Details of The FBI Name Check Process
The FBI web-site and congressional testimony by the FBI officials provide a detailed step-by-step description of the Name Check Process:
- The first step consists in running a particular name, as well as its close phonetic variants and permutations, through the Universal Index (UNI) of the FBI's Central Records System (CRS). The CRS encompasses the centralized records of FBI Headquarters, field offices, and Legal Attache offices. The CRS contains all FBI investigative, administrative, personnel, and general files. The UNI is searched for “main files”, files where the name of an individual is the subject of an FBI investigation, and for “reference files”, files where the name being searched is just mentioned in an investigation in any context or capacity (including witnesses, victims, neighbors, relatives, co-workers, bystanders, and so on).
- If the initial search of UNI returns no records, the individual's Name Check is cleared. FBI maintains that the majority of the Name Checks are electronically returned as “no record” within 48–72 hours.
- If the initial search results in some "hits" (mentions of the name of the subject of the search or of close variants of that name), a more detailed search is conducted. This more detailed search may involve an NNCP officer requesting from the local offices the actual electronic and physical files related to "hits" that the initial search of UNI generated. After receipt, these files are manually analyzed by an NNCP officer to determine if they pertain to the actual subject of the Name Check and if they contain any derogatory information about that subject; additional files may be requested later and the entire process may be repeated several times. In the process NNCP officers need coordinate with 56 field offices and retrieve files stored in 265 locations nationwide.
- Less detailed Name Checks are also possible. The agency requesting a Name Check pays FBI a fee that depends on the level of detail required. The requesting agency can also specify different levels of priority and set specific deadlines for the Name Checks that it requests.
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