Justice launches systems integration site

The Bureau of Justice Assistance, an arm of the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs, has launched a Web site that weaves together information about systems integration for criminal justice agencies, especially at the state and local level.The site, at , is intended to help federal, state, tribal and municipal law enforcement agencies by providing information about technology grants from OJP and other sources, as well as training and technical assistance programs.Program manager Patrick McCreary said the project began after a series of meetings in 1998 of more than 300 senior law enforcement, corrections and court officials. “This Web site was designed by practitioners across the country,” McCreary said. “It’s not a traditional government Web site.”Law enforcement IT professionals had assumed that “one big computer in the sky” would take over the job of integrating justice information, McCreary said. But that vision has been replaced by a collection of networks, bound together by use of Extensible Markup Language and other means, he said.The site is funded by a $750,000 grant from the Justice Department. It is hosted by the National Center for Rural Law Enforcement and was designed by REI Systems Inc. of Annandale, Va.In addition to including a comprehensive guide to federal funding and technology resources, the site has links to technology information and architecture manuals generated by states and municipal governments.