By Tom McGhee
Denver Post
DENVER — A new electronic database will make it easier to track down criminals statewide, authorities said Tuesday.
The CopLink network allows street cops and investigators to analyze information gathered in other jurisdictions, speeding up the time needed to crack a case, said Colorado Attorney General John Suthers.
Investigators can use the search engine to identify suspects from bits of information such as a nickname, scar, tattoo or piercing — information that in the past would have been locked up in a different agency’s computer system.
“We will be able to do more in 10 minutes than we could have done in weeks or months,” Aurora Police Department spokeswoman Detective Shannon Lucy said.
An Aurora investigator recently plugged information he had gathered at a burglary scene into the system while he was being trained in its use and quickly found a suspect.
Law enforcement agencies in Jefferson County, Arvada and Lakewood have been sharing information through the CopLink program since 2005.
So far, 42 state law enforcement agencies have joined the Colorado Information Sharing Consortium, giving them access to the database. Aurora and most of the other agencies have had access to the system since they went online in April.
Each agency that joins must agree to share its criminal records with other members.
A group of partners, including the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Denver Police Department, Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, paid more than $2 million for an enterprise license that makes it possible for all officers and deputies in the state to use the system. Some of the money came from federal grants.
Each agency that joins must also pay an annual maintenance fee, which may keep some from joining, said Gary Cure, assistant executive director of County Sheriffs of Colorado. “It’s a fantastic system,” he said, “but it will be too dang expensive for some of the small counties.”
Copyright 2009 Denver Post
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