PEC Solutions Wins Criminal Justice Information Contract

PEC Solutions Inc. has been chosen by Mecklenburg County, N.C., to develop a conceptual design for an integrated criminal justice information system that may be implemented statewide, the company announced May 3.


The Mecklenburg system will link courts, law enforcement and correctional personnel among 16 state, county and city agencies, and will include capabilities to allow federal agencies, research groups and the general public to gain access to the system. The city of Charlotte, with a population of some 400,000 people, is the urban center of the county.



"The leadership in Mecklenburg County realizes the importance of developing an integrated justice system that will not only better protect our citizens, but could also benefit other jurisdictions in the use of leading-edge, cost-effective technologies that integrate law enforcement and justice system processes," said Dwayne Campbell, the county's project manager.


The purpose of the proposed system is to reduce paperwork, coordinate and consolidate information and improve the county's work-flow processes by eliminating redundancy and paper-intensive activities.

Among the expected benefits are reduced risk to law enforcement officers, improving the court system's ability to handle increasing work loads and providing improved service to the public.


The program provides for a multiphase implementation. The first phase, system planning and design, has a value of about $500,000 and will take about four months, said PEC spokesman John McNeilly.

The first phase includes developing cost estimates for the second step, installation of the system for the county. The last part of the contract may include implementation of the criminal justice information system throughout North Carolina.


PEC of Fairfax, Va., is working with Electronic Data Systems Corp., Plano, Texas, Justice Systems Inc., Albuquerque, N.M., and Viking Technology, a subsidiary of PEC.

The team will provide hardware, software, integration services and comprehensive case management tools that provide secure access and information sharing within the Mecklenburg County and state justice communities.


Paul Rice, PEC's chief operating officer, said the project is an important milestone for the company. "PEC will develop a system that will serve as a model not only for North Carolina, but for states across the nation as well," he said.