Making Information Technology Work

• NCJ Number: 211845
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 2 pages
• Grant Number(s): 1996-MU-MU-K011
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Technical Assistance

Annotation

The National Institute of Justice's National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC)-Southeast has mounted a project to develop a set of recommendations that will help law enforcement and corrections agencies assess their current state of information management, where they want to be, and how to get there.

Abstract

This effort by NLECTC-Southeast is needed, because law enforcement and corrections agencies may not have a staff member who has the expertise and skill required to select and apply information technology. The set of recommendations that is being developed by NLECTC-Southeast is emerging from its in-depth studies of the information systems of the Aiken County Sheriff's Department (South Carolina) and the police departments of Normal, IL; Mount Pleasant and Charleston, SC; and Utica, NY. The format for work with these agencies has included an assessment of current information management operations through interviews with everyone involved in information processing. This leads to the development of process maps that show the current state of information flow and how it could be streamlined and improved. This article describes the specific assessments and recommendations developed by NLECTC-Southeast for the Mount Pleasant Police Department, the Normal Police Department, and the Aiken County Sheriff's Department. The final result of the project will be a set of recommendations for selecting and applying information technology. Any agency will be able to use the recommendations to better understand interoperability issues, new technologies and what they can and cannot do, and how to plan for an upgrade.