Researchers identified factors that inhibit the provision of criminal history record information to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) from law enforcement agencies and developed a decision aid framework that allows DCSA to prioritize these organizations according to DCSA goals when assessing which localities might benefit from targeted federal assistance.

Decision Aid Framework Development to Inform the Application of Federal Assistance

Improving Sharing of Criminal History Record Information for Personnel Vetting

David Luckey, Bradley M. Knopp, Amanda Wicker, Diana Y. Myers, Will Shumate, Christopher Dictus, Brandon F. De Bruhl, David Stebbins

ResearchPublished May 3, 2023

Researchers identified critical factors that enable or inhibit the provision of criminal history record information (CHRI) to the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) from law enforcement agencies whose CHRI contributions are needed for vetting individuals as part of the background investigation process. The researchers also developed a decision aid framework that allows DCSA to prioritize law enforcement organizations according to DCSA goals when assessing which localities might benefit from targeted federal assistance.

Key Findings

  • The U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency's (DCSA's) criminal history record information (CHRI) collection is complicated by the myriad state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) laws and policies regarding CHRI collection, maintenance, and sharing. In particular, different jurisdictions have different laws for expunging and sealing records, reporting arrests, disposing individuals, collecting fingerprints, and automatically clearing records.
  • SLTT information exchange between SLTT law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and DCSA is critical to DCSA's vetting process. Unfortunately, many SLTT LEAs lack the personnel, knowledge, technology, or funding to comply with their obligation to report CHRI in support of federal vetting. Outdated and outmoded reporting systems frequently slow or obstruct DCSA's CHRI collection, and manual CHRI sharing could impose additional burdens on both LEA employees' and DCSA investigators' time.
  • The CHRI collection challenges that SLTTs face might be a product of SLTT laws and policies, the administrative burden the employees face in sharing CHRI, systemic barriers, government interaction through participation in federal programs, and structural conditions. By focusing on the potential causes of insufficient CHRI sharing, DCSA would be better positioned to mitigate those specific collection issues.

Recommendations

  • Improve data collection and enable cooperation by providing law enforcement agencies (LEAs) with access to federal funding and assistance that could be used to modernize criminal history data collection, management, and sharing capabilities.
  • Ensure all Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) investigators are trained on local criminal history record information (CHRI) laws and policies so that they can address specific state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) concerns about sharing CHRI.
  • Provide training, education, and direct assistance to SLTT LEAs for the purpose of streamlining access to historical and future CHRI data.
  • Use the decision aid framework (DAF) to drive decisions on where intensified cooperation and application of federal resources could best mitigate CHRI collection issues.
  • Collect data on SLTT-DCSA interactions for all DCSA investigators and update the data when challenges are resolved or new information becomes available.

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Luckey, David, Bradley M. Knopp, Amanda Wicker, Diana Y. Myers, Will Shumate, Christopher Dictus, Brandon F. De Bruhl, and David Stebbins, Decision Aid Framework Development to Inform the Application of Federal Assistance: Improving Sharing of Criminal History Record Information for Personnel Vetting. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2023. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA891-1.html.
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This research was sponsored by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency and conducted within the Forces and Resources Policy Center of the RAND National Security Research Division (NSRD).

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