Background
The twentieth and twenty first centuries have witnessed the emergence and threat of criminals and terrorists who operate across international, national, state, and local borders. As new modes of transportation, technology, and communication facilitated greater mobility, crime and terrorism began to increasingly violate the traditional jurisdictional and operational boundaries of governments and law enforcement agencies. The historically fragmented, localized, and technologically disconnected systems of American law enforcement offered opportunities for criminals and terrorists to exploit coordination and information gaps to offend and commit acts of terror.
The absence of truly effective information sharing networks linking various and disparate governmental and law enforcement entities has been cited as a major policy failure that significantly contributed to the September 11th terrorist attacks (September 11th Commission, 2004). In recognition of this serious and longstanding public safety and homeland security vulnerability, Congress recently passed and the President approved The National Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 which directs law enforcement at all levels and across jurisdictions to build and maintain effective information sharing networks.
Criminals and terrorists continue to operate across bureaucratic boundaries and jurisdictional lines. Agencies at all levels charged with the responsibility of public safety and homeland security must prevent multi-jurisdictional offenders from successfully exploiting inter-organizational information gaps to commit crimes and perpetuate acts of terror.
Problem
Florida law enforcement urgently needed the critical capability of being able to instantly and electronically access investigative information in hundreds of different police databases across the state individually stored within the state's 355 local and state police agencies. For example, had such data sharing been in place when terrorist ringleader Mohammed Atta was stopped for a traffic violation in Delray Beach, Florida just two months before the September 11th attacks, officers could have known of Atta's outstanding arrest warrant in neighboring Broward County and incarcerated him. His arrest could have provided information related to his planned involvement in the September 11th attacks.
Solution
Florida's Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and the University of Central Florida have created a highly successful statewide computer network known as the Florida Integrated Network for Data Exchange and Retrieval (FINDER).
FINDER has produced several important accomplishments:
1. One-hundred and five (105) Sheriff's Offices and Police Departments from all regions of the state are currently sharing their information. Thirty-six (36) different agencies are also guest users to the system. The total participation, therefore, is of one-hundred and forty-one (141) agencies actively engaged in the information sharing process through FINDER.
2. As of 2006, there have been over 1.8 million queries to the system with documented outcomes of 700 cases closed, 400 arrests made, 537 cases stolen property recovered, and 142 investigative leads generated.
3. The network is being described by members of the United States Congress and the National Institute of Justice as a national model for information sharing in law enforcement.
The FINDER system allows police to search databases throughout the state. Officers and detectives can conduct queries on property, motor vehicles, pawn activity, and persons and their known associates. Police records rather than public records are the only data that is shared and only individual law enforcement agencies have access. In fact, Scott Rost who is President of the Central Florida ACLU recently stated, "If the system is really only a way for law enforcement to more efficiently share data, that's not something that's necessarily alarming or that would cause the ACLU any particular concerns."
FINDER is 100% compatible with any type of agency records management system. It operates on a highly secure law enforcement only network. There is no centralized database as it runs on a distributed network allowing each agency to retain ownership and control of their individual records. FINDER offers instant and impressive search capabilities and also features useful analytical tools.
FINDER has been endorsed with funding from the United States Congress, the National Institute of Justice, and the Florida Legislature. FINDER is a public partnership governed by a Steering Committee consisting of representatives from member law enforcement agencies.
FINDER is a proven and low cost solution to a previously insurmountable public safety and homeland security problem that has persisted for decades in America. It is an exact model of the new national information sharing strategy strongly recommended by the September 11th Commission and codified into federal law by the National Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. It can be easily and cost effectively connected to and replicated by other states and federal agencies.