March 6, 2019

N-DEx System Helps Investigators Outwit Offenders

Criminal justice investigators across the nation use the FBI’s National Data Exchange (N-DEx) System in their daily work to connect people, places, things, and events—often across jurisdictional boundaries—that may at first glance seem unrelated. Here are several recent examples of how agencies have used N-DEx to identify and locate offenders.

N-DEx Helps New Mexico Corrections Department Find Probation Absconder in Texas

Recently, an executive assistant with the New Mexico Corrections Department’s (NMCD’s) Security Threat Intelligence Unit was searching for probation absconders in the N-DEx System. Her search yielded a match in an incident report from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPCSO) in Texas. The NMCD warrant was fully extraditable outside of New Mexico, so a supervisor with the NMCD contacted a staff member at the EPCSO to place a fugitive hold on the subject. Consequently, the subject now faces additional jail time in New Mexico upon his extradition.

N-DEx Locates Three Felony Warrant Subjects for Columbia County, Georgia

A lieutenant with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) in Georgia recently used the N-DEx System to search a batch of outstanding felony warrants for subjects with unknown locations. The search results yielded three offenders who were incarcerated in other jurisdictions. Two subjects, who each had felony warrants, were located in South Carolina prisons. The third subject, a probation violator, was incarcerated in Florida. The lieutenant contacted the appropriate agencies and placed holds on the subjects for extradition to Georgia once they serve their current sentences.

N-DEx Connects the Dots to Locate and Apprehend a Violent Gang Member

In 2017, a known member of the Ghostface gang was on parole and probation supervision for burglary, felony fleeing and eluding, possession of methamphetamine, and theft by receiving stolen property. In November 2017, the offender ran afoul of the law again, this time receiving additional drug charges and a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Because of the new charges, a probation warrant was issued, and he was placed on the warrant list for the Georgia Department of Community Supervision (GA DCS).

Last February, a staff member at the GA DCS conducted a batch search of the FBI’s N‑DEx System to identify locations of subjects with DCS violation warrants. Based on the N-DEx System results, the GA DCS staff member learned the offender had been arrested two days earlier in Panola County, Texas, for possession of brass knuckles, which was another violation of his probation and parole. A month later, the Georgia Parole Board issued a warrant with full extradition status, and the subject was entered into the National Crime Information Center database.

The case was turned over to the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, which generated leads that revealed the offender was located in Denver, Colorado. Undercover officers with the U.S. Marshals’ Violent Fugitive Task Force apprehended the offender without incident at a local car wash in Denver.

The Georgia Parole Board was in the process of extraditing the offender back to Georgia at the time this success story was submitted to the N-DEx Program Office.

N-DEx Helps Locate Parole Violator for Columbia County, Georgia

A lieutenant with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) in Georgia recently conducted a batch search of the N-DEx System for a number of outstanding felony warrants. In all cases, the locations of the offenders were unknown. The results of the query revealed an offender who was incarcerated for property damage in the neighboring jurisdiction of Richmond County, Georgia. The subject had an active felony warrant for parole violation, but neither jurisdiction had connected the dots to the other investigations.

For more information about how your agency can use the N-DEx System to help further its investigations, contact the N-DEx Program Office at ndex@leo.gov or call 304-625-0555.

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