About the Georgia Bureau of Investigations
From the time Georgia was founded in 1733 until 1937, law enforcement in the
state was the responsibility of local governments. In March 1937, at the request of Governor E. D. Rivers, the General Assembly
passed Act 220 that established the Department of Public Safety, the first statewide law enforcement agency in Georgia.
Today, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is an independent, statewide agency
that provides assistance to the state's criminal justice system in the areas of criminal investigations, forensic laboratory
services and computerized criminal justice information. The Bureau consists of three divisions: Investigative Division; Division
of Forensic Sciences, (State Crime Laboratory); and, Georgia Crime Information Center.
The Investigative Division, under the direction of the Deputy Director for
Investigations, is the largest division of the GBI with 400 employees, working in Regional Offices, Regional Drug Enforcement
Offices and other work units that provide specialized services in criminal investigations. Special agents from the Investigative
Division respond to requests for assistance from local law enforcement officials to investigate major crimes such as: homicide,
rape, child abuse, armed robbery, fraud and other felonies. Drug investigations can be initiated without request.
At this time, the Investigative Division is prioritizing its resources to combat
violent crime in Georgia. Death investigations, investigations of violent crime, and investigations of drug activity which
directly contribute to violent crime, currently consume the majority of Investigative Division resources. GBI agents are constantly
exploring and developing more effective investigative techniques to address violent crime.
Established in 1952 as the second statewide Crime Laboratory in the United
States, the Division of Forensic Sciences furnishes scientific support to the Criminal Justice System of Georgia. Laboratory
scientists and technicians in specialized disciplines collect, analyze, and interpret all aspects of physical evidence for
officers, investigators, and District Attorneys throughout the state. The analyses employ the most recent scientific technologies
and are performed on highly sophisticated instrumentation. Scientists are often required to present their findings in the
form of expert courtroom testimony. Statewide availability of laboratory services are made possible through the headquarters
laboratory in Decatur and regional laboratories in Augusta, Columbus, Macon, Moultrie, Savannah, Summerville and Cleveland.
The Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) was established in 1973 as an operating
division within the GBI to serve as the chief provider of criminal justice information services in Georgia. Since then, the
principal mission of GCIC has been to assist all officials and agencies of the criminal justice system in the fulfillment
of their varied responsibilities on a statewide basis by providing round-the-clock access to needed information.
GCIC is mandated by Georgia law and by binding agreements with several federal
agencies to monitor and enforce compliance by Georgia criminal justice agencies with certain state and federal statutes, the
Rules of the GCIC Council (i.e., the Georgia Board of Public Safety) and with relevant federal regulations.
The Georgia Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) Network, operated by
GCIC teleprocessing specialists, provides direct terminal access to computerized databases maintained by Georgia agencies,
by agencies in other states and by the FBI Criminal Justice Services Division. Georgia's CJIS network has more than 1,500
member agencies operating over 10,000 terminals able to communicate instantly with tens of thousands of terminals operated
by other federal, state and local criminal justice agencies throughout the United States. The CJIS network handles more than
13 million messages per month in support of Georgia's criminal justice agencies.
GCIC maintains Georgia's computerized criminal history database that includes
the fingerprint and criminal history records of more than 2,600,000 persons. Georgia traditionally ranks among the top states
in the nation, along with California, New York and Florida in the number of criminal fingerprint records processed each year
Source:
state.ga.us/gbi/index.html
