As a counterterrorism tool, the criminal justice system has proven incredibly effective in both incapacitating terrorists and gathering valuable intelligence from and about terrorists. The question of how to overcome obstacles to sharing information among law enforcement and other justice system components is a significant issue in the fight against terrorism. All law enforcement and justice agencies-local, state, and federal-need to find ways to overcome obstacles to sharing information. Doing so not only increases their ability to solve crimes and keep communities safer, it also helps them meet their increasing responsibilities.
A number of offices and bureaus within the Department of Justice are working on building out the Information Sharing Environment. Highlights Include:
Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) – BJA supports law enforcement, courts, corrections, treatment, victim services, technology, and prevention initiatives that strengthen the nation’s criminal justice system. BJA provides a Justice Information Sharing web site as an Internet-based resource that enables justice practitioners at all levels of government to access timely and useful information from information sharing and technology integration processes, initiatives, and technological developments. The Web site provides a wealth of helpful information, such as integration profiles for States, case studies, system descriptions and overviews, funding approaches, and models of integrated systems.
DOJ’s Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative – Global serves as a Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) and advises the U.S. Attorney General on justice information sharing and integration initiatives. Global was created to support the broad scale exchange of pertinent justice and public safety information. It promotes standards-based electronic information exchange to provide the justice community with timely, accurate, complete, and accessible information in a secure and trusted environment.
National Criminal Intelligence Resource Center (NCIRC) – provides a secure "one-stop shop" for local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement to keep up with the latest developments in the field of criminal intelligence. This Web site contains information regarding law enforcement intelligence operations and practices. Criminal justice professionals now have a centralized resource information bank to access a multitude of criminal intelligence resources in a secure environment.
Community Oriented Policing Services Office (COPS) - The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services is the office of the U.S. Department of Justice that advances the practice of community policing in America’s state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies. COPS does its work principally by sharing information and making grants to police departments around the United States.
