RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Access to several Virginia criminal information databases has been unavailable due to the networks being offline since Thursday, Jan. 5, according to Virginia State Police (VSP).
Thursday’s network failure was caused by a fire suppression system that was falsely triggered in the data center located at the VSP Administrative Headquarters in North Chesterfield, which adversely impacted the server that supports the Virginia Criminal Information Network, VSP said.
The Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN), Virginia Firearms Transaction V-Check system, Computerized Criminal History, and the Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry were all impacted and rendered offline.
An 8News viewer said he was told the Virginia State Police background system was down, and nobody was able to purchase a firearm when he went to buy a gun yesterday.
Virginia State Police spokesperson, Corinne Geller, said, “Firearm purchases are not being denied, but delayed. Reconnecting the V-Check system is the priority of the ongoing restoration process.”
The VCIN was restored for Virginia law enforcement queries at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 6. Restoration efforts of several data systems and web pages are underway.
“State police recognizes the seriousness of this issue and its impact on our many stakeholders, both in the public and private sectors,” Colonel Gary T. Settle, Virginia State Police Superintendent said in a statement. “We have a corps of dedicated IT professionals and vendors working to restore VCIN and its programs as quickly as possible. I appreciate the patience and understanding of the public and the criminal justice community as we work through this challenge.”
