Opening in October 1997, the JAC, working in concert with other agencies, developed a multi-tiered system to positively identify the juvenile utilizing multiple databases and live-scan fingerprint technology through the Miami-Dade Police Department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Through the use of Miami-Dade’s Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) from the Miami-Dade Enterprise Technology Services Department (ETSD), the JSD has received reports on never before attainable statistics. These include types of crimes, sex, age, arresting agency, cases created, multiple arrests and more. 

 

In addition, the Mugshot Information System includes photos and identifying information never collected and a major use is for law enforcement investigative purposes. This allows officers to provide descriptive information about a juvenile suspect and provides officers with photos of all juveniles that match. These can be used as “line-ups” with victims and witnesses. Of great significance, the Mugshot System also allows the JSD to include ethnic background in the collection of data. This is a crucial component for consideration in the development of family based, effective interventions.  

 

The JSD has focused on collecting data on over 100,000 juvenile arrests in a manner that allows the community to organize the population by age, offense, address, and frequency of arrest.  Most important, Miami-Dade County records ethnic backgrounds with juvenile arrest data in order to allow the community to incorporate cultural sensitivity and strengths into interventions.  This powerful analysis allows funding sources to strategically fund juvenile justice programs based on the specific population.

 

Two additional systems have been recently introduced in the JSD that represent the greatest strides in understanding and effectively working with a juvenile arrest population: the Information Resource Center through Miami-Dade Police Department and IBM, which deals with the entire arrest population and the Rite Track XP with Handel Information Technologies that deal with the individual children and their cases.