August 9, 2019 | From City of New Orleans
CITY LAUNCHES NEW SOFTWARE IMPROVING PUBLIC SAFETY PROCEDURES
NEW ORLEANS — The City and NOPD are proud to announce the launch of new software to replace NOPD’s 1980s era RAP sheet system. CASTNet is a modern software system capable of querying arrest, prosecution and court records from multiple local and statewide databases.
“We are committed to giving our officers the tools they need to make smart, informed decisions to protect our city. This is a major step in the right direction that is only possible thanks to multi-agency cooperation with our partners in the criminal justice system," said Mayor LaToya Cantrell
With CASTNet, users can access information from multiple local and statewide criminal justice databases with a single query. In addition to accessing local and state police records, CASTNet pulls case information from Orleans Parish Criminal District Court and New Orleans Municipal and Traffic Court to provide officers with more complete, timely and accurate information in the field.
Under the old system, officers could only see if an individual had been arrested but not what happened after the arrest. Officers can now see the outcome of the arrest (e.g., whether prosecutors refused the charges or whether the subject was convicted).
CASTNet also provides more timely and accurate warrant information by pulling directly from New Orleans Municipal & Traffic Court records rather than requiring court staff to manually enter and rescind warrants. Additionally, CASTNet pulls data from Jefferson Parish Sheriff Office’s ARMS system, which in turn consolidates data from several surrounding jurisdictions.
The launch of CASTNet represents a major step forward in local justice information sharing and cooperation. The system relies on a database maintained by the City’s Office of Information Technology and Innovation that was built with the cooperation of NOPD, Municipal Court, Criminal District Court, the Sheriff’s Office and the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation.
“As the NOPD continues to lead the way in advancements in law enforcement technology, we recognized that our arrest records system must be a part of that advancement. To that end, we are proud to have launched CASTnet in July 2019 to ensure our officers have the most up-to-date and accurate information available to them in the field," said NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson.
“CASTNet deepens the capabilities of officers in the field by connecting them with information from multiple criminal justice agencies. It is a great example of how we can work together across agencies to improve the efficiency of the system as a whole," said Criminal Justice Commissioner Tenisha Stevens.
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