The police and the courts will soon be able to do faster background checks on persons held in custody with criminal records.

This is being facilitated through the introduction of the Offenders Management System (OMS) at the Correctional Services Department .

Major Richard Reese, head of the Correctional Services Department said the project, which falls under the Ministry of Justice, had commenced last year, but that the data entry started last month at the department's office in downtown Kingston.

high-risk inmates

The OMS is designed to monitor high-risk and other inmates in the country's penal institutions.

"So if a person comes into custody, the minute their identity is confirmed, we will easily trace whether they had a previous conviction, you will have access to their court summary reports," he explained. He noted that it would significantly enhance the parole process.

Major Reese said already other sites had been established at the various penal institutions where data entry will be maintained. These are at Tower Street in Kingston, the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Centre and the Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre, both in St. Catherine and at another centre in Mandeville.

He said following the pilot project, the other institutions would be brought on stream. An initial three-year historical database is being uploaded electronically.

"It will be milliseconds in terms of accessing the information versus maybe six months or three months," Major Reese explained. "In addition to that you will also be able to prepare reports, you will be able to access the various levels of inmates."

Major Reese said other information such as offence committed, age and parish of the inmate could also be gleaned from the data.

The OMS is part of the integrated management information system, which is developed to establish a database linking the Department of Correctional Services with the police and the courts.