BJSBJS--JRSAJRSA20082008 National National ConferenceConference

Portland, ORPortland, OROctober 16October 16--17, 200817, 2008

Nlets HistoryNlets History1965 Representatives from the states agreed on the development of a 

nationwide interstate communications system.

1966 May 2, 1966: Law Enforcement Teletype System (LETS) began operation!  Punched paper tape switching equipment was installed in Phoenix,Arizona.

1970 NLETS. was incorporated in Delaware as a not‐for‐profit group, owned and operated by the states

1973 Nlets completed a massive upgrade of its system. This would mark the only time that Nlets relied on federal funds for core support.  The system grew and became widely accessible to law enforcement and criminal justice agencies nationwide.

2007 System upgrades approximately every ten years were paid for by the states,  and a state‐of‐the‐art facility completed.

Nlets Facility TodayNlets Facility Today

Nlets Operations TodayNlets Operations Today• Nlets links every U.S. State and Federal

agency, to each other and to RCMP CPIC• Nlets is an international criminal justice “HUB”• 88 Million transactions a month• 700,000 PC, Mobile and handheld devices in

the U.S. and Canada• Law Enforcement• Public Safety

• 30 thousand agencies• 1 million individual users

CHIEF GRANTCHIEF GRANT

CCriminal

HHistory

IInformation

EExchange

FFormat

CHIEF Project ObjectivesCHIEF Project Objectives• Serve as custodian of the national standard rap sheet

technical specifications and documentation

• Advance and promote standardized rap sheet and facilitate Joint Task Force initiatives

• Facilitate state efforts to implement the standardized rap sheet

• Provide comprehensive statistics to support crime prevention and recidivism efforts

CHIEF :CHIEF : Pilot StatesPilot StatesFlorida New York

Kentucky Pennsylvania

Maine Texas

Massachusetts Wisconsin

XML ExampleXML ExampleCriminal History Record (Rap Sheet) Instance

<PersonBirthDate>1953-02-12</PersonBirthDate><PersonName type=”Primary”>

<PersonPrefixName>Mr</PersonPrefixName><PersonGivenName>John</PersonGivenName><PersonMiddleName>P</PersonMiddleName><PersonSurName>Jones</PersonSurName><PersonSuffixName>Jr</PersonSuffixName>

</PersonName>

<PersonPhysicalFeature><PhysicalFeatureDescriptionText>dragon tattoo on right

forearm</PhysicalFeatureDescriptionText></PersonPhysicalFeature>

The IEPD Life CycleThe IEPD Life Cycle

9 17 October 2008

QR

NCIC 2000Triple I

Home State CCH

Nlets

State

FL01 EL01 4L01

FQ FR? ?

CR

Nlets

CHIEF: JTF Rap Sheet SpecificationCHIEF: JTF Rap Sheet Specification

State

The JTF specification is for the IEP/Payload –represented by the                 and the 

CR FR

NIEM 2.0 Rap Sheet ModelNIEM 2.0 Rap Sheet Model

Rap Sheet Interoperability Architecture Rap Sheet Interoperability Architecture • Payload:

• Create FR and CR in NIEM 2.0 • Upgrade JTF 3.01 specification to 4.0 (NIEM 2.0)

• Application logic: output from CHRI/CCH to 3.01 or 4.0 specification

• Routing/messaging• Legacy Nlets message structures/XML Nlets message structures• Web services • Message Switch Modifications

• Stylesheets for transformation and presentation• GJXDM to NIEM; NIEM to GJXDM• GJXDM/NIEM to ASCII or PDF

QR

NCIC 2000Triple I

Home State CCH

Nlets

State

FL01 EL01 4L01

FQ FR? ?

CR

Nlets

CHIEF: JTF Rap Sheet SpecificationCHIEF: JTF Rap Sheet Specification

State

The JTF specification is for the IEP/Payload –represented by the                 and the 

CR FR

CHIEF Project StatusCHIEF Project Status• Documented architectures and messaging

strategies in pilot states to identify reusable structures

• Finalized JTF 4.0 Specification(Version 31 !!!)

• Created transformation instruments (XSLTs) for translation among various XML versions

• Archival database and research instruments created for initial trend analysis

CHIEF:CHIEF: Reference ArchitecturesReference Architectures

NLETS CHIEFS P roject – NC IC $.A .CHR

State U SERState C CHState M SSN LETS N CIC

NO

Yes

CR response sent to N LET S

G JXD M/NIEM 2

$.A .CHR produced & sent to S ta te

Re cord ?

Q R rece ived

CR re sponseG JXD M/NIEM 2

End

CR response received & sent to

stateGJXDM /N IEM 2

End

$.A .CH R receivedTransform to

G JXD M

Negative Response

C R R espo nse Received

$.A .CHR received(G JXD M)

CR respo nse from N LET S received &

send to O RI

ST ART

Q R negative response

FLORIDA

WISCONSIN TEXAS

PENNSYLVANIA

CHIEF: ResearchCHIEF: Research

• Trend analysis tracking XML implementation among state and federal entities

• Hits versus no-hits (ratio of IQ to FQ)• Analysis of purpose codes• Single state versus multi-state records

CHIEF: ResearchCHIEF: Research

CHIEF: ResearchCHIEF: Research

CHIEF: ResearchCHIEF: Research

CHIEF: CHIEF: Resources for StatesResources for States• Technical assessment and assistance

• Rap 4.0 specification and NIEM 2.0 artifactsExchange Model SchemasMapping Spreadsheet Instance

• Transformation Stylesheets•GJXDM – NIEM, NIEM – GJXDM, NIEM – ASCII

• Programmatic work and infrastructure enhancement to the Nlets NJIN

• Archival database and research instruments

CHIEF: Lesson LearnedCHIEF: Lesson Learned• Once Nlets completed the GJXDM to NIEM

transformation other transformations are relatively easy.

• States do not have to wait until the latest version of the standards before moving to implementation

• Once a state codes to an XML standard the transformation to NIEM can be handled by Nlets.

CHIEF : CHIEF : EXCITING NEWS!EXCITING NEWS!

August 13, 2008PA implements

the interstate rapSheet using

NIEM!

Lessons LearnedLessons Learned

• Problem: not all elements needed or desired.• PSP was sending PersonLivingIndicator with values

of ‘true’ or ‘false’ for all records.• The NIEM to Text Style Sheet will display the

‘DECEASED’ line on the RAP Sheet if the PersonLivingIndicator is present, regardless if set to true or false.

Lessons LearnedLessons Learned

• Not all elements needed or desired.• PSP received numerous calls from other states

expressing confusion over DECEASED line, and requested clarification on whether or not the subject was in fact deceased.

• The PSP Style Sheet was modified to send the PersonLivingIndicator ONLY when set to false.

NICS data added to PSP RAP NICS data added to PSP RAP

• Problem: neither the GJXDM nor the NIEM format adequately address the degree for the Grade of Crime to satisfy National Instant Check System (NICS) background check processing.• Displays ‘Felony’ or ‘Misdemeanor’, but not the

degree of felony or misdemeanor. (1, 2, 3, etc.)• PA Misdemeanor of the first degree (M1) same as

felony for NICS purposes.

NICS data added to PSP RAP NICS data added to PSP RAP

• Problem: neither the GJXDM nor the NIEM format adequately address the degree for the Grade of Crime to satisfy National Instant Check System (NICS) background check processing.• NICS only sees ‘Misdemeanor’ on PA RAP Sheet.

Had to call PSP on every such case to find out if it was M1, M2, or M3.

• No suitable tag in either GJXDM or NIEM schema exists to provide degree of crime.

NICS data added to PSP RAPNICS data added to PSP RAP• Solution – Utilize two existing NIEM tags

to provide appropriate NICS information.• j:PersonFirearmSalesDisqualifiedIndicator

• Valid values are ‘D’, ‘X’, and ‘C’.• j:@commentText

• Displayed with appropriate indicator, the values are:

• D – Disqualified• X – Unknown or Pending• C – Cleared

NICS data added to PSP RAPNICS data added to PSP RAP• Solution – Utilize two existing NIEM tags

to provide appropriate NICS information.• Combined and displayed on RAP in Caution

Information, only if Purpose Code ‘F’ used.• Examples:

• FIREARMS DISQUALIFIED STATUS D- DISQUALIFIED • FIREARMS DISQUALIFIED STATUS X- UNKNOWN OR

PENDING• FIREARMS DISQUALIFIED STATUS C- CLEARED

• NICS no longer needs to call PSP on each misdemeanor.

Project BenefitsProject Benefits

• Valuable Lessons Learned for Conversion of Existing GJXDM Messages

• Better Understanding of Cost/Effort in moving to NIEM

• Gained experience for future NIEM efforts• Supports Commonwealth Law Enforcement

Assistance Network (CLEAN) upgrade

Project BenefitsProject Benefits

• Pennsylvania is in line with the information sharing goals of Nlets and NCIC.

• Better position for future funding considerations.

• Better position to be able to share information with PA Justice Network (JNET) and other entities via transformation if necessary

Project BenefitsProject Benefits

• NIEM component reusability should help to reduce development costs for future projects.

• Standardized message content supports interoperability

• Architectural approach also provided reusable transmission logic, e.g., web services

CHIEF 2CHIEF 2

• Nlets has been awarded an additional grant

from BJS to help more states implement the

standardized rap sheet.

• Nearly 20 states have expressed interest in

deploying XML raps!

CHIEF2 Project ObjectivesCHIEF2 Project Objectives• Support the development of a JTF 4.1

specification to potentially:• Synchronize AFIS input properties with CHRI

output properties• Restructure offense/charge properties (?)• Capture juvenile arrests (?)• Expand offender race and ethnicity variables

(?)• Analyze additional state requirements

CHIEF2 Project ObjectivesCHIEF2 Project Objectives• Support the implementation of XML rap

sheets in up to ten additional states• Create XSLTs to transform among various

versions of XML, text, and PDF rap sheets• Develop common web services

specification with the FBI• Produce comprehensive statistics to

support crime prevention and recidivism analysis

Cathy Plummer

cplummer@nlets.org

505‐771‐1651    Office

505‐918‐8598       Cell