NCJ Number
210716
Date Published
2005
Length
60 pages
Annotation
This evaluation assessed the State of West Virginia’s (WV's) criminal history records system and the extent to which it complies with the standards recommended by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).
Abstract
Three criteria were used to evaluate WV's criminal history records: (1) completeness; (2) accuracy; and (3) timeliness. A reverse auditing methodology was employed in which arrest and disposition information was collected from original source documents and compared to information recorded on rap sheets or criminal history records (CHRs) at the central repository. A multistage stratified sampling procedure was used to select the 34 WV law enforcement agencies to be involved in the auditing process. The results of the evaluation indicated that in comparison to the 1997 WV audit results, the current criminal history records system contains a greater proportion of complete records and contains more timely information. In particular, for the total sample of arrests, only 39 percent were completed in the criminal history records system and over 59 percent of arrests contained missing information. The accuracy of the records was assessed at 65.9 percent, with 16.5 percent of records containing inaccurate information. In terms of timeliness, most dispositions were reported to the WV repository within the time standards provided by BJA. Overall, the evaluation indicated modest improvement in WV's criminal history records system since the audit in 1997. Future audits should consider using a larger sample of WV law enforcement agencies in order to gain more complete data. Tables, graphs, references, appendixes