Law Enforcement and Public Records
Law enforcement officials rely on databases fueled by public record data to prevent, detect, and solve crimes. Each year, the FBI makes tens of thousands of inquiries to commercial online databases, enabling the agency to arrest fugitives, identify seizable assets, and locate witnesses.
Commercial online databases are also used to locate parents who are delinquent in making child support payments.
The type of databases and systems used by law enforcement are comprehensive and contain billions of records from across all 50 states. These databases are created by the private sector using public record information. In 2002, a database furnished by a CSPRA member played a key role in identifying and apprehending suspects in the Washington, D.C. sniper shootings. Maryland police were able to access a commercial database that cross-references billions of current and historical records, and make queries for possible suspects, as well as to trace the vehicle ownership to the suspects. The database used cross-references data such as addresses, phone numbers, driver’s licenses, vehicle ownership, court records, and property deed transfers.
