Public Safety Technology in the News

Investing in Public Safety Through the Justice Assistance Grant Program
Enews Park Forest, (03/07/2009)

The U.S. Department of Justice is providing $2 billion for state and local law enforcement under the 2009 Recovery Act. The funds will be made available through the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program. The money can be used for efforts such as hiring police officers, buying radios and equipment, and supporting courts, corrections and drug and gang task forces. Sixty percent of the funds are awarded directly to states and 40 percent to local governments. Examples of how jurisdictions plan to use the funding include increasing police presence in high crime areas of Long Beach, Ca., police overtime for violence reduction efforts in Providence, R.I., upgrading the radio telecommunications infrastructure in Bowling Green, Ky., and installing in-car digital camera systems in police cruisers in West Jordan, Utah.
www.enewspf.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6219:investing-in-public-safety&catid=1&Itemid=88889791

UIC Receives $2 Million to Examine Police Organizations
WBBM Radio, (03/07/2009)

A team of top researchers will look into the current state of American policing under a $2 million National Institute of Justice grant awarded to the University of Illinois at Chicago. Over three years, the team will study 25 law enforcement agencies, including police departments in Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles, to determine what contributes to success among individual officers, supervisors and organizations. The researchers plan to develop and field test a new system called the National Police Research Platform, which will analyze police activities and advance new evidence-based practices. As part of the study, the Chicago Police Department will develop and evaluate innovative recruit training.
www.wbbm780.com/UIC-Receives--2-Million-to-Examine-Police-Organiza/3977011

Brilliant Doctor Develops DNA Study
Arizona Daily Wildcat, (03/06/2009), Rikki Mitchell

What began as a University of Arizona study on the genes affecting albinism could be a useful forensics tool. The study, led by Murray Brilliant of the Steele Children's Research Center at the university, examines genetic differences in hair, skin and eye color to potentially describe a person's appearance. With the new technology, a description of a person could be derived using a blood spot or semen sample from a crime scene, based on DNA. The study involved using cheek swabs gathered from 1,000 people to create their DNA blueprint. The blueprint was then compared to data samples of participants' hair, eyes and skin. Accuracy on hair color is about 80 percent, for eye color accuracy is 76 percent and for skin color accuracy is about 50 percent.
media.wildcat.arizona.edu/media/storage/paper997/news/2009/03/06/News/Brilliant.Doctor.Develops.Dna.Study-3663461.shtml

New Equipment Lets Headland PD Go Wireless
The Dothan Progress, (03/06/2009), Michelle Watson

Police in Hedland, Ala., are going wireless. The police department is using a $93,500 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice and a $25,000 grant from the Wiregrass Resource Conservation and Development Council to purchase new consoles, desktop computers and laptops. Data terminals will be installed in patrol cars, which will allow officers to automate traffic ticketing in the field. The system will allow officers to swipe driver's licenses, check the information and print out a ticket and download the information to the courthouse. Video and audio cameras will also be installed in police vehicles.
www.dothaneagle.com/dea/dothan_progress/news/article/new_equipment_lets_headland_pd_go_wireless/62591/

County Flips the Switch on New Digital Radio System
Woodbury Bulletin, (03/02/2009), Hank Long

Public safety departments in Washington County, Minn., have a new $15 million digital radio system. The 800 MHz system will allow police and fire departments in the county to communicate more efficiently. Washington County is one of the last jurisdictions in the Twin Cities area to transfer public safety communications from analog to digital. The county built 14 new towers across the county and installed a mainframe at the county government center. In old analog systems, "dead spots" are common in indoor spaces such as basements. With the new system, officials say few buildings will thwart signal transmission.
www.swcbulletin.com/articles/index.cfm?id=11912§ion=News

Emergency Notification System Ready for Enrollment
Malden Observer, 03/05/2009, Natalie Miller

Police in Walden, Mass., want residents to participate in an improved emergency community notification program. Residents can sign up on the city's Web site for the program, which allows the city to deliver emergency notification messages to residents via telephone. During a snowstorm in February, the city sent more than 16,000 calls in 16 minutes reminding residents that a snow emergency was in effect. The system can also be used to report a missing child or a hazardous incident. The new program replaces the city's reverse 911 system for less cost to the community and improves response time. The previous system could make about 64 calls a minute, while the new CodeRED system makes 1,000 calls a minute.
www.wickedlocal.com/malden/news/x1237138555/Emergency-notification-system-ready-for-enrollment

Crime Stoppers Group Embraces Technology
Longmont Times-Call, (3/3/2009), Scott Rochat

The Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers program has expanded the way residents can submit crime tips. The program now accepts anonymous text-messaging and Web-based "tip forms," in addition to telephone calls. People who want to submit a tip over the Web can visit www.nocrimestoppers.com and click on "Give a tip." The Web site also allows Crime Stoppers to pass tips to police agencies more quickly.
www.reporterherald.com/news_story.asp?ID=21840

Police Take the Fight onto the Web
New York Times, (3/8/2009), Brad Stone

Law enforcement agencies are using social networking sites as crime-fighting tools. Agencies are using sites well known to the public such as YouTube and MySpace to post information and receive tips. In addition, new Web services are being developed specifically to allow investigative agencies to share information. One service, CrimeDex, was created by a former police officer and is now owned by 3VR of San Francisco, which makes image recognition systems for surveillance cameras. The company says more than 1,000 law enforcement agencies and private agencies such as banks use CrimeDex. Users can submit information, photographs and videos related to possible crimes and compare the information with data from other agencies. Another law enforcement service, CrimeReports.com based in Salt Lake City, allows police to record crimes on a single nationwide map powered by Google. Citizens can view a map of crimes in their neighborhood and sign up to receive e-mail crime alerts.
www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/technology/08stream.html?scp=1&sq=law+enforcement+technology&st=nyt