Computerised Operational Policing System
A computer system developed for the
New South Wales Police and introduced in April 1994.
The aim of
COPS was to
centralise information that was previously held in paper files or less accessible computer databases - the
Central Names Index, the
Crime Information and Intelligence System, the
Integrated Licensing System, the
Stolen Vehicles Index and the
Roads and Traffic Authority's computer system - and to
cross-reference details of all "persons of interest". Such persons include people with a
criminal record, those with an outstanding
warrant, someone who is the subject of an intelligence report or a
domestic violence order, anyone who holds a gun licence, a person with a history of
mental illness, a
victim of crime or a
suspect - ie. basically everyone.
The information contained within COPS is instantly accessible to any serving police officer, and allows enquiries to be made on names, addresses, vehicles, organisations, animals and objects to gain relevant information in the course of police investigations.
Because the system is open to corruption individual officers are randomnly
audited and must account for
bona fides of each
enquiry.