New NCIS Computer System and the NCIS Effect

December 7, 2007 – 5:57 am

The National Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) unveiled a new crime-fighting computer system last week, according the Btown Monitoring Post blog. The Law Enforcement Information Exchange (LInX) will allow state and local agencies in the Washington D.C. area to exchange mug shots and crime reports. Prior to the implementation of new system, departments had to retrieve such information manually.

Wait a minute. The computer systems on the TV show NCIS have always had the ability to find any information about any person in the world in seconds, while in reality NCIS agents have actually had to make phone calls or drive to neighboring agencies just to get a mug shot? The truth comes out. I know it’s just a TV-show, but when many people see the magic that computers do on television, they actually believe that’s the current state of technology.

I used to think of this as part of the CSI Effect. The CSI Effect is a problem often faced by prosecutors and law enforcement officials when juries and crime victims have unrealistic expectations of forensic science - DNA and toxicology tests in minutes or sharpening photos to show small details. A similar phenomenon is faced by IT professionals - maybe we should call this the NCIS Effect. Television dramas show computers which are able to instantly locate any information on the planet and neatly compile all the data into glamorous visual presentations in milliseconds, without the need for human intervention or specialized software, and they do it for free. All you need to do is think of a question, go to the nearest computer, type in two or three words and the work is done. When real employees require hours, days or even weeks to replicate the same task - they are victims of the NCIS effect.

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