WILMINGTON - Law enforcement officials announced a new information-sharing program Tuesday that will allow investigators to search crime and incident records in other jurisdictions and agencies.

The N.C. Law Enforcement Information Exchange, known as LInX, is similar to the Google search engine and is searchable by key words. It will be running by mid-July, organizers said.

"This system will make as big an impact on law enforcement as fingerprints did when fingerprints were first introduced," said Dennis Mook, a former Newport News police chief who oversees the database used in Virginia. "It allows investigators to connect the dots."

Mook said investigators have solved cases by using the key-word searches. On one case, police searched all reports for a certain type of car and physical description, and came out with a list of 20 suspects instead of thousands.

"It really does change the way law enforcement is going to be conducted in the future," Mook said.

The system is managed by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which offers the system to locations where the Navy and Marine Corps are based. LInX programs are already in place in eight other states and the District of Columbia.

Participation in the program is free. About 20 other law enforcement offices, including police and sheriffs' offices from across North Carolina, took part.

The program comes after findings in the 9-11 Commission Report. It concluded a major failure leading up to the terrorist attacks was the lack of information-sharing among law enforcement agencies.

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