The Interstate Identification Index (III; pronounced "triple-eye"), AKA “FBI Triple I Teletype”, is a national index of state and federal criminal histories (or rap sheets) in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, maintained by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI) at the

National Crime Information Center The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) is the United States' central database for tracking crime-related information. The NCIC has been an information sharing tool since 1967. It is maintained by the Criminal Justice Information Services Di ...

(NCIC). Included in this index are individuals who have been arrested or indicted for "a serious criminal offense anywhere in the country". The following criteria about the individual must also be met for inclusion in the index: known to the FBI, have a date of birth of 1956 (or later) or were arrested for the first time and reported to the FBI since July 1974 (regardless of date of birth), and older records for certain fugitives and repeat offenders. There are exclusions for records in III which include: subjects not meeting age and/or arrest criteria, juvenile offenders tried as juveniles, charges of drunkenness and vagrancy, certain public order offenses, nonspecific charges of suspicion or investigation, and social history data (e.g., narcotic, civil commitment, mental hygiene - unless part of the criminal justice process). The program is designed to facilitate the interstate exchange of criminal history records among state justice agencies. In addition to the interstate exchange, this index holds millions of

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

identification cards for criminals who have committed a serious enough crime to go to jail for over 24 hours.FBI's National Crime information Center
- Testimony of Michael D. Kirkpatrick, Assistant Director in Charge, Criminal Justice Information Services Division, FBI before the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Citizenship, Committee on the Judiciary (November 13, 2003) Search results from the III give a list of states that have a criminal history on a given person. An investigator or analyst may then query those states directly to get specific criminal history, either through the

National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System Law enforcement in the United States is one of three major components of the criminal justice system of the United States, along with courts and corrections. Although each component operates semi-independently, the three collectively form a cha ...

(NLETS) or by other means. This makes the criminal justice system of each participating state no longer a completely closed system; the increased exchange of information between different law enforcement agencies increases the chances of bringing multi-state offenders to justice.

References

{{Reflist

External links

ED354314 - National Crime Information Center Mandatory Minimum Standards Curriculum for Full Access Terminal Operators. Volume One--Administrative Issues, Policy and the Interstate Identification Index
at the U.S. Department of Education web site.
National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact 42 U.S.C. 14611-16
at the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services web site. Criminal records Law enforcement databases in the United States