FY2016 National Criminal History Improvement Program (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.

Under this award, the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute plans to transfer funds to the Indiana Supreme CourtÂ’s Trial Court Technology (TCT) Group and the Indiana State Police (ISP) to improve and enhance the accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of court conviction and disposition data sent to the criminal history repository. Improving the completeness and accuracy of these records will, in turn, improve the number and completeness of records in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) originating in Indiana. Funds are being requested by TCT to continue the deployment of Odyssey, the courtÂ’s case management system, to criminal courts throughout the state; to continue development and support for an INcite Criminal Warrant Registry that will provide law enforcement the ability to manage criminal warrants issued by the courts in Odyssey and to automate the entering of warrants into IDACS; and, to enhance the existing error report that is being emailed to courts by developing the CHRIS (IndianÂ’s criminal history repository) Dashboard as an INcite application. ISP plans to use grant funds to replace the mission critical interface between CHRIS and the stateÂ’s Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). A new web service will be designed by both the CHRIS and AFIS vendors to replace the COBOL interface. The web service will create significant efficiencies for both systems and their respective users. The web service will eliminate time delays and costs associated with manual updating and consolidating processes, provide more timely trouble shooting, and manage updates to the systems. (CA/NCF)