Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology

NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary
Thursday, December 21, 2006

"New Roadblocks to Drunk Driving"
Los Angeles Times (12/18/06) P. F1; Roan, Shari

Although alcohol-related driving fatalities in the United States plummeted between 1982 and 1994, largely as a result of the efforts of groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), they have since plateaued around 17,000 a year. The stalling of the downward trend in alcohol-related driving fatalities has prompted MADD to launch what it calls an "audacious" campaign to end drunk driving largely by using technology that may someday make it impossible to start a car when the driver is drunk. One example of this technology, ignition interlocks, are often ordered by judges for repeated DUI offenders as a condition of their probation after their driver's license has been reinstated. But now MADD is pushing for the use of interlocks for all convicted first-time offenders, a move that it says could save 1,600 lives a year. The increased use of interlocks could eventually pave the way for devices that could be installed in all new cars to help prevent drunk driving. Experts say devices that do not have Breathalyzers or require any action on the driver's part hold the most promise. One such device is a touch-based alcohol monitoring system that measures alcohol through the skin using infrared spectroscopy. The technology, developed by New Mexico-based TruTouch Technologies, would include a touchpad placed on a steering wheel or keychain that would measure the driver's alcohol level and transmit the information to the ignition system.
http://www.latimes.com
/technology/la-he-alcohol18dec18,1,15013.story

"Police Increasingly Watching Internet"
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL) (12/18/06); Kridel, Kristen

Florida law enforcement agencies are increasingly obtaining funding to seek out criminals on the Internet, especially through social networking Web sites such as MySpace.com. As the offline world becomes more concerned with security, criminals often turn to the Internet to commit financial fraud, set up sales of illegal drugs, or seek victims of sexual abuse. Police evaluating these suspects' most likely forums for arranging these illegal activities have a powerful weapon in preventing their plans from becoming reality. Many users of online social-networking sites, especially teenagers, have an expectation that the personal information they publish on their sites will remain private, but it remains publicly accessible information that police have a responsibility to investigate when they come across it. The majority of online investigation goes toward tracking down sexual predators, with grants being dispersed by the Florida Department of Children & Families to fund computers and training programs for officers using the Internet to identify potential abusers. Because several Web sites are known forums for encouraging this type of activity, the search efforts are more efficient and more quickly target criminals than offline investigation would be.
http://heraldtribune.com
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"Denison Police Receiving Crucial Technology Upgrades"
Sherman Denison Herald Democrat (12/17/06); Farmer, Mary Jane

The Denison, Texas, police force has been transforming itself with the latest radio, computing, and patrol car technology under a plan that has been well researched, says Denison Police Chief Jim Lovell. The Denison police force has 45 certified officers and 13 civilian staff members, and currently the force is replacing its Ford Crown Victoria cars with new 2006 Dodge Chargers. These new police cars have high-capacity radios that can pick up analog and digital transmission, tune into Homeland Security channels and other national channels, and use an encrypted SecureNet channel. Denison also is purchasing handheld radios for all its officers on a slow acquisition basis, because these handhelds cost the department $3,000 per device. The new patrol cars also have built-in computers for suspect research information and other communication and information needs. At the police station, almost every officer has their own computing work station as well.
http://www.heralddemocrat.com
/articles/2006/12/17/local_news/news04.txt

"Law's Eyes in the Sky"
Orlando Sentinel (FL) (12/17/06) P. J1; Reed, Kristen

The Volusia County, Fla., Sheriff's Office's fleet of three helicopters is indispensable to the large and growing county, because it allows law enforcement to respond to the farthest points in the county in a matter of minutes, said sheriff's representative Gary Davidson. The helicopters--which come equipped with a GPS systems and a street tracker to help crews determine where they are and where they need to go--are used for several reasons: Aerial surveillance, searching for suspects, narcotics investigations, medical emergencies, and fighting fires. In addition, crews fly across the county looking for things that seem out of place, such as abandoned cars or oil streaks in lakes, said flight paramedic Larry Higgins. So far, the use of the helicopters seems to be paying off. Last year, the helicopter assisted in 233 arrests, including the arrests of accused gang members trying to flee South Florida after a bank robbery in DeLand. However, the copters are aging and will soon be replaced. The new helicopters, the first of which will arrive in December 2008, will be equipped with night vision and video equipment that will allow the crews on board to transmit video to a mobile command center or a law-enforcement facility. http://www.orlandosentinel.com
/news/local/volusia/orl-vairone1706dec17,0,488896.story

"Booking Goes High-Tech"
Telegram & Gazette (12/15/06) P. B1; Lee, Brian

Police no longer have to worry about fingerprinting errors or suspects who purposely try and disrupt the fingerprinting process with the new Electronic Fingerprinting Submission Device. The live fingerprinting scanner was purchased with a Cops More grant for less than $20,000. The device is equipped with a fingerprinting reader that has a low margin of error. "This thing will yell at you if you're not doing it right," says Lt. Carl G. Ekman. "You have to try to goof. And it doesn't get your hands dirty. It's a nice setup, and a long time coming." The department fingerprints between 800 and 1,000 people every year, according to Ekman. Police can now quickly determine a suspect's identity with the device. The device also allows local law enforcement to send images to the FBI's state police fingerprinting ID unit.
http://www.telegram.com
/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID
=/20061215/NEWS/612150650&SearchID=73266431289272

"Eye On Crime Getting Sharper"
Memphis Commercial Appeal (TN) (12/14/06) P. A1; Jones, Yolanda

Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin and his department are following in the footsteps of New York City and implementing their own video surveillance system to monitor the city's crime. Earlier this month, Godwin took a trip to New York to observe how the city used its Real Time Crime Center to decrease crime by 20 percent since 2001. Godwin's own department will launch the Memphis Real Time Crime Center, which will place cameras around the city. The center's computer database will connect Memphis to other local law enforcement agencies across the country in an effort to share information. The video equipment was purchased with a $6.5 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security, according to Lt. Jim Harvey at the Memphis police. He says officers and crime analysts will work together at the center. "It's the perfect marriage of investigation, response, and prevention," says University of Memphis professor Dr. Richard Janikowski. Memphis is currently ranked second in the nation in violent crime, according to the FBI.
http://www.commercialappeal.com
/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_5212082,00.html

"New Gunshot Sensors Help Police Get to Scene Faster"
Minneapolis Star Tribune (12/14/06) P. 4B; Chanen, David; Lonetree, Anthony

The Minneapolis Police Department has a new way to fight crime with the launch of the ShotSpotter, a sensor system that can locate gunshots. The $325,000-plus system is already used in several cities and will be used in Minneapolis' South side in about a week and the North side in a month. ShotSpotter will notify dispatch right away when a gun is fired and give officers nearly the exact address, says Lt. Greg Reinhardt at the Minneapolis Police Department. The system is comprised of 80 sensors that can reach about four square miles of the city that account for half of the calls police receive about shots fired.
http://www.startribune.com
/467/story/873639.html

"Presque Isle: SAD 1 Tightening Security"
Bangor Daily News (ME) (12/13/06); Rice, Rachel

Maine's School Administrative District 1 is working to improve security at Presque Isle High School, which has recently been subject to three bomb threats. Among the proposed improvements are an email notification system that informs parents of emergencies and which can evade spam filters programmed to block out messages sent to multiple addresses, and better camera surveillance of the school's entrances and restrooms. In addition, the school will be introducing a photo ID badge system that ensures personnel at the high school are those who are supposed to be there. The district is continuing to investigate who is behind the recent bomb threats.
http://www.bangornews.com

"Congress Accelerates $1 Billion in Interoperability Funds"
Mobile Radio Technology (12/11/06); Jackson, Donny

Congress approved a measure that will make $1 billion in interoperability funds available to public-safety agencies before the auction of the 700MHz band, the funding source, takes place beginning in January 2008. Introduced by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the Call Home Act is primarily concerned about ensuring that U.S. troops deployed abroad can call home at reduced rates. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration will administer allocation of funding, but it is not clear by what criteria. Thus far only one qualification has been clarified-- that deployments seeking funding be interoperable with the 700 MHz band. "From the way I read the bill, they have to parcel it out by Sept. 30 [of 2007], says APCO legislative director Yucel Ors. "It has to be allocated, but who they allocate it t -- and how it gets allocate -- is still to be determined."
http://mrtmag.com/news
/policy/congress-interoperability-funds-121106/

"Coroner Reporting Goes Live"
eWeek (12/11/06) Vol. 23, No. 49, P. C3; McKeefry, Hailey Lynne

The Kane County, Ill., coroner's office decided to implement a computer-based data system to meet the increasing demands of a growing Kane County, knowing that budget restrictions prevented the hiring of new staff. When the coroner's office could not find a packaged solution, they hired CDW-Government and partner company Ta-Kenset to design a custom data system. Under the old system using paper forms and outdated computers, each cause of death investigation and conclusion required 60 different forms. CDW-Government and its partner built a system in nine months that streamlined data-entry across forms, protected private information, created a tiered-access system for staff, and provided exclusive data privileges to the corner. It went live on Jan. 1, 2004. The office would now like to expand the system by accepting requests for birth and death certificates online, for instance. "Because of what we've done in here, the county has begun to look at other departments in the county to see how they can use the technology to implement similar programs in all of our departments," says Kane County Coroner Chuck West.
http://www.eweek.com/articl
e2/0,1759,2073226,00.asp

"Two-Thirds of First Responders Have Interoperable Communications"
Federal Times (12/08/06); Losey, Stephen

A report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicates that about two-thirds of the nation's first responders can talk to at least some of their colleagues in other agencies. The report focused on more than 6,800 law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical agencies, showing that at all levels of the government interoperability varies, DHS said Dec. 8. The report revealed that first responders are moderately successful in coordinating equipment with technology, but need more assistance in establishing standardized usage procedures and exercises for use across agencies. The report also indicated that local agencies have achieved more interoperable capabilities compared to states. DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff estimates that all first responders will be able to speak to each other by the end of 2008. http://www.federaltimes.com
/index.php?S=2412333

"DHS Passenger Scoring Illegal?"
Wired News (12/07/06); Singel, Ryan

Privacy advocates charge that the Department of Homeland Security's Automated Targeting System (ATS), which assigns terrorism scores to people traveling in and out of the United States, is a violation of the limits that have been placed on the department by federal lawmakers. Pointing to a provision in the 2007 Homeland Security funding bill, Identity Project members Edward Hasbrouck and James Harrison wrote, "By cloaking this prohibited action in a border issue...the Department of Homeland Security directly and openly contravenes Congress' clear intent. A DHS spokesperson said the appropriations bill's language--which bars government agencies from using appropriations funding to "develop or test algorithms assigning risk to passengers whose names are not on government watch lists"--does not cover the ATS, which harvests passenger data from international flights and scores each passenger's risk based on watchlists, criminal databases, and other government systems. High scorers are targeted by Customs and Border Protection for extra screening at deplaning time, and the data and scores can be kept for 40 years, broadly shared, and be used for hiring decisions; in addition, travelers are not able to see or contest their scores. According to congressional testimony by DHS official Paul Rosenzweig, the system had "encountered 4,801 positive matches for known or suspected terrorists," although it was not clear how many were correct matches. Critics who say the ATS program is illegal under the law include Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Jim Harper of the Cato Institute. DHS spokesman Jarrod Agen argues that the appropriations bill's language refers specifically to a program called Secure Flight, a planned successor to the CAPPS II screening system, but Rotenberg and Harper disagree with that interpretation.
http://www.wired.com
/news/technology/0,72250-0.html?tw=wn_index_1

"New Cameras Nab Toll Scofflaws"
Houston Chronicle (12/18/06); Grant, Alexis

The Harris County (Texas) Toll Road Authority is successfully using four high-tech surveillance cameras to catch drivers who repeatedly evade paying tolls while using the county's EZ Tag toll lanes. The camera system uses special software that has been programmed to react when it identifies the license plates of any of the top 500 non-paying drivers, some of whom have evaded paying as much as $30,000 in tolls. The surveillance cameras used by most toll roads simply take pictures of vehicles that fail to pay when entering a toll lane, allowing local officials to mail tickets to the offenders. But the Harris County system also sends real-time alerts to a police dispatcher when it recognizes the license plates of any of the top 500 non-paying drivers. The dispatcher then calls a nearby police officer who pulls over the offending car, arrests the driver, and tows his vehicle. A spokesman for the police force that patrols the toll roads explains, "We put them in jail. If they owe a lot of money, we don't write them a ticket." The toll authority, which has used the system to catch eight of the top 500 scofflaws since August, plans to have a total of 24 of the $28,000 surveillance cameras in place by the beginning of the new year.
http://www.chron.com
/disp/story.mpl/front/4408893.html

"Turning Cellphones Into Lifelines"
USA Today (12/05/06); Reardon, Marguerite

The recent rescue of a mother and her two daughters from a remote region in Oregon highlights the benefits of cellular technology over standalone GPS navigation products in rescue operations. "Navigation tools may help someone if they need to understand where they are to get to safety," says Kiyoshi Hamai, director of sales and product management with Mio Technology, a vendor of portable navigation devices using GPS technology. "But in order for someone to find you, you really need a device, like a cellphone, that can provide two-way communication." Cellphones are practically a staple in U.S. households today, with 230 million Americans subscribing to a service. The infrastructure supporting the technology is spreading to even the remotest of locations, and the technology's very nature ensures constant communications between cellphone and cell tower to update locations. With the FCC pushing operators to provide E911 service, pinpoint capabilities will only be improved. The service depends on GPS chips embedded in phones that allow rescue personnel to send pings to mobile devices to track approximate locations. New phones sold by Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and Alltel have the chips included to comply with the federal mandate. Operators like Helio, Disney Mobile, and Boost Wireless already provide tracking services using GPS-embedded phones.
http://www.usatoday.com
/tech/products/cnet/2006
-12-05-cellphones-safety_x.htm

"Fingerprint Technology Helps Identify the Dead"
Medical Devices & Surgical Technology Week (12/24/06) P. 122

Researchers at Britain's University of Leicester, working with Leicestershire Constabulary and Hamburg University's Institute of Legal Medicine, have found that handheld devices used to fingerprint drivers can also be used to identify the dead. The capability to fingerprint the dead using a handheld, mobile wireless device in conjunction with a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device would be of particular benefit in catastrophic events that result in mass casualties. "In mass fatality investigations there is a shift of emphasis of the investigative process towards gathering information for the identification of the deceased," said Professor Guy Rutty of the East Midlands Forensic Pathology Unit at the University of Leicester. "Fingerprinting is usually undertaken by scene of crime or fingerprint officers at the mortuary and although the recovery of fingerprints is possible at the scene of death, as with mortuary recovery, to date handheld real-time on-site analysis [near-patient testing] is not available to investigators."
http://www.newsrx.com
/newsletters/Medical-De
vices-and-Surgical-Techn
ology-Week/2006-12-24/
2812242006128QW.html

"Nashville Metro Police Seek Public Help by Posting Surveillance Images On-Line"

Police and Security News (12/06) Vol. 22, No. 6, P. 68

The Nashville Metro Police Department has begun sharing surveillance video with the public in hopes of generating tips. Formerly relegated for use only with other police agencies, the video, showing suspects in the act of committing a crime, is posted online in small slide shows accompanied by requests for tips. Since going live last November, the site has generated over 16,000 visits.
http://www.policeandsecuritynews.com

Article sponsored by Criminal Justice Leadership; and police and military personnel who have become writers.