Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News

NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary
Thursday, November 16, 2006
"Video Spurs Bratton to Weigh Review of Pepper-Spray Policy"
Los Angeles Times (11/15/06); McGreevy, Patrick

A videotape showing a police officer using pepper spray on a handcuffed suspect in a patrol car has spurred LAPD Chief William Bratton to consider reviewing the department's pepper-spray policy. Of particular concern to Bratton was the fact that the officer closed the car door, leaving the suspect alone in the vehicle, after the spray was used. "My interest there is: Was that pepper spray used to control the behavior of that individual or was it used punitively?" the LAPD chief noted. "If in my judgment the individual ceased to be a threat to the officer and other tactics could have been used, then I could conceivably find the officer out of policy." The ACLU and some police watchdog organizations urged the LAPD on Tuesday to reconsider when officers are permitted to administer pepper spray, especially in cases where suspects are handcuffed. The current allowance that spray can be used to subdue "combative" suspects is thought by some to be excessively broad.
http://www.latimes.com/news
/local/la-me-beating15nov15,0,5
432590.story?coll=la-home-headlines

"Computers Help Cops Predict Crime Times"
Chicago Tribune (11/13/06) P. CN6; Van, Jon

More and more police departments are turning to predictive analytics software to assess past data to predict future occurrences. Police in Richmond, Va., for example, use software from SPSS to find trends in car thefts and other crimes. According to Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe, more car thefts are likely to occur during ice skating shows rather than monster truck shows or rap concerts. This is because more valuables are left behind in the car by parents during those events. The software has also helped Richmond police determine that more robberies occur on paydays near stores where people cash their checks, and that most victims of these robberies tend to be Hispanic, says Monroe. In addition, the technology is used to set objectives for officers who oversee particular sections of the city, he says. Monroe reveals that each district in the city now sees no more than 14 robberies per month, compared to about 20 robberies per month in the past. The software also helped police see that "our data showed a lot of nighttime robberies along one strip near the convention center," prompting the addition of more lighting to that area, notes Monroe.
http://www.chicagotribune.com
/business/chi-0611130241nov13
,0,1896820.story?coll=chi-business-hed

"Eye In the Sky"
Wisconsin State Journal (11/11/06) P. D10; Balousek, Marv

Two Sun Prairie police officers--Scott Timm and Michael Timm--launched their own company to develop and market tracking technologies to law enforcement agencies and other customers. Sky Shield opened for business in October and is marketing three new tracking products for monitoring the location of teens, police officers on foot, and suspects. The personal tracker allows police departments to monitor officers once they leave their vehicles, and the covert tracker can be attached to the undercarriage or trunk of a suspect's vehicle. In addition, the covert tracker can also be used for monitoring pets by attaching the device to a leash. The teen tracker is a cell phone that allows parents to monitor their son or daughter's location and dial three numbers. Parents can access location information by logging onto the Sky Shield Web site.
http://www.madison.com
/wsj/home/biz/index.php?
ntid=106986

"Internet Cameras Let Police Peek Into Businesses"
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (11/13/06); Johnson, Annysa

Store owners can now check on their shops from any location at any time thanks to a new camera and surveillance system. The Wauwatosa Police Department developed the video capability part of the system and is now testing the technology by linking it to their dispatch computers. The Internet-based cameras let dispatchers and patrol officers see what is happening at a particular address that dials 911. "If there's a robbery with a gun, the dispatcher can send that image to the squad," says Wauwatosa police Capt. Jeff Reit. "In a fire, we can see if it's flames or smoke." Information can be shared throughout the state by using the system and several suburbs in Milwaukee are already using it. In the past, police agencies had to access databases individually for information. A mapping system that relies on global positioning allows dispatches to see where squad cars are located and what officers are doing. The camera system costs about $800.
http://www.jsonline.com
/story/index.aspx?id=530093

"Panel Works To Improve Tracking of Sex Offenders"
Fresno Bee (CA) (11/09/06) P. B5; Benjamin, Marc

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently created a task force to come up with ways to notify residents when sex offenders move into their neighborhoods. The task force also aims to provide sex offenders with housing, supervision, and monitoring when they are released from prison. Grier Weeks, director of the National Association to Protect Children, was the only person to testify at a recent meeting in Fresno to offer his suggestions. Weeks recommended that well-trained agents monitor sex offenders on global position units, that supervisors be provided for 10 years or more, and that the number of caseloads that parole agents are given be reduced. The California Department of Corrections currently has 10,000 sex offenders under supervision and about 3,200 of them are classified as high-risk offenders. California voters recently approved Proposition 83, which prevents sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston declared the proposition unconstitutional because it would ban paroled sexual offenders from residing in most of California's cities.
http://www.fresnobee.com
/263/story/12114.html

"'Being the Newest Kids on the Block, We Used the Latest Technology'"
Port Huron Times Herald (MI) (11/09/06) P. 1B; Murphy, Shannon

The Capac Police Department has installed new digital in-car video technology in one of its police cruisers that connects to the Global Positioning Satellite system. The system only requires a tiny portion of space compared to the previous recording technology that required roughly 50 percent of a police cruiser's trunk space. Capac Police Chief Raymond Hawks noted that money obtained from drug cases is covering the roughly $4,200 cost of the system. Most of the camera technology is mounted to the cruiser's rear-view mirror. The camera can capture footage of suspects discarding evidence during police pursuits. The Capac Police Department is the sole law enforcement agency in Michigan that uses the new system.
http://www.thetimesherald.com
/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20
061109/NEWS01/611090306&S
earchID=73262849369611

"Phoenix To Buy New Tool To Find Stolen Cars"
Arizona Republic (11/08/06) P. 1; Villa, Judi

The Phoenix Police Department has turned to the Automatic License Plate Reader to help locate and recover stolen vehicles. The state Department of Public Safety purchased five of the cameras from May to August. The camera is mounted on top of patrol cars and can scan as many as 10,000 license plates in one shift. The license plate numbers are compared with a database of stolen vehicles. An alarm goes off when there is a match. "It can help us try to locate the vehicles more efficiently," says police Lt. Giles Tipsword. "It can do more than we can do. There's no way I can go out there and have officers input all that data." Phoenix had the fourth highest auto theft rate in the nation last year with 53,291 vehicles stolen and 34,981 recovered. The new technology can also be programmed to track vehicles that traffic drugs or are linked to homicide, robbery, and sex offender suspects. Mesa, Tempe, and Glendale are currently using the cameras on a limited basis.
http://www.azcentral.com
/arizonarepublic/local/article
s/1108plates1108.html

"Photo Technology to Aid in Search for Abducted Children"
Associated Press (11/09/06); Mohajer, Shaya Tayefe

A database program called AmberView, developed by the West Virginia High Tech Consortium, will soon be launched across West Virginia. The database will contain school photos and physical descriptions of more than 300,000 students in grades kindergarten to 12. The photos allow the creation of three-dimensional pictures intended to boost people's ability to recognize a child; the database will be revised yearly. The information in AmberView is to be released right after the issuance of an AmberAlert. Bob Chico, the developer of AmberView, says the new system complements the AmberAlert system and will be especially useful for on-duty police officers. AmberView could also be used for monitoring sexual predators and aiding doctors to rebuild the faces of wounded children, he says. The program's creators anticipate that sales of AmberView to other states will help the program pay for itself. AmberView was developed using $1.4 million in funds from the National Institute of Justice.
http://www.timeswv.com
/westvirginia/local_story
_316002308.html?keyword=
secondarystory

"Brown Wants to Expand GPS Monitoring Beyond Tracking Sex Offenders"
San Francisco Chronicle (11/10/06) P. B1; Johnson, Chip

Jerry Brown, the current mayor of Oakland, will soon become California's attorney general. Brown struggled to find support for close monitoring of parolees who were convicted of violent crimes, but his new appointment will give him more leverage. Brown envisions using Global Positioning System monitoring technologies to track parolees in Oakland with violent histories because of the escalating crime rate in the community. Murders and other crimes have risen significantly in Oakland during 2006. The technology is currently used to monitor the location of approximately 500 sex offenders in the state, according to Bill Sessa with the state Department of Corrections. However, Sessa identified shootings as the main crime-related problem in Oakland. Brown hopes to make approximately 100 parolees convicted of violent crimes wear the tracking devices, which are attached to a person's ankle.
http://www.sfgate.com
/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=
/chronicle/archive/200
6/11/10/BAGF7MA7DB1.DTL

"Wasilla Police Eye Adding Laptops to Their Arsenal"
Anchorage Daily News (11/08/06) P. G11; Wellner, Andrew

The police department of Wasilla, Alaska, is mulling the acquisition of notebook computers for its squad cars. Police Chief John Glass has inspected the "mobile data terminals" of other agencies, including those used in Fairbanks. WPD has determined that it would implement a system that relies on radio instead of wireless phone signals to send information. The computers would provide officers with data that is currently accessed via dispatchers' calls, such as state and national crime records and automobile information. The in-cruiser computers would also automatically update data about officers' whereabouts in real time, says Glass. In comparison, officers must now notify dispatchers where they are located. The new system would also allow silent interactions between officers and dispatch via computer messages. According to Glass, Wasilla's proposed system would necessitate the installation of new radio transmitters that would be affixed to existing towers or new towers. He says the Austin, Texas, police department is currently using such a system. It would likely take a year for WPD to deploy the mobile data terminals, which would be financed via a federal grant, says Glass.
http://www.adn.com
/news/alaska/matsu
/story/8388944p-8284236c.html

"Austin Police, Mower Deputies to Get $2 Million Radio System"
Rochester Post-Bulletin (11/10/06); Ruzek, Tim

On Nov. 7, the board of Mower County, Minn., endorsed bids for a communications initiative valued at more than $2 million. About 60 percent of the cost--about $1.3 million--will be paid for by the county while the remainder will be covered by the city of Austin, Minn. The new technology will enhance the Law Enforcement Center's dispatch system for the county and city's police and fire departments. The initiative also involves installing computers in all of the cruisers within Austin's police department and sheriff's department. These computers will facilitate officers' ability to access data and talk with dispatch without having to release information over the radio scanner, says Austin Police Chief Paul Philipp. A significant part of the plans involve the erecting of a 400-foot communications tower near Elkton, says County Coordinator Craig Oscarson. The tower is a joint undertaking with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, where Mower County owns the tower's land, while the transportation department funded the construction of the tower and its facility. Both agencies will benefit from the agreement, says Oscarson. Philipp has told the county council, however, that if Mower County constructs a new criminal justice facility, it would be costly to relocate and rewire the new gear.
http://news.postbulletin.com
/newsmanager/templates/lo
calnews_story.asp?z=28&a=274474

"Watching the Water Supply"
Business Week (11/06/06) Vol. 4008, P. 89; McConnon, Aili

Several groups of researchers are working with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect the U.S water supply from biological terrorist attacks. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati, Sandia National Laboratories, and Argonne National Laboratory, in collaboration with the EPA, have created a software program that performs real-time surveillance of municipal water systems. The WaterSentinel Program software is currently on trial in Albuquerque.
http://www.businessweek.com
/@@Y3eG4GYQaKkd6wcA/cgi-
bin/printer_friendly.pl?chan=mz

"What Every Sheriff Needs to Know About Cyberbullying"
Sheriff (10/06) Vol. 58, No. 5, P. 6; Aftab, Parry

There are two different types of cyberbullying, which is defined as any cyber-communication or publication posted or sent by a minor online that is intended to frighten, embarrass, harass, or otherwise target another minor. In the first type of cyberbullying, a direct attack, messages are sent to victims directly. For example, kids may send threatening messages to other kids via instant messaging or text messaging. A direct cyberbullying attack can also involve the perpetrator posing as the victim. For instance, a cyberbully could post a provocative message in a hate group's chatroom posing as the victim. These messages also typically include the name, address, and telephone number of the victim--which makes it easy for the hate group to locate them. Another type of cyberbullying is called cyberbullying by proxy, which involves using others to help cyberbully the victim, either with or without the accomplice's knowledge. For example, a cyberbully could provoke the victim in an online conversation, forcing them to lash back. After the victim retaliates, the cyberbully saves the communication and forwards it to the victim's parents--who, without seeing evidence of that their child was being provoked, think that they were the ones who "started it." This type of cyberbullying is the most dangerous kind, because cyberbullies can blame their accomplices--who have no legal leg to stand on when punitive actions are taken. Both types of cyberbullying are prevalent among children. According to a poll conducted by the National Sheriff's Association, 65 percent of students between the ages of 8 and 14 have been directly or indirectly involved in a cyberbullying incident, either as the one doing the bullying, the one being bullied, or a close friend of one or the other. The consequences of such incidents can sometimes be very serious, involving suicide or even murder.
http://www.sheriffs.org

"The Digital Roadmap"
Law Enforcement Technology (10/06) Vol. 33, No. 10, P. 80; Lyons, Troy

Law enforcement agencies switching to digital crime scene photos need to make several considerations before selecting a digital camera. Some courts and prosecutors want proof that images are indeed those taken at the crime scene, which can be accomplished with image authentication software. When it comes to image processing, they should select software that allows them to adjust size, resolution, color, brightness, and contrast. The application should also have a history log file. PhotoShop CS is preferred by some agencies for its ability to handle both processing and enhancement. Among other things, the program converts white-powder fingerprints on black backgrounds to black fingerprints on a white background. As for printers, they would be wise to select a dye sub printer that applies a protective coating to images to prevent fading and damage due to moisture.
http://www.officer.com/magazines/let/

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