Texas Department of Criminal Justice
A Survey of Criminal Justice Information System Users
May 1996
Report Number 96-067
Overall Conclusion
Survey respondents indicated increasing overall satisfaction, but also expressed data quality concerns for the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS). Most survey respondents indicated that CJIS is critical to accomplishing their respective missions and their jobs become easier to accomplish as CJIS improves. Users surveyed included police and sheriff departments, district attorneys, parole officers, and court clerks.
Key Findings
For users with electronic access, CJIS is generally available when needed and provides quick responses perceived as accurate. Respondents also identified errors in a broad range of data fields, and have difficulties in providing timely information to DPS.
CJIS is not available electronically to all users, resulting in slow (manual) responses or slow (manual) data entry for the affected users. CJIS users outside of major metropolitan areas, and parole and probation officers are the primary entities without electronic access.
Favorable opinions were expressed regarding DPS-provided training, including the DPS field representative program. However, respondents indicated that specific training needs may not be fully met. For example, more frequent training may be necessary to compensate for positions that experience high turnover.
The sample design did not intend to project survey results to all user populations. This survey, while not an audit, does provide valuable insight into the local CJIS user perspective which is important in considering overall improvements to CJIS.
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