WHEREAS, law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and the world need the ability to identify, analyze, and, most importantly, share critical criminal and terrorism-related information to effectively address violent crime, drug trafficking, and terrorism; and

WHEREAS, the Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) Program consists of six regional centers (Western States Information Network, Rocky Mountain Information Network, New England State Police Information Network, Regional Organized Crime Information Center, Middle Atlantic-Great Lakes Organized Crime Law Enforcement Network, and Mid-States Organized Crime Information Center) that serve the unique needs of their region while working together on national-scope issues; and

WHEREAS, RISS provides investigative support services to more than 97,000 access officers in more than 8,500 criminal justice agencies at the local, state, federal, and tribal levels in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, Australia, Canada, and England, including 575 state agencies, 1,008 federal agencies, 40 tribal agencies, 433 prosecutorial agencies, and 150 corrections agencies; and

WHEREAS, RISS links thousands of criminal justice agencies through secure communications and provides information sharing resources and investigative support to combat multijurisdictional crimes, including violent crime, gang activity, drug activity, terrorism, human trafficking, and identity theft; and

WHEREAS, RISSNET is a secure intranet that connects disparate systems nationwide and enables users to select one or all connected systems to conduct a federated search for public safety information, providing immediate information to law enforcement officers on the street; and

WHEREAS, RISS provides valuable investigative and safety resources such as the RISS Intelligence Databases (RISSIntel), the RISS Officer Safety Event Deconfliction System (RISSafe), the RISSGang program, the RISS Automated Trusted Information Exchange (RISS ATIX), the RISSLeads secure electronic bulletin board, the RISSLinks data-visualization took, the RISS Center Web sites, among others; and

WHEREAS, more than 3.1 million inquiries were made to the RISSIntel system in FY 2009 to support investigative priorities at all levels of criminal justice; more than 35,000 analytical products were developed by RISS analysts in FY 2009 in support of investigators and prosecutors to help identify, detect, and apprehend suspects and enhance prosecutorial success in court; and more than 96,000 requests for database searches and research were received by RISS in FY 2009 which resulted in access to information by law enforcement officers that they otherwise might not have had access to; and

WHEREAS, RISSafe dramatically enhances officer safety by storing and maintaining data on planned law enforcement events with the goal of identifying and alerting affected agencies and officers of potential conflicts impacting law enforcement efforts, and has resulted in the identification of more than 55,000 conflicts since inception; and

WHEREAS, RISS supports fusion centers nationwide to connect systems to RISSNET, provide information sharing resources, provide analytical and research support, and offer training opportunities; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police duly assembled at its 117th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, acknowledges the Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) Program as indispensable to state, local, tribal, and federal law enforcement efforts against crime and terrorism; and, be it

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