General Information - National Drug Pointer Index System (DEX/DEA, DUX/DUA, DRX/DRR)

National Drug Pointer Index System (DEX/DEA, DUX/DUA, DRX/DRR)

This section describes how agencies may participate through Nlets in the National Drug Pointer Index System (NDPIX) which is a nationwide, multi jurisdictional automated information sharing system emphasizing increased cooperation among law enforcement agencies. Queries/Entries into NDPIX also checks against the National Virtual Pointer System (NVPS).

Note: Whenever a user runs an NDPIX transaction, it will automatically launch a NVPS transaction on their behalf.

NDPIX Background Information

NDPIX is managed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and operates at the Department of Justice computer center in Rockville, Maryland, via a secure communication connection to the Nlets network and is available 24 hours per day (less end-of-day maintenance), seven days per week.

NDPIX provides automated response "Point of Contact" (POC) information on active cases to state, local and Federal law enforcement agencies. Records are kept in the database for 180 days and then purged unless updated or renewed. Entry makers have the option of requesting lists of their records in the database.

To participate in this program a law enforcement agency signs a "Participation Agreement" with DEA and, in return, DEA assigns NDPIX User IDs and Passwords.

Agencies interested in learning more about this application should contact DEA's Service Desk at 1-800-276-5558 or DEA.ServiceDesk@dea.gov. They will provide brochures, participation agreement information or answer additional questions on NDPIX.

Processing of NDPIX transactions includes the following basic operations:

A law enforcement agency submits an entry on a target who is under active investigation for violation of drug laws. The law enforcement agency can later update or renew the entry. NDPIX then:

Validates the record to assure that the transaction contains an authorized ORI, User ID and Password.
Validates the record to assure that it contains at least the mandatory fields of data and that the data fields are valid.
Notifies the entry maker of any errors found in the entry, update or renewal.
Adds the valid entry to the database or updates an earlier entry.
Searches the database for matches to the entry, update or renewal.
Sends POC information to the entry maker on up to 50 matches and indicates when no matches had been found.
Sends the POC of the entry or update to owners of matching records.

Overview

The National Drug Pointer Index System uses several transaction types as presented below.

Query Requirements

NDPIX messages are identified by a transaction type that follows Nlets standards.
All messages addressed to NDPIX must be sent to ORI "VADEADX00".
NDPIX has a test file and a production or live file.

Agency Activity: ORI to Use: Agency is testing. Test ORI "VADEADX88". Agency initiates participation with actual data. Production ORI "VADEADX00".

There is additional information on this test system in a kit provided by DEA.

When an entry is made, the system performs two primary functions.

Enters the data onto the file.

Searches the existing file for similar subjects and DOBs.

Note: All responses may have a message appended indicating "ARMED AND DANGEROUS" This has been included for officer safety.

Query Field Requirements

The table below describes the requirements for NDPIX messages. The underlined elements are mandatory.

XML Tag: Legacy Entry: Field Size: Data Requirements: Translation:

<n:UserID>

UID/ 8 See NCIC manual. User ID number

<n:PasswordText>

PWD/ 8 Alphanumeric Password

<n:CaseID>

OCA/ Varies See NCIC manual. Case number

<j:ContactPerson>

POC/ Varies See NCIC manual. Point of Contact; Name (last, first MI)

<j:ContactTitle>

PTL/ 4 See NCIC manual. Title of Contact

<j:ContactOrganization>

POC Organization Varies See NCIC manual. Name of Law Enforcement Agency

<j:ContactTelephoneNumber>

PPN/ 10 See NCIC manual. Phone number of Contact

<j:Person>
 <j:PersonName>
 <j:PersonFullName>

NAM/ Varies Alpha Characters. Target's name (last name, first name MI). May be multiple occurrences. Inclusion of either AKA or MON will satisfy this mandatory requirement but all three are allowed.

<j:PersonSexCode>

SEX/ 1 Code M or F only, Unknown not valid Sex of subject. The entries that follow are optional data elements.

<j:PersonAlternateName>

AKA/ Varies See NCIC manual. Target's alias name (last name, first name MI). May be multiple occurrences.

<n:PersonMonikerName>

MON/ Varies See NCIC manual. Target's moniker. May be multiple occurrences.

<j:PersonRaceCode>

RAC/ 1 See NCIC manual. Race field. Must be one of the following:
I = American Indian or Alaskan native.
A = Asian or Pacific Islander
B = Black
W = White
U = Unknown

<j:PersonBirthDate>

DOB/ 8 (or 2 if Age) Entered as ccyy-mm-dd. See NCIC manual. Birth data. If entered as estimated age, NDPIX converts entry to DOB using system date as base. Must be >16, <100 years. Multiple occurrences allowed.

<n:Requestor>

FOR/ Varies See NCIC manual. Name of the person who authorized or requested entry of the transaction.

<j:PersonHeightMeasure>

HGT/ 3 3 digits: Entry 5'9" is entered HGT/509. Height. Range is 3' to 9'.

<j:PersonWeightMeasure>

WGT/ 3 3 digits, zero suppressed. E.g., 98 lbs. entered as WGT/98 Weight.

<j:PersonEyeColorCode>

EYE/ 3 See NCIC manual. Eye color code
BLK = Black
HAZ = Hazel
BLU = Blue
MAR = Maroon
BRO = Brown
PNK = Pink
GRE = Green
MUL = Multicolored
GRY = Gray
Unknown leave blank

<j:PersonHairColorCode>

HAI/ 3 See NCIC manual. Hair color code followed by a period.
BLK = Black
RED = Red
BLN = Blonde
SDY = Sandy
BRO = Brown
WHI = White
GRY = Gray or partly gray
Unknown leave blank.

<j:PersonPhysicalDetails>

SMT/ 3-10 See NCIC manual. Scars, marks and tattoos. Multiple occurrences allowed. NOTE: For each of multiple addresses, enter ADR, CIT, STE and ZIP in sequence.

<j:LocationAddress>

ADR/ Varies See NCIC manual. Street address of subject. Multiple occurrences allowed.

<j:LocationCityName>

CIT/ Varies See NCIC manual. City of subject. Multiple occurrences allowed.

<j:LocationStateCode.USPostalService>

STE/ 2 See NCIC manual. State of subject. Multiple occurrences allowed.

<j:LocationPostalCodeID>

ZIP/ 5 or 9 See NCIC manual. ZIP code. Multiple occurrences allowed.

<j:ContactTelephoneNumber>

TEL/ 10 See NCIC manual. Telephone number of subject. Multiple occurrences allowed.

<j:ContactMobileTelephoneNumber>

SCN/ 10 See NCIC manual. Cellular number. Multiple occurrences allowed.

<j:ContactPagerNumber>

PAG/ 10 See NCIC manual. Pager number. Multiple occurrences allowed.

<j:DrugTypeCode>

TYP/ 4 See NCIC manual; Section 3, Offense Codes = DANGEROUS DRUGS. Valid NCIC "type of drug" codes. Multiple occurrences allowed.

<n:DrugActivityLocationText>

DAL/ 2 See NCIC manual. Location (State or Country) of drug activity. Multiple occurrences allowed.

<n:CautionIndicator>

ADF/ 4 See NCIC manual. Caution field. Code (y) to indicate armed or dangerous.

<j:PersonFBIID>

FBI/ 9 See NCIC manual. FBI number.

<j:PersonSSNID>

SOC/ 9 See NCIC manual. Social security #.

<j:Vehicle>
 <j:VehicleLicensePlateID>

LIC/ 1-8 Alphanumeric. Tag number(s) of subject's vehicle. Multiple occurrences allowed.

 <j:IDIssuingAuthorityText>

LIS/ 2 See NCIC manual. State of registration of subject vehicle. Multiple occurrences allowed.

<j:Boat>
 <j:BoatHullID>

BHN/ Varies See NCIC manual. Vessel number or name. Multiple occurrences allowed.

<j:Aircraft>
 <j:VehicleLicensePlateID>

ACN/ 8 See NCIC manual. Aircraft number

<n:CaseTypeText>

TOC/ 1 See NCIC manual. For future use, to identify type of case.

<n:RouterField>

RTE/ Varies N/A Router field. Secondary address (used by state agency if state is using a common ORI for its law enforcement agencies).

NDPIX Responses to Entries

When an entry is made, the system performs two primary functions.

It enters the data onto the file
It searches the file for similar subjects and birthdates (DOBs)

Error Messages

When an error is detected, NDPIX will

Return the entire text of the message
Identify the fields found to be in error.

Below is a listing of the possible error messages that may be returned by NDPIX when a record is entered.

ID ERROR MESSAGE TEXT ERROR DESCRIPTION 00 USER ID/PASSWORD NOT VALID Access to NDPIX is denied ' User ID or Password not valid. 01 ORI NOT VALID FOR NDPIX The ORI is not active in NDPIX. 03 MANDATORY DATA ELEMENT NOT FOUND A mandatory data element is missing. 04 KEY WORD NOT VALID A key word is not valid; data element cannot be processed. 05 NDPIX RECORD NUMBER MISSING The NDPIX Number was not entered in an Update or Renewal 06 UPDATE RECORD NOT FOUND The Update found no record in the database. 07 RENEWAL RECORD NOT FOUND The Renewal found no record in the database. 08 TEXT MISSING No data was found following a key word. 09 INVALID FORMAT A data element format requirement was violated. 10 INVALID CODE A coded field was not found in the table of allowable entries.

Matching Record(s) Responses

Using the data in the entered record, NDPIX will scan the existing file selecting records that match several key fields in the entered record.

These include but are not limited to FBI #, SSN, Name, other personal identifiers, address information, etc.

They will notify both the owner of the record and the entering agency of the match(s).

Match Notification Messages

Each match notification record will include the following data:

NDP Number 
Renewal Date 
Target's Name (or alias or moniker) 
Point of Contact Name 
Point of Contact Title 
Point of Contact Phone # 
Armed and Dangerous Caution Notification 
Acceptance Notification with count of matches sent 
Case Number

Note: Case Number is returned to the owner of a record and not to owners of any matching records.

Each matching database record is sent by NDPIX to the entering agency as a separate message from NDPIX. For example, if the entered record matches 10 records on the NDPIX database, the entering agency will receive 10 messages. Each owner will receive corresponding notification(s).

Notification of a successful entry when no match is detected will include the following data:

NDP Number 
Renewal Data 
Case Number 
Target's Name (or alias or moniker) 
Acknowledgment of record acceptance with no matches found

NDPIX will also notify the owner of the matched record on the database of the fact that a similar record has been entered. This notification will include the following data:

NDP Number 
Renewal Date 
Case Number (of owner record) 
Target's Name (or alias or moniker) 
Point of Contact Name (entry maker) 
Point of Contact Title (entry maker) 
Point of Contact Phone (entry maker) 
Armed and Dangerous Caution Notification 
Acknowledgment notification

NDPIX sends "Match Notification" messages for only the first 50 matches.

Below are the possible messages that the user may receive after the entry has been completed and the file searched.

20 ENTRY ACCEPTED - NO MATCHES The new entry found no matching records in the database. 21 EXCEEDDS 50 MATCHES Only the first fifty matches are provided. 22 MATCHED RECORD

A database record(s) matched the entry. Each matching database record is sent as a separate message.

60/61 RECORD TO BE PURGED Record to be purged in 30/15 days. 62 RECORD PURGED Record has been purged. NOTE: When an entry is successfully processed, a renewal date is returned with
the "entry acknowledgment" message.

Updating an Existing Record

Users have the ability to update any field in a record except the NDPIX number (NDP/) and the entering ORI by sending an Update transaction (message type = DUX).

It is important to recognize that an update of a record renews the record. In other words, the purge date is recalculated to occur 180 days from the date of the update.

The only mandatory data elements in this transaction are the NDP number assigned by the system, User ID, Password, Target Name, Alias or Moniker.

NDPIX will respond with either a standard error message or one of the responses described in the section below.

Responses to Updating an Existing Record

In all cases the response message type will be "DUA".

The ORI is found only in the Header portion of the message.

30 UPDATE ACCEPTED ' NO MATCHES The update found no matching records in
the database. 31 UPDATE ACCEPTED ' OVER 50
MATCHES Only the first fifty matches are provided. 32 UPDATE ACCEPTED ' MATCHED
RECORD The database record matched the update. 51 MATCHED TO YOUR RECORD '
UPDATE The record in the database matched to
an Update.

Renewing an Existing Record

NDPIX purges records after they have been in the database for 180 days from the Date of Record, unless either renewed or updated.

To renew the record, the record owner submits a "DRX" transaction type.
The only fields required in this unique message key are the NDPIX number (<NDPIXNumber> for XML or NDP/ for Legacy), User ID, password and subject name, alias or a moniker.
All responses to 'DRX' transactions will use the message type 'DRR'.

Responses to Updating an Existing Record

The following responses may be sent from NDPIX to acknowledge a renewal request.

40 RENEWAL ACCEPTED - NO MATCHES The renewal found no matching records in the database. 41 RENEWAL ACCEPTED - OVER 50 MATCHES Only the first fifty matches are provided. 42 RENEWAL ACCEPTED ' MATCHED RECORD The database record matched the Renewal. 52 MATCHED TO YOUR RECORD ' RENEWAL Your record in the database matched to a Renewal.

Notifications on Record Purges

NDPIX holds entries in its database for 180 days after which they are purged.

The "purge" clock is reset if the record is either renewed or updated.
The system performs this aging and purging operation on a once-per-day basis.
NDPIX will notify the entry maker of pending record purges 30 days and then 15 days before the record is purged.
When the record is purged NDPIX will notify the entry maker.
All of these notifications will use the "DRR" message key.
The following data elements will be included in the purge message.

Target Name 
Case Number 
NDPIX number 
Notification of purge status

NDPIX Reports

In addition to Points of Contact messages, NDPIX offers supplemental information to its participants. Some of this information is provided directly over the Nlets network while other information is provided off-line in response to written request.

The range of information includes:

copies of one's own records currently in the database.
copies of audit records created by NDPIX on their entries.
copies of their membership data.
copies of operating statistics maintained and published by NDPIX.

Requests for records by either a User ID or an ORI are handled via Nlets in standard NDPIX format.

Requests for larger volume lists such as for (1) an Investigative Unit, (2) an entire law enforcement agency or (3) other multiple User ID selections are submitted to DEA's Intelligence Division.

Responses to the larger requests are recorded on diskette or tape cassette and delivered via the U.S. mails.

Data Availability Distribution Quality assurance statistics Participating law enforcement agencies Daily and monthly reports. Distributed by mail. Requests are directed to DEA's Intelligence Division. Audit information on all system usage Law enforcement agencies are entitled to copies of audit data on their NDPIX activity. NDPIX will provide this data only to individuals designated by the Chief of the LEA as authorized to receive such data. Requests are directed to DEA's Intelligence Division. Database of membership information on each participant including names, addresses, User ID and ORI assignments. Copies of these records are available to participating law enforcement agencies Distributed by mail. Requests are directed to DEA's Intelligence Division.

Copies of Database Records

Participants may request copies of their records in the database. Security and data volume considerations require that there be two categories of this reporting:

Those that are submitted and responded to as NDPIX messages (On-line Requests)
Those that are requested via contact with DEA's Intelligence Division and satisfied via U.S. mails (Off-line Requests).

On-line Requests

Returned database records will contain only mandatory fields.

To receive a copy of all the records originating from an ORI, the requestor enters an ORI to signify to NDPIX that the request is ORI based. The requester has the option to enter Case Number in order to minimize record output.

Where the search finds no records matching either the requested User ID or ORI, NDPIX responds with the following message:

MSG/80- FOR REPORT-NO RECORDS FOUND.

Off-line Requests

Off-line requests are submitted to DEA's Intelligence Division. Results, written on diskette or tape cassette, are sent to the requestor via the U.S. mails. This off-line processing of requests serves to minimize the risk of compromising the security of NDPIX data and also helps to prevent overburdening the communication lines serving the system.

The following types of lists are available.

All Records for Multiple User IDs
All Records for Multiple ORIs
All Records for a Point of Contact within one's agency
All Records for an Investigative Unit
All Records for an LEA

Copies of Audit Records

NDPIX will provide this data only to individuals designated by the Chief of the LEA as authorized to receive such data. Requests for copies of NDPIX audit records are directed to DEA's Intelligence Division.

Responses to such requests will be recorded on either diskette or tape cassette and sent Registered via U.S. mails.

Statistical Reports

NDPIX maintains a database of data quality assurance statistics from which it produces daily and monthly reports. Monthly reports are available to participating law enforcement agencies and are distributed by mail. Copies of sample reports are available for review by contacting DEA's Intelligence Division.

Selections may be based on:

LEA
Investigative Unit
ORI
User ID

Registration Data

The Register contains:

Agency name and address
Names and telephone numbers of key agency officials
ORIs and User IDs of individuals authorized to use NDPIX.

Member agencies direct requests for copies of their Registry data to DEA's Intelligence Division.