CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION IN THE INFORMATION AGE: AN OVERVIEW Graeme Newman Introduction The post modern age of information technology promises to transform both the content, accessibility and utilisation of criminal justice information. In this rapidly changing age, the structure of traditional authority is being undermined and replaced by an alternative method of societal control. The most significant instigator and reflector of this change is the Internet The Internet provides heretofore unregulated and unlimited exchange of information among individuals and organisations via two levels of activity First, anonymous exchange of information via electronic bulletin boards and discussion lists, using E mail which has now come into its own. In criminal justice, the United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network-L (UNCJIN-L), an electronic bulletin board with over 700 members world wide, established by the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division, has pioneered this mode of information exchange Second, the Internet provides the dissemination and storage of large amounts of information in the form of databases or text, graphics, audio, and video now mainly on what is called the World Wide Web. The United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network (UNCJIN) pioneered the development of criminal justice databases on the Internet via the World wide Web in 1991. Since that time many criminal justice databases and so-called home pages have appeared in many different physical places throughout the world, linked electronically via the World Wide Web. a home page may contain simply links to other sites of related interest, links to large databases contained physically at that site, or both. UNCJIN on the World Wide Web falls into the latter category. A selection of criminal justice web sites is provided in the appendix. The Internet is also the reflection of deeper changes in the structure of the information society. Thus, this paper also reviews the ways in which criminal justice agencies must respond to these changes especially in respect to the changing structure of authority and control in the information society. With the rapidity of change, there is the danger that criminal justice agencies may become the victims of the information technology revolution, yet as major producers and users of criminal justice information they have the possibility to become leaders in the way in which criminal justice information is used and produced. The issues of utilisation, information, production, and the sharing of criminal justice information are therefore of crucial importance This section is organised in a rough historical sequence. It examines the broad historical and cultural origins of the revolution in information technology, culminating in an analysis of the changes both brought on and reflected by the Internet. It examines the deeper changes in authority and control in the post modern information society, linking them to the current needs of criminal justice agencies in terms of the generation, utilisation and haring of criminal justice information 2. The Information Age In the twentieth century societies in most parts of the world have undergone immense changes regardless of their level of development. The most drastic changes have occurred in the Western industrialised countries where the base of economic activity has shifted from large-scale industrial production to one of a service economy The service economy deals almost entirely in the processing, utilisation, and dissemination of information Formally called the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice BranchFormally called the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch. 1 CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION IN THE INFORMATION AGE: AN OVERVIEW Graeme Newman 1. Introduction The post modern age of information technology promises to transform both the content, accessibility and utilisation of criminal justice information. In this rapidly changing age, the structure of traditional authority is being undermined and replaced by an alternative method of societal control. The most significant instigator and reflector of this change is the Internet. The Internet provides heretofore unregulated and unlimited exchange of information among individuals and organisations via two levels of activity: First, anonymous exchange of information via electronic bulletin boards and discussion lists, using E￾mail which has now come into its own. In criminal justice, the United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network-L (UNCJIN-L), an electronic bulletin board with over 700 members world wide, established by the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division , has pioneered this mode of information exchange. 1 Second, the Internet provides the dissemination and storage of large amounts of information in the form of databases or text, graphics, audio, and video now mainly on what is called the World Wide Web. The United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network (UNCJIN) pioneered the development of criminal justice databases on the Internet via the World Wide Web in 1991. Since that time many criminal justice databases and so-called home pages have appeared in many different physical places throughout the world, linked electronically via the World Wide Web. A home page may contain simply links to other sites of related interest, links to large databases contained physically at that site, or both. UNCJIN on the World Wide Web falls into the latter category. A selection of criminal justice web sites is provided in the appendix. The Internet is also the reflection of deeper changes in the structure of the information society. Thus, this paper also reviews the ways in which criminal justice agencies must respond to these changes especially in respect to the changing structure of authority and control in the information society. With the rapidity of change, there is the danger that criminal justice agencies may become the victims of the information technology revolution, yet as major producers and users of criminal justice information they have the possibility to become leaders in the way in which criminal justice information is used and produced. The issues of utilisation, information, production, and the sharing of criminal justice information are therefore of crucial importance. This section is organised in a rough historical sequence. It examines the broad historical and cultural origins of the revolution in information technology, culminating in an analysis of the changes both brought on and reflected by the Internet. It examines the deeper changes in authority and control in the post modern information society, linking them to the current needs of criminal justice agencies in terms of the generation, utilisation and sharing of criminal justice information. 2. The Information Age In the twentieth century societies in most parts of the world have undergone immense changes regardless of their level of development. The most drastic changes have occurred in the Western industrialised countries where the base of economic activity has shifted from large-scale industrial production to one of a service economy. The service economy deals almost entirely in the processing, utilisation, and dissemination of information