This report was prepared by RAND, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics using federal funding provided by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Document Title: Comparison of Criminal-History Information Systems in the United States and Other Countries Authors: RAND Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division Bureau of Justice Statistics Document No.: 253816 Publication Date: April 2, 2020 Award No.: This project was supported by award number 2016-R2-CX-K037. Abstract: Official criminal-history record information is an important component of criminal justice systems worldwide, but little is known about how the United States’ criminal-history system compares to those in other industrialized countries. To address this knowledge gap, the Bureau of Justice Statistics sponsored a study to document and compare the national criminal-history systems in the United States, Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Germany, and the Netherlands. The topics include the operational uses and sources of the criminal-history data, procedures to assess record accuracy and completeness, efforts to improve the systems, and the availability of records to government and non- government entities for operational and research purposes. Sub-national criminal-history systems (e.g., the state repositories in the U.S.) and other data systems that maintain and disseminate criminal justice information were outside the scope of this study. Disclaimer The Bureau of Justice Statistics funded this third-party report. It is not a BJS report and does not release official government statistics. The report is released to help inform interested parties of the research or analysis contained within and to encourage discussion. BJS has performed a limited review of the report to ensure the general accuracy of information and adherence to confidentiality and disclosure standards. Any statistics included in this report are not official BJS statistics unless they have been previously published in a BJS report. Any analysis, conclusions, or opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views, opinions, or policies of the Bureau of Justice Statistics or the U.S. Department of Justice. 1 This page is intentionally left blank. 2 Comparison of Criminal- History Information Systems in the United States and Other Countries RAND Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division Bureau of Justice Statistics Bureau of Justice Statistics 810 Seventh Street, NW Washington, DC 20531 3 Acknowledgment This report compares criminal-history information systems in the United States, Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Germany, and the Netherlands. The report discusses operational uses and sources of the criminal-history data, procedures to assess record accuracy and completeness, efforts to improve the systems, and availability of records to government and non-government entities for operational and research purposes. The first chapter focuses on the national criminal-history system in the U.S. Section 1 of this chapter, on the criminal justice system, was produced by Mariel Alper of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Sections 2, 3, and 4—on the national criminal-history record system, assessing criminal-history data quality and completeness, and accessing criminal-history data for research purposes—were produced by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Criminal Justice Information Services Division. Section 5, on using criminal-history data for research, was produced by Matthew Durose of BJS. The U.S. chapter is followed by chapters, produced by RAND, on the national criminal-history systems in Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Germany, and the Netherlands. In consultation with the FBI and BJS, RAND also produced the last chapter, which compares the U.S. criminal-history system to the systems in the other countries. 4 Table of Contents Key Findings ................................................................................................................................... 6 US 1. Overview of the Criminal Justice System............................................................................. 7 US 2. Understanding the National Criminal-History Record System .......................................... 10 US 3. Addressing Criminal-History Data Quality and Completeness .......................................... 22 US 4. Accessing Criminal-History Record Data for Research Purposes...................................... 24 US 5. Using Criminal-History Data for Research ........................................................................ 25 5 Key Findings: The United States consists of the federal government, 50 states, 5 permanently inhabited territories, and the District of Columbia. Each state maintains a criminal justice system under the state’s unique laws, while also being subject to the federal criminal justice system. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) maintains the Next Generation Identification (NGI) System, which provides an automated biometric identification and criminal-history record (CHR) reporting system to support law enforcement agencies, criminal justice agencies, national security clearances, and authorized non-criminal-justice entities that conduct background checks on persons for non-criminal-justice purposes, such as employment and licensing. The NGI System is an identity-based, person-centric system that combines criminal and civil repositories. It includes records of fingerprints and in some cases palmprints; CHRs; mug shots; scar, mark, and tattoo photos; physical characteristics; and aliases. The Interstate Identification Index (III) is part of the NGI System and enables CHR data-sharing and integration across the U.S. The III is an index pointer system that ties the FBI’s computerized CHR files and each III-participating state’s centralized files into a national system. CHRs can include criminal justice information from police, prosecutor offices, courts, and correctional agencies. Criminal-history record information (CHRI) is made available for criminal justice, non-criminal-justice, and personal review purposes. Authorized criminal justice and non-criminal-justice agencies may access CHRs through an online III request or via a fingerprint submission to the NGI System. The FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division manages and maintains the NGI System and the III Program. The CJIS Division collaborates with federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local agencies to meet the needs of both the criminal justice and non-criminal-justice communities and to share responsibility for these programs. There are several restrictions on accessing and disseminating CHRI under federal laws and regulations. CHRI is voluntarily submitted by federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local agencies. Two areas of CHR improvement are missing dispositions and rap-sheet standardization. The use of CHR data for research requires review and approval from a governing Institutional Review Board. 6 US 1. Overview of the Criminal Justice System The United States Constitution creates a system of government where power is shared between the federal and state governments. This system of federalism results in criminal justice operations organized at the federal and state levels.1 Law Enforcement In the U.S., law enforcement agencies are responsible for enforcing laws and maintaining public order and public safety. Those responsibilities include preventing, detecting, and investigating crime and apprehending and detaining persons suspected of violating a law.2 After an arrest, charges against the arrestee can be referred for prosecution or dismissed. As of 2016, there are 86 federal law enforcement agencies with arrest and firearm authority, excluding intelligence and military organizations. Forty-three of these agencies are Inspectors General Offices that investigate criminal violations and prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse related to federal programs, operations, and employees. The majority of federal officers with arrest and firearm authority are in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The federal law enforcement agencies with the most full-time law enforcement officers authorized to make arrests and carry firearms are U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (both part of the DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (both part of the DOJ). The most common duties performed by federal law enforcement officers are criminal investigation and enforcement duties, corrections, police response and patrol, non-criminal investigation or enforcement, court operations, and security or protection.3 Of the 151,000 arrests by federal agencies in fiscal year (FY) 2016, 45% were for immigration offenses, 16% were for drug offenses, and another 16% were for violations of conditions of supervision.4 Supervision violations include failures to appear in court and violations of bail, probation, and post-incarceration supervision. Two percent of arrests were for violent offenses. In addition to federal agencies, there are about 15,000 general-purpose law enforcement agencies at the municipal, county, region, or state level as of 2016.5 These agencies employ an estimated 701,000 full- time sworn law enforcement officers (who carry