For more than 53 years, SEARCH has prepared and published a wide range of national research, analytical, technical and survey reports, guides and bulletins on a range of timely issues in criminal justice information management, technology, information sharing, communications interoperability, and law and policy, as well as high-tech crime investigations. The U.S. Department of Justice has published many of our reports, as have national justice task forces and groups. Most of our recent reports are available online for download, and we offer a variety of search methods to find the report you want. We also offer easy links to document series we’ve produced, as well as templates.
Publications
Publications Search
Use our handy search form to find SEARCH publications using a variety of criteria, including keyword(s), year of publication or report category. We also provide a special form for cybercrime investigators to request law enforcement-sensitive guides and publications.
Foundational CHR Documents
- Use and Management of Criminal History Record Information: A Comprehensive Report, 2001 Update
- Use and Management of Criminal History Record Information: A Comprehensive Report (1993)
- Early Experiences With Criminal History Records Improvement (1997)
- Technical Report No. 14: The American Criminal History Record – Present Status and Future Requirements (1976)
- Technical Report No. 13: Standards for the Security and Privacy of Criminal History Record Information (Third ed., revised July 1988)
Document Series
Law Enforcement Tech Guides
- Law Enforcement Tech Guide for Communications Interoperability: A Guide for Interagency Communications Projects, 2nd edition
- Law Enforcement Tech Guide for Creating Performance Measures that Work
- Law Enforcement Tech Guide for Information Technology Security: How to Assess Risk and Establish Effective Policies
- SEARCH IT Security Self- and Risk-Assessment Tool (Companion tool)
- Law Enforcement Tech Guide for Communications Interoperability: A Guide for Interagency Communications Projects
- Law Enforcement Tech Guide for Small and Rural Police Agencies A Guide for Executives, Managers, and Technologists
- Law Enforcement Tech Guide
Technical Briefs
- Technical Brief: Tips and Tricks–Implementing the GFIPM Framework in Microsoft’s Active Directory Federation Services
- Technical Brief: Exploring the Semantic Equivalents In a NIEM and HL7 Message
- Technical Brief: Comparative Analysis of Common Charge Tables
- Technical Brief: A Unified Modeling Language Approach to Modeling NIEM Exchanges
- Technical Brief-The Value of Using Intermediaries in a Service-Oriented Architecture
- Technical Brief- A Comparative Analysis of HL7 and NIEM: Enabling Justice-Health Data Exchange
- Technical Brief-Enterprise Strategic Planning for Justice Information Sharing: Why It’s Important
- Technical Brief-Enterprise Strategic Planning: A Methodology to Build a Shared Vision for Justice Information Sharing
- Technical Brief-Using Open Source Infrastructure to Implement the Global Reference Architecture
- Technical Brief-Using Java Tools to Implement the National Data Exchange Information Exchange Package Documentation
- Technical Brief-Global Reference Architecture Service Specification Development Workshops: A Primer for Facilitators
- Technical Brief-Using Principles of Service Management to Manage Justice Information Technology Services
- Service Description-Email
- Service Description-File, Print, and Document Management
- Service Description-Local Area Network
- Service Description-Database Hosting
- Service Description-Internet
- Service Description-Criminal Justice Information System Interface
- Service Description-Telephony
- Service Description-Web Hosting
- Service Description-Help Desk
- Service Description-Application Development
- Technical Brief-Model-driven Development of NIEM Information Exchange Package Documentation
- Technical Brief-Web Services and NIEM: Realizing the Value of Available Tools
- Technical Brief-A Service-Oriented Architecture Primer for Executives: Why You Should Care
- Technical Brief-Using NIEM With Web Services
- Technical Brief–How to Display Suspicious Activity Reports in Google Earth
- Technical Brief–The Benefits of Using JIEM® to Capture Privacy Requirements
- Technical Brief–Transforming Hierarchical Structures Into Associations
- Technical Brief–Modeling Exchange Requirements: Justice Information Exchange Model and Business Process Modeling Notation
Templates
IT Service Management
The following are modifiable service catalog templates that your agency can use to start developing a Configuration Management Database (CMDB), a tool that IT managers and staff use to define and track changes to the services they manage. These templates are companion resources to Technical Brief-Using Principles of Service Management to Manage Justice Information Technology Services, which describes how principles of IT Service Management (ITSM) can benefit IT operations in the justice environment.
- Service Description-Email
- Service Description-File, Print, and Document Management
- Service Description-Local Area Network
- Service Description-Database Hosting
- Service Description-Internet
- Service Description-Criminal Justice Information System Interface
- Service Description-Telephony
- Service Description-Web Hosting
- Service Description-Help Desk
- Service Description-Application Development
IT and Privacy Impact Assessments
SEARCH offers an MS Excel 2003 spreadsheet containing worksheets that guides you through a detailed assessment of your agency’s IT system in three categories: Management, Organizational, and Technical — and a fourth category, State and Local Law Enforcement-Specific IT Security Controls, which assists with recording information on additional state and local government issues. This tool provides your team with a simple and concise methodology by which to assess your systems and their potential risk.
SEARCH’s Guide to Conducting Privacy Impact Assessments for State, Local, and Tribal Information Sharing Initiatives helps you examine the privacy implications of your information systems and information-sharing collaborations so you can design and implement policies to address vulnerabilities identified through the assessment process. It includes a template that your jurisdiction can use to conduct your privacy impact assessments.
State Repositories
State repository staff can use the Quality Assurance Checklist to:
- Establish a baseline of repository operations, including alignment with nationally accepted requirements and best practices;
- Identify gaps in repository operations; and
- Train and educate existing and future staff on repository operations.
State repository staff can use the Civil Fingerprint Handling Cost Analysis Tool to determine the costs for noncriminal justice purpose background checks.
The QA and Cost Analysis Tools are bundled together in one Microsoft Word document that can be filled out electronically:
Enterprise Strategic Planning
Justice and public safety organizations that initiate an information sharing program with local, regional, state, and/or federal partners should develop an Enterprise Strategic Plan. SEARCH has prepared Technical Briefs that outline the importance of enterprise strategic planning, and offer a methodology for preparing enterprise strategic plans. Organizations can use this modifiable Word template to prepare such a plan.
Participation Agreement/Memorandum of Understanding
Jurisdictions can use this template to prepare a memorandum of understanding for participants in a justice information sharing federation. The agreement, which is a modifiable Word document, formally establishes the governance, responsibilities, and obligations of federation participants.