Automated Crime Information Systems.

Automated Crime Information Systems provides readers with excellent insight into the criminal identification processes and filing capabilities available to support law enforcement agencies. The book explains the differences between the various national, regional, and State systems that make up such a vital component of modern policing.

The first part of Information Systems discusses the vast amount of data available within these automated systems and points out that despite the quantity of material stored, this information can still generally be accessed in a most timely manner. This part of the book should be of particular assistance in helping line police officers, court personnel, prosecutors, and probation officers understand the wide range of options available to them.

As an introduction, the first three chapters of the book discuss the three national automated information systems--NCIC, the Automated Identification System (AIS), and the Interstate Identification Index (III). While here, as in following chapters, the presentation tends to muddle the distinct features of each system, the overall discussion provides a comprehensive and valuable overview of their capabilities.

Chapter 4, "Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)," discusses the automation of fingerprint comparison/matching and identification techniques. It leads the reader through the evolution of the Henry classification and manual matching processes to the automated techniques now used to perform the same functions.

The second part of the book provides an excellent summary of the security aspects employed by law enforcement agencies. The detailed discussion makes this portion of the book valuable reading for law enforcement administrators.

Individual chapters cover such areas as criminal justice information systems and law enforcement telecommunications systems (chapter 5) and intellect investigations systems, united crime alert network, computer-aided dispatch and software applications (chapter 6). Chapter 7 addresses the dilemma of preserving privacy and dignity while using these automated information systems to their full potential.

Automated Crime Information Systems provides a brief (128 pages), yet broadbased, overview of crime information databases and their importance to the modern criminal justice system. The discussion reflects a profound understanding of these diverse systems and makes for valuable reading.

Reviewed by Richard B. McCord Management and Software Support Unit Identification Division Federal Bureau of Investigation Washington, DC