately speed their recovery if ever missing or abducted.
According to Wayne K. Jahn, deputy chief of the prosecutor's office, system and network administrator, and himself a 20-year police veteran, the best feature of the network is the ability to share data internally and externally. "The network is a central repository for arrests, warrants and criminal mug shots for the whole county," he says. "Police departments download information, but they can also log on and look. It's a two-way street." In the end, this frees the prosecutor's office to do what it does best--solve crimes and put criminals behind bars.
Linda Nicastro can be reached at lnicastro@nwc.com. You can also
e-mail Linda directly
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