Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2011, $599,576)
The goal of the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) is to improve the Nation's safety and security by enhancing the quality, completeness, and accessibility of criminal history record information and by insuring the nationwide implementation of criminal justice and non-criminal justice background check systems. BJS provides direct financial and technical assistance to the states to improve criminal history and other related records and to build their infrastructure to connect to national record check systems both to supply information and to conduct the requisite checks.
Under this award, the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety plans to transfer funds to the Division of State Police and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to enhance the state's criminal justice information sharing systems. The Division of State Police plans to purchase mug photo devices for use with local law enforcement agencies' livescan machines. The combined fingerprint/mug photo record will be electronically transmitted to the State Bureau of Investigation for use in providing rapid and accurate identification of a suspect while still in custody.
The AOC will funds to create an electronic violation of probation (VOP) form for probation staff to enter necessary probation information and to hire consultants to design a central repository to house the VOP report, as well as other court documents. Report packages will be accessible in-house and to outside agencies through the web-enabled repository. The electronic capability will provide immediate access to the necessary documents needed to initiate the process by which the Probation Division notifies the criminal courts that a client has violated the conditions set forth in the Judgment of Conviction and must be resentenced. In addition, AOC will receive funds to develop and implement a criminal restraining order (CRO) module in PROMIS/Gavel, New Jersey's criminal history repository. Those having access to the module will be able to obtain offense details, defendant and victim information, as well as notification alerts. From PROMIS/Gavel, restraining order data will be forwarded to the NJ State Police for transmission to NCIC. (CA/NCF)