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31 American J. Crim. Just. 1 (2006-2007)

handle is hein.journals/acnjrlocm31 and id is 1 raw text is: LAW ENFORCEMENT INFORMATION SHARING: A Florida Case Study K. MICHAEL REYNOLDS, Ph.D. University of Central Florida PAMALA L. GRISET, Ph.D.t University of Central Florida ERNEST SCOTT, JR., M.A. Orange County Sheriff's Office ABSTRACT: Many attempts have been made over the last several decades to improve communication among law enforcement agencies. This article is a case study of a low-level data sharing project in Florida that could serve as a na- tional model. The Florida Law Enforcement Data Sharing Consortium is a part- nership between the University of Central Florida and more than one hundred law enforcement agencies. It offers an inexpensive, yet technically advanced alterna- tive to the proprietary data sharing model. Its distributed architecture was en- dorsed by the Markle Foundation, the 9/11 Commission, and the 2004 National Security Act. Civil liberties concerns raised by this and other types of data sharing projects are discussed. INTRODUCTION In 1953, when Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson asked the American Bar Association (ABA) to conduct a thorough study of the criminal justice system, the prevailing wisdom oversimplified policing. Three years later, the ABA's Survey of the Administration of Criminal Justice began the first systematic field observations of criminal justice officials at work. Rather than seeing police as simply politically influ- enced, corrupt, or untrained and under funded, the ABA researchers, led by Frank Remington, stressed that police departments were admin- istrative, bureaucratic agencies exercising enormous discretion (Walker, 1993). The discretionary decisions of each official influenced, and were influenced by, discretionary decisions of officials in other agencies. Yet, there was little coordination and interaction among agencies within a f Direct all correspondence to: Pamala Griset, University of Central Florida, De- partment of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies, P.O. Box 161600, Orlando, Florida 32816. Email: griset@mail.ucf edu. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, Vol. 31 No. 1, 2006 © 2006 Southern Criminal Justice Association