N-DEx System's Batch Query Helps Georgia Nab Offenders and Manage Warrants
September 26, 2017
In January 2017, officers with the Georgia Department of Community Supervision (DCS) ran a large batch query of approximately 40,000 active Georgia warrants against the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Data Exchange (N-DEx) System. Not only did the results provide new information regarding recent criminal activity and incarcerations, it also allowed Georgia DCS staff to see how they could improve their system to better identify offenders with outstanding warrants. This batch query identified six absconders with recent arrests or incidents providing leads concerning their locations. It also identified three offenders who were incarcerated in other jurisdictions: one parolee, under supervision for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, who was convicted of kidnapping in Minnesota; another parolee, under supervision for possession of a firearm by a first offender and felony eluding, who was arrested for trafficking over 400 grams of methamphetamine in South Carolina; and the third parolee, under supervision for sale of cocaine and sale of marijuana, who was arrested for possession of a controlled substance in Texas. The records in the N-DEx System provided the information the DCS staff needed to place detainers to hold these three subjects for extradition back to Georgia. Finally, the batch query results identified more than a dozen offenders whose listed warrants needed to be cleared from the Georgia DCS case management system. Without these valuable N-DEx System results, the subjects would most likely have continued to evade detection by Georgia authorities or incorrectly stayed on the warrant list when they should have been removed.
Subsequently, in March 2017, Georgia DCS officers created and performed another batch query in the N‑DEx System on their active warrants. One hit came back on a drug offender who was found to be incarcerated for a drug and weapons charge in South Carolina. A second hit came back on a drug offender who was found to be incarcerated in South Carolina for indecent exposure, methamphetamine trafficking, and possession of a firearm. A third hit came back on an offender who was on parole for felony fleeing and was found to be incarcerated in Alabama for felony theft. In each instance, the Georgia DCS officer was not aware of the incarcerations, and the N-DEx System provided the information the officer needed to place detainers on the subjects for their return to Georgia after their current sentences are served.
For more information about how your agency can use the batch query feature of the N‑DEx System, contact the N-DEx Program Office at ndex@leo.gov or call 304-625-0555.