Thinkstream, Inc., Lafourche Sheriff's Office team up to aid New Orleans Police Department

Donations of laptops, software allow searches of criminal records

BATON ROUGE, La., Sept. 29 – Thinkstream, Inc., a Baton Rouge software development company specializing in criminal justice applications and the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office are helping the New Orleans Police Department get back to the business of fighting crime. With the New Orleans communication system still not operating with its full capability since Hurricane Katrina ripped through the city nearly a month ago, the help couldn't have come a minute sooner.

The assistance comes in the form of four laptop computers and wireless data cards donated by the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office. Thinkstream, Inc. provided the software that allows New Orleans officers the ability to search criminal records stored in the FBI's National Crime Information Center's database as well as access to the Louisiana Civil and Criminal Information or LACCIE Network.

NCIC is a computerized database of criminal justice information (i.e.- criminal histories and background, fugitives, stolen properties, missing persons) and is available to federal, state, and local law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies. The information assists Police in apprehending fugitives, locating missing persons, locating and returning stolen property, as well as in the protection of officers who encounter the individuals described in the system.

The LACCIE Network, developed and implemented in partnership with Thinkstream, Inc., supports over 350 criminal justice databases at the state, local and federal levels. The system allows over 150 Louisiana law enforcement agencies and officers in the field who participate in the network to access criminal information instantly and simultaneously from their desks, vehicles or handheld devices.

The New Orleans Police Department has their own NCIC section dedicated to running the state and federal searches. However, with some phone lines and power still down in Orleans Parish, officers were having problems accessing the databases.

Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Capt. Terry Lyle said when Sheriff Craig Webb found out about the problems, he decided the Lafourche department should do something to help.

The donation of the laptops, along with the wireless cards and Thinkstream, Inc. software, were welcomed wholeheartedly by the New Orleans officers, he said. "There are people who don't belong there and without background checks, they had no way of knowing who the bad guys were," Capt. Lyle said.

"They're back in the game now," he said.

The donations of laptops and Thinkstream technology make it easier for the criminal searches to continue in New Orleans and hopefully will allow for a safer community, Thinkstream, Inc. CEO Barry Bellue said. "Officers pay the ultimate price everyday to keep us safe. Hurricane Katrina has made that clearer than ever. With our technology and the help of other agencies like the Lafourche Sheriff's Office we can help officers remain safe in the field and better able to protect their community," Bellue said.

About Thinkstream
Thinkstream, Inc., a leading software development company based in Baton Rouge, specializes in criminal justice applications that tie agencies together securely giving them the ability to rapidly share critical information across organizational, agency and geographic boundaries. The company has linked over 150 agencies in eight regions of the state, making LACCIE the largest civil and criminal information network in the nation. The company also operates systems in Texas, Florida and California.

CEO Barry Bellue, who also founded Fifth Generation Systems, a national top 20 software company acquired by Symantec, established Thinkstream over nine years ago. Mr. Bellue heads a team of engineers with over 60 years combined experience in designing Web-based integrated information networks for businesses and criminal justice agencies across the nation.

Thinkstream, Inc. is an active member of the Internet Working Group for Justice Integration Committee. Established by the U.S. Department of Justice, committee members contribute their knowledge and experience to promote and implement integrated information systems (IJIS) throughout the country.