DE FY 2020 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 Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security will transfer funds to the Delaware State Police, State Bureau of Identification to enhance its Law Enforcement Investigation Report Suite (LEISS), a client-server-based police system comprised of two primary components: complaints/incidents and warrants/arrests. LEISS requires a better way to capture data relating to misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence, crimes against the elderly, mental health related protection orders, as well as the use of weapons incidents. There is also a problem with sex offender cases and the fact that DNA that has been collected, analyzed, and recorded, is often omitted from case files. Funds are being requested to modify LEISS to determine if sex offender DNA has been collected and if the sample has been sent to the lab. Once the lab samples are returned, the record will be updated and flagged in the system. These flags will serve to monitor that sex offender records are being properly tracked.

Other enhancements will be made to LEISS involving changes in reporting crime records that are transmitted to both NICS and III. A critical enhancement for this initiative will be the inclusion of mug shots. When an officer is preparing a warrant request or arrest on an individual, they will be able to confirm the person’s identity via the mugshot photo. Additionally, LEISS modifications will be made to capture and report National Use of Force data according to flat file and bulk load technical specifications pursuant to federal CJIS mandates. These upgrades will help with the accurate and timely reporting of criminal history information to local law enforcement and other partner agencies. DELJIS (Delaware Criminal Justice Information System) staff will perform the work necessary to complete this project.

(CA/NCF)