FY 2019 Alaska NCHIP

The goal of the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) is to improve the Nation's safety and security by enhancing the quality, completeness, and accessibility of criminal history record information and by insuring the nationwide implementation of criminal justice and noncriminal justice background check systems. BJS provides direct financial and technical assistance to the states to improve criminal history and other related records and to build their infrastructure to connect to national record check systems both to supply information and to conduct the requisite checks.

Under the FY 19 NCHIP project, the Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS) will:

1) Replace the NCIC Message Switch, Workstations, Hotfiles, Computerized Criminal History, and SOR system which currently process data using mainframe technology and a message switch, both nearly 35 years old. The updated and flexible platform will allow DPS to increase the completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of records submitted to the federal systems and allow for greater flexibility to adapt to future programming necessitated by legislative changes, state/federal business requirements, and interoperability with other criminal justice information systems. Additionally, DPS will use funds for personnel to consolidate duplicate records in the repository that prevent record submissions to NICS, and to conduct in-depth research necessary to locate and capture missing dispositions to enter into III and NICS.

2) DPS will subaward funds to Alaska Court system to continue to work on court automation projects. These projects facilitate the electronic transfer of court dispositions to DPS and subsequently to the III and NICS Indices.

The automation of records will dispense with duplicate data entry, reduce delays in reporting, and significantly improve Alaska’s ability to make more timely, complete and accurate records available for transmission to III and NICS.

Tasks include: implementation of the new ACS electronic system, the automation of electronic records from case initiation to disposition, working on an interface between courts and prosecutors, improving data analysis capabilities, and developing an electronic criminal charge code table in the new ACS electronic system.

(CA/NCF)