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What is Mi-DEx? Mi-DEx is a joint initiative of the sheriffs, chiefs and Michigan State Police to encourage information sharing. It is also the link to the N-DEx system which provides access to Michigan law enforcement agency data as well as the data of other agencies nationwide. Mi-DEx is the “glue” that ties the separate information sharing collaboratives operating in the state into a statewide information sharing system. Agencies provide information to Mi-DEx, which provides a pass through to N-DEx. The Mi-DEx interface with N-DEx does not require that Michigan store information at the state level. Mi-DEx will simply consolidate information for passing on to N-DEx in a single nightly feed. There is no charge for participating in Mi-DEx. For more information click here.
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What is N-DEx? The National Data Exchange, operated by the FBI, is a central repository of incident, arrest and other data. Agencies choose the type and amount of data they wish to contribute. The data they include in the Mi-DEx interface will be passed through to N-DEx. Participating law enforcement agencies can use the query and mapping tools available through N-DEx in their crime analysis efforts. There is no charge for participating in N-DEx.
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Who owns Mi-DEx? Mi-DEx is a partnership of the Michigan Sheriff’s Association, the Michigan State Police, and the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police. No one owns Mi-DEx; it is a concept for information sharing. However, the Michigan State Police (MSP) provides the interface between Mi-DEx and N-DEx. MSP does not “warehouse” or retain any data for this purpose but simply provides a nightly feed to N-DEx as a benefit to all the partners.
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How much does Mi-DEx cost? There is no charge for participating in Mi-DEx or N-DEx. However, agencies may need to perform some computer programming to extract data from their records management system and link to the Mi-DEx interface to N-DEx. The cost of this will depend on the agency’s vendor or in-house system and the amount of data the agency wishes to share. The data extract is based on national standards and most vendors are beginning to adopt those standards, thereby reducing the cost.
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How does I-SERVICES fit into this? I-SERVICES is a service in which many agencies participate. It is, indeed, an aspect of information sharing and will continue to provide rudimentary query capability. Mi-DEx and N-DEx take this information exchange to the next level providing additional analytical features as well as crime mapping.
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What agencies are already participating in Mi-DEx? Many agencies are already participating in regional information sharing collaboratives, including initiatives in western Michigan (Project Ignite), the Saginaw Bay area (ARMS), and southeastern Michigan (CLEMIS) and others. The goal and purpose of Mi-DEx is to provide a platform whereby these independent efforts can be linked together.
The Kent County Sheriff’s Office data will be the first to be sent to N-DEx via the Mi-DEx interface. The sheriff’s office is working with its vendor (Core Technology, Corp.) to achieve this functionality. The Mi-DEx link to N-DEx is currently being programmed by the Michigan State Police. Both the N-DEx interface and the Kent County data extract is scheduled to be finished in the spring of 2010. After the Kent County Sheriff’s Office has successfully piloted their data exchange, other agencies using the same vendor’s software will be able to participate relatively easily. The Michigan State Police is also developing Information Exchange Package Documentation (IEPD) for other vendors or in-house technical experts to use in programming their data exchanges.
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Is there funding available? There is no state funding available. However this initiative meets the information sharing criteria for Homeland Security Grants and many homeland security regions have taken advantage of such funding. Regions 6, 3, 1, and 5 have all secured funding for information sharing. In addition, most federal grants for law enforcement contain an information sharing emphasis. Information sharing is a high priority of the Bureau of Justice, especially participation in N-DEx.
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What if my vendor is not interested in working with me? If your vendor chooses not to participate in a system wide approach to information sharing, you may be able to contract with another vendor or have your in-house technical experts perform the data extract.
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How do I get access to N-DEx? N-DEx is granted on an individual user basis. There are two ways to obtain access to N-DEx. The directions below will assist you in gaining access.
Mi-CJIN Portal
What information is available through N-DEx at this time? N-DEx provides the capability for law enforcement agencies to share incident/case report and arrest data and open and closed investigative case data with other law enforcement agencies. In the summer of 2009, N-DEx expanded its capabilities even further to include sharing of booking and incarceration data. This functionality is shared using data sharing policies and role-based access controls. N-DEx provides a secure way for users to search, perform entity correlation and entity resolution, graphically visualize data scenarios, use analytical reporting tools, perform federated searches, and receive notifications of “hits”.
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What information will Mi-DEx accept at this time? Currently, Mi-DEx is working with the N-DEx Incident and Arrest interface specifications. This allows for incident/case reports and arrest data and open and closed investigative case data to be sent to N-DEx. For this first phase, Mi-DEx is accepting structured data available in law enforcement agencies’ record management systems and does not include the text narratives of the reports. Information specifics on the incident, subjects, offenders, offenses, victims, arrests, locations/addresses, property and all of the associations between these people, places, events, and things can be sent to Mi-DEx for pass through to N-DEx.
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What is NIEM? The National Information Exchange Model builds on the demonstrated success of the Global Justice XML Data Model and standardizes content among disparate computer systems. It enables information sharing, focusing on information exchanged among organizations as part of their current or intended business practices. It provides a methodology which results in a common semantic understanding among participating organizations. It is designed to develop, disseminate and support enterprise-wide information exchange standards and processes. For more information link to http://www.niem.gov/ Mi-DEx uses NIEM standards and many vendors have already begun to program their systems with these standards in mind.
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What is LEXS? Logical Entity eXchange Specifications (LEXS) defines a common format in which information can be shared. The most commonly used elements form the foundation upon which practitioners can build specialized extensions to suit individual communities. LEXS 3.1.4 is based on NIEM 2.0.
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What is an IEPD? An Information Exchange Package Documentation is a specification for a data exchange (interface) and defines a particular data exchange. It is the written instructions and established standards for formatting data in XML for interfacing to a particular system. An IEP, Information Exchange Package, is the XML file created according to the corresponding IEPD. The FBI has created an IEPD for information exchanges (interfaces) with N-DEx. The N-DEx IEPD leverages the LEXS and NIEM standards. The Mi-DEx IEPD is based on the N-DEx IEPD with some extensions to the specification for Michigan specific information.
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Who can help me? Anyone on the Mi-DEx Working Group can explain Mi-DEx. For technical assistance, contact Wendy Easterbrook at 517-284-3326. Wendy can guide local agencies or vendors in the steps they need to take to achieve Mi-DEx participation.
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