Institution Affiliation:

Institution Affiliation:

Homicide Investigation Tracking System (HITS) is an investigation system that deals with murder and sexual assault cases (Keppel & Weiss 2014). This database program belongs to the State of Washington and operates under the office of the Attorney General (AG). It is mandated with tracking murders and sexual assaults in Washington. HITS system depends on the voluntarily submitted information by the law implementation agencies within Washington.  Deducing from the Washington’s AG’s office website, HITS has managed to collect above 10,600 murder cases and above 8,200 sexual assaults (Keppel & Weiss 2014).

There are numerous advantages that are associated with its use. Its primary significance is that it offers unique and efficient services to the agencies of law enforcement in Washington State. The system is known to supply information regarding different types of murder such as attempted and suspected murders. It also provides information on predatory sexual assault, and in other cases, it offers information on mission people who are likely to be victims of foul play. Also, the system has the capability of supplying information on the characteristics of an offender and any related information regarding the murder case. Furthermore, through this system, agencies of law implementation can obtain information regarding known murderers and sex offenders within a particular community (Keppel & Weiss 2014).  

Apart from providing information on murders and sexual assaults, HITS has also been found to be very useful in analyzing murder cases. Moreover, the system helps in providing information to investigators on the best available murder and sexual assault experts. Lastly, the system offers technical assistance and advice regarding the handling of murder and sexual assault cases (Keppel & Weiss 2014).

Reference

Keppel, R. D., & Weiss, J. G. (2014). Improving the investigation of violent crime: The homicide investigation and tracking system (HITS). Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.