Law Enforcement at the State and Local Levels - Essay Example

This plan was put together by the DHS and the FBI in order to share information between their two systems. The overall aim of iDSN is "to achieve biometric-based interoperability with a reciprocal exchange of a small subset of DHS and FBI data. The FBI subset will include information on individuals with outstanding warrants for which biometric information exists ("Wanted Person File"). The DHS subset will include information on individuals who have been denied Visas or aliens who have been expeditiously removed from the United States.

" (Federal Bureau of Investigation, n.d.)Therefore, this database will allow both groups to access information about the various agencies. Data will be shared between the two agencies, and this includes copies of the database's fingerprint information in order to assist with the comparison of fingerprints. Furthermore, the shared information also allows other data to be included, such as criminal history, biography, and any other relevant history which may also be significant above and beyond fingerprint sharing.

All data is stored and accessible in the System of Records. Users will also be able to access the FBI maintained a criminal history of each individual through the database. This information will also permit users to gain information regarding individuals that do not have citizenship and should not be present in the United States. Therefore, it can be concluded that databases can be very useful in the local and federal sharing of information for law enforcement. Databases can be used to make pre-existing information easy and quick to obtain, therefore making any investigations into dangerous individuals faster, and giving the population a greater safety benefit overall.