Supporting Funding for Regional Information Sharing Systems
Submitted by: Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Committee
ndd.018.A11

WHEREAS, the Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) was established more than 30 years ago as a nationwide program to provide flexible and locally based services to local, state, federal and tribal law enforcement as well as criminal justice agencies; and

WHEREAS, RISS provides investigative services to hundreds of thousands of officers in more than 8,700 law enforcement and criminal justice agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, Australia, Canada, England, and New Zealand; and

WHEREAS, using six regional centers and a technology support center, RISS links thousands of criminal justice agencies through secure communications, called RISSNet, and provides information sharing resources and investigative support to combat terrorism, drug trafficking, and other regional priorities, with the goal of enhancing the ability to identify, target, and remove criminal conspiracies and activities spanning multi-jurisdictional, multi-state, and sometimes international boundaries; and

WHEREAS, almost 100 agencies are connected or pending connection to RISSNet, including 31 High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs), 38 state agency systems, and 22 federal and other systems, such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Law Enforcement Online; the FBI National Gang Intelligence Center; the National Virtual Pointer System; Nlets—The International Justice and Public Safety Network; and many others; and

WHEREAS, RISSNet resources include RISSIntel, RISSafe, RISSGang, RISS ATIX, the RISS Investigative Leads Bulletin Board (RISSLeads), a data-visualization and link-analysis tool (RISSLinks), the RISS Search Engine (RISSSearch), and the RISS Center Websites; and

WHEREAS, more than 600 resources from a variety of sources are available to authorized users via RISSNet; and WHEREAS, in FY2010 more than 3.4 million records were available in RISSIntel, which provides member agencies with access to various state, regional, federal and specialized criminal justice intelligence systems; and

WHEREAS, RISSSafe stores and maintains data on planned law enforcement events with the goal of identifying and alerting affected agencies and officers of potential conflicts impacting law enforcement efforts. Since RISSSafe's inception, close to 100,000 conflicts have been identified; and

WHEREAS, in FY2010, RISS analysts developed 37,832 analytical products for investigators and prosecutors to help increase their ability to identify, detect, and apprehend suspects as well as enhance prosecutorial success in court; and

WHEREAS, in FY2010, RISS intelligence research staff responded to 102,761 requests to conduct database searches and research numerous resources; and

WHEREAS, in FY2010, RISS loaned 4,992 pieces of highly specialized investigative and surveillance equipment to member agencies to aid in their criminal investigations; and

WHEREAS, in FY2010, RISS provided $393,186 in confidential funds to purchase contraband, stolen property and other items of an evidentiary nature, or for other investigative expenses; and

WHEREAS, in FY2010, 80,204 criminal justice professionals received training through RISS and the RISS Centers published 317 documents and distributed thousands of copies to law enforcement personnel; and

WHEREAS, by connecting agencies and systems to RISSNet, rather than funding the build-out of infrastructure for new stand-alone information systems, hundreds of millions of dollars are saved and millions of data records are easily and quickly accessed by law enforcement at little or no cost to the user; and

WHEREAS, information-sharing among federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies is critical in a Post-9/11 world. In FY2010, with the assistance of RISS services, agencies arrested 4,563 individuals and seized or recovered more than $23 million in narcotics, property and currency; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police duly assembled at its 118th Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois, acknowledges that the Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) program is indispensable to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement efforts to fight crime and terrorism; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the IACP strongly urges the United States Congress to fully fund the RISS Program.