Running a party through MARS

[xpawel15x]

I'm asking this here on the NJ forums as it might be a state specific system. What does MARS stand for and what do they check for using this?

 

[exkalibur]

The purpose of the MARS project was to evaluate the use of electronic accident reporting technology in the field using laptops/MDC's. The Trooper was to collect the accident data and GPS coordinates at the scene, validate the data and then transmit the information electronically from the field to a station office to a district office and then to a central statewide database. ! A focus was that the officer could collect or input the information once and automatically populate other forms having same data fields. The pilot project tested: 1: officer efficiency in collecting data, accuracy of data collected, integrated data management and ability to incorporate other field based reporting areas, hardware to be used as both as mobile data computer and field based reporting, PC based system to capture data from the field units, capability of transmitting data from remote officers to central data base (expedite data processing via electronic submission).

 

[comsec1]

mars

I always thought it stood for municipal arrest recording system

 

[onsceno]

MARS does stand for Municipal Arrest Recording System... or atleast it DID. The system is county specific (eg: if one of my cars stops a male in Paramus (Bergen Co.) who was arrested in Paterson (Passaic Co.), it will not show up in MARS unless you run him through ACS, Automated Criminal System; granted he has a pending or active ACS warrant. There are also NO MORE "MARS warrants" or "bench warrants" anymore. They have become null and void. MARS was recently replaced with COBRA Cody. "Cody" (for short) is a Windows-based system that gives you the same results as the old MARS (but is much more general in it's results, however has a wider array of "running" people... as you can now "run" a street through Cody.

Hope this helps.

 

[jaymatt1978]

OK I have always want to know what's the difference between MARS (now Cody) and ACS? Why do they need tw-o- systems??

 

[onsceno]

MARS, er uh, Cody, will strictly give you arrests (whether dismissed or not) on the juvenile and adult level, although you can't give the juvenile information over the air, as well as active and vacated restraining orders. Remember though, if someone is arrested in Passaic county for example, and you are a Bergen county agency, you will not be able to see this lock-up as it will not even show itself in Cody. This goes for all the other 20 counties in New Jersey.

Unlike Cody, ACS tells you if someone is wanted criminally in all of New Jersey. The Automated Criminal System shows pending and active criminal warrants.

Also keep in mind... although many people are still calling it MARS, don't be fooled, as these people don't take to change easily and they are really referring to Cody.

 

[ctrabs74]

Sounds similar to what some Chester County (Pa.) LE agencies have:

ALERT - Local PD database (usually exclusive to that department - I mostly hear this on West Chester, Coatesville, and a couple other departments); no warrant info
COAST (now known as WEB - Warrant Enforcement Bureau, but still referred to as COAST) - County-wide bench warrants, generally from the District Court level (MARS/Cody)
CLEAN - State-wide warrant information

I'm surprised that everything isn't consolidated into a single system, both in Pa. and NJ...