Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2018, $6,307,342)
The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110-180 ("NICS Improvement Act"), was signed into law by the President on January 8, 2008. The NICS Improvement Act amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 ("the Brady Act") (Pub. L. 103-159), under which the Attorney General established the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The Brady Act requires Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) to contact the NICS before transferring a firearm to an unlicensed person for information on whether the proposed transferee is prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm under state or federal law. The NICS Improvement Act authorizes grants to be made in a manner consistent with the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP).
Under the 2018 NARIP priority areas, the NYS, Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), will use funds for the following projects:
1) Automate Transmission of Misdemeanor Crimes of Domestic Violence (MCDV): DCJS will automate the identification of MCDV-eligible prohibitors and transmit those to NICS. NY will use a pre-defined set of federally prohibiting relationships and known charge convictions that the FBI has determined to meet MCDV criteria.
2) Develop Automated Feed from the CCH to NICS: DCJS will develop an automated feed from the CCH to the NICS State Disqualifier Index. This feed will include all individuals convicted of qualifying offenses that would prohibit an individual from possessing a firearm in NY.
3) Improve Order of Protection Reporting: OCA will automate the transfer of protection order data from the Courtroom Program into WebDVS. The elimination of duplicate data entry will streamline the data entry process, reducing data entry error and delays, and reducing the use of unapproved and outdated order forms.
4) Improve Prosecutor Reporting of MCDV: DCJS will improve the number of MCDV convictions that are reported to the NICS by making programming changes to the PCMS, the on-line case management system used by 53 out of 62 of district attorneys' offices in NY. The changes to the PCMS to flag, generate notice, and track MCDV eligible offenses will ensure that more MCDV convictions from NY are transmitted to NICS.
5) Improve Felony Disposition Reporting: Staff funding will assist in the implementation process including preparing each court for the new UCMS system by conducting operational readiness planning and review, training court staff and judges, and assisting the court during the UCMS trial period where the court practices with the new system while still operating on the legacy system.
6) Enhance NICS Reporting System: The Department of Health/Health Research, Inc. (DOH/HRI) will maintain and update its 3 modes of NICS record reporting: manual, bulk file upload and automated, record reporting processes. DOH/HRI continually monitors the timeliness and completeness of records reported by hospitals, and works with facilities to mitigate errors immediately upon discovery of an issue.
7) Improve Mental Health Record Reporting to NICS: OMH will undertake quality assurance activities to further ensure the completeness and data integrity of NICS submissions. These activities include the use of other supporting data sources. Comparative analysis will determine if qualifying hospital admissions are being reported and if they are being reported accurately.
8) NYS Law Enforcement Interface with NCIC: The Integrated Justice Portal currently provides users the ability to query person information stored at NCIC. DCJS will develop a portal interface for the update functions, and the supporting business services and integration services to interface with NCIC. NYS law enforcement personnel will be able to determine whether an individual is considered a prohibited person through the states NICS Denied Transaction File.
(CA/NCF)