Universal ID Card System

St. Louis Area Regional Response System (STARRS) in cooperation with the Regional Justice Information Center (REJIS) in St. Louis has put online a universal ID card system that is free to the agencies within the STARRS region.  At the last county fire chiefs meeting, it was decided that this ID card issued by STARRS/REJIS will be the ID card to be used for any division response, whether it be within the division, or outside of the division.  As a result, your department needs to get your members to provide some information, and get the ID cards issued. 

This is a multi step process which involves registering with REJIS, obtaining your members information, inputting the information into the REJIS database, and having your members get their pictures taken.  Once all this is complete, the cards are mailed to your department to be issued to your members.

Here is what you need to do to accomplish this task.

Step 1 - Register with REJIS

You need to download and then fill out a form that registers your department with REJIS, and sets up passwords and user names for someone within your department to enter information into the database.  To download the form, click here.

    You need to complete the following information on the form.

        1) In the Form Function box, place an "X" next to Initial Access

        2) Fill in your departments name in the Agency field.

        3) Enter the name of the person who will be entering the information for your department (Operator) in the Operators Name field.

        4) Enter the date of birth of your operator in the Date of birth Field.

        5) Enter the Social Security Number of your operator in the Soc Sec # field

        6) Enter the title or rank of your operator in the Title field.

        7) Enter a phone number where your operator can be contacted in the Work Phone field.

        8) Enter a valid e-mail address in the work E-mail address field

        9) In the access level box, circle the ADMIN level next to Agency.

        10) The chief or other authorized person must sign, date and print their name in the Access Authorized fields.

        11) The chief or other authorized person must sign, and date the Acknowledgement of Access and Privacy Regulations fields.

Leave the rest of the form blank.

You must then fax or mail it to REJIS.

The fax number is 1-314-531-6634

The mailing address is:

                    REJIS

                    Attn: Universal ID

                    4255 West Pine Boulevard

                    St. Louis, MO 63108

Someone from REJIS will contact your operator to provide them with their login and password information within a few days.

Step 2 - Begin obtaining your members personal information.

You will need to have your members provide some information to get the ID cards issued.  Some of this data is required, some is not.  The attached excel spreadsheet was developed to allow your members to provide their information, but still assure that uniform information is gathered.  You can send this form to your members, have them fill it out and have them send it back to your operator, or have them complete it at a computer terminal.  You can also print out the form and provide it to members to fill out by hand.  The form was created so that any fields that have choices on the REJIS database, are the only choices available on the form.  Any heading field highlighted in red is a required field.  Failure to have this information once you are ready  to input the information in the database will result in the inability to save the persons information.  Please check all forms before accepting them back for completion..  Download the spreadsheet here.  If your system asks you for a password, just cancel the request and the form should open in Excel.  If you have problems downloading the form, contact Tom Elliff at shfd117@aol.com and the form will be email directly to you.

Additional information will be needed about your members where it concern their qualifications.  This is the skills level section of the ID Cards that lists certifications that your members have received.  This information will be useful for setting up teams for deployments, special operations, etc.   Your agency's coordinator will explain this section to your operator after your department has access to the database.  While it is basic information about your members, it is somewhat detailed in how far the information goes.  Attached is a breakdown of the skills that are available.   Download skill levels here 

There is a form you can download and forward to your members for them to fill in their skills and certifications.  There are a couple of qualifiers that have come into play when filling out this form.

1) When talking about certified firefighters, MABAS Division 32 has decided that members of a department must be trained to the NFPA standards to be compliant with those certification levels.  You do not need OSFM certification.

2) For IMAT levels - the local level of an IMAT member is to be determined by the Local Authority having jurisdiction.

                                 The county wide level of an IMAT member has requirements spelled out by Division 32 Directive #1

                                 The regional level of an IMAT member has requirements spelled out by Division 32 Directive #1

                                 The State and National level of an IMAT member is spelled out by NIMS certifications.

3) For the rescue and technical portions of the skills level, The specialist level will be industry persons or non-fire service technicians.  If you have any questions about your level of certifications for the rescue and technical portion, contact Randy Lay, Chief of St. Clair County Special Emergency Services at lay5000@sbcglobal.net.

To obtain the skill levels form to be filled out, CLICK HERE

Step 3 - Input the information

Once your operator has received their login information, and your members have at least started to submit their information, you can begin to input the information into the database.  To do this, you are going to be required to connect to the REJIS database.  This is done by a computer connection, and a number from a "TOKEN"  There are four tokens available in the division.  Please contact the person who is listed as your agency's coordinator below for access to the token. They will also be providing you with information on how to set up your computer to make the connection to REJIS.  Your contact person will be a trainer for your operator and will show them how to access the system and input the data.  Once the information is entered, your operator must approve the person for a picture to be taken.

Agency Coordinators - Your coordinator is the person listed above your departments name.

    Step 3A - Department Logo

    Your department logo is required to be printed on the cards.  You must send the logo to REJIS.  The logo should be send to cjennings@rejis.org.  If you do not have an electronic format of your logo, you can mail a patch to Cindy Jennings at REJIS, and they will create the logo for the card.  Please use the mailing address listed in step 1.

Step 4 - Members have their pictures taken

Each member of your department that is being issued an ID card, must have their picture taken for the ID card.  Existing photos cannot be used.  Their are four sites in St. Clair and Monroe counties that are able to take your picture for REJIS.  They are Fairview Heights Police Department, St. Clair County Sheriff's Department, Monroe County Sheriff's Department, and the Columbia Police Department.  As of October 24th, Fairview Heights, Columbia PD and the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department are available to take pictures.  We are still waiting to hear about the status of Monroe County.  Your members can also have their pictures taken at other agencies throughout the St. Louis Metro area. 

Here are the arrangements that the picture taking facilities have asked for:

            1) Fairview Heights PD is available throughout the day and evening.  They ask that you call ahead and schedule a time if possible to try and make sure they have someone available to take the

            pictures.  Please call Fairview Heights PD at (618)489-2150.

            2) Columbia Pd  indicates that the best time to get pictures taken is during the evening, but arrangements can be made if you need to go during the day.  Call Columbia PD at (618)281-5151.

            3) The St. Clair County Sheriffs department is available for pictures from 9am - 5pm Monday thru Friday.  Arrangements may possibly be made for other times, especially if a group of people are

            going to get their picture taken at the same time.  To make other arrangements, call John Fulton at (618)277-3500 Ext 5788.  When you arrive at the Sheriffs department to have your picture taken,

            you must ask for John Fulton or Sgt. Herbert.

To inquire about additional sites in St. Louis, please contact Tom Elliff at shfd117@aol.com.  Please note:  your operator must have all the information put into the database, and must have approved the person for a photo to be taken before a photo station can take the picture.  If approval for a picture has not been made, your member will have to return later to have their picture taken. 

Step 5 - Approve the ID Card

Once the picture has been taken of your member, your operator must then approve the ID card before it will be printed.  When your operator goes to approve the card(s), they will see the information that will be printed, including the picture.  You may want to have your members review this information before it is approved for printing.  Once the card is approved, your operator will put it in que to be printed.  REJIS prints the ID cards every Monday morning.  Your department should receive their cards by the end of the same week to be distributed.

Should you have any questions about this process, please start with your regional coordinator.  If they cannot answer your questions, they will direct you to contact someone at REJIS.