Public Safety Technology in the News

Private-Prison Plan Raises Concerns
Arizona Republic, (06/14/2009), JJ Hensley

A top Arizona corrections official has raised concerns about a proposal to sell off state prisons and allow private vendors to operate them. A bill introduced in the state senate as part of a budget package would allow private vendors to operate one or more of the Arizona State Prison complexes with a 50-year contract and an upfront payment of $100 million. Concerns cited by Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan in a letter to Gov. Jan Brewer include the ability of for-profit prison companies to properly control volatile inmates in the state's maximum-security units. He also said that to save money, a private company would pay its employees lower wages and provide less training, which could lead to higher staff turnover, low morale and a risk to public safety.
www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/06/14/20090614politics-doc-0614.html

Cigarette Ban Being Implemented in Va. State Prisons
Washington Post, (06/16/2009), Amy Gardner

Virginia is the latest state to begin banning cigarettes in state prisons. Plans call for a tobacco-free corrections system by February 2010. Eight of the state's 40 prisons are either smoke-free or allow employees to smoke only in designated areas, and employees and inmates can participate in smoking cessation and nicotine replacement therapy programs. Other states with prison smoking bans include California, Texas, Michigan, Colorado and Maryland. Some officials have expressed concern that a ban on smoking could heighten tensions among inmates. But Marilyn Harris, Virginia's deputy secretary of public safety, said based on her experience in the eight prisons where a smoking ban is in place, there is no cause for concern. Most local jails in Virginia are smoke free, so inmates are accustomed to doing without cigarettes once they enter a state facility.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/15/AR2009061502330.html

Program Broadened to Enhance Identification and Removal of Criminal Aliens
Imperial Valley (Texas) News, (06/16/2009)
www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5910&Itemid=1
New Program Enhances Identifying and Deporting Criminal Aliens in Nine Florida Counties
BorderFire Report, (06/20/2009)
www.borderfirereport.net/latest/new-program-enhances-identifying-and-deporting-criminal-aliens-in-nine-florida-counties.php

The Secure Communities program, a program administered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that simplifies the process for determining if an arrested individual is a removable criminal, is gaining in popularity across the country. Under this program, the fingerprints of anyone booked into jails in participating jurisdictions are screened in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) immigration databases. If a fingerprint match is found, the technology alerts ICE and the jail that submitted the fingerprints. ICE evaluates each case to determine the individual's immigration status and takes enforcement action after offenders complete their prison terms. Top priority is given to aliens who pose the greatest threat to public safety, such as those with prior convictions for major drug offenses, murder, rape, robbery and kidnapping. Recent news articles have focused on increased implementation of the program in south Texas, where five county sheriffs' offic! es became the latest law enforcement agencies to participate, and in Florida, where nine counties recently joined the project.

Marshall to Study Suspicious Fires
Associated Press, (06/21/2009)

Marshall University, located in Huntington, W.Va., will use a $198,000 federal grant to study the use of flammable liquids in relation to suspicious fires. J. Graham Rankin, an associate professor of forensic science, received the NIJ award for the two-year study. Rankin plans to build a database of kerosene and petroleum distillates commonly sold as charcoal lighters, paint thinners and industrial solvents. This group makes up the second most common class of accelerants used in arson cases behind gasoline. He will analyze samples to identify their chemical fingerprints for later use in fire investigations.
sundaygazettemail.com/News/200906210113

Would You Contact 911 Via a Text Message?
The Gazette, (0/21/2009), Jeff Raasch

Black Hawk County, Iowa, will become the first county in the nation to use text messaging in its emergency communications in July 2009. However, there are some drawbacks and for now, the capability is limited to customers using iWireless. It is thought that the tool will be very useful for teenagers, such as someone who is in a car with another teenager who has been drinking. It has also been touted as a viable alternative for residents with speech and hearing disabilities. A major concern is that texting, unlike phone calls and telecommunications device for the deaf technology, does not automatically provide a location and time lags are possible.
www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090622/NEWS/706229960/1006

Lancaster, Pa., Keeps a Close Eye on Itself
Los Angeles Times, (06/21/2009), Bob Drogin

In Lancaster, Pa., approximately 165 closed-circuit TV cameras soon will provide live, round-the-clock scrutiny of nearly all public space in this city of 55,000. This system includes more outdoor cameras than major cities such as San Francisco and Boston. Lancaster has outsourced this widespread surveillance system to a private nonprofit group whose civilian employees will call police as needed, with no direct government involvement. Hundreds of municipalities, including many major cities, have built or expanded camera networks since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Many have been funded by U.S. Department of Homeland Security grants. In Lancaster, however, business owners, civic boosters and city officials formed the Lancaster Community Safety Coalition, which installed its first camera in 2004.
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-spycam-city21-2009jun21,0,3641451.story

Intergraph Deploys CAD System at MWAA Facilities
Trading Markets.com, (06/22/2009)

A computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system will improve security at Ronald Reagan Washington National and Washington Dulles International airports. Intergraph, a provider of engineering and geospatial software, has deployed a system that will integrate multiple security systems at the two airports and thus improve the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority's (MWAA) ability dispatch emergency assistance at both airports more quickly.
www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2382760/

Hillsdale Police Department Now "Tweeting" Notifications to Residents Through Twitter
Bergen Now, (06/22/2009), Carmine DeMarco

The Hillsdale (N.J.) Police Department has launched a Twitter account under the name of "HillsdalePDNJ. " Twitter is a free real-time short messaging service that works across multiple networks and wireless devices, in particular through the Web site http://twitter.com. Twitter offers the ability to post brief updates about daily activities in 140 characters or less. These message postings are then forwarded to anyone who has tuned in to that specific Twitter account via a computer or handheld device. Hillsdale thus joins a small group of police departments nationwide that have created Twitter accounts to inform citizens. Anyone can browse the Twitter Web site at anytime and use the search function to read HillsdalePDNJ updates.
bergennow.com/index.php/20090622386/Hillsdale/Hillsdale-Police-Department-NJ-New-Jersey-Twitter-tweet-tweeting-HillsdalePDNJ.html

Lake Ozark Police Get New Surveillance Cameras
Newsdesk KCRG, (06/19/2009)

Using a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Lake Ozark (Mo.) Police Department has purchased new surveillance cameras located of Business Route 54 overlooking the Bagnell Dam. The department will have access to three different cameras positioned at various locations to track license plate numbers and perform 24-hour surveillance.
www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=315311