Public Safety Technology in the News

Tracking Drunk Drivers
CBS-21 WHP (Harrisburg, PA), (12/7/2007), Myranda Stephens

Pennsylvania State Police report that they often see an increase in DUI incidents during the holiday season. Thanks to a software application called Prophecy Program, the police can track these DUI incidents by location and the software will provide a map predicting the times and locations of future incidents. State Police use this output to identify trouble spots quickly and deploy officers to these areas. The software can also be used to track other crimes.
www.whptv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=5fe52ccc-85e5-4916-a713-19ebba6c1037

Iris Scans Let Law Enforcement Keep Eye on Criminals
USA Today (12/4/2007), Wendy Koch

Sheriff's offices across the country are using iris recognition technology to identify missing persons and sex offenders. Most agencies are using the technology to collect iris scans of senior citizens and children. These scans are stored in databases that can be searched as needed. Some agencies are capturing the iris scans of convicted sex offenders and inmates in order to identify offenders in the event of future crimes and to ensure the correct inmate is released. Iris recognition technology compares a greater level of detail than fingerprint recognition technology and departments are finding that they can find matches much faster using a centralized database of iris scans.
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-12-04-iris_N.htm

Bowie Police Go High Tech
gazette.net (11/22/07), Megan King

In the past month, the Bowie (Maryland) Police Department has been able to scan more than 20,000 license plates using a new license plate recognition technology system. Since its installation on October 30, the system has alerted officers more than 300 times to violations such as stolen vehicle and suspended tags. The plates that the system scans are cross-checked against a database of statewide motor vehicle violations, as well as national criminal data. If a violation is found, the system notifies the patrol officer. The license plate scanning system allows officers to scan 5,000 plates during a 10-hour shift. The department purchased the system using donations from various businesses within Bowie, which amount to about 40 percent of the total cost of the system.
www.gazette.net/stories/112207/largnew172423_32363.shtml

U.S. Eyes 'Pain Beam' for Home Security, Law Enforcement
Wired.com (12/10/2007), David Hambling

The Active Denial System (ADS) is a less-lethal technology that uses microwaves to cause a burning sensation on the outer surface of the skin without injuring the target. ADS has not been deployed by the U.S. military yet, but the system's manufacturer is looking into implementing the technology for law enforcement use. The current system is too large and too expensive to be practical for most police departments, so the National Institute of Justice is working with Raytheon to develop a handheld version with a hundred-foot range. Raytheon is also working with Sandia National Laboratories to develop a version of ADS for securing nuclear stockpiles.
www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2007/12/pain_beam

DOJ Tests Suspicious-Activity Reporting System
FCW.com (12/10/2007), Jason Miller

Through its Law Enforcement Online (LEO) system, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is testing a new system designed to improve the sharing of suspicious-activity reporting among Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies. The new system, called E-Guardian, is based on the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) standard. The U.S. Department of Justice is funding State fusion centers, which are required to use NIEM for sharing information. The current plan is to include E-Guardian as one of the systems to be used by these fusion centers.
www.fcw.com/online/news/151032-1.html

New Database Links Guns, Criminal Histories
LA Daily News (12/10/2007), Jason Kandel

The California Department of Justice and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) are using the new Armed Prohibited Persons System program to identify gun owners with criminal histories. The statewide database currently contains approximately 9,000 records on people who are prohibited from owning firearms along with records on gun owners. Law enforcement agencies can access the system to easily identify individuals who own guns illegally. An LAPD task force has used the system this fall to identify and search 71 locations. These searches led to the seizure of 28 guns and the arrest of 8 individuals.
www.dailynews.com/news/ci_7679381

Police Say GPS Helps Crack Case in Drive-By Slaying
Los Angeles Times (12/12/2007), Andrew Blankstein and Richard Winton

The Los Angeles Police Department received an important lead in a murder case by accessing data from a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system that was tracking the location of 20 gang members. As part of a new State program, 20 gang members were fitted with GPS monitoring bracelets as part of their parole agreements. The GPS system records the date, time, and location of each parolee. As soon as the drive-by shooting occurred, Sgt. Ruby Malachi directed officers at the LAPD's crime analysis center to search the system for the date, time, and location of the shooting. The system's data reported that one of the gang members being tracked was in the vicinity when the shooting occurred. Based on this information and evidence from witnesses, the police eventually arrested seven suspects, including the gang member being tracked. LAPD has traditionally used the GPS system to track sex offenders, but is now seeking to expand the gang member tracking program.
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gps12dec12,1,5363458.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

Electronic Tickets Cite Drivers With Cyber Speed
Noblesville Daily Times (12/3/2007), Rebecca L. Sandlin

The Indian State Police have put into operation the Electronic Citation and Warning System (E-CWS) as a tool for issuing warnings and citations to motorists. It is anticipated that the system will be safer for troopers in terms of time spent outside the cruiser, and reduce time and paperwork involved with issuing citations. Using their laptops, officers will scan motorist information from the barcodes located on motor vehicle registration cards and driver's licenses and generate a ticket for the motorist, the officer, and the courts.
www.county29.net/cms2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8402&Itemid=230

New Court Video System Saves Navajo County Time and Money
AZJournal.com (11/28/2007), Tammy Gray-Searles

Navajo County, in Arizona, recently implemented a video conferencing system with money from a Fill the Gap grant from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission. The system will be used by the justice courts, the jail, and in two superior court courtrooms. It is hoped the system will save money in transportation costs, and provide increased security by reducing inmate movement. Because of the systems real-time capabilities, judges and court staff will be able to attend conferences, meetings, and trainings remotely, which will allow court cases to proceed with limited disruptions and ensure defendants a speedy process. In the future, the video conferencing system can allow attorneys to perform remote client visits, or allow inmates to visit with families over long distances.
www.azjournal.com/news/126/ARTICLE/1541/2007-11-28.html

Millions Coming to NH for Emergency Radio
UnionLeader.com (12/2/2007), Shawne K. Wickham

The state of New Hampshire will receive just under $6 million in public safety funding, which is part of nearly a billion dollars that have been set aside by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) — a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce. This money is part of the anticipated $10 to $15 billion the Federal Government expects to receive when it auctions off spectrum space that is presently used by analog TV broadcasts. The vacated spectrum space will then be used to create a national public safety communications network, and the money offered by the NTIA will be used to assist public safety agencies obtain equipment to use the new network.
www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Millions+coming+to+NH+for+emergency+radio&articleId=74a09b06-ccea-440b-9e9b-19a17777ba2b

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