Pennsylvania


Pennsylvania 

Enhancing the eWarrant System

In 2005, the Pennsylvania Justice Network (JNET), the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), and the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) began developing an electronic warrant issuance process for all Magesterial District Judge and Common Pleas warrants. The primary objectives for the eWarrant system were to collect, secure, automate, and enter all warrants into PSP's Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network (CLEAN) and the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) at the time of judicial approval.

In collaboration with PSP and AOPC, JNET has migrated warrant processing from the PSP to JNET-maintained system components and has enhanced the eWarrant system by deploying a warrant correction application to local law enforcement and by improving the system's capability to track rejected warrants.

eWarrants Business Process Model
  Business process model for the electronic entry of warrants (includes an example Police Criminal Complaint that identifies all required entry fields) 
eWarrant Enhancement Project Charter 
  Governance document detailing the background, objectives, participants, risks, and deliverables of the project. 
eWarrant Enhancement Architecture Design
  Description of Pennsylvania's Justice Network (JNET) system components and warrant use cases. 
eWarrant Enhancement Implementation Design 
  Business process models for the exchange of warrant data. 
Warrant Correction Application User Guide
  Instructions for correcting rejected wanted person entries using the Warrant Error Correction Application. 
Warrant Correction Application Quick Reference Card
  Summary instructions for the Warrant Error Correction Application. 
eWarrant Enhancement Multiple Warrants Case Study 
  Pennsylvania's solution to the risk of inadvertently removing a wanted person record when the record has more than one warrant. 
eWarrant Enhancement Project Closure Report 
  Goals, deliverables, and lessons learned from the project. 

Allegheny Standardized Arrest Program

Developed at a time when economic resources dwindled, but criminal caseloads rose, the Allegheny Standardized Arrest Program (ASAP) was designed to expedite required court paperwork preparation, electronically share information among law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies, and identify and reduce delays between the time of arrest of criminal defendants and their subsequent arraignment. ASAP generates a complete Pennsylvania Criminal Complaint complying with the uniform statewide template, which is immediately available to the jail, district attorney, and the court. The program has contained costs, vastly improved efficiency and accuracy, and has proven to be a valuable investigative tool.

Allegheny Standardized Arrest Program (ASAP) Case Study
  Profile of ASAP's business drivers, processes, and benefits. 

York County Adult Probation Department's Strategic Technology Solutions

In 2008, the York County Adult Probation Department was given access to the County's document management software system. When coupled with the AOPC's electronic docketing system and the offender tracking case management system, this new system enables the almost immediate transfer of information from the courts (sentencing orders and case notes) to the Probation Department (intake documents and revocation orders) to other justice system entities such as the Sheriff's Department and booking facilities. The Adult Probation Department also subscribes to the JNET electronic notification of new arrest warrants, enabling the probation officer of record to be automatically notified if a probationer is wanted on an arrest warrant. A key benefit of receiving these electronic communications is the immediacy with which offenders are supervised and held accountable, resulting in greater public safety and reduced violations and recidivism.

Probation Benefits of Electronic Dispositions and Electronic Warrants 
  How the York County Adult Probation Department utilizes electronic dispositions and warrants to more effectively supervise offenders. 

Automating Disposition Records

Disposition reporting in the state of Pennsylvania was developed from a paper, form-based process to a fully automated, standards-based system utilizing service-oriented architecture. The result is a centrally managed criminal history repository for disposition reporting by the Pennsylvania State Police. Significant collaboration in technological enhancements and business process improvements now yield 80 to 90 percent disposition reporting rates.

Pennsylvania's Path to Improved Disposition Reporting 
  Pennsylvania's journey from manual to electronic processing of disposition records.