(ASHEVILLE) -- An information sharing initiative in North Carolina, aimed at giving law enforcement officers more knowledge about subjects they encounter, is spreading across the state. The C-J LEADS program will soon be introduced in several western counties including Buncombe, Haywood and Madison.

The system combines the state's criminal data and D-M-V records to help officers know who they are investigating and what they have done. State Controller David McCoy showed officers how the system works during a demonstration in Asheville this week.

"It's providing them with a tool that they have longed for for quite a while.  It allows them to have access to all this criminal justice data that we have in the state's files.  That's 40 million files on 13 million offenders at their fingertips," said Mccoy.

He added that only sworn officers will have access to all the information on a subject. Access by court officials would be limited.

The program is costing the state $27 million to implement statewide. McCoy said it will cost $8 million each year to update and maintain.

(Thanks to: WWNC)