The FBI’s National Crime Information Center holds 21 files, and a police officer running a plate, a name or a serial number can check them against one shared system. Fourteen cover people. Seven cover property.
The Criminal Justice Information Services Division of the FBI maintains the database, which is linked to federal, tribal, state and local agencies. It has served as an information-sharing tool since 1967, when it was created under FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to move information between the many separate law enforcement branches. The original infrastructure is estimated to have cost more than $180 million.
What is in it
The person files include missing persons, wanted persons, gang members, known or suspected terrorists, the national sex offender registry, protection orders, supervised release, foreign fugitives and identity theft. There is also a file for people believed to pose a threat to the president or others the Secret Service protects.
The property side covers vehicles, license plates, guns, securities, boat and vehicle parts, and a general Article File for stolen articles. The Vehicle File lists stolen vehicles and those used in crimes.
Upgrades and contracts
In the mid-1990s the legacy system gave way to NCIC 2000. A 1993 Government Accountability Office estimate found that, on top of the upgrade costs, the FBI would have to spend another $2 billion to give every user workstation access.
Two later administrations turned to contractors and money. The Obama administration signed a contract with Palantir to build a portal for the database. The Biden administration signed a $96 million contract to upgrade it.
Cross-border access and errors
Under the Automated Canada-United States Police Information Exchange System, Canadian police get real-time, unrestricted access to the U.S. state and federal records in NCIC. U.S. agencies can in turn use records held in the Canadian Police Information Centre.
The system has drawn complaints. Arrests and seizures have followed from mistaken beliefs that a warrant existed, or from probable cause resting on inaccurate NCIC data. Immigration status queries have also produced false positives.
