BY : COMPUTER STUDIES CRIMINAL INFORMA TION SYSTEM

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover Page ..1 Table of Contents 2-3

A. Problem

Investigation 4 Introduction

Versatile Computers. ..4 Problem Investigation. 4 Manual System Process ..5 Benefits ..6 Drawbacks .7 Proposed System .8 Benefits .9 Drawbacks 10 Objectives 11 B. System Planning And Design
PLANNING

..12
Topic Planning 12 Project Planning 12 Time Planning 13 Time Plan .14

Hardware Specification 15-16 Software Specification ..16 Software Selection.................................................................................... ............17 Implementation .18-19
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C. Testing

..20 CHECK FOR LOGIN 20-22 Check FOR SEARCHING A Criminal Record..23 On the basis of name. 23-25 On the basis of ID Number 26-28 On the basis of Location. ..29-31 CHECKING FOR THE ADDITON OF RECORD..32-33
D. User

NEW

Documentation .34-50 E. Evaluation

System Evaluation.. Limitation. Developments..

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Problem investigation

Versatile Computers Computers have now become equally as important as breathing to us. Through computers we can share, collect, communicate, entertain, and conduct business. It is used by grade school students to scientists. In my project I want to utilize two significant features of a computer which is speed and storage space. Long ago computers were the size of an entire house and could only store data in bytes and megabytes. Now computers come in the size of a book and can hold terabytes of data. Whatever the reason may be, computers are now part of our daily lives. The main reason of a computer is to make the work done manually easier and faster. So I

decided to make a program that makes criminal information system easy to process. Problem Investigation At the early age people used to file or their documents making stacks of files. The police also used this method to store any person affiliated with crime. In this process begins with the crime itself. After the crime has occurred the police will have the CSU (crime scene unit) to collect any data like the location, mode of the crime, the time of the crime and etc. Then this data is sent to the police headquarter where it is documented here all the data that has been collected is put together or added if it is a file already exists about that criminal. After the criminal data has been documented the data is searched this where police tries to find recurring data like the location and type of crime, which prepares the starting list for the police to begin their leads on, and the investigation begins. But, this method was working because there werent many criminal at the time. Though as time passed number of criminals increased and more types of crime were happening. This is where the computer came in, but a computer cannot do this without a program.

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Manual System Process Though this method seems to be very frustrating, it was used for many years lets see why. But to know why it was used for many years we first have to know how this manual system works.
THE CRIME OCCURS

DATA COLLECTED BY THE CSU (crime scene unit)

DATA IS SENT TO THE POLICE HEADQUARTERS

CRIMINAL DOCUMENTS ARE MADE

CRIMINAL DATA IS SEARCHED

STARTING LIST IS PREPARED

THE INVESTIAGTION BEGINS , COMPUTER STUDIES

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Now lets find out why it was used so much! Benefits

1. Security

In the manual system where everything is written and kept in file just needs to be stored behind a locked door and it is safe. Also there are no duplicates made this prevents people of getting a copy of the folder. This reduces the chances of unauthorized access to those data. Since all of it is written there is no chance of a virus damaging/corrupting or even deleting the information.
2. Expenses In the Short Term-

In the manual system all we have to do is write all the data so the person would only need paper, pen and some other materials but even with some extra materials the overall cost in the short term is very less. Also not much electricity in needed to do this work.
3. Easy to understand-

For a person to learn the manual system only needs to know how write, speak, and read. This process does not require the person to have extensive technical information. This allows more people to have opportunities to have job in this department.

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Now we will see why an alternate system is required Drawbacks 1. Time TakenThis manual method is very time consuming not because there is so much to do but because at the rate it is done. Doing it through this method people have to transfer some data to another person who only has to modify it but since there is no copy & past option it has to be rewritten every time. 2. Storage Space-

As time passes, the number of criminal is to increase and this would mean the increase in records of data and eventually what used to take one a closet space will need an entire room. 3. Safety/Retrieval of old files When someone wishes to look over some older files it will be very tough to find since there is no search option available also even if the person has all the reference numbers it will take a long period of time to find the correct file because there would be thousands of files present. Also if there was some sort of disaster or any other reason the files were lost there would be no back up to retrieve those files.
4. Inaccuracy/Mistakes-

Since all of the criminal processing via the manual method would be done by humans there is chance of more errors occurring than a computerized method. The mistakes can range from a small spelling mistake to the entering of a wrong data in another field. 5. BackupMaking a backup for all the criminal data present in the police database using the manual method is impossible because everything would have to be written again and stored somewhere else. 6. Cost Long TermThough it may look inexpensive at first but after collecting so much data can cost a lot and even more to maintain. First the storage space will be needed more, then the cost of hiring more people to keep all the files in order (e.g. Clean, Stacked, and in order).
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Proposed System

My system is to speed up process of this method. As you can see to the left my goal is to cut that by half so the police can process the criminals at much faster pace.

THE CRIME

OCCURS

DATA COLLECTED BY THE CSU

SENT AND PROCESSED AT

HEADQUATRERS

THE INVESTIAGTION BEGINS

Here it is shown how my system speeds up the process by going straight from the collected data to the processing.My system would do all the processing part which is shownat the third box in the flow chart. This is where the computerized system would replace the manual system and speed up the process.

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Lets see how this system is better Benefits

1. Time/Processing speed-

When the criminal data is sent for processing we wont have to copy the entire data over again because we can simply copy it from one

place and paste it where we desire. Also if there is a need for changing any of the criminal data it can be done quickly because we would not have to rewrite everything, making modifying data easier.

2. Storage Space-

Instead of having a huge room filled with files of the criminal we can have all of that data in a hard disk which would be as big as calculator. This would save a lot of space which could be used for any other purpose.

3. Safety/Searching/Backup-

When all of the files are in a hard disk it is very hard to lose those files because there will no need of thousands of them like files. Also if at any case the data is lost or corrupted having a backup would be easy. Because, all the files are on the disk we would just have to make a copy of them and store it another hard disk in case the primary disk is not function this will insure the safety of the data. Even searching would be easy so If anyone wants to look at some old files for reference they wont have to look through all the files store they would only have type in the file search name.

4. Perfection-

Since all of the data will be computerized the chance of error is very low. Everything will be checked because the person entering the data would be human they can mistake while entering the data. But, in a computer there can be so many types of validation and verification checks so even if the person wants to make a mistake they wont be able to.

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No system is perfect it might dwell in some aspects but it does have its drawbacks.

Drawbacks 1. Security-

As we are advancing so do the rest of the people. Though there is copyright protection people can get their hands on this program and find a way to get inside the system and misuse the data. If this is to happen it can do a lot of damage like interfere with evidence which would be used to prosecute a criminal or lead an investigation to another path.

2. Cost-

Some of the program that is used by the police are very expensive and are made by professionals. Since there are a lot of programs used the cost from one program to another can be very expensive like having protection software or analyzing software for DNA. Also the hardware used can be very expensive like a simple hard disk or a huge server for the entire city.

3. User-

The person using this program or a person who wants to use it much be familiar with the program and must require technical expertise. Because, not anybody can use it, though it is not that complicated the people who want to use it must know the basic computer skills.

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Objectives To create my computerized method of processing criminal data I had these objectives.
1. A quick search on the data about stored criminals may be carried

out to start an investigation. If the police have an idea about, who the criminal is because of past encounters the police only has to search for them in the criminal database and from there they can begin their investigation.
2. Adding new criminal records whenever someone commits a crime.

When a crime has occurred and it is done by criminal who is new or not in their database, their information will be added on to the system.
3. Editingthe records of criminals so whenever a criminal record

needs to be changed can easily be modified. So when a criminal in the database already present does or something happens to them which will cause some of the data to be changed would be possible. So with the system we can change the data that is present.
4. Security only people which are allowed will be able to access the

data. Since this information is only for the police members only selected people should be able to access this data. So there will be a log in page and only the people who have access could enter. This would prevent from non-police members to have access to the information.
5. Signing up for new recruitsPeople who want to add their data so

they can access the data. The police are always hiring more staff that will require access to this data so there will be a sign up from which take their information and added to the data base so they will be recognized when they want to log in to access the data.

6. Manufacturing of reports the appropriate reports will be generated

whenever a police has searched the data. After a search has been done the police might want some sort of report. In the report they might want to add any of the data that they want off the criminal.
7. Removal/Deleting of Data about the criminals can be deleted if

required and moved. When there is need of removing of the criminal data maybe because the criminal has died or has to be deleted because it was a mistake that the criminal data was entered.
8. User FriendlyThe program will be very user friendly so even the

people with minimum knowledge can operate. The person using this system would not require the highest knowledge about system because it would be very much straight forward so it would be easy to use the system.
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PLANNING Topic Planning

When I was first told about the CS project, I was extremely fascinated by the idea. There were a lot of different and unique ideas that came up immediately. I had ideas such as sports, games, and books. I first thought about creating a database of football leagues around the world and then thought of car dealership agency. Though, when I discussed with my teacher,I realized that I wasnt solving any of the problems that I had come up with. I had seen a few past projects and I was astonished on how many people had done on library database but I refused to be a copycat and decided to be unique. I watch a lot of old detective movies in which the hero will solve a mysterious case using clues that he finds along in his search but, in movies they never show you more than five to ten minutes of the criminal processing. So the idea struck me, why dont I make a program which makes processing criminals much easier and quicker. Some forms maybe similar to the library database but even being a little different makes it unique.
Project PlanningBefore I could go and work on the program, I had to plan

what I was going to include in my database and what are the problems I wanted to solve. First, I researched about all the problems people can face while processing criminals and storing their data. The first problem with the method was time efficiency since the criminal records were all hand written

the time taken to process one criminal was enormous. Another problem faced was searching, since using the old method a lot of files were accumulated through time so if a detective wanted to see a file one or even six months old he would have to go through hundreds or if he was in a big city he would have to go through thousands of files. Therefore, after atiring search, I planned to include the following in my project. First of all, I decided make a search form through which anyone could search criminals on the basis of name, id and the location they were in. Also, there would be a form which allowed the person to add new criminal data which would be stored into the database or modify an existing criminal record. However, some people may/will misuse the system if I would allow anyone to come and change the details about the criminal. It is because of this reason that I decided to make a security form so that only selected users can come in and modify, add or delete the data. In my case the people who could change these data were the admins. Admins did not have the need to search the criminals only to edit and add. When thinking about this option, I discovered another problem. What if there is a new admin member who had these privileged access. In that case, how will the new admin login? For this problem, so I decided to make a sign up form in which a user or admin can create a username and password.
, COMPUTER STUDIES-12Time Planning This project was being carried out over an extremely long time so I had to plan my time accordingly:

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Topic Problem Identification Problem Solution

Description Figuring out the problem. After the problem is established, Ill search for the solution. After the solution is accepted, I will study if the solution is acceptable to the problem and if the implementation of the solution will work. After a solution is found then I will research on the needs of the criminal processing unit.

Time 14 days 7 days

Feasibility study

21 days

Research

7 days

Design

I decide what program I will use, the system input and output processing as well as the layout design using a flowchart. I build the program solution After the system is complete I check to see if it meets all my objectives. I create manual system for my program for other people to use. I check for minor errors and fix them or better the system any way possible.

7 days

Programing & Coding Testing

28 days 7 days

Documentation

14 days

Evaluation

7days

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Hardware Specification

Laptop The most important hardware needed for this project. Using a laptop is much easier than a desktop computer because unlike a desktop computer I can move the laptop around so it makes carrying data around much easier. My laptop is CPU It is the central processing unit where it processes the inputs from the input devices like a mouse or keyboard etc. My CPU

An Alienware M15x Monitor of 15.4 inch screen having a resolution of 1920 x 1080.

IntelCorei7 CPU Q720 @ 1.60GHz (8CPUs) Memory/RAM- 4096MB

To clearly check my computer performance I ran the windows 7 system information diagnostic tool which showed these results

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Printer It is an output device it is used to print documents and pictures. I will use it to print the system layout documents.

My Printer Canon ip1800 series

USB Mass Storage Device The flash disk is a portable storage device. I will use it to back up my data and also carry it around safely. My USB Toshiba TransMemory USB Device 16 GB

SoftwareSpecification Microsoft

Visual Fox Pro 7

I will use this program to create my system, where all the forms and tables are made. Microsoft

Paint

To copy pictures from the system or to the system. Also I will use it for processing some of the screen shots taken from the system. PhotoScape It is a photo editing program I will use it to crop pictures and edit them to fit for the from or the documents. Microsoft

Office Word 2010

It is a word processer I will use it to write the document. Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit build 7600

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Software Selection When we were first told about this project, there were various soft wares from which we could choose, we were told about Visual FoxPro and

Microsoft Access. However, before I thought about using any other software, I thought that Visual FoxPro would be best for me because of various reasons. I had been using this software for 2 years

I was comfortable and familiar with all the functions of this software.

I was learning about this software and would learn more as in school as this was the program being taught

I had already created a program as part of my school project before and could reuse some of the commands

I would not need much help, where as if I would shift the software, I would be requiring much more effort and time to spend on it.

The only drawback, I feel, of using Visual Foxpro is that the project is very simple in design as there are not many options to make it attractive.

Though Microsoft Access was a good program against the Visual Fox pro so I decided to make table showing their pros and cons As you can see it was a hard choice but I chose the visual fox pro. Feature Visual Fox Pro Microsoft Access Appearance Interface & Features Ease of Interface Speed Storage, Backup Transfer &

x x
Good Good Good

Good Good

x x x

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Implementation Entire Flow Chart of how my project works

SECURITY FORM

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Description The above is a basic flowchart showing the exact functions that my criminal database would carry out so that it would be worth implementing. When the user first enters the database, there will be an option user or admin. If he enters as a user, he will be login as user and he can in search any criminal on the basis of name, id number, location and/or they can view all the criminal data going through each one by one. This is an advantage to the user, as many a times; the user might not know the name of the criminal but other primary details about the criminal. Only the admin can alter with the data present. The admin can modify the existing criminal records and add new records, because there can be many user and if someone wishes to change a criminal record he will be able to that is why only the admin can alter data. One major option which cannot be forgotten is the case when a newuser joins. So that, this person can also have access to the records, he or she must get their own user name and password to go past the security form. This free for all who have access to this program but only admin can add new admins.

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Before, I could show my project to anybody, I had to check if all the options in my program were working properly or not. This would be a necessity and so there were various tests that I carried out. I performed my test by giving the computer three types of data. The first one being the normal data (the data that is correct and will show a result), the second type of data would be the abnormal data (which would not show any result). As I had created various different types of forms, I decided that I would test each and every one of those with normal and abnormal data to see the result that the program would show. There should be a positive output for the normal data and a negative output for the abnormal data. In some cases, I also checked by not entering important data (such as in addition) to see what would happen. If required, I made changes so that the output would be the one that I had desired. CHECK FOR LOGIN (USER NAME AND PASSWORD)

Above is the form that would appear for the login of authorized users Username: aaaa Password : 1111 Username :sdas Password :1111 The following forms would appear. ABNORMAL DATA NORMAL DATA

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Normal Data (The password is being shown just for proof, the program will not show the password when people are logging in.)

This form will be shown with the correct data to the user, the form where users can search (only if correct data is entered)

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Abnormal Data

This form will be shown with the incorrect data to the user( this is vice versa as well if the password isnt correct the person will not be allowed to search the criminal record)

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Check For SEARCHING A Criminal Record: 1. On the basis of name This is when the user has already been logged in. Here the user can search for the criminal by the criminals name

Criminal name: luke NORMAL DATA

Criminal name :sdas

ABNORMAL DATA

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Normal Data

This form will be shown with the correct data to the user. If the correct name is entered that criminals record will be shown

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Abnormal Data

This form will be shown with the incorrect data to the user. If the wrong name is entered the criminal record wont be shown.

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Check For SEARCHING FOR A Criminal Record:

2. On the basis of ID Number

This is for users to search via the criminals id number.

Criminal id: 1231231241 NORMAL DATA

Criminal id: 1123

ABNORMAL DATA

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Normal Data

This form will be shown with the correct data to the user. If the user has entered the correct id that criminals record will be shown.

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Abnormal Data

This form will be shown with the incorrect data to the user. If id the number entered is wrong the record wont be shown.

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Check For SEARCHING FOR A Criminal Record:

3. On the basis of Location

If the user wishes to search the criminal by the criminals location, this will be the form that they will use.

Criminal location: vegasNORMAL DATA

Criminal location: sdafABNORMAL DATA

, COMPUTER STUDIES-29NORMAL DATA

This form will be shown with the correct data to the user. If the correct location entered, the criminal of that locations record will be shown.

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Abnormal Data

This form will be shown with the incorrect data to the user. If the wrong location is entered no records will be shown.

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CHECKING FOR THE ADDITON OF A NEW RECORD:

This check is only for admins because users are limited to only searching, sincecriminal records are always being updated new data have to be entered.

New Addition of Criminal Record

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Then the criminals record is added to the database

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User Documentation

First these are some tips that might come in handy.

The red X button will close the form that you are on. Use of CTRL Z is handy if you are modifying the criminal records.

The MAIN FORM (first form)

Once the program has started this is the first form that you will see and if you wish to continue using the database you will click on ENTER.

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After you have ENTERED, you will have an option to choose, ADMIN OR USER.

If you choose ADMIN you will be taken to a different form than the USER and vice versa.

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If you chose ADMIN then you will have to login to confirm you are ADMIN so this form will be shown to you.

Here you will enter your ADMIN username and password. If you want to leave the form you can just click on EXIT.

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Once you have logged in ( default admin username is bbbb and the password is 2222)

This form will be shown to you

In this form as the ADMIN you can add new criminal record or modify the existing ones. Also if you dont want to change the database you leave by clicking on EXIT

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If you chose to add new criminal record then this form will be shown to you.

After you are done with adding the new criminals data on the form, which you can do by clicking on any of the textbox and from there, you, can type in the data. After you are done you can click on FINISHED in doing so the data that you have entered will be stored in the database. Also if you have completed partially on the criminals record and want exit without saving clicking on FINISHED will not store the partial data and you would have exited the form. So if you wish to exit clicking on FINISHED will exit you from the form and back to the form where you can choose between adding and modifying the criminal database.

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If you chose to modify the existing criminal records then this form will

be shown to you.

ADMIN if you have seen this form on the user form as well do not panic this is just one feature off modifying. Since ADMINS job is only to add and modify the database, he has to first search the criminals record then only can the ADMIN can modify the data. So that is why the ADMIN can choose how to find the criminal he is looking for.

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When the ADMIN has decided that he wants to modify the criminal record he can search the criminals records these ways. The forms that open will vary on how the ADMIN wants to search. If wants to search by name:

Or by ID

Or by location

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Regardless of the method the ADMIN chooses to search the criminals record the result will be same either the criminals record will be shown or a message box saying that the record is not present. The form to modify will be like how the user searches for the criminal but here the ADMIN can modify the data. This how the criminal record will be shown (for example I have chosen a random criminals record)

To modify the criminals record the ADMIN has to only select one of the textboxes and type in the new data and when the ADMIN is done he can just click on done and the new data will be saved.

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Now for the USERS, they too will have the same login from but remember only ADMIN CAN MAKE NEW ADMINS.The login form will be like this.

If the USER wants to leave he can click on the EXIT and the form will close. If he has forgotten his password then he can click on the FORGOT PASSWORD.

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When the USER has forgotten his password he can go to the FORGOT PASSWORD form. The form will be like this:

In the form the USER will have to enter is USERNAME then pick the security question that he had chosen and the answer to that question (the question is in combo box so the USER does not need to make the question) then he has to click on SUBMIT and his password will be shown under SUBMIT if the answer is wrong and/or doesnt match the USERNAME no password will be shown. For example: Password =B Username= A Security Question= what is your pet name Answer= C

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So the USER types in the information:

From this information the Password should be C

So if the user ever forgets his password he can always get it back.

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Also if there is a new USER who wants to search the criminal database he will have the SIGNUP option by clicking on SIGNUP from the login form. This will be the form:

After the person has filled in the information he just has to click on the SIGNUP and his information will be stored on the database so he can login as the USER whenever he wants to.

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This is an example SIGNUP

Now let us try to login using this information

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Since now we can login lets see what the USER has access to. The first form that the USER sees after logging in:

Like always if the USER wants to Exit he can click on EXIT and the form will close. The USER privilege is only searching on the criminals because not everybody should have access to altering the database. If the USER wants to see all the criminal records in the database he will click on VIEW ALL DATA

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This is the VIEW ALL DATA FORM:

The USER can click on FIRST CRIMINAL RECORD to go to the first record in the database. If the USER clicks on LAST CRIMINAL RECORD the last record in the database will be shown. If the USER clicks on NEXT CRIMINAL RECORD the next record in line will be shown. And if the user clicks on PREVIOUS CRIMINAL RECORD then the record before the current record will be shown. When the USER is done searching the USER can click on EXIT and this form will be closed and he will be taken to the USERS main form.

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If the USER knows the name, id or the location of the criminal he can search on the basis of that too.

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From this the USER will have these options:

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Evaluation System Evaluation The system I have built is actually good. Most of my objectives were fulfilled completely; my system is able to create new criminal records, edit the existing criminal records, help search within them without much effort, it saves time, it maintains the data very safely, it takes up less physical space (like you do not need lots of shelves to keep the files like the old method), it is continent to use, reduces errors and increases accuracy. Also my system is very simple to understand since most of the labels on the forms guide the person using the system. The system process very fast, not because the data is small compare to real life criminal databases, it is fast because it is running on a computer, so even if the data was increased ten or twenty times more it will still be equally fast.

Limitations of the New System

1. Granted that there are validation checks but mistakes can always

happen and since this criminal databases information can be very vital sometimes. Though it is better than the old method accuracy but not by a longshot.
2. Lack of transactions/reports in real police stations they can print

reports on specific criminal, the reports can generate many types of data from the existing data like the criminals behavior or psychological capabilities etc. But, this feature is very complex and to build it will require very high programing skills.
3. Staff information, Admins are allowed every feature of the system

but there is no information about the admin like name, or address etc.

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Possible Developments 1. Creating reports on the criminals, so when a User wants to have a hard copy of the criminals information for an investigation the user can print one to aid him in the investigation. 2. I could add more information about the staff/Admins/Users like their contact numbers, address and E-Mail id etc. So it would make contacting them easier. Like a User might want to become an Admin so he should know who to contact regarding this matter. 3. Also tracking the staff members, when a person access the system at what time and who was the person that accessed the system and what changes did he make or which criminal database was he searching or editing.

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