New SEARCH Chair Francis X. (Paco) Aumand III, Director of Criminal Justice Services for the Vermont Department of Public Safety, visited SEARCH's Sacramento headquarters on March 11 to meet with staff.

He addressed staff concerning the inevitability of change within the organization as it adapts to outside change occurring within the justice and public safety environments. He discussed several of the critical industry issues: the future role of criminal history repositories, interoperability, service-oriented architecture, and the need for policy to be written and adopted regarding privacy issues.

Mr. Aumand has been a SEARCH Member since 1996, and is a Member and past Chair of the Law and Policy Program Advisory Committee. He serves on the SEARCH Board of Directors and was elected Chair in January 2005 to fill the unexpired term of previous Chair Gerry Wethington, which runs through July 2006.