Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police As

cNET, short for Crime Network, is a web based law enforcement records management system that encourages the controlled sharing of information both within one agency and among several agencies. cNET allows agencies to easily capture data from multiple sources.

It provides extensive search capability, user-defined screen and field configurations, extensive interfacing and audit tracking within each record. In addition, cNET includes incident based uniform crime reporting and allows for the submission of data to State Police.

cNET was developed in conjunction with a steering committee of practitioners. This committee consisted of police chiefs, officers and data entry people. The result is an application that is both comprehensive and user friendly.

Description Benefit
Web-based	cNET is a web-based application. It contains features similar to those used while exploring the internet.	User Comfort Level
Customizable	Field labels and values can be changed to fit your agency's practices. cNET does not force you to conform to its standards. You can continue to use the terminology that your agency has already established.	Familiarity
Linking Information	If information already exists in the cNET database, it can be linked to another record without having to re-enter the data. This feature cuts down on duplicate entries and saves the user time.	Automatic Connection
Real-time Sharing	Rather than performing a query and waiting several hours to several days for a response, cNET retrieves information within seconds. Users can search outside databases in a more timely fashion.	Provides Integration
Electronic Reporting	cNET provides the ability to electronically submit information to the State Police.
Search Capabilities	In cNET, there are over 3,500 searchable fields. Virtually any data that was entered into the system can be retrieved.	Thorough
Security Control	Administrators have the ability to control access to their information. By using security groups, permission can be granted or restricted down to every field on every screen in cNET.	Controlled Access
History	Every action taken in cNET is tracked through history. From the time a record is created, this feature logs the action, date and time, user and both the old and new values.	Audit/Security Tracking
Bread Crumb Trail	While history tracks all actions, the Bread Crumb Trail tracks a user's movement. This feature contains a list of links to every screen that the user has been on since the beginning of the session. These links give you the ability to quickly jump back to a previous screen.	Tracks Movement
Attachments	Users have the ability to attach any file that is on their local machine. This includes photos, word documents, streaming video, and audio files.	Added Tools
Comments	The 'Comments' section appears on every record in cNET. This feature has word-processing capabilities that allow users to change fonts, highlight, underline, spell check and much more. These comments can then be printed out as a hard copy.	Work Processing
Home Page	The Home Page is the launch pad of a user's experience in cNET. It provides quick access to pertinent information without having to perform a search.	Intuitive Navigation

Background
Historically, the sharing of data between law enforcement agencies was impractical. Each agency had its own processes to manage paper and electronic data. The disparities between non-standard records management systems and the processes used to collect, store and disseminate criminal justice data made sharing information quite cumbersome and sometimes impossible.

Times have certainly changed, and the need to share data between law enforcement agencies at all levels - locally, statewide and nationally - has never been greater.