As Dawes (1996) points out, information integration, as well as information sharing, offers organizations a greater capacity to share information across organizational boundaries, to discover patterns and interactions, and to make better informed decisions based on more complete data. Bellamy (2000) adds that information integration in the justice enterprise can lead to improved safety and more coordinated justice services. Decentralization, improved decision making, high quality services, empowerment, and greater productivity have been mentioned as potential gains from information integration projects. Increased productivity, improved decision-making, reduced costs, increased revenues, and integrated services (Kuan and Chau, 2001; Roldán and Leal, 2003) have been identified as positive results as well.

Understanding the type of information sharing being pursued and the challenges associated with achieving the stated objectives is important to understanding the benefits that organizations can expect to realize. The benefits realized from information integration differ from organization to organization and according to characteristics of specific projects. However, there are certain types of benefits that can be expected in almost any information integration or information sharing initiative. Dawes (1996) classifies these benefits into three categories: technical, organizational, and political.

Technical benefits are those related to data processing and information management. Caffrey (1998) notes that information integration reduces duplicate data collection, processing, and storage and therefore reduces data processing costs that attend every public program. Furthermore, as Dawes (1996) suggests, an information sharing initiative can also promote better standards and shared technical resources. Some of these technical benefits are identified in information systems literature as system-related benefits. System reliability and accessibility are two well-known examples.

Organizational benefits, known also as business or firm benefits, are benefits related to the solution of agency-wide problems or the enhancement of organizational capabilities. Improving the decision making process, broadening professional networks, improving coordination, increasing the quality of services, and reducing costs are some examples of organizational benefits (Walton, 1989; Andersen and Dawes, 1991; Roldán and Leal, 2003). In the information science literature organizational benefits are treated separately but are considered complementary to technological and environmental benefits.

Political benefits might include better appreciation for government-wide policy goals, more public accountability, more comprehensive public information, integrated planning, and improved service delivery (Andersen and Dawes, 1991). According to Jane Fountain (2001), political benefits can also be considered as individual benefits for public officials as a result of the use of specific technology characteristics or applications.

Despite the tremendous benefits, information integration, like many other IT-related initiatives, presents organizations with tremendous challenges. Those challenges result, in large part, from the reality that integrating criminal justice information involves, ultimately, large parts of, if not the whole criminal justice enterprise. This is made even more challenging by that fact that these enterprises differ so greatly among states and localities. Those involved in justice integration initiatives must be aware of the differences, and the implications of those differences, as they look to their colleagues for guidance and best practices. This study provides insight into some integration objectives, strategies, barriers, and current practices. It presents, along with those insights, case information so that the insights shared can be considered in their original context and then explored, by potential adopters, in terms of their own environments.