全球智库信息集成服务系统

Criminal Justice Agencies Face Challenges in Four Main Areas

• All types of criminal justice agencies deal with challenges in information technology (IT), agency operations, geography, and funding and resourcing.
• In IT, the most-common challenges are in interoperability and infrastructure. Other issues include difficulties adopting new technologies, wide dislike of available jail-management systems, lack of qualified vendors and IT support serving rural areas, and challenges providing remote data access.
• Each agency type has unique concerns related to agency operations: Law enforcement agencies find it difficult to support specialized positions and assignments, recruit and retain qualified personnel, and manage positive relationships with the communities they serve. Courts need help applying innovative tools to case processing and need to improve access to justice. Institutional corrections agencies are challenged to provide sufficient quality mental health and substance-use treatment training and have difficulty with staffing and turnover. Community corrections agencies see the biggest challenges in managing electronic files, conducting supervised substance-use testing, and effectively managing offices with limited personnel.
• All types of agencies report geographical challenges, including lack of key local resources and the effects that long distances have on such things as response and travel times, the ability to adequately supervise dispersed populations, the cost of transportation, and staff productivity lost because of transportation time.
• Resource challenges range from limited technology funding, difficulty in applying for federal funding, limited budgets, and revenues to lack of new or upgraded equipment, understaffing, facility maintenance and upgrades, and adequately providing health and other services to those who come into contact with the criminal justice system.