Good Morning. I am Harlin R. McEwen, Deputy Assistant Director, Criminal Justice Information Services Division, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). I am pleased to have this opportunity to inform you of the work we have been doing at the FBI as it relates to assisting state and local law enforcement on the topic of Year 2000 (Y2K) readiness in their Criminal Justice Information Systems.

As a former city police chief of over 20 years, and as Chairman of the Communications & Technology Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), I have been personally involved in educating and assisting state and local law enforcement agencies on Year 2000 matters for the past four to five years.

At the FBI we have taken a very proactive role in keeping the Y2K issue before the states and encouraging them to plan for and institute changes to make their systems compliant with our nationwide systems. In the FBI Advisory Policy Process, our primary interaction is with the 50 State Control Agencies (CTA) who are responsible for providing the appropriate interconnect with the FBI Systems and for providing the necessary statewide systems and access for state and local agencies to the FBI Systems.

The following is a chronology of the actions by the FBI to assess the readiness of the state CTAs and to insure they were aware of the consequences if state systems are not ready for the date change.

Spring, 1996
The FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division prepared a staff paper for the Advisory Policy Board (APB) Working Group meetings presenting the Y2K issue and proposing alternatives for compliance. The Working Group recommended converting all dates in the NCIC System to the Y2K format. This recommendation was approved by the APB at the June, 1996 meeting.

September, 1997
The FBI CJIS Division and the Information Resources Division (IRD) hosted over 400 state and local criminal justice agency representatives at the NCIC 2000 Technical Conference in Tulsa,Oklahoma. At this Conference the timetable and formats for the Y2K date were presented and the need to plan for necessary changes was stressed.

September 25, 1997
The FBI CJIS Division sent a Technical and Operational Update to the states informing them of the timetable and formats for the date changes.

January, 1998
The FBI CJIS Division surveyed the states and requested information regarding the readiness of the states for NCIC 2000 and Y2K compliance.

July, 1998
At the request of the CJIS Advisory Policy Board, the states were sent a letter explaining the Y2K schedule and the consequences of not being compliant with the nationwide systems by July, 1999. The letter enclosed a form requesting the agency head sign a statement acknowledging that the schedule and consequences are understood. All states responded with a signed statement. The District of Columbia did not respond.

December, 1998
The District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department contacted the FBI CJIS Division and indicated they were having difficulty with Y2K compliance and requested FBI assistance. The FBI CJIS Division and Information Resources Division responded to the District with technical consultants and the conversion software developed by the FBI to convert NCIC dates. Subsequent to this, the city government provided the department with resources and we have been assured that the situation is under control. This is particularly critical because the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department provides the interface to the FBI Systems for all law enforcement agencies in the District. This includes all DOJ components such as the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the US Marshals Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). It also includes the Treasury Law Enforcement agencies such as the US Secret Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF), US Customs, and other agencies like the US Park Police and the US Postal Inspectors.

November, 1998 - April 1999
The FBI CJIS Division and IRD have been conducting External Interface Checkout (EIC) testing with all states. The states have been strongly encouraged to use Y2K compliant data formats in these tests. However, it has not been mandatory as some states are still in the process of converting their software or have contracts with work in progress to make their systems Y2K compliant.

February, 1999
The FBI CJIS Division hosted over 400 state and local criminal justice agency representatives at the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) Technical Conference in Los Angeles, California. At this Conference the timetable and other issues related to Y2K issues were presented and the need to plan for necessary changes was stressed.

February - May, 1999
The CJIS Division and IRD are conducting Site Operational Tests (SOT). Those states which did not use Y2K compliant date formats in EIC are required to do so in SOT.

July, 1999
NCIC 2000 and IAFIS are scheduled to be fully operational, Y2K date formats are mandatory.

The FBI is prepared to offer assistance to a state that indicates they are having difficulty with Y2K compliance. We have encouraged them to come to us if they have problems. The response will be dictated by the circumstances, the particular needs of the state involved and the resources available at the time. We have been advised that all states are following a plan of action to get their systems compliant. However, as in all endeavors, they must succeed in that plan in order to avoid the consequences of noncompliance. Such consequences range from loss of some services to complete system failure. While some states have a very close time schedule, the only agency to have contacted the FBI and requested direct assistance has been the District of Columbia.

Thank you for this opportunity to inform you of the work the FBI has been doing to assist state and local law enforcement in getting ready for Y2K. I welcome any questions.