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Data Exchange Projects

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Offender Transfer Notification Service (OTNS)

“The Fusion Center Project”

In early 2011, a workgroup comprised of the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision (ICAOS) and New York State Intelligence Center (NYSIC) representatives attended a meeting hosted by the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA), sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). In the meeting the 2009 murder of 4 police officers in Washington by an interstate compact parolee named Maurice Clemmons was reiterated. Though it is unclear whether such a tragic and complicated incident could have been prevented it was understood there was a need for greater information sharing between police and probation/parole departments. ICAOS and state fusion centers have provided the appropriate means in which to economically and strategically provide intelligence information to local law enforcement on potentially dangerous probationers/parolees transferring to a given state.

The ICAOS commissioner of a state must be willing to permit the exchange of compact data as the data exchange is actually between ICAOS and the state’s fusion center. There is no cost for a state to participate, however the state fusion center is responsible for providing server space and a limited amount of technical support.

The data exchanged contains a limited amount of offender and transfer information and involves a limited set of offenders who are convicted of Part One Crimes (as defined by the National Crime Information Center, NCIC). The Offender Transfer Notification Service (OTNS) works as follows:

  1. When a notice of an offender’s arrival is entered in ICOTS the system checks to see if the offender meets the criteria (the offender transferred to a state who is part of the project and the offense of conviction is a Part One Crime.)
  2. If the criteria is not met the process stops. If the criteria is met, the system sends a server message with the data fields listed in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to the state’s fusion center.
  3. When the fusion center receives the server message they check to see if they have other intelligence on the offender and then they prepare a notice that goes out to local law enforcement.

The fusion centers don’t have access to ICOTS, they simply receive a server message with the specified data. The data they receive is public data. If a local law enforcement agency wants more information they are directed to contact the offender’s supervising agency.

Related Documents:
APPA: The ICAOS’ Offender Transfer Notification Service (OTNS)—An Information Exchange with State Fusion Centers

BJA: Technology Innovation Success Story
ICAOS: MOU Template