State Police Didn’t Compile Crime Data
FBI records indicate that Kentucky State Police have not collected and published statewide crime data for almost three years, making it impossible to correctly count the number of serious crimes committed in the state since 2001.
To remedy the problem, state police have started handing out software to police agencies to enable them to report crime data and access state information. The software will hopefully encourage agencies to participate, says State Police Commissioner Mark Miller.
Maysville has already bought new equipment to collect and send data instantly to state police, says Maj. Alecia Edgington, chief information officer in the Technological Services Division.
The FBI’s annual report reveals that only Kentucky and Illinois failed to provide crime data in 2001 and 2002. Such data is important because it used to spot patterns and gauge the effectiveness of anti-crime measures, says William F. Walsh, director of the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville.
Miller believes the delay in sending crime information has not caused problems or hindered federal grants.
Some reasons for the delay in data include obsolete computer equipment, a lack of coordination statewide among police, a lack of clerks for amassing the data manually, and some police departments’ decision not to cooperate.
The existing state reporting system lets data be submitted in five formats and still requires data to be inputted into aging computer systems by hand.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Louisville Courier Journal (KY) (09/14/04) P. 1B; Malone, James .
