Arizona FY 2015 NCHIP

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 noncriminal 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.

The Arizona Criminal Justice Commission (ACJC), will use funding to address criminal history records information and arrest warrants. The following projects focus on numerous NCHIP priority areas listed under the FY 2015 solicitation: 1) expand automation of the warrant process in the state to ensure better data quality and quicker entry into the AZ Crime Information Center and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC); 2) continue to reduce the backlog of dispositions at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) through the use of staff time and overtime with the goal of improving the records and reducing the backlog by 40,000 within 18 months; 3) install a data exchange from the Navajo County Attorney’s Office (NCAO) to the Sheriff’s Office and the other law enforcement agencies to automate and enhance data sharing of criminal history information; 4) research the pending Maricopa County court cases for which a Final Disposition Report (FDR) was never received plus other cases supplied by AZ courts or identified by the state repository, identify or create an arrest and provide the court with an FDR to complete and forward to the state repository for entry into the AZ Computerized Criminal History (ACCH) file; 5) purchase livescans for the Eloy and Benson Police Departments to allow for automated reporting of arrest and disposition information to the state repository; 6) upgrade the AZ Department of Public Safety (DPS) livescan which assists with the handling of criminal history information sharing for background checks and NICS information. The DPS, houses the central state repository and maintains over 4.9 million arrests on over 1.7 million active criminal history records. ACJC will also provide administrative oversight for the projects listed above by tracking and monitoring performance in reviewing quarterly activity and financial reports. Additionally, ACJC staff will conduct site visits to ensure the agencies are meeting project goals and objectives.

CA/NCF