Criminal Justice Services Bureau
The Criminal Justice Services Bureau provides ongoing management of the Arizona Criminal Justice Information System (ACJIS), Central State Repository (CSR), and the Arizona Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AZAFIS). The bureau provides ACJIS and AZAFIS operator training and certification and conducts compliance monitoring to ensure access to criminal justice information maintained in the ACJIS AZAFIS, and CSR is within federal and state guidelines. Additionally, the Criminal Justice Services Bureau compiles and publishes the annual Crime in Arizona report; providing statistical data regarding the nature and extent of crime throughout the state. The bureau is comprised of three areas: Access Integrity Unit, AZAFIS Operations Section which includes the Fingerprint Unit, and the Criminal History Records Unit.
The Access Integrity Unit (AIU) is responsible for system access control to the ACJIS/NCIC system and for quality control of the records within it. The unit conducts periodic criminal justice and noncriminal justice audits of agencies that contribute to or receive criminal justice information from the Central State Repository through the ACJIS system. The AIU also maintains the statewide Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program by collecting crime statistics from Arizona law enforcement agencies and publishing the annual Crime in Arizona report.
The AZAFIS Operations Section is responsible for managing the Arizona Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AZAFIS); a computer system that electronically searches and stores the images of fingerprints and palm prints obtained from arrests, deceased subjects, registered sex offenders, Department of Corrections inmates, and individuals seeking noncriminal justice background checks, as required by state statute. The system became active in 1995 and has undergone several technology upgrades, the most recent being the implementation of MorphBIS which took place in 2015. The AZAFIS is comprised of a Central Site located at the Department’s Headquarters in Phoenix; 13 Remote Terminal Sites located at various law enforcement agencies across Arizona; and 184 Livescan capture devices which are capable of submitting fingerprints to the AZAFIS. The system currently maintains 3.8 million fingerprint records; 959,000 palm print records; and 99,000 latent print records. The AZAFIS system also interfaces with the Arizona Computerized Criminal History (ACCH) database and the Mug Photo system which contains approximately 15 million images for Facial Recognition.
Click here for additional information on AFIS.
The Fingerprint Unit (FPU) falls under the AZAFIS Operations Section and has responsibility for processing fingerprint records submitted by AZ DPS Troopers, Medical Examiners, and various civil applicant entities which require fingerprint-based background checks for individuals providing services to children and/or vulnerable adults. The FPU operates 24 hours each day, 7 days a week including weekends and holidays processing all fingerprint records in Arizona that are not handled by one of the 13 Remote Terminal AZAFIS Sites, including records for 13 of the 15 county Sheriff’s Offices.
Click here for additional information on the Fingerprint Unit and how to obtain a clearance card.
The Criminal History Records Unit (CHRU) is responsible for the effective operation of the Central State Repository (CSR) in order to collect, store, and disseminate complete and accurate Arizona criminal history records and criminal justice information. The CHRU provides informational services that, in many ways, are the underpinning for critical decision-making throughout the criminal justice system. Repository information has a direct bearing on the administration of criminal justice, public safety, and homeland security. This information greatly influences who works with our children and with individuals in other vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and the disabled. Despite the far-reaching importance of repository information and how it is collected, processed, maintained, disseminated, and shared with other state and national repositories and exchange partners, it is largely governed by federal and state statutes, policies, procedures, practices, and technologies. The CHRU operates 24 hours each day, 7 days a week including weekends and holidays maintaining over 1.4 million active criminal history records; 74,000 active warrants for the Department; and responding to over 2.7 million requests for criminal history record information annually.
