NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary

NLECTC
Thursday, February 15, 2007

"Manatee's Pilot Program Places Records Back Online"
Bradenton Herald (FL) (02/12/07) P. 1; Alund, Natalie Neysa

R.B. Shore, Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court, has been working for eight months to obtain approval for a trial program for electronic access to court records. Shore has a few more months to prove the program can provide public access while protecting confidential information. The program will use redacting technology to identify and remove confidential information, and will have levels of access based on the user. Judges, their staff, and clerks will have the highest level of access, lawyers and clients will have full access to their cases, and the public will be able to view non-confidential records. The program is intended to save money by cutting down on foot traffic in the clerk's office. The first year official records such as deeds and mortgages went online, office traffic decreased 60 percent, says Shore. If the program receives approval a year-long trial will begin May 1.
http://www.bradenton.com
/mld/bradenton/news/local/16678806.htm

"A 'Fine-Tuned' Jail"
Tampa Tribune (02/10/07) P. 1; Wells, Mike

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has undertaken a project to expand its Falkenburg Road Jail by 768 beds before the end of 2008. The project calls for the construction of a new administrative building, a new sally port, a video courtroom, a control center for monitoring prisoners, and other new features and structures. The project is projected to cost $50.4 million. Jim Gross, special projects manager for the sheriff's jail division, notes that funding has not been obtained for the next construction phase. Gross adds that construction will not interfere with the operation of the jail. The number of offenders booked into the county's jail system is rising, but the number of prisoners typically held at the facility each day has decreased during the last two years.
http://www.tbo.com
/southshore/MGB3SRS5ZXE.html

"County Boosts Communications"
Indianapolis Star (02/09/07) P. 2; Walton, Richard D.

The approximately $8 million Hendricks County Communications Center is expected to open in June 2007 in Plainfield, Ind., located in the city's renovated police station. Supporters of the center say it will slash response times because all police and fire departments in the county will be able to communicate with each other and monitor each other's radio traffic. In addition, each patrol car in the county will be equipped with a computer featuring GPS (global positioning system) technology. The technology will enable dispatchers at the center to know the location of each car or fire truck and which vehicles are closest to a crime or fire. The closest units will be dispatched first irrespective of jurisdiction, says Larry Brinker, the center's executive director. Officers and firefighters will also be able to view aerial images of the county, says Brownsburg Town Council member Gary Hood. Avon Police Chief Jack Miller notes that local police departments will have access to a shared record-management system, enabling them to swap data more easily and identify patterns across the county. Officials add that the communications center will facilitate upgrades because they will have to be performed only at a single site rather than in multiple places.
http://www.indystar.com
/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007702090332

"Getting Low-Risk People Out of the Jail"
Wisconsin State Journal (02/10/07) P. A4; DeFour, Matthew

Officials in La Crosse County, Wis., initially thought about increasing electronic tracking while studying plans to construct a new prison several years ago. Two years ago, judges concurred to sentence all prisoners to the secure prison or to a widened Justice Sanctions program, operated by the Human Services Department, which handles numerous prison diversion programs, including electronic tracking. The La Crosse County Board voted that same year to phase out its work-release prison, which held as many as 110 prisoners. The men's secure prison and the women's prison are still open. In 2006, the Justice Sanctions program typically diverted 227 prisoners a day from the secure prison. Crowding in the secure prison, however, has become a big problem, with prisoners sleeping on the floor almost every night. Mike Weissenberger, who is the former sheriff of La Crosse County, was very critical of shutting the work-release prison, which he thinks has caused the crowding situation. He explained that whenever a prisoner with electronic tracking or day reporting privileges breaches the regulations at home, he or she frequently must come back to the secure prison. Justice Sanctions program administrator Jane Klekamp contests the criticism, arguing that a study discovered that the amount of prisoners violating regulations on home tracking was the same as the amount violating regulations in the work-release prison.
http://www.madison.com
/archives/read.php?ref=/
wsj/2007/02/10/0702100020.php

"Allen Parolees to Test GPS Monitoring"
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette (IN) (02/10/07) P. A1; Iacone, Amanda

The Indiana Department of Correction is utilizing Allen County to try out a new Global Positioning System (GPS) that will track sex and violent offenders out on parole. The county's commissioners approved a deal on Feb. 9 to permit the one-year pilot program, which will be financed by Indiana. The program will enable Indiana to try out the GPS system, which would eventually track all sex and violent offenders as mandated by state law. New GPS technology can follow an offender's every movement and can inform the offender if he or she goes into an "exclusion zone." The zones could be adjacent to an area park or victim's house, school, or work. The pilot program's participants must have a phone line in their house, and other adults there must permit police to search the establishment periodically. In addition, the parolees will take part in case management via community corrections. Indiana will pay a Colorado firm to lease its software and tracking equipment that is given to the offender.
http://www.fortwayne.com
/mld/journalgazette/16667911.htm

"'Photo-Red' Gets Local Support"
Daily Progress (02/11/07); Seal, Rob

On Feb. 6, a bill was passed in the Virginia House of Delegates that may allow the installation of red-light cameras at some local intersections. If the bill becomes law, first-time offenders would be fined $50. Law enforcement officials in Albemarle and Charlottesville have expressed support for the cameras and are prepared to allocate funds for them. Police in Albemarle would like to erect the cameras at several intersections along U.S. 29, while those in Charlottesville would like to see them erected at the intersection of McIntire Road and Preston Avenue. But detractors say taking images of drivers would be intrusive and that the cameras might be misused by law enforcement seeking additional funds. In response to these concerns, the state Senate passed two "photo-red" bills prohibiting local governments from hiring external firms to oversee the cameras. Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine says he supports legislation that would allow local communities to decide whether they want to use the cameras.
http://www.dailyprogress.com
/servlet/Satellite?pagename=C
ommon%2FMGArticle%2FPrint
Version&c=MGArticle&
cid=1149193142437&image=80
x60cdp.gif&oasDN=dailyprogre
ss.com&oasPN=%21news

"Fighting Sex Crimes Effectively"
Buffalo News (02/09/07); Becker, Maki

Advancements in technology, policy, and the law have made police more efficient in solving and making arrests in sexual crimes. Policy used to dictate that rape cases where the victim knew the assailant or had a less-than-pristine past, such as a prostitute, were not seriously considered and frequently not seen as a rape at all. Now that there is a better understanding of what constitutes a sexual crime all cases are handled more professionally and seriously. Technology has also improved the conviction rate in sexual cases. Once very few hospitals had rape kits, where as now almost all local hospitals are equipped to collect evidence and some even have nurses that are specialists in rape evidence collection.
http://www.buffalonews.com
/editorial/20070209/1074888.asp

"Tragedy Spurs Minn. Cop to Mount Indian Country Crime Database"
Associated Press (02/09/07); Forliti, Amy

Sgt. Bill Blake with the Minneapolis Police Department is striving to develop a database to better monitor crimes among Native Americans in the region. Called I-CARE (Indian Crime Awareness Research and Evaluation), the network would initially include a few tribes but would later expand to include all tribes in Minnesota and Wisconsin and eventually nationwide. The aim is to provide tribes with a means of identifying trends and tracking criminals across different reservations. The I-CARE project would incorporate the work of NALES (Native American Law Enforcement Summit), which Blake created after the murder of his daughter in 2003 in Wisconsin. Blake says existing data collected the Bureau of Justice Statistics might not be accurate because data is collected by several methods, such as household surveys. Blake and fellow Minneapolis officer Larry Loonsfoot anticipate receiving a two-year, $600,000 grant from the Justice Department to launch the I-CARE initiative, while Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan hopes to provide computers, staff assistance, and space for the project. http://www.twincities.com/mld
/twincities/news/breaking_news/16664540.htm

"Harford to Use 'Blue Boxes' on Handcuffs to Foil Escapes"
Baltimore Sun (02/08/07) P. 2B; Mitchell, Josh

The Harford County Sheriff's Office has acquired 25 "blue boxes" that prevent inmates from potentially slipping out of their handcuffs. The devices fit over the chain of each cuff and link both cuffs. Blue boxes limit the mobility of the wrist and also prevents access to the keyhole. Hiatt-Thompson charged $500 for the 25 units, which will provide additional security for inmates classified as escape risks. The sheriff's office decided to obtain the devices after a 31-year-old inmate slipped out of his cuffs, bell chain, and leg irons during an scheduled examination at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center.
http://www.baltimoresun.com
/news/local/harford/bal-d.ha.e
scape08feb08,0,814287.story

"Laptop Law Enforcement"
La Crosse Tribune (WI) (02/08/07); Springer, Dan

Law enforcement officers for La Crosse County, Wis., will no longer be issuing handwritten citations, warnings, and accident reports, but will be printing out reports using on-board computers in their cruisers. Traffic and Criminal Software (TraCS) was originally installed to relay information to the state Department of Transportation faster, but has several secondary benefits. TraCS automatically saves each citation or report and sends it to the clerk of courts office and the state so data never has to be re-entered, and reports or citations will never be incomplete again as TraCS will not allow the officer to print out the driver's copy without filling in every required section. Officers will also be able to draft a reconstruction of the incident with a program on the system. Sheriff's department deputies started using the program in December and have since trained over 100 people to use TraCS, and La Crosse County sheriff's Captain Mike Horstman said that all county officers will soon be fully trained. http://www.lacrossetribune.com
/articles/2007/02/08/news/z01police.txt

"Police Data Will Be Shared"
Telegram & Gazette (02/07/07) P. B1; Lee, Brian

In a project funded by the Central Region Homeland Security Council, 20 Massachusetts police departments will share information with each other using a records management system. Through the use of an Internet-based private network, officers from one area, using a computer in either a station or a cruiser, can access data from another area without having to submit a query and wait for a response. The system even uses voice recognition so officers on patrol can run a search while driving. The central region is one of five homeland security districts in Massachusetts, and police officials said that the system may eventually be expanded to include other regions. http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

"D.C. Street Cameras Put on Fast Track"
Washington Post (02/07/07) P. B1; Stewart, Nikita; Klein, Allison

The D.C. Council has permitted the use of emergency legislation to hasten the purchase of 24 surveillance cameras. The council had already agreed to allow purchase of the cameras, which will monitor areas where crime frequently occurs, last year. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said the delay in purchasing the equipment is an embarrassment for the city. Supporters of using the cameras hope that they will discourage crime and lead to the identification of more suspects, but skeptics are doubtful about their potential effectiveness. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) believes the city could reap greater benefits from increasing the number of police officers on patrol. In addition, he also advocates expanding investment in rehabilitating those released from prison.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2007/02/06/AR2
007020601694.html

"Devices Could Disable Terror Bombs"
San Francisco Chronicle (02/07/07) P. A3; Davidson, Keay

Police, fire fighters, FBI agents, and other responders could eventually have access to devices capable of disabling nuclear weapons and dirty bombs, according to an announcement from the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). These "Render Safe" devices, which are still classified, would be used by authorities in the field in the event that nuclear experts are unable to reach a threat-scene in time. The Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST), based in Nevada, is the first U.S. line of defense against nuclear-based terror attacks. Researchers have spent years creating the Render Safe devices; the NNSA says it will soon begin field-testing the gadgets. Security reasons prevented NNSA officials from detailing how the devices work. In related news, California officials have been proactive about the threat of nuclear terrorism, holding a preparedness meeting in January and working with federal authorities on a statewide plan. The San Francisco Fire Department used federal funding to purchase 150 radiation-detection devices.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin
/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/02/
07/MNGISO03RG1.DTL

"Hamblin to Guide Crime Laboratory"
Wisconsin State Journal (02/06/07) P. B1; Pitsch, Mark

Gary Hamblin, a former sheriff of Dane County, Wis., will monitor efforts to diminish a backlog of cases awaiting testing by the state's Crime Laboratory. Hamblin indicated that the lab will need more crime analysts and training officers to reach the goal. He added that additional improvements may also be required to meet the goal. The crime lab currently has a backlog of more than 1,700 cases awaiting various testing, including examination of DNA and fingerprints. Doyle has committed to hiring 15 new analysts, but the number could increase. The crime lab would reportedly require 20 months to eliminate the backlog of cases based on its current number of analysts and the condition that no new cases are presented. http://www.madison.com
/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2
007/02/06/0702050392.php

"Welcome to Wi-Fi-Ville"
Time (01/15/07) Vol. 169, No. 3, P. 52; Dell, Kristina

Increasingly, cities are planning publicly-accessible municipal wireless Internet networks, though most projects have not been fully implemented. Government officials and citizens remain concerned about the repercussions of publicly-accessible networks, including privacy breaches and how much it will cost to operate the networks. Private network providers that were initially strongly opposed to municipal plans, are now becoming involved as the architects of such networks. Still, many municipalities interested in offering wireless find they do not have sufficient funds to do so, and surveys show that few citizens are willing to pay for government-sponsored wireless access. Free networks funded solely by ads have been considered by some municipalities, but it remains unclear if this idea is economically sustainable over the long term. However, the benefits of these networks could surpass the concerns officials and resident have, particularly if the networks improve government communications during disasters or access to criminal records, building plans, and video surveillance for fire fighters and police officers. http://www.time.com/time
/magazine/article/0,9171,
1574164,00.html

"Consumers Tracking Criminals"
Atlanta Business Chronicle (01/29/07); Rubner, Justin

OmniLink Systems recently generated $11 million in venture capital to help introduce several innovative tracking devices, including one that would inform phone clients when a registered sex offender is close by. There are currently 180,000 convicted criminals in this country partaking in alternative monitoring programs, the Department of Justice reports. OmniLink CEO and founder Steve Aninye claims that over 1.1 million criminals nationally qualify for these programs. He thinks firms such as OmniLink can attain a 40 percent share of the monitoring-services market. OmniLink's technology would enable cell-phone users to access criminal monitoring records and get alerts when registered criminals are within a particular distance. OmniLink has already signed agreements with 15 tracking groups, whose agencies have 3,000 offenders sporting the company's tracking technology. In addition, OmniLink is teaming with Sprint Nextel, which employs OmniLink technology to sell services to law enforcement groups. For around $10 per month, Sprint Nextel clients can go through OmniLink to enroll in a tracking service.
http://atlanta.bizjournals.com
/atlanta/stories/2007/01/29/
story6.html?b=1170046800^1408335

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