FBI Honors Internship Criminal Justice Information Services Division
FBI Honors Internship Criminal Justice Information Services Division Clarksburg, WV Brandon Douthit-Wood
FBI Honors Internship n 57 undergraduate and graduate students from across the U. S. n n One from each FBI field office Background check for Top Secret clearance Internship lasted 10 weeks, from the beginning of June through mid August. Each intern was assigned to one of three locations: Washington D. C. , Quantico, VA, or Clarksburg, WV.
Criminal Justice Information Services Division n n I was assigned to the Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) in Clarksburg, WV, along with 6 of the other interns. Within CJIS, I was assigned to the Technology Integration and Support Unit (TISU). n n n Software Development Help-desk Support Network Security
Criminal Justice Information Services Division n Major Systems: n Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) n n National Crime Information Center (NCIC) n n n Receives 55, 000 requests daily, with approximately 2 hour response time Criminal records database Handles 2. 5 million searches daily National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) n n Used to check for criminal record of anyone trying to purchase a firearm. Approximately 2 ½ minute response time
Technology Integration and Support Unit n Primary task was a software development project n n n Worked together with one of the other interns Assigned two senior software engineers as mentors Assigned to design, develop, document and distribute a complete database application n Received a single page memo for the initial project specifications Developed application with Visual Basic and Microsoft Access Also had to implement a number of security features
Technology Integration and Support Unit n TISU’s Software Development Philosophy: n Keep the customer an integral part of the development process n n n Meet with the customers weekly to review the current state of the software Keep phone calls to a minimum; meet face-to-face whenever possible Keep it simple, stupid n Having the software easy to use almost as important as having it meet all specifications
Technology Integration and Support Unit n Problems we faced: n n A “small” change from the customer sometimes equals a big change in the software Getting our users to test the software at their own computers
Technology Integration and Support Unit n Things we learned: n n Don’t count on your initial design to be perfect Sometimes normalization can go too far n n n Can make writing queries difficult Difficult to add new fields later Use temporary tables n Greatly improved the performance of running queries against linked tables
Technology Integration and Support Unit n Other assignments: n n n Installing & configuring workstations Upgrading older workstations from token-ring to Ethernet Assisting with help-desk calls Changing out routers Upgrading servers Running and terminating fiber optic and CAT-5 cable
FBI Honors Internship n Other activities: n Visit to FBI Academy n n Tour of Pittsburgh field office n n n Tour of laboratories and special agent training facilities Evidence collection Security briefings Trip to firing range
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