Uncle Bob

Uncle Bob

Pamela Wingle

CJ216 Unit 7 Assignment 2

Uncle Bob

When Uncle Bob was in a pulled over by the police officer, he was left in a tight spot. When the officer used his database to find out information on the driver and the vehicle, he noticed that Uncle Bob had warrant out for his arrest in California. Once he noticed this on the system, he contacted the department that issued he warrant and found out that it was still valid and that he was still wanted. This is what led to Uncle Bob being asked to step out of the car and ultimately arrested.

Uncle Bob was not expecting to be arrested. He was initially pulled over for speeding and didn’t think that his information from California could be pulled up. He figured that Florida wouldn’t know anything about what happened in California. Uncle Bob probably was on parole or had a federal charge. It had to be something pretty significant for him to be arrested on the spot. Usually, if it was something minor, he would have been given a ticket and released. However, this case was definitely different and should have been dealt with prior to leaving California.

In Uncle Bob’s situation, the officer on the scene ran his driver’s license through the National Crime Information Center, or NCIC, and that is how he learned about the pending charges. The NCIC contains almost all of the information on criminals. Within the NCIC, you will find information about their criminal history stolen property, warrants, missing people and stolen property. These records are confidential so they cannot be viewed by anyone other than authorized personnel.

Another way that the information could have been found about Uncle Bob was by using the Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or AFIS. If Uncle Bob was pulled over by a state or local officer that had the proper technology, he would have been fingerprinted on the spot using the AIFS system. Once the analysis of the prints was complete, known as dactylography, the officer would have been able to see that he was wanted. Wireless mobile fingerprint devices are given to police officers so they can find this information right at the scene, while doing traffic stops, or even at a crime scene to see if the person that is involved has any warrants. (Foster, 2004)

In this situation, using these two forms of technology, the officer could even find out if Uncle Bob was wanted by the FBI or any other states besides California. The officer used his mobile MV-5 wireless device to find any and all information on Uncle Bob. Devices like a digital scanning device and all other technology can only improve the way an officer performs his duties. An officer has all the initial information he needs right at his fingertips at all times. This also provides a higher level of safety for the officers. Officers not only use these confidential databases, they also use private databases to perform searches and get information on individuals.

Most people don’t realize that police officers and investigators will look at their social media accounts to get more information. If your profile isn’t private, they can see where you have been recently, who your friends are, who you communicate with and your photos/videos. This information could potentially be incriminating to yourself. They can also get a copy of your credit report to see if you have paid off any of your credit lines recently. If this was done, this could give them probable cause to request your financial records. Public records contain previous addresses, family members, previous phone numbers and so much more.