Automated Regional Justice Information System (ARJIS) Evaluation

• NCJ Number: 74151
• Author(s): S Pennell; C E Curtis
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 99 pages
• Grant Number(s): A-2469-5-A-79
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Corporate Author: San Diego Cty Comprehensive Planning Organization
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

An evaluation of the Automated Regional Justice Information System (ARJIS) is reported, based on a survey of law enforcement personnel in San Diego, California; recommendations for improving the system's operation are given.

Abstract

The 1,060 law enforcement officers who completed the evaluation questionnaire were employed by police departments in the San Diego area as patrol or traffic officers or as investigators. A second survey was completed by 13 management personnel. Four issues were investigated, including achievement of development and implementation objectives, success in meeting law enforcement personnel needs, system effectiveness, and user agency cost and system cost effectiveness. Turnovers in user committee membership and project administration, salary restraints imposed by the city, and system design changes delayed development and implementation. The majority of the law enforcement personnel surveyed felt that the system's information was useful in saving time by identifying suspects, providing additional information on crimes, and indicating leads. However, they felt that additional training in ARJIS was needed for officers using the system and for data entry clerks. Patrol officers estimated that ARJIS information was useful in solving 5 percent of their cases, and that 4 percent of their cases would not have been solved without ARJIS. Detectives estimated that ARJIS was useful in solving 13 percent of all crimes, caused 7 percent to be solved, and provided leads in 10 percent of all cases. Thirty-six percent of the administrators felt that the system was cost effective. However, 55 percent felt that cost effectiveness depended on future costs to each agency and the extent to which remaining components of the program were developed. It is recommended that additional data access training be given to law enforcement personnel, including a system overview and instruction in specific applications and uses. Data processing instructions should be simplified. Additional attention should be paid to field report completion, and data entry clerks should be trained to recognize report errors and omissions. ARJIS should be made available on a 24-hour basis through as many sources as possible, and management personnel should encourage its use.