ORLANDO, FL - January 20, 2005 -- A new electronic data sharing system launched by a Florida law enforcement consortium is attracting national attention for its ability to provide police in any given jurisdiction with instant data ranging from traffic violators to possible terrorists.
Congress last month approved funding $250,000 to expand the Florida Integrated Network for Data Exchange and Retrieval (FINDER), which was developed by the University of Central Florida (UCF) and a team of Central Florida law enforcement agencies which formed the Florida Data Sharing System (FDSS) consortium. Currently, 60 Florida police agencies use FINDER, which is expected to ultimately provide access to 355 agencies statewide.
Launching FINDER is timely since the federal government last week announced the failure of its troubled, multi-million dollar Virtual Case File data sharing system.
"If we had had this level of data sharing sooner, 9/11 terrorist Mohammed Atta most likely would have been identified when an arrest warrant was issued for him for driving without a license and failure to appear in court and perhaps the September 11 tragedy might have been prevented," said Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary, an FDSS founding member and one of the state's leaders in Homeland Security. "This data-sharing initiative has huge implications for Florida, and great potential for the rest of the country."
The development and implementation of FINDER reflects the objectives of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which defines a new national strategy for information sharing in public safety. The law enforcement agencies who participated in the development and formation of FDSS have received kudos for ignoring traditional boundaries and, instead, working together and successfully developing a system for sharing data quickly, efficiently and accurately, something federal law enforcement agencies are struggling to achieve.
"Several other states have expressed interest in joining the network. Connecting up with other states is as easy as connecting to the county next door. We could have law enforcement throughout the entire Southeastern United States sharing information by the end of this year," stated Dr. Mike Reynolds, who directs the Public Safety Technology Center at the University of Central Florida, which helped develop the system.
"We in law enforcement simply put the good of the community above all else; we worked together to create an initiative that has extraordinary potential for making our citizens and communities much safer," said Seminole County Sheriff Donald. F. Eslinger, a founding member of the FDSS. "I'm sure some people will be amused that a bunch of cops executed a business approach to partner with academia, and then achieved tremendous results."
Initially, pawn shop information was shared between agencies accessing FINDER. The system has been expanded to include information on motor vehicles and persons ranging from suspects to anyone who's been arrested. Eventually, FINDER will be expanded further to include analytical capabilities. Police records rather than public records are the only data that is shared and only individual law enforcement agencies have access.
The Florida Data Sharing System Consortium is a public partnership between Florida's law enforcement community and the University of Central Florida. The FDSS is built and maintained through a strong partnership among Florida's Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, the University of Central Florida, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and state and local government. For more information, contact Joe Saviak, M.S., J.D. at 321-299-7443 or jsaviak@mail.ucf.edu.
