The vision of integrated justice information systems (IJIS) holds tremendous promise. The FBI's National Crime Information Center 2000 and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, established as part of the instant check system for gun purchasers under the Brady Act, are two nationwide criminal justice and public safety information networks. Even state motor vehicles departments are linked to a nationwide information sharing system for licensing commercial drivers.

The county's law enforcement and public safety organizations are still working out just how to make it work, but since Sept. 11, law enforcement and the public have become painfully aware of the consequences of lapses in criminal justice information. Attention has gradually shifted from coping with the immediate threat of terrorism, to a fundamental re-evaluation of strengths and weaknesses in public safety infrastructure and planning. In that regard, the integrated justice information system is a key piece of the overall public safety picture. The necessities of homeland security have given IJIS renewed impetus and helped focus attention on removing some of the more persistent obstacles.

Tom Ridge, director of the federal Office of Homeland Security, acknowledged some of the problems and suggested that cooperation at the local and state level must occur before any national plan emerges. In an address to the National Emergency Management Association, Ridge said: "We cannot have 20,000 or 30,000 municipalities working independently, coming to Washington to try to fill their respective needs. It's only when we have the integration of 50 comprehensive [statewide] plans do we begin to see the outline of a national response mechanism. So - we've got to bring in the local officials, political and otherwise, nurture that communication, help drive that conversation - we need mutual aid, particularly among the smaller cities, counties and regions within your respective states."

Leadership

Maricopa County, Ariz., is on the leading edge of local government justice integration with its working model of local government mutual aid. Linden Thatcher, Maricopa's CIO, outlined critical success factors that helped to overcome obstacles, bring all parties to the table and produce agreement and concerted action.

Thatcher said a solid governance model -- which he defined as: "The framework that allows people to work together toward a common goal, and the practices that go with that" -- was one of the most critical success factors, not just for criminal justice, but for the county as a whole. The choices in regard to IT, he said, were either to put in a huge computer system that everybody uses, or go with a loosely coupled architecture that allows some independence of systems in individual agencies. Maricopa chose the latter option.

The county's governance model is made up of three levels: departmental; electronic community; and enterprise.

"If a department is the only one that uses a particular information system, then we give them broad latitude in the system they choose, because it has little or no impact outside their area," said Thatcher.

The electronic community is formed when several departments come together to work on something. If it includes all departments, then it is the enterprise level, according to Thatcher. An electronic community is formed when two or more departments share one of three things; computer systems, horizontal processes or information.

Finally, there is the enterprise, including anything that is enterprise wide from a technology perspective, such as the county network that comes under the purview of the CIO in terms of setting standards, policies, best practices and, in most cases, operational management.

Criminal Justice Electronic Community

Maricopa's project involved eight agencies, including the Superior Court, Clerk of Superior Court, County Attorney, County Sheriff and several public defense organizations. "We used the