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Bureau of Criminal Identification

The Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) serves as the central repository and clearinghouse for all descriptive and demographic information on individuals arrested and convicted of crimes in Rhode Island. As Rhode Island’s criminal history repository, BCI maintains the criminal history records of more than 1,000,000 individuals. These records are based on fingerprints containing identification segments obtained by local and state law enforcement agencies that are forwarded to the BCI office by mail or electronic transfer.

BCI maintains the criminal history records of more than 1,000,000 individuals.

BCI utilizes the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) to transmit fingerprints to the BCI from the local police departments. BCI, in turn, electronically transmits those fingerprints to the FBI, where they are checked against a national database of more than 50 million prints. Ninety nine percent of police departments in Rhode Island electronically transmit fingerprint cards and arrest information directly to the Rhode Island Criminal History (RICH) and the FBI. The system is fully operational and provides law enforcement officers in Rhode Island with a tremendous resource to obtain proper identification and criminal history information in a timely manner.

In December 2010, the FBI stated in a report that Rhode Island’s electronic “criminal ten-print submissions” had a turn-around time of 1.23 days with the national average being 13.77 days. They also reported that the electronic “non-criminal, non-federal ten-print submissions had a turn-around time of 2.6 hours.

Arrest Fingerprint Cards/Dispositions

RIGL §12-1-10 requires Rhode Island law enforcement to promptly furnish the Attorney General’s office with fingerprints and descriptions of all persons arrested, excluding those charged with violations of city or town ordinances or similar minor offenses. Fingerprint cards and arrest information are automatically submitted from the 52 Livescan units in service in Rhode Island, covering 99% of the police departments, directly into the Rhode Island Criminal History Records and the FBI.

BCI processes an average of about 946 arrests per week that are populated into the RICH records and updated in real-time.

37,474 fingerprint cards were electronically and manually submitted from arrests

11,739 civil fingerprint cards were also processed to BCI by local and state law

BCI processes an average of 946 arrests per week that are populated into the RICH records and updated in real-time. In 2010, 37,474 fingerprint cards were electronically and manually submitted from arrests; 11,739 civil fingerprint cards were processed to BCI by local and state law enforcement; and 36 fingerprint cards received by mail were individually examined and manually scanned into the AFIS database.

In order to maintain the complete and accurate tracking of all fingerprint cards received by electronic transfer, members of BCI must continuously monitor the submitted transactions for quality control, verification, consolidation and submission rejections prior to submission to the FBI. Disposition information received from prosecutors at the Attorney General’s Office is also entered into the system. In 2010, approximately 23,350 dispositions were entered into the Rhode Island Criminal History records.

Latent AFIS System

Latent finger/palm prints are defined as finger/palm prints recovered from crime scenes either by photography, dusting powder, or some type of chemical reaction which allows a finger/palm print to be viewed with the naked eye and compared for identification purposes. In 2010, the Latent Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) processed 185 cases resulting in 50 positive identifications, representing a 27.02% clearance rate, which is slightly higher than 1 in 4 cases being solved through fingerprint identifications.

Nationwide Licensing and Employment Background Checks

Rhode Island law mandates several fields of employment obtain a nationwide criminal history background check, including healthcare, child care, public and private school employees, and private security guards, among others. Pursuant to the statute, individuals seeking employment or licensing respond to their local or State law enforcement office, where they are fingerprinted. The cards are then forwarded to the BCI Office, where they are logged by the submitting agency, checked for quality, and forwarded to the FBI.

In 2010, BCI processed 2,024 health-care/childcare national background checks and 1,951 school applicant checks.

In addition, BCI has taken more than 1,410 fingerprints for other occupations and more than 2,250 criminal and civil prints.

The FBI conducts a nationwide record check and forwards a report to the BCI Office as well as to the submitting law enforcement agency. During 2010, BCI personnel processed 2,024 health-care/childcare national background checks.

In 2010, BCI has taken more than 1,310 fingerprints for assorted reasons, such as out-of-state brokers, physician and nursing licenses, security guards and immigration. They have also fingerprinted more than 2,250 criminal and civil prints.

Restraining Orders/No-Contact Orders

Rhode Island law specifies that all domestic violence and sexual assault protective orders must be filed in the Restraining Order/No Contact Order (RONCO) system located within the Attorney General’s BCI. Orders generated by District, Superior and Family courts, police departments, and bail commissioners must be filed upon issuance by faxing or delivering such orders to the BCI Office no later than the end of the day they were issued. Modifications and terminations of such orders must also be forwarded to BCI and entered by the end of each day. In 2010, BCI staff entered 7,611 temporary restraining orders/restraining orders and no contact orders into the database.

Warrant Tracking

Since converting to a paperless warrant system, the courts and police department enter their warrants into the Rhode Island Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (RILETS). Warrants for those wanted outside the State of Rhode Island must be entered and cancelled manually by BCI personnel. On occasion, local warrants must be upgraded as additional information is received on the wanted individual, or the warrant is extended from “RI only” to New England or nationwide. These warrants must be tracked daily. In 2010, BCI was responsible for the arrest of 137 “wanted” individuals who appeared at the BCI window for personal background checks.