2026 SEARCH Annual Membership Group Meeting Recap

A host jurisdiction welcome from the Commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department, who described the department’s use of evidence-based research and data to drive a multi-year decline in homicides and improved clearance rates while operating with reduced sworn staffing.

An inside look at SEARCH and its history, mission, governance structure, key programs and strategic priorities, paired with briefings from the organization’s program directors on cybercrime training and digital forensics, law and policy, and software and data engineering.

A SEARCH Business Meeting featuring Member roll call and introductions, recognition of newly appointed Members, Board of Directors elections and updates, a summary of Board meetings, and discussion of the SEARCH Bylaws.

A Member Roundtable on repository staffing, during which Members shared strategies for recruiting and retaining qualified staff in a competitive workforce environment, supporting professional development, and preserving institutional knowledge through effective knowledge transfer and succession planning.

A panel on emerging technology for Rapid ID, drawing on Arizona’s long-running mobile fingerprinting program supporting roadside identification, booking and release, and warrant checks; Utah’s statutory requirement that agencies adopt portable biometric devices; and a demonstration of Missouri’s in-house, web-based mobile livescan solution designed to address cite-and-release challenges and rural coverage gaps.

A working session on building a NIBRS toolkit, including standards for counting crime, validation tools for NIBRS submissions, and interactive state crime dashboards that replace large manual reports, concluding with an invitation for states to submit five years of NIBRS data for a live analytics demonstration at a future meeting.

Breakout sessions on Member Resources and state NCHIP/NARIP-funded projects; the development and use of meaningful metrics for Computerized Criminal History (CCH) systems; and practical steps individuals can take to strengthen personal privacy and device security.

A Government Affairs briefing from SEARCH and Brooks Bawden Moore, LLC (BBM) on the federal legislative and policy landscape, including the release of a single consolidated Notice of Funding Opportunity making approximately $123 million available across NCHIP, NARIP and NCHIP supplemental funding, with a 36-month period of performance and no match requirement.

A Member Roundtable on how states are using artificial intelligence, during which Members described applications ranging from background check backlog reduction and workflow automation to chatbots, case assistance, and the digitizing and indexing of decades of records, alongside concerns about privacy, CJIS compliance, governance gaps, and the uncontrolled use of consumer AI tools.

A SEARCH project highlight on Louisiana’s integrated criminal justice information sharing initiative, covering the drivers behind the effort, the development of governance structures, contracting and vendor onboarding, and a candid look at funding realities and roadblocks.

New research on variations in recidivism, examining how the risk of reoffending evolves over time and when criminal records may be considered “stale,” drawing on comprehensive criminal history data from seven states and building on the foundational work of Blumstein and Nakamura.

Briefings from the Bureau of Justice Statistics on the Bureau’s strategic vision and its investments in NIBRS, NCHIP and NARIP, followed by an interactive session for grantees to work directly with BJS staff on data reporting requirements and compliance timelines.

A briefing from the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division on the Arrest-to-Incarceration (A2I) initiative, Rap Back subscription maintenance and Appendix 2 updates, and criminal history record enhancements — including the expanded Modify Record Cycle message key, the addition of the Event Identifier to criminal history records, and the phased discontinuance of the R-84, FD-1114 and FD-1115 paper forms.

A Department of Homeland Security briefing on the Department’s use of criminal history record information under Executive Order 14385, which addresses the sharing of criminal history data with foreign countries.

An update on the Clean Slate Initiative and state implementation, including emerging research topics, the Clean Slate Community of Practice, and implementation challenges, solutions and lessons learned from jurisdictions at various stages of adoption.

Diamond Sponsor addresses from Tailored Solutions Corporation and Peregrine Technologies.