NCIC TRAINING: HIT OR MISS By Don M. Johnson Special Agent FBI Headquarters, Washington, DC Today, the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) continues to be the best example of law enforcement cooperation. Information on wanted persons, stolen guns, stolen articles and securities, unidentified bodies, and computerized criminal history information is available to virtually every police agency in the United States. However, without proper training on the use of NCIC and State computer systems, law enforcement agencies could lose their tactical edge and may no longer be able to ensure that their employees perform their duties as efficiently and accurately as possible. NCIC IN BRIEF Management of NCIC is shared between the FBI and the Advisory Policy Board (APB). The APB consists of 20 elected State representatives, 6 individuals appointed by the Director of the FBI, and 4 representatives of national law enforcement organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriff's Association, the National District Attorneys Conference, and the National Probation and Parole Association. Together they set policy and procedure for NCIC's 59,000 users. LAW ENFORCEMENT AND NCIC TRAINING Law enforcement training in the 1960s saw an explosion of minimum standards for police officers nationwide. From then on, officers were required to be trained and certified prior to active duty. This training included such topics as legal issues, firearms, mechanics of arrest, report writing, first aid, and defensive driving. These minimum standards for police have greatly increased the quality of law enforcement in the United States today. Prior to 1984, the responsibility for training NCIC and State terminal operators was left to the discretion of the various State criminal information system managers. These managers decided the amount and type of training given to terminal operators. As a result, the APB noted marked differences in the types and quality of NCIC/State system training that terminal operators were receiving. The APB also recognized that many States limited their training to terminal operators, and as a result, the training was very technical in nature. However, by limiting training to terminal operators, many states neglected the training needs of officers, investigators, and administrators, especially in the areas of data quality and user compliance with policy issues. For these reasons, the APB mandated that by December 31, 1986, all 50 states were to have NCIC training programs in place for the following four separate personnel levels: (1) * Terminal Operators--Must be trained and tested within 6 months of employment or assignment. Their proficiency must also be retested biennially. * Criminal Justice Practitioners--The daily users of the NCIC/State systems are required to receive entry level and inservice training. They must be taught what signifies a "hit," the levels of probable cause needed for arrest, the need for hit confirmation, the idiosyncrasies of soundexing, and the availability and searchability of various fields within a record. * Criminal Justice Agency Records Personnel--Individuals who control the records management systems in every law enforcement agency are required to be completely familiar with all NCIC/State systems policy and procedure matters. * Criminal Justice Administrators and Upper-level Managers--Must have a thorough knowledge of NCIC regulations, including training, audits, sanctions, and the related civil liability issues to guide them in protecting their agencies from law suits. Since NCIC's beginning in 1967, one law enforcement agency in every State has assumed the responsibility for managing that State's computer system and its relationship with NCIC. This agency is known as the Control Terminal Agency (CTA). Each CTA has also designated one individual within that agency to assume the responsibility for complying with NCIC policy and procedure issues. This individual is known as the Control Terminal Officer (CTO). The CTO in each CTA has training programs available for all law enforcement agencies within that State. The NCIC training policy was made intentionally broad to allow the CTAs to employ a wide variety of methods. Under this policy, each CTA has the flexibility to create its own training program using available resources. Since the policy and procedures mandated by NCIC and the APB apply to all 50 States, as well as Federal users, each State has incorporated national policy issues into its training programs. As a result, the quality of the data in computerized systems and compliance with national and State policy issues has become a priority in State training programs. Even though training in one State may be handled regionally, another State may centralize its training program. Yet, no matter how a State trains its personnel, all must teach nationwide policy and procedural issues mandated by the APB. This provides assurance to the criminal justice community that terminal operators, police officers, record managers, and administrators across the country receive adequate and uniform training on such important issues as hit confirmation, validation, and the necessity for entering information into NCIC and the State systems in a timely and accurate manner. IMPORTANCE OF ADEQUATE TRAINING Complete and proper use of NCIC/State computer systems can save the lives of police officers, fugitives, and innocent citizens. Tragically, in one recent case, a terminal operator failed to enter a stolen vehicle into NCIC in a timely fashion. Instead, the operator waited for additional information before making the vehicle entry. A police officer on routine patrol stopped a car that fit the description of a stolen vehicle, queried NCIC, and received a negative response. When the officer approached the vehicle, the car thief killed the officer. This tragedy could have been prevented if the operator were trained as to the minimum criteria for entering stolen vehicle records into NCIC. Unfortunately, many similar examples exist as a result of improper use or inadequate training of NCIC and State computer systems. Use of available NCIC and State systems will also generate investigative leads for law enforcement agencies. Through training, officers have become more aware of the Interstate Identification Index, State data bases, public domain data bases, and the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS). For example, when an officer obtains an arrest warrant, the Interstate Identification Index is queried. When positive identification is made, the Index will produce aliases, fingerprint classifications, places of birth, Social Security numbers, and a multitude of other descriptive information that will aid the department in its search for the fugitive. CONCLUSION Just as terminal opeators' adrenaline rises when an NCIC "hit" appears on the monitor, police administrators' adrenaline should also rise if they have not provided their employees with the best available training in NCIC and State computerized system use. But, by using the State NCIC training programs available through each State's Control Terminal Agency, police administrators can be assured that their employees enter accurate and complete information into NCIC, know how to interpret the information accurately in the system, validate active records, and promptly remove old records from the system. While doctors can change a prescription and lawyers can cross-examine witnesses, the law enforcement employee must often make swift decisions based on the instantaneous results of NCIC and State system inquiries. All law enforcement agencies must, therefore, ensure that law enforcement employees are able to use the NCIC and State systems. For someone, there may not be a second chance. FOOTNOTE (1) U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Minutes National Crime Information Center Advisory Board," October 17-18, 1984, pp 311-312.