Wisconsin Department of Justice Identification Manual - Imprimus ...

Wisconsin State Statute 165.83 (2) 5 authorizes the Attorney General to designate
other offenses not included in s. 165.83 (2). On December 10, 1993 the Wisconsin
State Legislature enacted Wisconsin Act 96 which created statutes relating to and
providing penalties for stalking. State Statutes 165.829 requires the Department of
Justice to gather and maintain information on arrests and judgments of convictions
entered regarding all violations of s. 940.32 (stalking) and s. 947.013 (harassment).
To complete the obligation imposed by this act, the Attorney General has designated
s. 940.32 and s. 947.013 as mandatory fingerprintable offenses pursuant to s. 165.83
(2) 5. Any person arrested for a violation of s. 940.32 or 947.013 shall be
fingerprinted and the fingerprint card shall be submitted to the Department of Justice.
This includes all violations of these statutes, even if the penalties are misdemeanors
and/or forfeitures that normally are not required to be reported.
There are three levels of criminal history records that may be created when a subject
is arrested. The first level is the arrest and booking process at the local law
enforcement agency. This process creates an arrest record and, if applicable, a court
record. The second and third levels are created when the local law enforcement
agency submits the arrestees fingerprints to the CIB (second level) and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (third level). In October of 1998, CIB began receiving
electronic fingerprint submittals from agencies using card scan and live scan
equipment. These electronic records, when applicable, are forwarded electronically
to the FBI after CIB completes processing.
It is important to remember that all arrest/conviction records in the CIB and FBI files
are supported by fingerprint cards. The failure to submit fingerprints will result in an
incomplete state and federal criminal history record.
Each individual appearing in the Wisconsin Identification Files is assigned a unique
State Identification Number (SID) which should be retained by the local agency.
As provided by law, dispositions of criminal cases are received from the agency
making the final disposition. At the time of arrest, law enforcement initiates a Final
Disposition Report bearing fingerprint impressions and it is passed onto the
prosecutor and/or to the court along with the case papers. When the final disposition
is reached, whether it be by the prosecutor or by the court, the disposition report is
forwarded to the Crime Information Bureau. In August of 1999, disposition reports
began to flow to CIB electronically from the Consolidated Court Automation
Program (CCAP) system from participating counties.
Based again on positive fingerprint identification, offender records are updated
providing total information as to the final consequence of the criminal action.
Wisconsin correctional agencies also report the receipt, transfer, and status of all
persons under the supervision and custody of the State Division of Corrections.
In 1992 the State of Wisconsin contracted with North American MORPHO for the
purchase of an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). The
implementation of AFIS has allowed the CIB to electronically scan the submission
of ten print fingerprint cards for search and comparison against the existing arrest
fingerprint card master file that is stored within the AFIS database. This eliminates
the need to search fingerprint cards manually and the pulling of file jackets of known
offenders for identification. In addition, AFIS workstations are located at each
Crime Laboratory in Madison, Wausau and Milwaukee. These devices allow the
search of latent fingerprints obtained from crime scenes for potential identification
against existing ten print fingerprint cards on file at CIB. Unidentified latent
fingerprints are stored in the AFIS database for future comparison with subsequent
ten print arrest fingerprint card submissions to CIB. Extensive research by the
Department of Justice indicates that AFIS will become an indispensable tool not only
in apprehending criminals and raising the rate of crime-solving in the state, but also
in preventing crime and raising our conviction rate. Law enforcement agencies in
Wisconsin Department of Justice Identification Manual Introduction • 2