The
Criminal Justice Information Services Division (
CJIS) is a division of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Federal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI). The CJIS was established in February 1992 and it is the largest division in the FBI.
A computerized criminal justice information system that is a counterpart of FBI's
National Crime Information CenterThe National Crime Information Center is the United States' central database for tracking crime-related information. Since 1967, the NCIC has been maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Justice Information Services Division, and is interlinked with similar systems that each...
(NCIC) is centralised in Washington D.C., and is maintained by Department of Justice (DOJ) in each state. It is available to authorized local, state, and
federalThe federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
law enforcementIn North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
and criminal justice agencies via any of the three law enforcement communication systems – National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS), a more localised state criminal information system (name varies by state), and the International Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (INLETS). Usually CJIS offers a much wider range of information nationwide and more precise inquiry search parameters than NCIC. CJIS consists of several databases and one subsystem, and its retrieval and update capabilities are online.
CJIS Overview
The CJIS Division is the largest division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is located in a half million square foot main facility on a 986 acre (4.0 km²) tract North of
Clarksburg, West VirginiaClarksburg is a city in and the county seat of Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, in the north-central region of the state. It is the principal city of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area...
. CJIS services located at this site include the
National Crime Information CenterThe National Crime Information Center is the United States' central database for tracking crime-related information. Since 1967, the NCIC has been maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Criminal Justice Information Services Division, and is interlinked with similar systems that each...
(NCIC),
Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification SystemThe Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System is a national automated fingerprint identification and criminal history system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation . IAFIS provides automated fingerprint search capabilities, latent searching capability, electronic image...
(IAFIS), Law Enforcement Online (LEO), National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), Uniform Crime Reporting Program/National Incident-Based Reporting System (UCR/NIBRS), and
Law Enforcement National Data ExchangeThe Law Enforcement National Data Exchange brings together data from criminal justice agencies throughout the United States, including incident and case reports, booking and incarceration data, and parole/probation information. N-DEx detects relationships between people, vehicles/property,...
(N-DEx).
The mission of CJIS is to reduce terrorist and criminal activities by maximizing the ability to provide timely and relevant criminal justice information to the FBI and to qualified law enforcement,
criminal justiceCriminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
, civilian, academic, employment, and licensing agencies concerning individuals, stolen property, criminal organizations and activities, and other law enforcement related data.
Here, statisticians are compiling vast amounts of data from law enforcement into a series of regular reports detailing the state of crime in communities across the country. The world's largest repository of criminal fingerprints and history records is being searched in a flash by investigators and police professionals working to catch crooks and terrorists.
That's just the beginning of what goes on at CJIS—the Criminal Justice Information Services Division—home to an array of services that are a lifeline to law enforcement and a cornerstone of protecting the nation.
See also
- Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System
The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System is a national automated fingerprint identification and criminal history system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation . IAFIS provides automated fingerprint search capabilities, latent searching capability, electronic image...
(IAFIS)
- National Incident Based Reporting System
National Incident-Based Reporting System is an incident-based reporting system used by law enforcement agencies in the United States for collecting and reporting data on crimes. Local, state and federal agencies generate NIBRS data from their records management systems. Data is collected on every...
(NIBRS)