NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary
Thursday, September 20, 2007"Crime Lab Gets a Shot in the Arm"
New York Times (09/16/07) P. 7; Kelly, Caitlin
Westchester County's Department of Laboratories and Research is undergoing a $9 million renovation for its nearly two-decade-old DNA lab. DNA testing assisted prosecutors in their pursuit for repeated Subway sandwich chain burglars in the county last year, when law enforcement matched a lost strand of hair from one of the perpetrators to his DNA in a federal database of criminals. County director of forensic sciences Frederick Drummond says there has been a high demand for the technology, while the lab will also serve law enforcement from the State University of New York system and Metro-North. Drummond adds that cases will be prioritized, whereas rape and murder cases --roughly half of all lab cases-- will have a higher priority than burglaries. The lab is three times larger than its predecessor, allowing vehicles bearing evidence to be brought in, if needed. New technology will enable lab researchers to analyze mitochondrial DNA, allowing what Drummond says will be "1,000 times more chances" to obtain a viable sample, and samples will be placed under a high-powered light containing multiple wavelengths. County medical examiner Dr. Millard Hyland says DNA testing is the definitive factor that enables perpetrators to be put in jail. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/16mainwe.html
"Miramar Buys Helmets With Microphones"
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel (FL) (09/16/07) P. 1; East, Georgia
Motorcycle police officers in Miramar, Fla., will soon have wireless microphones connected to their helmets, replacing the typical shoulder-based microphones that are used for speaking on police radios. Earlier in 2007, Miramar commissioners sanctioned utilizing $16,180 in state law enforcement forfeiture money to buy a dozen helmets with connected microphones. They could start being used before 2007 is over. Police Chief Mel Stanley stated shoulder microphones create a great deal of wind and road noise when a officer is driving. In addition, he said, the traditional radios create a distraction and possible safety risk to officers because they have are forced to only drive with one hand in order to operate the microphones with the other. The wireless helmet kits will be bought from Setcom Communications. Stanley explained the equipment will work in conjunction with the Miramar Police Department's Motorola radios. Separately, Miramar sanctioned spending $175,000 to lease vehicles for the police department to employ in undercover operations during the coming two years.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-
flbpolice0916swsep16,0,273952.story?track=rss
"Simulator Tool to Help Police"
Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel (09/16/07) P. 1; Presser, Matt
Portable firearms simulators are the latest addition to the law enforcement technology repertoire, allowing officers to react to real-life situations using digital videos. Officers can use simulated scenarios that come with the system, or they can create their own. The $146,475 tool is worth the hefty price tag, says Delray Beach training officer Eric Aronowitz. The simulators allow control over variables such as weather and time of day, including the option to program equipment malfunctions so officers would need to respond accordingly. Though the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office purchased a firearms simulator about a decade ago, Lt. Jeff Swank says it is outdated but smaller agencies have more difficulty funding such expensive technology. Aronowitz says the simulator is a beneficial long-term investment, noting, "It's about as realistic as you could get." Delray Beach officers will be trained using the simulator, along with those in nearby municipalities and citizens in the police academies.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/
sfl-flsimulator0916pcsep16,0,4230307.story
"Charleston Police Will Hone Driving Skills"
Charleston Daily Mail (WV) (09/18/07); Thompson, Matthew
In Charleston, S.C., the police department authorized the purchase of a $125,000 computerized driving simulator to improve its police officer driving courses, which currently encompass classroom and outdoor training. The simulator, which will partially be funded by $40,000 in insurance funds, could prevent police-involved accidents during pursuits and other emergency situations. In 2005, one officer raced to help another officer at a domestic violence call, but failed to put on his sirens and lights, resulting in a crash with a civilian vehicle. Department officials stated the idea to bring in the simulator surfaced before the 2005 crash. "We always discussed looking for a better way to train our officers," one officer said. The simulator has three plasma monitors, a console resembling the one in the Ford Crown Victoria, and a program to insert rain, wind, sleet, snow, and other weather conditions, as well as multiple vehicles and pedestrians. The simulator is expected to improve police and emergency response personnel's driving skills and reaction times. http://www.dailymail.com/story/News/+/2007091846/
Charleston+police+will+hone+driving+skills/
"Bay Area Agencies Unveil Communications System"
Contra Costa Times (CA) (09/15/07); Gokhman, Roman
California's East Bay Regional Communications Joint Powers Authority, which was recently created by Alameda and Contra Costa counties and 30 East Bay cities, will construct a single emergency communications system intended to overcome problems caused by radio technologies that do not work together. The Alameda-Contra Costa system is part of a bigger network of law-enforcement groups in the Bay Area announced on Sept. 11 by the mayors of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose--the Bay Area Public Safety Interoperable Communications Initiative. The total project will cost $200 million, with the East Bay percentage coming to $60 million. The majority of the funding will be provided by grants. When done, the whole system will encompass Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties. In addition, it will link to Sacramento to assist with California's disaster-relief coordination. The communications system functions more like a series of email lists instead of typical radio frequencies. Emergency responders and dispatchers can enter in which "talk group" to notify and then broadcast a statement.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_6904014
"South Dallas Hopes Cameras Will Help Deter Crime"
Houston Chronicle (09/13/07) P. B1; Korosec, Thomas
On Sept. 13, Dallas authorities launched the first of 14 remote-controlled cameras that are being erected on top of poles in a neighborhood in the southern part of the city known as Jubilee Park to stop crime and capture violators. The cameras, which have been employed for many years in cities such as San Francisco and Chicago, are the initial ones to be put in a residential neighborhood in Texas. Two-thirds of the cameras' $250,000 price tag are being financed by a church in North Dallas, while the city is paying for the rest. Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle noted that implementation of cameras in downtown Dallas resulted in a 30 percent decline in crime, although they have not resulted in as many arrests as he had hoped. Kunkle stated that panhandling and vehicle burglaries conducted by the homeless comprise the majority of downtown Dallas' crime troubles. Jubilee Park has witnessed a murder, a pair of rapes, and 13 aggravated assaults during the last year. Certain studies have contested the effectiveness of remote-controlled cameras, claiming they simply move crime to back streets and do not result in crime reduction over the long haul. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5133957.html
"Simulating Trouble"
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (09/16/07) P. 1; Seibel, Jacqueline
Ann Arbor-based IES Interactive has provided interactive-simulation technology for officers at Waukesha County Technical College. "This is as close as you are going to get without being in a real-life situation," said Muskego Police Chief Paul Geiszler. WCTC trainees will be able to take advantage of the $100,000 system that aims to provide officers with virtual situations to improve their responding and reaction-time in real situations. The simulation tool mimics situations ranging from robberies to domestic disputes, involving to the extent that their adrenaline is involved; in general training, variables are controlled so the stress levels are not as intense. Trainees are placed in a padded room with a screen projecting the scenario. Loudspeakers with surround sound are used to pump sounds such as screams or glass breaking into the room, a factor that Oconomowoc Police Chief James Wallis says will improve officers' awareness of their total surroundings, versus simply being aware of what is in just in their immediate field of vision. The light can be adjusted according to the degree of vision an officer would have in the designated situation, while props can be added for simulating the dexterity to maneuver in a given situation. Trainees must also choose to respond by using pepper spray, a baton, a Taser, or a gun, according to the nature of the situation. The training is videotaped so that officers can review the trainee's performance, and allow the trainee to evaluate his own response. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=661605
"Police May Get Mobile Computer Terminals"
Birmingham News (AL) (09/13/07) Vol. 120, No. 184, P. 3C; Gray, Jeremy
Police officers in Pelham, Ala., may receive mobile data terminals if a measure included in the 2007 proposed budget is approved Sept. 17. Chief Allan Wade has asked for $600,000 for the terminals--$90,000 in the suggested budget, the remainder payable over a five-year period. The computers, which would be incorporated in city police cruisers, could be taken out and utilized by police in the field. The computers would enable officers to retrieve mug shots or driver's license pictures to make certain the individuals they interrogate are who they claim to be. In addition, the computers would permit officers to obtain data from the state Criminal Justice Information Center, the National Crime Information Center, and municipal court records. The computers would show all the data dispatchers enter into their computers, establishing a voice dispatch. Wade added that the mobile data terminals would permit officers to type their incident statements from their cruisers instead of having to do them at police headquarters.
http://www.bhamnews.com
"Harris System Can Detect Illegal Border Crossings"
Florida Today (09/12/07) P. 1A; Blake, Scott
On Sept. 11, Harris Corp. introduced its new Harris Border Security Shelter system. The shelter locates illegal border crossings and additional threats to U.S. security, the Melbourne, Fla., firm stated. Harris intends to promote the shelter to border patrol groups in this country and other nations. The Border Security Shelter is specially devised to heighten the "flow of information and speed response times to potential threats," Harris explained. From the shelter, border staff are able to watch border regions utilizing ground radar, unmanned sensors, or video cameras; talk to the field and their superiors employing tactical, microwave, and satellite radio; and transmit and obtain email and additional forms of media, Harris noted. In addition, the shelters have "remote networked management and advanced Harris visualization/data fusion software known as Harris SafeGuard." Harris added that the shelters can be permanently implemented at particular locations or quickly deployed to certain areas of operation. Numerous shelters can be deployed and connected to create protective networks.
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
20070912/BUSINESS/709120331/1003
"Online Crime Reporting System Now Available to City Residents"
Los Banos Enterprise (CA) (09/11/07)
As part of its technology upgrade the Los Banos Police Department will enable city residents to report incidents online through the police Web site. "This is a wonderful tool that allows us to provide more effective service to the community," Police Chief Chris Gallagher said. The system can be accessed by logging on to the city's Web page, www.losbanos.org, and clicking on the "Citizens OnLine Reporting System" link found on the left column. There will be a selection as to what type of incident the user would like to report. "We are not going to restrict people from talking to an officer," Gallagher explained. "This is just a way for people who are comfortable with their computer to file a report instead of coming down here." Once a report is submitted the police department will e-mail the reporting party a temporary case number. Once the report is reviewed and approved by a supervisor a second e-mail will be sent out with an official case number. The report can be rejected based on inadequate information or other errors but it will be explained in an e-mail. http://www.losbanosenterprise.com/
"New Law Enforcement Tool From LeadsOnline Fights Metal Theft Epidemic"
Business Wire (09/17/07)
State-of-the-art technology now allows police to easily search scrap metal recycling center records for stolen metal. LeadsOnline has made it easy for law enforcement to search and locate stolen metal, as well as link the property to the thieves who stole it. By nature, scrap metal is difficult to track and identify once stolen, but now there is a way for law enforcement to track these thieves. LeadsOnline introduced a new investigative system specifically designed to fight metal theft on a national basis. Now, instead of keeping track of information on paper tickets, metal recyclers around the country send LeadsOnline their transaction information via a secure internet connection. Law enforcement investigators simply log in and enter the information about their case into the system, including type of metal, date of the theft, location, and other parameters to see if the stolen items were sold for scrap. Investigators are instantly provided with descriptions and even pictures of the property, suspect, and suspect vehicles matching their description. In the days following the launch of the LeadsOnline metal theft investigations system, Detective Courtney of the Shreveport Louisiana Police Department used LeadsOnline to identify an employee at a local oil company who was stealing equipment and selling it to a local scrap yard. Some of the stolen metal, valued at more than $76,000 was recovered.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.
jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070917005808&newsLang=en
"State Plans to Complete Communications System"
Omaha World-Herald (NE) (09/13/07) P. 1B; Stoddard, Martha
Nebraska will utilize almost 50 percent of 2007's $7.2 million in federal homeland security money to erect the final links of a statewide communications system, Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy announced on Sept. 12. He stated that over $2.4 million of the money will be split up between seven areas that are creating communication networks. The networks will permit state and local law-enforcement officials and others to speak with each other. A good number of the areas have finished the job of linking all first responders in their counties, Sheehy explained. Nebraska is currently almost ready to connect the regional network onto one statewide system. The state has employed a significant percentage of its homeland security money in the last few years to establish the network. In addition to the regional grants, Nebraska will spend another $1.1 million of the 2007 homeland security funding on licensing technology for the communications network and offering network support. Nebraska will also utilize part of the $8.5 million of a different federal communications grant initiative to complete the network plan.
http://www.omaha.com
"Tracking People With Imbedded Radio Chips Is No Longer Sci-Fi"
Royal Gazette (Bermuda) (09/05/07)
About 2,000 U.S. workers already have radio frequency identification (RFID) chips embedded under their skin or carry them around in various devices so managers can keep track of their locations, prevent workers from entering certain sensitive areas of the firm, and gauge workers efficiency. However, union leaders, legislators, and others contend the use of RFID to track workers is an invasion of privacy and violates human rights. Generally, RFID is used to track products throughout the supply chain, and the tags contain information on its shipment origin, its make-up, date produced, and other data. In California, state legislators are prepping a bill that would ban the coerced or forced use of RFID in humans, and other states are following suit. However, voluntary use of the chips would be permitted under legislative measures pending before state legislatures, opening the door for employers to use the technology.
http://www.theroyalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/
Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d792af30030012§ionId=65
"License Plate Scanners Give Police New Edge"
Times & Transcript (Canada) (09/10/07) P. D4
A $20,000 device that employs small infrared cameras outfitted on police cruisers automatically reads license plates and compares the numbers against databases of stolen cars and individuals wanted for crimes. Around 400 of the United States' 18,000 police agencies possess a minimum of one license-plate scanner, and authorities predict the scanners will become more popular in the future as the cost of the devices drops. The scanners allow police to read around 75 times more plates during an eight-hour period than they would if they wrote down numbers and gave them to a dispatcher. Although scanner-outfitted vehicles only comprise a small percentage of a police department's fleet, the units are enabling authorities to recover stolen vehicles, locate individuals wanted on criminal warrants, and respond to emergency situations, such as thieves on the run. Civil-right activists contend that scanners bring up the controversial issue of whether the government will widen its utilization of the technology to monitor Americans' private lives. Police note, though, that anybody can write down a license-plate number on the street, which is what scanners do, just more efficiently. Though no studies have proven the effectiveness of scanners on a sizeable scale, certain police agencies stress that scanners have increased their vehicle recovery and arrest figures. http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/search/article/69339
"A Closer Look: Florida Department of Law Enforcement Crimes Against Children Mobile Unit"
Police Magazine (08/07) Vol. 31, No. 8, P. 74; Kyrik, Kelly
In 1984, Terry Thomas, then a special agent for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, started the Crimes Against Children Mobile Unit to help the state address the growing problem of missing and abducted children. The unit features an ordinary-looking Fleetwood sleeper trailer that is used as a mobile interview room. Although many people said that the trailer would be traumatic for children because it was unfamiliar territory for them, it has actually become a hit with kids. Before their interview begins, kids are allowed to explore the trailer, which helps them to feel more at ease. In addition, the main room of the trailer features child-sized bean bag chairs, as well as teddy bears and other toys. The trailer is also equipped with strategically-placed hidden cameras and microphones, which allow agents in the front and back of the trailer to monitor the interview. The use of the mobile unit helps the Florida Department of Law Enforcement achieve a number of things in situations where it has to interview children. For example, the mobile unit helps to ease the fear that many victims feel when faced with repeated questioning. In addition, the mobile unit is perfect for cases that would overwhelm a brick-and-mortar CAC unit, such as cases where there are a number of victims or offenders, as well as in cases where law enforcement officials do not want the media and others to know that they are interviewing victims or offenders.
http://www.policemag.com/Articles/2007/08/Florida-Department-
of-Law-Enforcement-Crimes-Against-children-mobile-Unit.aspx
"Communications Interoperability: Chasing the Dream"
Police and Security News (08/07) Vol. 23, No. 4, P. 30; Kanable, Rebecca
Emergency communications lacking interoperability has remained a hurdle to both efficient security and safety. Yet technological developments will now enable law enforcement, fire departments, and EMS to all communicate through integrated radio frequencies. Researchers have developed "smart radio" technology that allows frequency range, modulation type, and output power controls to be manipulated with cognitive radio technology. The cognitive radio can automatically program itself to communicate with several radios, as Dr. Charles Bostian of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University says the device "acts like a trained intelligent human operator." Software-defined radios can handle voice bandwidths in 25 KHz, 12.5 KHz, or 6.25 KHz ranges. Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) technology is being speculated for use with software-defined radio technology to increase the available capacity for sending data and accommodating higher bandwidths. Implementing cognitive radios would also allow law enforcement to carry less equipment. The necessity for specific public safety technology is crucial in the case of an emergency, so law enforcement and other first-responders must rely on their own kind of enhanced communications systems, rather than using cellular providers or simply a 2.4 MHz frequency. http://www.policeandsecuritynews.com
Showing posts with label police chief. Show all posts
Showing posts with label police chief. Show all posts
Friday, September 21, 2007
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Law Enforcement Technology
NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary
Thursday, September 6, 2007
"City Looks at $40M Police Headquarters"
Waukegan News Sun (IL) (09/04/07); Peterson, Craig
The Waukegan, Ill., City Council is considering design plans for a new headquarters for its police. A five-floor building with communications, training, investigations, records, evidence processing, and office space is thought to cost around $40 million. A police headquarters outfitted with the modern crime-fighting devices is the most sophisticated and costly facility any municipal government will construct, architects have informed aldermen. While initially, plans had called for redoing the previous city hall facility or constructing on an adjacent location, Police Chief Bill Biang explained that seven architectural companies studied refurbishing the present facility and all said it was not a good idea. Biang added there is no room to expand horizontally, and the building cannot support adding floors to it. He also stated that acquiring land would counter the savings of redoing the facility. The council may use a referendum to pay for the new police headquarters. http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/
news/540363,5_1_WA04_WAUKEGANCOPS_S1.article
"A High-Tech Helping Hand for Soldiers"
Philadelphia Inquirer (09/04/07); Holcomb, Henry J.
The Wearable Intelligent Reporting Environment (WIRE), developed by Lockheed Martin, is designed to help soldiers in the field by recording their activity and turning speech it records into documents so soldiers do not have to write reports after a hard day on patrol. If approved, soldiers would wear a headset with an earphone and microphone designed to separate voices from gunfire and other noise. The headset is connected to a rugged but lightweight computer tucked into the soldier's combat vest. The system allows soldiers to dictate a report while in the field, all without taking their hands off their weapons or their eyes off of the action. The computer asks for responses that fill out forms designed for different situations and asks about words or situations it does not understand. The computer automatically creates a report and sends it to commanders, along with data from the soldier's GPS receiver. Data from multiple patrols can be analyzed immediately to fine-tune strategy and tactics. WIRE is designed to work with headsets and batteries already used by the military, and because the device does not have a video screen a single charge lasts as long as most patrols. WIRE also has significant potential for law enforcement applications. Crime analysis expert Robert Cheetham says fresh digital reports from the field would be extremely valuable to police commanders and could allow them to detect patterns and prevent future crimes. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20070904_
A_high-tech_helping_hand_for_soldiers.html
"GPS Technology Helps to Locate Police Dogs"
Cherry Hill Courier-Post (NJ) (09/04/07); Strupczewski, Leo
The Camden County, N.J., Sheriff's Department is one of the initial law enforcement agencies in the nation to obtain GPS technology that can help an officer locate his dog. The dog's collar contains the GPS device, and the dog's officer carries a hand-held device not much larger than a BlackBerry, to track the animal. If a dog gets lost, department members can locate him by finding a pawprint on the handler's screen and proceeding towards it. The Minnesota firm White Bear Technologies manufactures the Roam-EO technology, and contributed four units to the Camden Sheriff's Department's four canine divisions. Roam-EO offers the department real-time information, which is sent to an officer's hand-held unit. Each device is priced at $499, and there is an insurance fee for dogs of $4,500 to $6,000, although that price can increase if training is included. United States Police Canine Association executive director Russ Hess thinks the technology will become more popular as the systems become more advanced.
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20070904/NEWS01/709040362/1006
"Police to Unveil New Communication Gear"
WTNH.com--Channel 8 (Conn.) (09/05/07); Latina, Jodi
First responders in Connecticut will have new technology in the near future to assist them in emergency events. On Wednesday, they are set to receive a communication system that helps links departments throughout Connecticut. It will be the initial state in the country to have the radio common channel erected. The system is intended to maintain open communication lines during an emergency. Currently, if a police officer in Enfield, for example, wishes to speak with an officer in Madison, they would have to use the phone. With a common radio frequency, the link could be immediate. The new system will also keep portable radios in sync. The technology, which is known as band, is priced at $1 million, and connects to current radio systems.
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=7027349&nav=3YeX
"Groves Police Get Anti-Gang Grant"
Mid County Chronicle (TX) (09/05/07); Kutac, Dennis
Authorities with the Groves, Texas, Police Department claim superior technology equipment is what they want to buy after getting a federal granted intended to help target gang violence and associated crimes. Sen. John Cornyn ( R) claims the $350,350 grant was provided by the U.S. Department of Justice's Anti-Gang Initiative and was dispensed by the Texas Office of the Attorney General. Groves Police Department Det. Steven Hinton noted the proposal the department actually presented for the Project Safe Neighborhoods grant totaled $84,489, which it requested earlier this year and from which it obtained around $80,000. Hinton explained the equipment the department wants to acquire includes thermal-imaging devices, binoculars, recorders, and transmitters. "Our department will be buying technology extremely advanced mainly for undercover work and surveillance," he stated. Groves City Marshal Jeff Wilmore pointed out that the grant will also enable the Groves Police Department to bring its Safe Streets Crime Unit and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force together to deal with gang-associated and personal crimes. Cornyn stated the Anti-Gang Initiative offers money to support new or enlarged anti-gang and enforcement plans under the current Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative.
http://www.midcountychronicle.com/news/2007/0905/Front_Page/001.html
"Sandy Springs, GA Police Department Selects SunGard's OSSI Public Safety Software"
WebWire (09/03/07)
SunGard HTE, a leading international provider of government information technologies, reports that the Sandy Springs, Ga., Police Department has signed a contract to implement the company's OSSI Public Safety Suite of software. The suite provides a fully integrated system that affords each agency real-time access to shared information, helping to improve response times, reduce costs, and increase officer safety. The Sandy Springs Police Department will implement the Records Management System and Mobile Computing components of the OSSI Public Safety Suite. Records Management System provides a comprehensive system to collect, store, and access information gathered by law enforcement personnel during daily activities. Mobile Computing Technology is a wireless application that provides access to information for officers in the field. Together, these components will help officers to stay connected with real-time data while in the field. http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=46613
"Lawmen on Target with CVTC Technology"
Calhoun Times (GA) (08/31/07); West, E.K.
The Northwest Georgia Enforcement Executives Association convened in August at Coosa Valley Technical College (CVTC) for the introduction of the new Computer LaserShot Technology in the Criminal Justice program. The innovative technology was given to the officers by CVTC Criminal Justice coordinator and instructor Tom Bojo. "This is an outstanding piece of equipment that can be used not only for laser shot simulation classroom purposes but law enforcement departments can reserve the simulator for training," he stated. LaserShot is a computer-simulation program that employs a simulated handgun and a laser-action screen. Numerous drills and situations--including vehicle chases and hostage scenarios--take place onscreen with various endings. LaserShot instruction is only done at CVTC's Gordon County campus as part of the Criminal Justice program. In addition, the program provides classrooms, crime-scene rooms, computer research facilities, and rescue maze capability. "Our technology capabilities give students hands on experience allowing them to use what they learn in the field," notes Bojo, which keeps officers interested and offers them ongoing feedback.
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&
pnpID=722&NewsID=834262&CategoryID=3388&on=1
"Area Police Forces Add High-Tech Gear"
Valley News Dispatch (08/26/07); Biedka, Chuck
Harrison Township, Pa., law enforcement will soon begin utilizing a video enhancement system, while police in O'Hara will discover how to utilize a high-tech surveillance system that can be employed to investigate a variety of crimes, including drug trafficking. The video enhancement system can be utilized with the majority of video systems to upgrade the quality of images, such as those found on a firm's surveillance tapes. Meanwhile, the video surveillance system is small, easy to hide, and employs a camera that is motion activated. The system, which also records sounds, can be utilized inside or outdoors. O'Hara's surveillance system is the third advanced technological tool that the police department has acquired from the U.S. government. The department is also employing a thermal imaging camera. Harrison Police Chief Mike Klein noted his department will pursue a grant in 2008 to purchase the same surveillance system O'Hara is using. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_524172.html
"Oil City Police Go to Nab Speeders"
Oil City Derrick (PA) (08/30/07); Clark, Karen
The Oil City, Pa., Police Department has been employing the Electronic Non-Radar Device (ENRADD) since January, permitting officers to more aggressively pursue speeders. In addition, ENRADD makes it a lot harder for violators to figure out where police are probably waiting and watching. ENRADD--a wireless speed-detection device--enables police to operate a speed check almost anyplace, including on leading thoroughfares, bridges, and back streets. ENRADD has a pair of tripods that each have sensor units. Officers put the three-foot tripods on either side of the road. As cars drive between the sensors, their speed is determined and sent through a wireless radio connection to a display head situated in a patrol vehicle. Experts contend that ENRADD can save a police department $3,000 to $5,000 a car annually on gas and maintenance because police do not have to chase vehicles that are going too fast. http://www.thederrick.com/stories/08312007-5008.shtml
"Video Billboards Coming This Way"
Philadelphia Inquirer (08/21/07) P. E1; Slobodzian, Joseph A.
The Philadelphia region will soon erect digital billboards, which are being lauded by police for promoting public safety. ClearChannel Outdoor stated it would have eight 14-by-48 video billboards with advertising images or messages that would change every eight seconds on leading highways by the end of this year from Bucks County to Philadelphia and into Delaware County. The company attempted to install a couple of billboards on Aug. 20, only to be stopped by continuous rain. ClearChannel claims the billboards recently informed drivers in Minneapolis and St. Paul about the demise of the Interstate 35W bridge and offered optional routes. Separately, a missing girl from Minneapolis was located one day after digital billboards were utilized in an Amber Alert. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson supports the digital billboards, noting they are in the "community's best interests because they have the capability to deliver important emergency information, such as Amber Alerts or disaster-preparedness bulletins." Driver-safety organizations and environmentalists, however, contend that the billboards will endanger motorists and are an eyesore.
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20070821_
Video_billboards_coming_this_way.html
"Asotin County Sheriff Upgrades Tasers"
Lewiston Morning Tribune (ID) (08/21/07) P. 1D; Cole, David
Deputies in Asotin County, Idaho, are now carrying Tasers with newer technology, which are better at controlling dangerous suspects and are safer, authorities claim. In June, Asotin County Sheriff Ken Bancroft began carrying the new Taser X26 model, replacing the older Taser M26. The Taser X26 discharges a pair of small probes, which look like fish hooks that have been straightened. The probes can fly as far as 25 feet, penetrating the clothing of a suspect and going into the body, Bancroft explained. The Taser X26 costs $200 more than the M26, at $800 apiece. The sheriff's office bought 14 of the X26s, one for every field deputy and two for joint use by Asotin County Jail correctional deputies. The Taser X26 is shaped like a firearm, weighs less than the older Tasers, and documents the length of activation time. http://www.lmtribune.com
"Strategy Game Trains Cops and Firefighters"
PC World (08/23/07); McMillan, Robert
Graduate students from the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering are collaborating with Sandia National Laboratories on a real-time strategy game that allows police officers, fire fighters, and other first responders to practice emergency scenarios. The game, Ground Truth, is realistic because events in the game occur in real time, putting added pressure on first responders to act swiftly. Jim Pointer, the medical director of Alameda County's Emergency Medical Services Agency, recently completed an intense session of Ground Truth that called for him to oversee a city's response to a toxic chemical spill. During the scenario, he was responsible for managing traffic barriers, putting hazmat teams and police cars in position to respond to the spill, and managing medical collection points while keeping an eye out for toxic plumes. Pointer says the game is fun, educational, and has great promise. Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft III game provided inspiration for Ground Truth, which could eventually receive funding from private industry or even the Homeland Security Department. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136306-c,games/article.html
"Dallas PD Fights Crime With Video Surveillance"
Security Technology & Design (07/07) Vol. 17, No. 7, P. 52; Levin, Gregg
In early 2005, the Dallas Police Department launched a pilot project involving the installation of video surveillance cameras in the busy Deep Ellum area of the city. After just four months of operation, the project was credited with significantly reducing the number of crimes in the area, prompting the Police Department to consider expansion. With funding from the Meadows Foundation, bids were sought to install a wireless video surveillance system in Dallas' central business district with a goal of reducing crime in hot spots by 30 percent. In January, the new system was deployed, covering about 30 percent of the downtown area with round-the-clock monitoring and allowing operators to change the direction of the camera lenses remotely as well as allowing officers to redeploy cameras as needed to increase monitoring capabilities at special events or other downtown locations. The Police Department now plans to increase the number of cameras deployed around the city by threefold.
http://www.securityinfowatch.com/print/Security-Technology-
and-Design/Video-Surveillance/Dallas-PD-Fights-Crime-With-Video-Surveillance
/11804SIW2
"Riot Act"
Police Magazine (08/07) Vol. 31, No. 8, P. 34; Griffith, David
Since it was closed in 1996, the West Virginia State Penitentiary at Moundsville has hosted the annual Mock Prison Riot, which is one of the premier corrections and law enforcement training events in the world. The Mock Prison Riot, which is held each May, is planned and executed by the staff of the Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization (OLTEC) and the National Corrections and Law Enforcement Training and Technology Center (NCLETTC). Personnel from the two organizations act as leaders of the "rioters," who are mostly students from local colleges and high schools. In addition, OLTEC develops scenarios that allow law enforcement agencies that are participating in the Mock Prison Riot to practice putting down prison disturbances. Although the scenarios are choreographed to some extent, there are some surprises for the responders. In some of the scenarios, the prisoners give up quickly, while in others they put up a fight. Along with developing the riot scenarios, OLETC and NCLETTC work with the participating law enforcement agencies and the makers of the products that are on display at the Mock Prison Riot's Technology Showcase to provide training opportunities that involve new or improved products. Since it is held in an abandoned prison, the event offers a one-of-a-kind training opportunity for law enforcement agencies such as the Gwinnett County (Ga.) Sheriff's Office's Rapid Response Team. "We really can't train very well in our jail because it is occupied," said Major Carl Sims of the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office. "And that's a problem because a cell offers a unique environment that's difficult to duplicate outside of a corrections facility." http://www.policemag.com/Articles/2007/08/Riot-Act.aspx
Thursday, September 6, 2007
"City Looks at $40M Police Headquarters"
Waukegan News Sun (IL) (09/04/07); Peterson, Craig
The Waukegan, Ill., City Council is considering design plans for a new headquarters for its police. A five-floor building with communications, training, investigations, records, evidence processing, and office space is thought to cost around $40 million. A police headquarters outfitted with the modern crime-fighting devices is the most sophisticated and costly facility any municipal government will construct, architects have informed aldermen. While initially, plans had called for redoing the previous city hall facility or constructing on an adjacent location, Police Chief Bill Biang explained that seven architectural companies studied refurbishing the present facility and all said it was not a good idea. Biang added there is no room to expand horizontally, and the building cannot support adding floors to it. He also stated that acquiring land would counter the savings of redoing the facility. The council may use a referendum to pay for the new police headquarters. http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/
news/540363,5_1_WA04_WAUKEGANCOPS_S1.article
"A High-Tech Helping Hand for Soldiers"
Philadelphia Inquirer (09/04/07); Holcomb, Henry J.
The Wearable Intelligent Reporting Environment (WIRE), developed by Lockheed Martin, is designed to help soldiers in the field by recording their activity and turning speech it records into documents so soldiers do not have to write reports after a hard day on patrol. If approved, soldiers would wear a headset with an earphone and microphone designed to separate voices from gunfire and other noise. The headset is connected to a rugged but lightweight computer tucked into the soldier's combat vest. The system allows soldiers to dictate a report while in the field, all without taking their hands off their weapons or their eyes off of the action. The computer asks for responses that fill out forms designed for different situations and asks about words or situations it does not understand. The computer automatically creates a report and sends it to commanders, along with data from the soldier's GPS receiver. Data from multiple patrols can be analyzed immediately to fine-tune strategy and tactics. WIRE is designed to work with headsets and batteries already used by the military, and because the device does not have a video screen a single charge lasts as long as most patrols. WIRE also has significant potential for law enforcement applications. Crime analysis expert Robert Cheetham says fresh digital reports from the field would be extremely valuable to police commanders and could allow them to detect patterns and prevent future crimes. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20070904_
A_high-tech_helping_hand_for_soldiers.html
"GPS Technology Helps to Locate Police Dogs"
Cherry Hill Courier-Post (NJ) (09/04/07); Strupczewski, Leo
The Camden County, N.J., Sheriff's Department is one of the initial law enforcement agencies in the nation to obtain GPS technology that can help an officer locate his dog. The dog's collar contains the GPS device, and the dog's officer carries a hand-held device not much larger than a BlackBerry, to track the animal. If a dog gets lost, department members can locate him by finding a pawprint on the handler's screen and proceeding towards it. The Minnesota firm White Bear Technologies manufactures the Roam-EO technology, and contributed four units to the Camden Sheriff's Department's four canine divisions. Roam-EO offers the department real-time information, which is sent to an officer's hand-held unit. Each device is priced at $499, and there is an insurance fee for dogs of $4,500 to $6,000, although that price can increase if training is included. United States Police Canine Association executive director Russ Hess thinks the technology will become more popular as the systems become more advanced.
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20070904/NEWS01/709040362/1006
"Police to Unveil New Communication Gear"
WTNH.com--Channel 8 (Conn.) (09/05/07); Latina, Jodi
First responders in Connecticut will have new technology in the near future to assist them in emergency events. On Wednesday, they are set to receive a communication system that helps links departments throughout Connecticut. It will be the initial state in the country to have the radio common channel erected. The system is intended to maintain open communication lines during an emergency. Currently, if a police officer in Enfield, for example, wishes to speak with an officer in Madison, they would have to use the phone. With a common radio frequency, the link could be immediate. The new system will also keep portable radios in sync. The technology, which is known as band, is priced at $1 million, and connects to current radio systems.
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=7027349&nav=3YeX
"Groves Police Get Anti-Gang Grant"
Mid County Chronicle (TX) (09/05/07); Kutac, Dennis
Authorities with the Groves, Texas, Police Department claim superior technology equipment is what they want to buy after getting a federal granted intended to help target gang violence and associated crimes. Sen. John Cornyn ( R) claims the $350,350 grant was provided by the U.S. Department of Justice's Anti-Gang Initiative and was dispensed by the Texas Office of the Attorney General. Groves Police Department Det. Steven Hinton noted the proposal the department actually presented for the Project Safe Neighborhoods grant totaled $84,489, which it requested earlier this year and from which it obtained around $80,000. Hinton explained the equipment the department wants to acquire includes thermal-imaging devices, binoculars, recorders, and transmitters. "Our department will be buying technology extremely advanced mainly for undercover work and surveillance," he stated. Groves City Marshal Jeff Wilmore pointed out that the grant will also enable the Groves Police Department to bring its Safe Streets Crime Unit and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force together to deal with gang-associated and personal crimes. Cornyn stated the Anti-Gang Initiative offers money to support new or enlarged anti-gang and enforcement plans under the current Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative.
http://www.midcountychronicle.com/news/2007/0905/Front_Page/001.html
"Sandy Springs, GA Police Department Selects SunGard's OSSI Public Safety Software"
WebWire (09/03/07)
SunGard HTE, a leading international provider of government information technologies, reports that the Sandy Springs, Ga., Police Department has signed a contract to implement the company's OSSI Public Safety Suite of software. The suite provides a fully integrated system that affords each agency real-time access to shared information, helping to improve response times, reduce costs, and increase officer safety. The Sandy Springs Police Department will implement the Records Management System and Mobile Computing components of the OSSI Public Safety Suite. Records Management System provides a comprehensive system to collect, store, and access information gathered by law enforcement personnel during daily activities. Mobile Computing Technology is a wireless application that provides access to information for officers in the field. Together, these components will help officers to stay connected with real-time data while in the field. http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=46613
"Lawmen on Target with CVTC Technology"
Calhoun Times (GA) (08/31/07); West, E.K.
The Northwest Georgia Enforcement Executives Association convened in August at Coosa Valley Technical College (CVTC) for the introduction of the new Computer LaserShot Technology in the Criminal Justice program. The innovative technology was given to the officers by CVTC Criminal Justice coordinator and instructor Tom Bojo. "This is an outstanding piece of equipment that can be used not only for laser shot simulation classroom purposes but law enforcement departments can reserve the simulator for training," he stated. LaserShot is a computer-simulation program that employs a simulated handgun and a laser-action screen. Numerous drills and situations--including vehicle chases and hostage scenarios--take place onscreen with various endings. LaserShot instruction is only done at CVTC's Gordon County campus as part of the Criminal Justice program. In addition, the program provides classrooms, crime-scene rooms, computer research facilities, and rescue maze capability. "Our technology capabilities give students hands on experience allowing them to use what they learn in the field," notes Bojo, which keeps officers interested and offers them ongoing feedback.
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&
pnpID=722&NewsID=834262&CategoryID=3388&on=1
"Area Police Forces Add High-Tech Gear"
Valley News Dispatch (08/26/07); Biedka, Chuck
Harrison Township, Pa., law enforcement will soon begin utilizing a video enhancement system, while police in O'Hara will discover how to utilize a high-tech surveillance system that can be employed to investigate a variety of crimes, including drug trafficking. The video enhancement system can be utilized with the majority of video systems to upgrade the quality of images, such as those found on a firm's surveillance tapes. Meanwhile, the video surveillance system is small, easy to hide, and employs a camera that is motion activated. The system, which also records sounds, can be utilized inside or outdoors. O'Hara's surveillance system is the third advanced technological tool that the police department has acquired from the U.S. government. The department is also employing a thermal imaging camera. Harrison Police Chief Mike Klein noted his department will pursue a grant in 2008 to purchase the same surveillance system O'Hara is using. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_524172.html
"Oil City Police Go to Nab Speeders"
Oil City Derrick (PA) (08/30/07); Clark, Karen
The Oil City, Pa., Police Department has been employing the Electronic Non-Radar Device (ENRADD) since January, permitting officers to more aggressively pursue speeders. In addition, ENRADD makes it a lot harder for violators to figure out where police are probably waiting and watching. ENRADD--a wireless speed-detection device--enables police to operate a speed check almost anyplace, including on leading thoroughfares, bridges, and back streets. ENRADD has a pair of tripods that each have sensor units. Officers put the three-foot tripods on either side of the road. As cars drive between the sensors, their speed is determined and sent through a wireless radio connection to a display head situated in a patrol vehicle. Experts contend that ENRADD can save a police department $3,000 to $5,000 a car annually on gas and maintenance because police do not have to chase vehicles that are going too fast. http://www.thederrick.com/stories/08312007-5008.shtml
"Video Billboards Coming This Way"
Philadelphia Inquirer (08/21/07) P. E1; Slobodzian, Joseph A.
The Philadelphia region will soon erect digital billboards, which are being lauded by police for promoting public safety. ClearChannel Outdoor stated it would have eight 14-by-48 video billboards with advertising images or messages that would change every eight seconds on leading highways by the end of this year from Bucks County to Philadelphia and into Delaware County. The company attempted to install a couple of billboards on Aug. 20, only to be stopped by continuous rain. ClearChannel claims the billboards recently informed drivers in Minneapolis and St. Paul about the demise of the Interstate 35W bridge and offered optional routes. Separately, a missing girl from Minneapolis was located one day after digital billboards were utilized in an Amber Alert. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson supports the digital billboards, noting they are in the "community's best interests because they have the capability to deliver important emergency information, such as Amber Alerts or disaster-preparedness bulletins." Driver-safety organizations and environmentalists, however, contend that the billboards will endanger motorists and are an eyesore.
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20070821_
Video_billboards_coming_this_way.html
"Asotin County Sheriff Upgrades Tasers"
Lewiston Morning Tribune (ID) (08/21/07) P. 1D; Cole, David
Deputies in Asotin County, Idaho, are now carrying Tasers with newer technology, which are better at controlling dangerous suspects and are safer, authorities claim. In June, Asotin County Sheriff Ken Bancroft began carrying the new Taser X26 model, replacing the older Taser M26. The Taser X26 discharges a pair of small probes, which look like fish hooks that have been straightened. The probes can fly as far as 25 feet, penetrating the clothing of a suspect and going into the body, Bancroft explained. The Taser X26 costs $200 more than the M26, at $800 apiece. The sheriff's office bought 14 of the X26s, one for every field deputy and two for joint use by Asotin County Jail correctional deputies. The Taser X26 is shaped like a firearm, weighs less than the older Tasers, and documents the length of activation time. http://www.lmtribune.com
"Strategy Game Trains Cops and Firefighters"
PC World (08/23/07); McMillan, Robert
Graduate students from the University of Southern California's Viterbi School of Engineering are collaborating with Sandia National Laboratories on a real-time strategy game that allows police officers, fire fighters, and other first responders to practice emergency scenarios. The game, Ground Truth, is realistic because events in the game occur in real time, putting added pressure on first responders to act swiftly. Jim Pointer, the medical director of Alameda County's Emergency Medical Services Agency, recently completed an intense session of Ground Truth that called for him to oversee a city's response to a toxic chemical spill. During the scenario, he was responsible for managing traffic barriers, putting hazmat teams and police cars in position to respond to the spill, and managing medical collection points while keeping an eye out for toxic plumes. Pointer says the game is fun, educational, and has great promise. Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft III game provided inspiration for Ground Truth, which could eventually receive funding from private industry or even the Homeland Security Department. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136306-c,games/article.html
"Dallas PD Fights Crime With Video Surveillance"
Security Technology & Design (07/07) Vol. 17, No. 7, P. 52; Levin, Gregg
In early 2005, the Dallas Police Department launched a pilot project involving the installation of video surveillance cameras in the busy Deep Ellum area of the city. After just four months of operation, the project was credited with significantly reducing the number of crimes in the area, prompting the Police Department to consider expansion. With funding from the Meadows Foundation, bids were sought to install a wireless video surveillance system in Dallas' central business district with a goal of reducing crime in hot spots by 30 percent. In January, the new system was deployed, covering about 30 percent of the downtown area with round-the-clock monitoring and allowing operators to change the direction of the camera lenses remotely as well as allowing officers to redeploy cameras as needed to increase monitoring capabilities at special events or other downtown locations. The Police Department now plans to increase the number of cameras deployed around the city by threefold.
http://www.securityinfowatch.com/print/Security-Technology-
and-Design/Video-Surveillance/Dallas-PD-Fights-Crime-With-Video-Surveillance
/11804SIW2
"Riot Act"
Police Magazine (08/07) Vol. 31, No. 8, P. 34; Griffith, David
Since it was closed in 1996, the West Virginia State Penitentiary at Moundsville has hosted the annual Mock Prison Riot, which is one of the premier corrections and law enforcement training events in the world. The Mock Prison Riot, which is held each May, is planned and executed by the staff of the Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization (OLTEC) and the National Corrections and Law Enforcement Training and Technology Center (NCLETTC). Personnel from the two organizations act as leaders of the "rioters," who are mostly students from local colleges and high schools. In addition, OLTEC develops scenarios that allow law enforcement agencies that are participating in the Mock Prison Riot to practice putting down prison disturbances. Although the scenarios are choreographed to some extent, there are some surprises for the responders. In some of the scenarios, the prisoners give up quickly, while in others they put up a fight. Along with developing the riot scenarios, OLETC and NCLETTC work with the participating law enforcement agencies and the makers of the products that are on display at the Mock Prison Riot's Technology Showcase to provide training opportunities that involve new or improved products. Since it is held in an abandoned prison, the event offers a one-of-a-kind training opportunity for law enforcement agencies such as the Gwinnett County (Ga.) Sheriff's Office's Rapid Response Team. "We really can't train very well in our jail because it is occupied," said Major Carl Sims of the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office. "And that's a problem because a cell offers a unique environment that's difficult to duplicate outside of a corrections facility." http://www.policemag.com/Articles/2007/08/Riot-Act.aspx
Friday, August 10, 2007
Law Enforcement Technology
NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary
Thursday, August 9, 2007
"Crime-Fighting Revolution"
Daily Times (08/06/07); Butler, Iva
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is creating a fusion center which will permit law enforcement agencies throughout the state to network when solving crimes. The center is situated in Nashville at the TBI headquarters and is 4,000 square feet. The center has 26 analysts, and data from throughout Tennessee is being entered into the center's computer. Within the coming few months, all the data from law enforcement agencies in Tennessee is scheduled to be online. The data is comprised of open records that anybody is allowed to acquire from any law enforcement agency in Tennessee. The plan is to move all the information into one location where analysts can conduct a more in-depth service and study crime trends. Some of the crimes that the TBI investigates are illegal drug production, sales and use, juvenile crime, and weapons.
http://www.thedailytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20070806/NEWS/70806001
"Coming Next in the Police Arsenal: Light Sabers?"
Indianapolis Star (08/08/07)
The Department of Homeland Security is trying to equip federal agents with a light-saber device giving off a bright strobe that would temporarily blind criminals, terrorists, and disruptive airplane passengers. It is the newest government plan to create a nonlethal weapon. To date, the Homeland Security Department has spent $1 million on testing the light-emitting diode (LED) incapacitator. If it yields good results, the department claims the device could be in the possession of thousands of police, border agents, and National Guardsmen within three years. The light-saber functions by temporarily blinding and confusing an individual. Once focused at somebody's eyes, several light pulses can be initiated, and the suspect's eyes cannot compensate fast enough to see.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
20070808/NATIONWORLD/708080428/-1/LOCAL17
"High-Tech Cameras Give Cars the Boot"
Chicago Tribune (08/06/07)
On Aug. 3, the Chicago Department of Revenue stated it would erect cameras in 26 of its boot vans, which search city streets for vehicles that should be booted due to traffic breaches. A vehicle becomes eligible for a boot--which makes the car unmovable--when a driver acquires three tickets or more on any vehicle registered in his name and ignores multiple requests for payment. The new cameras have license-plate recognition technology that does away with the need to enter a vehicle's plate number into a handheld gadget to decide if it can be booted. In addition, the cameras read license plates on either side of a street at the same time, which will enable crews to drive down a street one time instead of twice. Three newly-outfitted vans are currently monitoring the streets. The Department of Revenue believes that all of its boot crews will employ the new technology by the end of this month.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/
chicago/chi-bootvanaug06,0,6926399.story
"Fingerprints May Soon Yield Gender Clues"
ScienceDaily (08/03/07)
British researchers have developed a novel fingerprinting technique that generates chemical clues regarding the suspected criminals gender and diet, according to research published in Analytical Chemistry. Gel tapes lift the prints, which are then examined in a spectroscopic microscope. Infrared rays irradiate the sample to produce a comprehensive chemical composition. An infrared array detector then processes the chemical structure. The chemical clues could suggest whether the suspect was a meat-eater or a vegetarian, and may distinguish traces of handled items, such as narcotics, gunpowder, and chemical or biological weapons.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=
UPI-1-20070803-23040200-bc-us-fingerprinting.xml
"MySpace Helps NLR Police Link to Students"
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (08/06/07); Carrick, Kayla
Police officers at Arkansas middle schools have erected MySpace pages, in order to be in touch with students who spend a lot of time on the Internet. In the last year, around 24 pages sponsored by police departments throughout the United States have come up on MySpace, which has around 160 million profile pages overall. School resource officers Jon Schwulst and Fran Hichens note that once in a while, students will utilize MySpace to inform officers about trouble at school. Hichens, who works at Poplar Street Middle School, explained that one of his students was putting "alarming" items on a MySpace page, and that another student informed Hichens about the problem through a MySpace page, thereby enabling Hichens to help the student get personal assistance. Miami-Dade, Fla., Police Department Sgt. Erick Palmer, who erected and manages his department's MySpace page, notes his department's presence dissuades online predators. Palmer was one of the initial police officers to create a viable MySpace page sponsored by a law enforcement agency. Miami-Dade's site, which gets over 5,000 hits every month, has been helpful in recruiting officers and promoting the department's youth-volunteer campaign. In addition, the department has gotten anonymous tips on MySpace that have resulted in drug busts. http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/197811/
"Understanding the National Data Exchange (N-DEx) System"
PoliceOne.com (08/07/07); Marshall, Mark A.
International Association of Chiefs of Police Mark A. Marshall says data-sharing has become the new "buzzword" among law enforcement groups. He states a superior system would obtain crime-related information from all involved law-enforcement interests and change it into relevant data, an idea that has became the basis for the National Data Exchange (N-DEx) project. N-DEx's goal is to share detailed, correct, up-to-date, and helpful data from all jurisdiction regions and offer new investigative tools that improve the country's ability to combat crime and terrorism. Marshall says at the heart of N-DEx is enabling law-enforcement groups to provide their incident information to a main repository where it is compared with events which are already on record to find connections between individuals, locations, things, or related activities. The events can then stay on file to be compared with all pending incoming incidents. Marshall notes that local, state, and tribal law enforcement investigators will be the leading beneficiaries of the program. He states that N-DEx will also offer contact data and collaboration tools for institutions working on cases of interest to all parties. http://www.policeone.com/writers/columnists/MarkMarshall/articles/1295732/
"Police Plan to Use New Tech to Find Missing Persons"
San Bernardino County Sun (08/02/07); Lopez, C.L.
Redlands, Calif.'s Police Department will soon implement new technology to be employed as a part of the department's Never Alone Safely Back Home program that was begun last year. The database-enrollment program is offered at no cost to city residents. Thumb prints, photographs, data, and sometimes samples of DNA are stored on file. The data is utilized to locate and identify people with memory loss who become lost. While in 2006 and 2007, the program has employed gadgets that were sported on the ankle and equipped with GPS technology to locate people with memory loss who wander away from their residences and get lost, Police Chief Jim Bueermann said recently that a new technology known as Project Lifesaver--which transmits a radio signal from a bracelet that is similar to a wristwatch--will be used. He noted that the Project Lifesaver gadget has the benefit of being more comfortable to wear than the GPS devices. While it is not known how much Project Lifesaver will cost, Bueermann stated he is thinking about utilizing grant funds so inhabitants can use the devices.
http://www.sbsun.com//ci_6525518?IADID=Search-
www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com
"Satellite Aids in Tracking Bank Robbers: Bad Guys Now Have to Worry About GPS Technology"
New Haven Register (08/05/07); Kaempffer, William
Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is being utilized in New Haven, Conn., to follow bank thieves, most likely the first time it has been used for that reason. "The banks will tend to use it in higher-risk locations because it's not the cheapest," explains Connecticut Bankers Association senior vice president Lindsey R. Pinkham. "That, to some degree, has limited its deployment." Industry sources claim one product being worked on is a computerized fiscal recognition system in a current database. While GPS technology functions in a similar fashion to traditional dye packs, which are placed alongside money and go off after the thief exits the bank, the GPS tracker silently transmits signals that permit police to precisely uncover the suspect's whereabouts on a computer screen. Throughout the country, GPS technology has been more and more used by police to solve a broad variety of crimes. A female bank robber was recently apprehended in New Haven after exiting the branch with money and a concealed transmitter. Police were able to find and arrest her in minutes by using GPS to locate her. http://www.nhregister.com
"Plate Scanners Give Police Rapid Tool"
Arizona Republic (08/01/07) P. 4; Sowers, Carol
Law enforcement groups in Arizona's Valley region are employing high-speed technologies to capture license-plate images and monitor stolen vehicles utilized in crimes. Police hope the scanners will get violent individuals off the streets sooner. The Scottsdale Police Department intends to use funds captured from illegal activities to purchase four high-speed license-plate scanners. Three of the gadgets will be erected on police cruisers, while the remaining device is a handheld one that can be transferred from one police cruiser to another. The license-plate scanners can read a plate in around one second. They then look through a "hot sheet" of wanted cars downloaded to officers' cruiser computers. If a match is found, certain readers utilize voice technology to notify the officer. The scanners have helped find numerous stolen vehicles and helped result in multiple arrests in Phoenix. http://www.arizonarepublic.com
"Radiation-Monitor Study Sought"
Washington Post (08/01/07) P. D2; O'Harrow, Robert Jr.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief Michael Chertoff has requested that the Defense Department's Defense Threat Reduction Agency create a team of independent experts to review the effectiveness of DHS radiation-detection machines used to scan trucks and cargo containers. A Government Accountability Office report found that the machines were not nearly effective as the DHS had advertised to Congress. In reaction to the report, Congress has mandated that Chertoff ensure that the machines are effective before implementing the machines as part of a $1.2 billion project. Chertoff has sent a letter to several lawmakers, promising that a "highly experienced team of technical and programmatic" experts will review the machines.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2007/07/31/AR2007073101901.html
"10 Fingerprints Needed to Enter US Soon"
Manila Bulletin (07/31/07)
A pilot program will be launched in late 2007 at 10 major U.S. airports to test the feasibility of digitally scanning all 10 fingerprints of incoming passengers rather than the two currently scanned under the U.S.-VISIT Program. The airports chosen for the pilot are Logan International, Chicago OHare International, George Bush Intercontinental, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Miami International, John F. Kennedy International, Orlando International, San Francisco International, and Dulles International. The new requirement will apply to passengers from countries participating in the U.S. Visa-Waiver program as well as those who require a visa to enter the Untied States. U.S. Department of Homeland Security operations director P.T. Wright says that the scanning of additional fingerprints would not take more time than the current procedure but would ensure near 100 percent accuracy. http://www.mb.com.ph/TOUR2007073199113.html#
"Sky Spies Target Crime"
Mirror (UK) (08/03/07) P. 6; Cunningham, Jimmy
The Republic of Ireland has acquired two Israeli-made Orbiter UAVs that will be used for military activities and for monitoring drug smuggling along the Irish border and coastline. The unmanned planes, which were purchased at a price of 780,000 euros, have a range of 15 kilometers, can be used to spy from an altitude of 15,000 feet, and contain two cameras that can be used day or night. They can be carried in a soldier's backpack, assembled in 10 minutes, and launched from a catapult. Israel has used the unmanned vehicles to pinpoint targets before fighter aircraft are called in. Switzerland will use the versatile craft to monitor soccer fans during Euro 2008. http://www.mirror.co.uk
"Mauritians Pioneer Emergency Preparedness Training in Second Life"
L'Express (07/23/07); Beedasy-Ramloll, Jaishree
Idaho State University researchers have established a virtual town where first responders can receive disaster training in the popular Web-based 3D virtual world Second Life. The town, which includes a police station, hospital, and residences, is located in Second Life's Play2Train section, which is a federally-funded collaborative effort involving the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and several universities. Real-life first responders can use their computers to visit the Play2Train area, where they can participate in several types of virtual training events, including Alternative Care Facility Mobile Quarantine and Healthcare Facility "Sidewalk Triage" for an Avian Flu Pandemic. The Second Life virtual world is populated by real-life people who control their "avatars" in the fictional world; these avatars are capable of interacting with and communicating with other avatars within the virtual world. Thus, the avatars can participate in the disaster-training exercises--including instructional courses and table-top exercises--which have some advantages over real-world training in that simulated weather conditions such as rain, snow, and lightning can be added to provide realism to the training. The researchers behind the Play2Train effort believe that the training exercises in the virtual world could eventually supplant real-world exercises. http://www.lexpress.mu/display_article.php?news_id=90612
"New Less-Lethal Series of Projectile Launchers for Law Enforcement and Military Now Available"
Market Wire (07/30/07)
Security With Advanced Technology, Inc., a leading provider of security products and services, reports that its new MK Series of less-lethal projectile launchers designed primarily for use by military and law enforcement are now available for sale and delivery. Developed by Veritas Tactical, a division of Security With Advanced Technology, the MK Series of less-lethal launchers are propelled by high pressured air and shoot PAVA-filled projectiles, which break open on impact releasing a cloud of potent PAVA powder that causes subjects to cough, choke and become temporarily debilitated. The powder is significantly stronger than the effect of pepper spray. The launchers give military and law enforcement officers the ability to deliver less-lethal rounds accurately at a point target at 50 meters, providing them with a tactical advantage in many control situations. The MK Series also delivers rounds up to 100 meters for riot and crowd control situations. http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0284005.htm
Thursday, August 9, 2007
"Crime-Fighting Revolution"
Daily Times (08/06/07); Butler, Iva
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is creating a fusion center which will permit law enforcement agencies throughout the state to network when solving crimes. The center is situated in Nashville at the TBI headquarters and is 4,000 square feet. The center has 26 analysts, and data from throughout Tennessee is being entered into the center's computer. Within the coming few months, all the data from law enforcement agencies in Tennessee is scheduled to be online. The data is comprised of open records that anybody is allowed to acquire from any law enforcement agency in Tennessee. The plan is to move all the information into one location where analysts can conduct a more in-depth service and study crime trends. Some of the crimes that the TBI investigates are illegal drug production, sales and use, juvenile crime, and weapons.
http://www.thedailytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20070806/NEWS/70806001
"Coming Next in the Police Arsenal: Light Sabers?"
Indianapolis Star (08/08/07)
The Department of Homeland Security is trying to equip federal agents with a light-saber device giving off a bright strobe that would temporarily blind criminals, terrorists, and disruptive airplane passengers. It is the newest government plan to create a nonlethal weapon. To date, the Homeland Security Department has spent $1 million on testing the light-emitting diode (LED) incapacitator. If it yields good results, the department claims the device could be in the possession of thousands of police, border agents, and National Guardsmen within three years. The light-saber functions by temporarily blinding and confusing an individual. Once focused at somebody's eyes, several light pulses can be initiated, and the suspect's eyes cannot compensate fast enough to see.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
20070808/NATIONWORLD/708080428/-1/LOCAL17
"High-Tech Cameras Give Cars the Boot"
Chicago Tribune (08/06/07)
On Aug. 3, the Chicago Department of Revenue stated it would erect cameras in 26 of its boot vans, which search city streets for vehicles that should be booted due to traffic breaches. A vehicle becomes eligible for a boot--which makes the car unmovable--when a driver acquires three tickets or more on any vehicle registered in his name and ignores multiple requests for payment. The new cameras have license-plate recognition technology that does away with the need to enter a vehicle's plate number into a handheld gadget to decide if it can be booted. In addition, the cameras read license plates on either side of a street at the same time, which will enable crews to drive down a street one time instead of twice. Three newly-outfitted vans are currently monitoring the streets. The Department of Revenue believes that all of its boot crews will employ the new technology by the end of this month.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/
chicago/chi-bootvanaug06,0,6926399.story
"Fingerprints May Soon Yield Gender Clues"
ScienceDaily (08/03/07)
British researchers have developed a novel fingerprinting technique that generates chemical clues regarding the suspected criminals gender and diet, according to research published in Analytical Chemistry. Gel tapes lift the prints, which are then examined in a spectroscopic microscope. Infrared rays irradiate the sample to produce a comprehensive chemical composition. An infrared array detector then processes the chemical structure. The chemical clues could suggest whether the suspect was a meat-eater or a vegetarian, and may distinguish traces of handled items, such as narcotics, gunpowder, and chemical or biological weapons.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=
UPI-1-20070803-23040200-bc-us-fingerprinting.xml
"MySpace Helps NLR Police Link to Students"
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (08/06/07); Carrick, Kayla
Police officers at Arkansas middle schools have erected MySpace pages, in order to be in touch with students who spend a lot of time on the Internet. In the last year, around 24 pages sponsored by police departments throughout the United States have come up on MySpace, which has around 160 million profile pages overall. School resource officers Jon Schwulst and Fran Hichens note that once in a while, students will utilize MySpace to inform officers about trouble at school. Hichens, who works at Poplar Street Middle School, explained that one of his students was putting "alarming" items on a MySpace page, and that another student informed Hichens about the problem through a MySpace page, thereby enabling Hichens to help the student get personal assistance. Miami-Dade, Fla., Police Department Sgt. Erick Palmer, who erected and manages his department's MySpace page, notes his department's presence dissuades online predators. Palmer was one of the initial police officers to create a viable MySpace page sponsored by a law enforcement agency. Miami-Dade's site, which gets over 5,000 hits every month, has been helpful in recruiting officers and promoting the department's youth-volunteer campaign. In addition, the department has gotten anonymous tips on MySpace that have resulted in drug busts. http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/197811/
"Understanding the National Data Exchange (N-DEx) System"
PoliceOne.com (08/07/07); Marshall, Mark A.
International Association of Chiefs of Police Mark A. Marshall says data-sharing has become the new "buzzword" among law enforcement groups. He states a superior system would obtain crime-related information from all involved law-enforcement interests and change it into relevant data, an idea that has became the basis for the National Data Exchange (N-DEx) project. N-DEx's goal is to share detailed, correct, up-to-date, and helpful data from all jurisdiction regions and offer new investigative tools that improve the country's ability to combat crime and terrorism. Marshall says at the heart of N-DEx is enabling law-enforcement groups to provide their incident information to a main repository where it is compared with events which are already on record to find connections between individuals, locations, things, or related activities. The events can then stay on file to be compared with all pending incoming incidents. Marshall notes that local, state, and tribal law enforcement investigators will be the leading beneficiaries of the program. He states that N-DEx will also offer contact data and collaboration tools for institutions working on cases of interest to all parties. http://www.policeone.com/writers/columnists/MarkMarshall/articles/1295732/
"Police Plan to Use New Tech to Find Missing Persons"
San Bernardino County Sun (08/02/07); Lopez, C.L.
Redlands, Calif.'s Police Department will soon implement new technology to be employed as a part of the department's Never Alone Safely Back Home program that was begun last year. The database-enrollment program is offered at no cost to city residents. Thumb prints, photographs, data, and sometimes samples of DNA are stored on file. The data is utilized to locate and identify people with memory loss who become lost. While in 2006 and 2007, the program has employed gadgets that were sported on the ankle and equipped with GPS technology to locate people with memory loss who wander away from their residences and get lost, Police Chief Jim Bueermann said recently that a new technology known as Project Lifesaver--which transmits a radio signal from a bracelet that is similar to a wristwatch--will be used. He noted that the Project Lifesaver gadget has the benefit of being more comfortable to wear than the GPS devices. While it is not known how much Project Lifesaver will cost, Bueermann stated he is thinking about utilizing grant funds so inhabitants can use the devices.
http://www.sbsun.com//ci_6525518?IADID=Search-
www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com
"Satellite Aids in Tracking Bank Robbers: Bad Guys Now Have to Worry About GPS Technology"
New Haven Register (08/05/07); Kaempffer, William
Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is being utilized in New Haven, Conn., to follow bank thieves, most likely the first time it has been used for that reason. "The banks will tend to use it in higher-risk locations because it's not the cheapest," explains Connecticut Bankers Association senior vice president Lindsey R. Pinkham. "That, to some degree, has limited its deployment." Industry sources claim one product being worked on is a computerized fiscal recognition system in a current database. While GPS technology functions in a similar fashion to traditional dye packs, which are placed alongside money and go off after the thief exits the bank, the GPS tracker silently transmits signals that permit police to precisely uncover the suspect's whereabouts on a computer screen. Throughout the country, GPS technology has been more and more used by police to solve a broad variety of crimes. A female bank robber was recently apprehended in New Haven after exiting the branch with money and a concealed transmitter. Police were able to find and arrest her in minutes by using GPS to locate her. http://www.nhregister.com
"Plate Scanners Give Police Rapid Tool"
Arizona Republic (08/01/07) P. 4; Sowers, Carol
Law enforcement groups in Arizona's Valley region are employing high-speed technologies to capture license-plate images and monitor stolen vehicles utilized in crimes. Police hope the scanners will get violent individuals off the streets sooner. The Scottsdale Police Department intends to use funds captured from illegal activities to purchase four high-speed license-plate scanners. Three of the gadgets will be erected on police cruisers, while the remaining device is a handheld one that can be transferred from one police cruiser to another. The license-plate scanners can read a plate in around one second. They then look through a "hot sheet" of wanted cars downloaded to officers' cruiser computers. If a match is found, certain readers utilize voice technology to notify the officer. The scanners have helped find numerous stolen vehicles and helped result in multiple arrests in Phoenix. http://www.arizonarepublic.com
"Radiation-Monitor Study Sought"
Washington Post (08/01/07) P. D2; O'Harrow, Robert Jr.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief Michael Chertoff has requested that the Defense Department's Defense Threat Reduction Agency create a team of independent experts to review the effectiveness of DHS radiation-detection machines used to scan trucks and cargo containers. A Government Accountability Office report found that the machines were not nearly effective as the DHS had advertised to Congress. In reaction to the report, Congress has mandated that Chertoff ensure that the machines are effective before implementing the machines as part of a $1.2 billion project. Chertoff has sent a letter to several lawmakers, promising that a "highly experienced team of technical and programmatic" experts will review the machines.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2007/07/31/AR2007073101901.html
"10 Fingerprints Needed to Enter US Soon"
Manila Bulletin (07/31/07)
A pilot program will be launched in late 2007 at 10 major U.S. airports to test the feasibility of digitally scanning all 10 fingerprints of incoming passengers rather than the two currently scanned under the U.S.-VISIT Program. The airports chosen for the pilot are Logan International, Chicago OHare International, George Bush Intercontinental, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Miami International, John F. Kennedy International, Orlando International, San Francisco International, and Dulles International. The new requirement will apply to passengers from countries participating in the U.S. Visa-Waiver program as well as those who require a visa to enter the Untied States. U.S. Department of Homeland Security operations director P.T. Wright says that the scanning of additional fingerprints would not take more time than the current procedure but would ensure near 100 percent accuracy. http://www.mb.com.ph/TOUR2007073199113.html#
"Sky Spies Target Crime"
Mirror (UK) (08/03/07) P. 6; Cunningham, Jimmy
The Republic of Ireland has acquired two Israeli-made Orbiter UAVs that will be used for military activities and for monitoring drug smuggling along the Irish border and coastline. The unmanned planes, which were purchased at a price of 780,000 euros, have a range of 15 kilometers, can be used to spy from an altitude of 15,000 feet, and contain two cameras that can be used day or night. They can be carried in a soldier's backpack, assembled in 10 minutes, and launched from a catapult. Israel has used the unmanned vehicles to pinpoint targets before fighter aircraft are called in. Switzerland will use the versatile craft to monitor soccer fans during Euro 2008. http://www.mirror.co.uk
"Mauritians Pioneer Emergency Preparedness Training in Second Life"
L'Express (07/23/07); Beedasy-Ramloll, Jaishree
Idaho State University researchers have established a virtual town where first responders can receive disaster training in the popular Web-based 3D virtual world Second Life. The town, which includes a police station, hospital, and residences, is located in Second Life's Play2Train section, which is a federally-funded collaborative effort involving the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and several universities. Real-life first responders can use their computers to visit the Play2Train area, where they can participate in several types of virtual training events, including Alternative Care Facility Mobile Quarantine and Healthcare Facility "Sidewalk Triage" for an Avian Flu Pandemic. The Second Life virtual world is populated by real-life people who control their "avatars" in the fictional world; these avatars are capable of interacting with and communicating with other avatars within the virtual world. Thus, the avatars can participate in the disaster-training exercises--including instructional courses and table-top exercises--which have some advantages over real-world training in that simulated weather conditions such as rain, snow, and lightning can be added to provide realism to the training. The researchers behind the Play2Train effort believe that the training exercises in the virtual world could eventually supplant real-world exercises. http://www.lexpress.mu/display_article.php?news_id=90612
"New Less-Lethal Series of Projectile Launchers for Law Enforcement and Military Now Available"
Market Wire (07/30/07)
Security With Advanced Technology, Inc., a leading provider of security products and services, reports that its new MK Series of less-lethal projectile launchers designed primarily for use by military and law enforcement are now available for sale and delivery. Developed by Veritas Tactical, a division of Security With Advanced Technology, the MK Series of less-lethal launchers are propelled by high pressured air and shoot PAVA-filled projectiles, which break open on impact releasing a cloud of potent PAVA powder that causes subjects to cough, choke and become temporarily debilitated. The powder is significantly stronger than the effect of pepper spray. The launchers give military and law enforcement officers the ability to deliver less-lethal rounds accurately at a point target at 50 meters, providing them with a tactical advantage in many control situations. The MK Series also delivers rounds up to 100 meters for riot and crowd control situations. http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0284005.htm
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Law Enforcement Technology
NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary
Thursday, August 2, 2007
"Centre Island Police Put Latest Technology to Work"
New York Times (07/29/07) P. 5; Domash, Shelly Feuer
Law enforcement technology scans the license plates of every car driving onto Nassau County's Centre Island. Chief Dennis Weiner of the Centre Island Police Department says the agency tracks weather via radar-monitoring computers and software servers that are used as tools for criminal reports. Officers carry compact mobile scanners to transfer vehicle license and registration information onto computers, ride in night-vision binocular-equipped Volvos, and carry Tasers. The department has a centralized system for keeping reports of accidents, arrests, and officer diaries, among other features. The main headquarters' computer also provides address validations, 3-D area maps, and a comprehensive search engine. Departments with compatible software, such as Long Beach and Mamaroneck, can network and share the information from their systems. Such advanced technology at any law enforcement agency is remarkable, but it is especially atypical for Centre Island's small nine-officer department. Weiner said that the technology costs represents only 4 percent of a $1.6 million annual budget and that the department maximizes the efficiency of their allowed spending. He added, "Anytime you apply a technology that will increase officer effectiveness, you have an opportunity to increase the bang for each tax dollar spent on public safety."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/29peopleli.html
"Prison Tests Keeping Out Some Drugs, and Visitors"
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (07/26/07) P. B1; Berard, Yamil
Visitors to prisons controlled by the Federal Bureau of Prisons are subject to a drug-testing machine that officials say is used to minimize drug usage in the facilities. The "minimally invasive" procedure takes swab samples from visitors' hands or clothes, and within seconds the results are produced. Authorities say the high-tech machine is so sensitive, it is unlikely that anyone who comes into contact with illegal substances would be able to bypass the test. Chemist James Woodford says, "If you go into a place where someone has smoked some meth or cocaine, there will be thousands if not hundreds of thousands of nanograms of pollution, and these ion scanners test at the nanogram level." Although the machines have been implemented for a decade to cut the incidences of visitors bringing inmates drugs, a 2003 Department of Justice Inspector General report revealed that efforts to impede drug trafficking did not decrease drug usage in prisons. Instead, the report found that staff members, who were not subject to the drug screening, smuggled drugs to inmates; the bureau is now seeking to implement a drug screening rule for employees. Visitors who test positive must wait 48 hours to visit the prison and will be tested every visit for one year, while a second positive test results in a 30-day wait period, thereafter subsequent positive tests result in longer waiting times. Yet University of North Texas professor Chad Trulson says that the machines might be hyper-sensitive, as the machines can detect a visitor who has shook hands with a drug-user, and he says officials should further evaluate the machines' usage. http://origin.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/17543473.htm
"Mapping Software Takes Bite Out of Crime"
Lima News (OH) (07/25/07); Stipe, Zach
The Lima, Ohio, Police Department is employing crime-mapping software to fight crime. The software can determine the precise number of crimes reported in a particular region, neighborhood, or precinct, and show where popular locations are for certain crimes. For example, the software can show the number of burglaries that took place in the Midway East neighborhood last year. Software icons such as the boxing glove (assault) and bags of money (larceny) are utilized to differentiate between various violations on a map revealing multiple crimes. All of the data is public record and updated each day. Lima-Allen County Neighborhoods in Partnership President John Schneider notes that the software is helpful because it can highlight the difference between where people think crimes occur and where they really do take place. "It can provide information to the citizens and enable closer collaboration between neighborhood activists, citizens and law enforcement," he states.
http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=41011
"Police Seek System to ID Cars"
East Valley Tribune (AZ) (07/26/07); Powell, Brian
Scottsdale, Ariz., police are pursing technology that will take photos of as many as 1,000 license plates per hour in an effort to be instantly informed about vehicles that are stolen or involved in terrorism investigations or Amber Alerts. The department is trying to buy four automated license plate recognition systems, which will study license plates within range of the police cruiser. If there is a match, the officers are instantly informed and can then check the plate in the database. In addition, the obtained information could be utilized in any pending investigations. The typical vehicle will a have a pair of cameras facing front and two in the back to decipher the license plates of traffic coming from the opposite direction. All scanned data will be contained in an inside database, including the license plate number and image, vehicle color, time and date stamp, and GPS location. It is believed the data will be kept for 30 days. Scottsdale intends to employ state and federal money to finance the equipment.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/93929
"Technology Sketches New Faces in Green River Nightmare"
Seattle Times (07/25/07); Sullivan, Jennifer
A new computer-imaging technology has allowed the King County, Wash., Sheriff's Office to get an idea of what three previously faceless murder victims looked like. To create a composite image of the three young girls, who were killed by Gary L. Ridgway--the so-called Green River killer--more than 20 years ago, forensic experts put their skulls through a CAT scan machine at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. The machines subjected the girls' skulls to high levels of radiation to produce cross-dimensional images that were later downloaded into computers at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). A new type of software was then used to rebuild the girls' faces based on the shape of their skulls. Before the development of this software, forensic scientists commonly used clay on skulls to recreate faces--a process that has an accuracy rate of about 60 percent. By comparison, the new software can create an image that matches what the person actually looked like about 85 percent of the time. Investigators in King County are hoping that the improved accuracy of the images will help them to identify the three victims of the Green River killer.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/
web/vortex/display?slug=ridgway25m&date=20070725&query=Technology+Sketches+
New+Faces+in+Green+River+Nightmare
"Technology, Police Work Nab Burglars"
Farmington Daily Times (NM) (07/28/07); Frolik, Cory
The Aztec, N.M., Police Department recently used reverse 911 to stop a series of crimes. Reverse 911 is a system that the San Juan County Communications Authority obtained several years back utilizing funds provided by the U.S. Homeland Security Department. By employing the Qwest 911 database and the assistance of an external firm to geocode the data, the system can connect the telephone numbers and addresses of inhabitants. The communications center then places that data on a server that law enforcement officials can access via the Internet. The reverse 911 system focuses on telephone numbers of a particular geographic location. Police can then transmit a prerecorded message to people in that region. On July 13, for instance, the 911 communications facility broadcast a prerecorded message to people who reside near where the Aztec crimes occurred. A citizen responded to the message by contacting police on July 15, claiming to have witnessed a man breaking into one of the houses, who was later arrested. http://www.daily-times.com/news/ci_6484144
"The All-Seeing Infrared Eye"
Buffalo News (07/27/07) P. D1; Meyer, Brian
With the help of a pair of infrared cameras, Buffalo, N.Y., police have randomly scanned almost 92,000 license plates in the hunt for violators. During a 10-month period, police gave out almost 4,400 tickets and summonses based on data obtained from mobile plate readers. Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown is so pleased with the results that he would like to back a proposal by Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson to widen the program by adding five more cameras and providing them to every police district. Plans to expand the program, however, are being attacked by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which refers to the cameras as "Big Brother technology." The $125,000 needed to increase the program can be financed via state efficiency grants that are earmarked to upgrade city operations. The cameras are outfitted on the tops of police cars. After scanning plates and confirming them through computer databases, the system automatically notifies the officer inside the vehicle of outstanding warrants. Prior to expanding the program, the Buffalo Common Council and the city's control board would have to sanction plans to employ state efficiency grants to purchase more cameras. http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/128168.html
"Technology Solution to DUI Problems"
Beckley Register-Herald (07/29/07); Porterfield, Mannix
Though tougher penalties could help reduce drunk-driving crimes, West Virginia Sen. Dan Foster (D) contends that the "ultimate solution" to getting such motorists off the state's roads might occur if innovative technology is employed. Foster's Judiciary Subcommittee A panel intends to work over the August interim on a group of reforms in West Virginia's statutes dealing with drunk drivers. One plan is to enact an "aggravated DUI" measure, which raises the penalty if the drunken motorist has a blood alcohol level of 0.15 or higher. Another idea is to make interlocks required for all initial violators. The driver must blow into a device that determines blood alcohol content, and if it is over the legal limit, the car ignition will not start. In addition, Foster hopes that within a decade, advanced technology will be implemented in a car's steering wheel so that sensors can obtain blood alcohol content from a motorist's hands. "That's the ultimate solution, unless you put everybody in jail forever, which we really can't do," Foster says. http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_210223147.html
"Police Chief Offered Prophetic Words About Bulletproof Vests in November"
Glenwood Springs Post Independent (CO) (07/30/07)
Glenwood Springs, Colo., Police Chief Terry Wilson recently stated that bulletproof vests regularly help save the lives of police officers that are injured in the line of duty. That seems to have been the situation on July 29 when a Glenwood officer was hit in the chest while apprehending two males near the Glenwood Springs Airport. Such vests were once cumbersome and uncomfortable to wear, while the current ones are lighter and easier. The bulletproof vests are manufactured from Kevlar, a formidable weave of fiber substance that traps a bullet and rejects it, Wilson explained. "There are grades of thickness that are intended for the shape and size of the bullet to penetration versus the point of contact," Wilson said late last year. "Technology has made [bulletproof vests] so much more wearable and made it so officers will wear them." Wilson also stated that while the law does not mandate that police wear these vests, he has noticed over the past two decades that most of them have begun putting the vests on.
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20070730/VALLEYNEWS/70730002
"Ankle Bracelet Latest Fashion for Offenders"
Omaha World-Herald (NE) (07/25/07) P. 1A; Dejka, Joe
Nebraska's probation department is tracking around 150 individuals who are wearing alcohol-monitoring bracelets. The state's violators are part of a pilot plan to study the new technology, which measures alcohol excreted via perspiration. Alcohol Monitoring Systems of Denver produces the bracelet, which it refers to as the Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor. It collects samples each hour and records the data, usually while the offender is sleeping, and then transmits it to law enforcement. The ankle bracket looks like a pair of cell-phone chargers linked together, and is worn round-the-clock. An alarm goes off if the wearer attempts to place any item between the bracelet and the skin. Preliminary figures in the Nebraska pilot program suggest that the bracelet is efficient and difficult to terminate. Sarpy County public defender Tom Strigenz notes that the bracelet will permit certain defendants charged with alcohol-associated crimes to wait for their trials outside of prison, instead of taking up jail space at taxpayers' expense. http://www.omaha.com
"More Than Meets the Eye"
Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA) (07/26/07); Croteau, Scott J.
Taser International is working with iRobot of Burlington, Mass. to equip robots with taser technology to help bring dangerous individuals under control. The technology evolution has helped law enforcement in Central Massachusetts find missing persons in the woods, get data more rapidly in police vehicles, and locate hard-to-find evidence. When the Hudson Police Department purchased a thermal imaging camera a few years ago, it wound up being a worthwhile investment. A pair of males suspected of breaking into a firm were found in the woods when police utilized the camera to track their movements. The Massachusetts State Police employ the same technology in their multiple Air Wing helicopters to help find suspects and locate missing persons. Meanwhile, Worcester police's laptops can obtain data from the Registry of Motor Vehicles, criminal background reports, and driver's license pictures, and will be able to access all police department data in the near future, including email and reports. Such technology is often expensive; one way police departments in the region get new technology is via the New England State Police Information Network, which possesses surveillance equipment and recording gadgets and has staff that departments can utilize.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20070726/NEWS/
707260749&SearchID=73288349204674
"City Focuses on Video Crime Fighting Tool"
Eagle-Tribune (MA) (07/26/07); LaBella, Mike
Haverhill, Mass., Police Chief Alan DeNaro plans to implement 12 or more video cameras in local neighborhoods by the end of this year, followed by more cameras throughout Haverhill as additional grant money is available. The monitors employ a wireless, closed-circuit TV system to transmit live video to laptop computers in police cars. The system enables an officer to see two places at once--the neighborhood he or she is patrolling and the one being monitored by the camera. "Eventually we'd like to get a portable setup that can be moved from one problem location to another, such as an area of illegal dumping, or where drugs and prostitution are a problem," DeNaro noted. He added that after the camera sites have been decided, the approval of building owners and of firms that possess utility poles in Haverhill has to be acquired. Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini is in full support of the surveillance system. "Police are short-handed, we have problems with graffiti, and this is a means of doing what we're trying to do in other departments--using technology as a better means of coverage," he stated.
http://www.eagletribune.com/punewshh/local_story_
207093819?keyword=secondarystory+page=0
"E-Tracking Enhances War on Meth"
Newark Star Ledger (07/19/07) P. 58; Jafari, Samira
New computerized tracking systems are helping law enforcement in their fight to locate and dismantle methamphetamine (meth) rings. Tracking systems installed in pharmacies notify law enforcement whenever someone purchases pseudoephedrine, a main ingredient used to make meth. The system automatically takes the name, address and driver's license information of the buyer, then contacts law enforcement through email when the customers goes over the purchase limit. Tracking systems closely monitor purchasing patterns for people who try to circumvent the law by going to more than one pharmacy to purchase the drug. New models allow police officers to track purchases by street or neighborhood.
http://www.newsday.com/search/sns-ap-tracking-meth,0,4587626.story
"Advance Driving Class for Police"
WSIL-TV (07/20/07)
The Southern Illinois Criminal Justice Program's S-I-U advance driving course can help police officers and emergency responders improve their skills behind the wheel in a number of specific situations to minimize potential risks. One exercise students are required to complete is called the Serpentine, which helps drivers with comfortable hand-positioning and handling of a vehicle. Another obstacle includes the Skid-pad, which helps drivers learn to control their vehicles on slippery surfaces. Additional training is offered in the eight-hour course on off-road recovery, controlled braking, and vehicle handling. However, before students get to the obstacle courses on the driving range, they must complete classroom training on high-speed pursuits. Lead instructor Dan Shannon notes, "We [emergency responders and police officers] spend a lot of time and hours behind that wheel in all kinds of conditions," which is why advanced driving skills are necessary. http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=2781&type=top
"The FBI's RCFL Program is Offering a Free Webinar About Digital Evidence for Law Enforcement"
Sheriff (06/07) Vol. 59, No. 3, P. 36; Cocuzzo, Gerard J.
The FBI has created the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory (RCFL) Program to train law enforcement communities about digital evidence technology. Criminals are increasingly being caught by evidence such as online searches and email, among other digital evidence, so the FBI's initiative introduces responders to this realm of knowledge via training center and a digital evidence laboratory. Law enforcement agencies from all levels are involved in working with FBI forensics experts and the RCFL has assisted in investigations such as 9/11 and Enron since the program's inception. Sheriff Gary T. Maha, serving on the RCFL Program's National Steering Committee, said, "Law enforcement must get ahead of the criminals when it comes to high-tech, and the way to do that is through education and training." http://www.sheriffs.org
Thursday, August 2, 2007
"Centre Island Police Put Latest Technology to Work"
New York Times (07/29/07) P. 5; Domash, Shelly Feuer
Law enforcement technology scans the license plates of every car driving onto Nassau County's Centre Island. Chief Dennis Weiner of the Centre Island Police Department says the agency tracks weather via radar-monitoring computers and software servers that are used as tools for criminal reports. Officers carry compact mobile scanners to transfer vehicle license and registration information onto computers, ride in night-vision binocular-equipped Volvos, and carry Tasers. The department has a centralized system for keeping reports of accidents, arrests, and officer diaries, among other features. The main headquarters' computer also provides address validations, 3-D area maps, and a comprehensive search engine. Departments with compatible software, such as Long Beach and Mamaroneck, can network and share the information from their systems. Such advanced technology at any law enforcement agency is remarkable, but it is especially atypical for Centre Island's small nine-officer department. Weiner said that the technology costs represents only 4 percent of a $1.6 million annual budget and that the department maximizes the efficiency of their allowed spending. He added, "Anytime you apply a technology that will increase officer effectiveness, you have an opportunity to increase the bang for each tax dollar spent on public safety."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/29peopleli.html
"Prison Tests Keeping Out Some Drugs, and Visitors"
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (07/26/07) P. B1; Berard, Yamil
Visitors to prisons controlled by the Federal Bureau of Prisons are subject to a drug-testing machine that officials say is used to minimize drug usage in the facilities. The "minimally invasive" procedure takes swab samples from visitors' hands or clothes, and within seconds the results are produced. Authorities say the high-tech machine is so sensitive, it is unlikely that anyone who comes into contact with illegal substances would be able to bypass the test. Chemist James Woodford says, "If you go into a place where someone has smoked some meth or cocaine, there will be thousands if not hundreds of thousands of nanograms of pollution, and these ion scanners test at the nanogram level." Although the machines have been implemented for a decade to cut the incidences of visitors bringing inmates drugs, a 2003 Department of Justice Inspector General report revealed that efforts to impede drug trafficking did not decrease drug usage in prisons. Instead, the report found that staff members, who were not subject to the drug screening, smuggled drugs to inmates; the bureau is now seeking to implement a drug screening rule for employees. Visitors who test positive must wait 48 hours to visit the prison and will be tested every visit for one year, while a second positive test results in a 30-day wait period, thereafter subsequent positive tests result in longer waiting times. Yet University of North Texas professor Chad Trulson says that the machines might be hyper-sensitive, as the machines can detect a visitor who has shook hands with a drug-user, and he says officials should further evaluate the machines' usage. http://origin.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/17543473.htm
"Mapping Software Takes Bite Out of Crime"
Lima News (OH) (07/25/07); Stipe, Zach
The Lima, Ohio, Police Department is employing crime-mapping software to fight crime. The software can determine the precise number of crimes reported in a particular region, neighborhood, or precinct, and show where popular locations are for certain crimes. For example, the software can show the number of burglaries that took place in the Midway East neighborhood last year. Software icons such as the boxing glove (assault) and bags of money (larceny) are utilized to differentiate between various violations on a map revealing multiple crimes. All of the data is public record and updated each day. Lima-Allen County Neighborhoods in Partnership President John Schneider notes that the software is helpful because it can highlight the difference between where people think crimes occur and where they really do take place. "It can provide information to the citizens and enable closer collaboration between neighborhood activists, citizens and law enforcement," he states.
http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=41011
"Police Seek System to ID Cars"
East Valley Tribune (AZ) (07/26/07); Powell, Brian
Scottsdale, Ariz., police are pursing technology that will take photos of as many as 1,000 license plates per hour in an effort to be instantly informed about vehicles that are stolen or involved in terrorism investigations or Amber Alerts. The department is trying to buy four automated license plate recognition systems, which will study license plates within range of the police cruiser. If there is a match, the officers are instantly informed and can then check the plate in the database. In addition, the obtained information could be utilized in any pending investigations. The typical vehicle will a have a pair of cameras facing front and two in the back to decipher the license plates of traffic coming from the opposite direction. All scanned data will be contained in an inside database, including the license plate number and image, vehicle color, time and date stamp, and GPS location. It is believed the data will be kept for 30 days. Scottsdale intends to employ state and federal money to finance the equipment.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/93929
"Technology Sketches New Faces in Green River Nightmare"
Seattle Times (07/25/07); Sullivan, Jennifer
A new computer-imaging technology has allowed the King County, Wash., Sheriff's Office to get an idea of what three previously faceless murder victims looked like. To create a composite image of the three young girls, who were killed by Gary L. Ridgway--the so-called Green River killer--more than 20 years ago, forensic experts put their skulls through a CAT scan machine at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. The machines subjected the girls' skulls to high levels of radiation to produce cross-dimensional images that were later downloaded into computers at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). A new type of software was then used to rebuild the girls' faces based on the shape of their skulls. Before the development of this software, forensic scientists commonly used clay on skulls to recreate faces--a process that has an accuracy rate of about 60 percent. By comparison, the new software can create an image that matches what the person actually looked like about 85 percent of the time. Investigators in King County are hoping that the improved accuracy of the images will help them to identify the three victims of the Green River killer.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/
web/vortex/display?slug=ridgway25m&date=20070725&query=Technology+Sketches+
New+Faces+in+Green+River+Nightmare
"Technology, Police Work Nab Burglars"
Farmington Daily Times (NM) (07/28/07); Frolik, Cory
The Aztec, N.M., Police Department recently used reverse 911 to stop a series of crimes. Reverse 911 is a system that the San Juan County Communications Authority obtained several years back utilizing funds provided by the U.S. Homeland Security Department. By employing the Qwest 911 database and the assistance of an external firm to geocode the data, the system can connect the telephone numbers and addresses of inhabitants. The communications center then places that data on a server that law enforcement officials can access via the Internet. The reverse 911 system focuses on telephone numbers of a particular geographic location. Police can then transmit a prerecorded message to people in that region. On July 13, for instance, the 911 communications facility broadcast a prerecorded message to people who reside near where the Aztec crimes occurred. A citizen responded to the message by contacting police on July 15, claiming to have witnessed a man breaking into one of the houses, who was later arrested. http://www.daily-times.com/news/ci_6484144
"The All-Seeing Infrared Eye"
Buffalo News (07/27/07) P. D1; Meyer, Brian
With the help of a pair of infrared cameras, Buffalo, N.Y., police have randomly scanned almost 92,000 license plates in the hunt for violators. During a 10-month period, police gave out almost 4,400 tickets and summonses based on data obtained from mobile plate readers. Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown is so pleased with the results that he would like to back a proposal by Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson to widen the program by adding five more cameras and providing them to every police district. Plans to expand the program, however, are being attacked by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which refers to the cameras as "Big Brother technology." The $125,000 needed to increase the program can be financed via state efficiency grants that are earmarked to upgrade city operations. The cameras are outfitted on the tops of police cars. After scanning plates and confirming them through computer databases, the system automatically notifies the officer inside the vehicle of outstanding warrants. Prior to expanding the program, the Buffalo Common Council and the city's control board would have to sanction plans to employ state efficiency grants to purchase more cameras. http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/128168.html
"Technology Solution to DUI Problems"
Beckley Register-Herald (07/29/07); Porterfield, Mannix
Though tougher penalties could help reduce drunk-driving crimes, West Virginia Sen. Dan Foster (D) contends that the "ultimate solution" to getting such motorists off the state's roads might occur if innovative technology is employed. Foster's Judiciary Subcommittee A panel intends to work over the August interim on a group of reforms in West Virginia's statutes dealing with drunk drivers. One plan is to enact an "aggravated DUI" measure, which raises the penalty if the drunken motorist has a blood alcohol level of 0.15 or higher. Another idea is to make interlocks required for all initial violators. The driver must blow into a device that determines blood alcohol content, and if it is over the legal limit, the car ignition will not start. In addition, Foster hopes that within a decade, advanced technology will be implemented in a car's steering wheel so that sensors can obtain blood alcohol content from a motorist's hands. "That's the ultimate solution, unless you put everybody in jail forever, which we really can't do," Foster says. http://www.register-herald.com/local/local_story_210223147.html
"Police Chief Offered Prophetic Words About Bulletproof Vests in November"
Glenwood Springs Post Independent (CO) (07/30/07)
Glenwood Springs, Colo., Police Chief Terry Wilson recently stated that bulletproof vests regularly help save the lives of police officers that are injured in the line of duty. That seems to have been the situation on July 29 when a Glenwood officer was hit in the chest while apprehending two males near the Glenwood Springs Airport. Such vests were once cumbersome and uncomfortable to wear, while the current ones are lighter and easier. The bulletproof vests are manufactured from Kevlar, a formidable weave of fiber substance that traps a bullet and rejects it, Wilson explained. "There are grades of thickness that are intended for the shape and size of the bullet to penetration versus the point of contact," Wilson said late last year. "Technology has made [bulletproof vests] so much more wearable and made it so officers will wear them." Wilson also stated that while the law does not mandate that police wear these vests, he has noticed over the past two decades that most of them have begun putting the vests on.
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20070730/VALLEYNEWS/70730002
"Ankle Bracelet Latest Fashion for Offenders"
Omaha World-Herald (NE) (07/25/07) P. 1A; Dejka, Joe
Nebraska's probation department is tracking around 150 individuals who are wearing alcohol-monitoring bracelets. The state's violators are part of a pilot plan to study the new technology, which measures alcohol excreted via perspiration. Alcohol Monitoring Systems of Denver produces the bracelet, which it refers to as the Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor. It collects samples each hour and records the data, usually while the offender is sleeping, and then transmits it to law enforcement. The ankle bracket looks like a pair of cell-phone chargers linked together, and is worn round-the-clock. An alarm goes off if the wearer attempts to place any item between the bracelet and the skin. Preliminary figures in the Nebraska pilot program suggest that the bracelet is efficient and difficult to terminate. Sarpy County public defender Tom Strigenz notes that the bracelet will permit certain defendants charged with alcohol-associated crimes to wait for their trials outside of prison, instead of taking up jail space at taxpayers' expense. http://www.omaha.com
"More Than Meets the Eye"
Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA) (07/26/07); Croteau, Scott J.
Taser International is working with iRobot of Burlington, Mass. to equip robots with taser technology to help bring dangerous individuals under control. The technology evolution has helped law enforcement in Central Massachusetts find missing persons in the woods, get data more rapidly in police vehicles, and locate hard-to-find evidence. When the Hudson Police Department purchased a thermal imaging camera a few years ago, it wound up being a worthwhile investment. A pair of males suspected of breaking into a firm were found in the woods when police utilized the camera to track their movements. The Massachusetts State Police employ the same technology in their multiple Air Wing helicopters to help find suspects and locate missing persons. Meanwhile, Worcester police's laptops can obtain data from the Registry of Motor Vehicles, criminal background reports, and driver's license pictures, and will be able to access all police department data in the near future, including email and reports. Such technology is often expensive; one way police departments in the region get new technology is via the New England State Police Information Network, which possesses surveillance equipment and recording gadgets and has staff that departments can utilize.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20070726/NEWS/
707260749&SearchID=73288349204674
"City Focuses on Video Crime Fighting Tool"
Eagle-Tribune (MA) (07/26/07); LaBella, Mike
Haverhill, Mass., Police Chief Alan DeNaro plans to implement 12 or more video cameras in local neighborhoods by the end of this year, followed by more cameras throughout Haverhill as additional grant money is available. The monitors employ a wireless, closed-circuit TV system to transmit live video to laptop computers in police cars. The system enables an officer to see two places at once--the neighborhood he or she is patrolling and the one being monitored by the camera. "Eventually we'd like to get a portable setup that can be moved from one problem location to another, such as an area of illegal dumping, or where drugs and prostitution are a problem," DeNaro noted. He added that after the camera sites have been decided, the approval of building owners and of firms that possess utility poles in Haverhill has to be acquired. Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini is in full support of the surveillance system. "Police are short-handed, we have problems with graffiti, and this is a means of doing what we're trying to do in other departments--using technology as a better means of coverage," he stated.
http://www.eagletribune.com/punewshh/local_story_
207093819?keyword=secondarystory+page=0
"E-Tracking Enhances War on Meth"
Newark Star Ledger (07/19/07) P. 58; Jafari, Samira
New computerized tracking systems are helping law enforcement in their fight to locate and dismantle methamphetamine (meth) rings. Tracking systems installed in pharmacies notify law enforcement whenever someone purchases pseudoephedrine, a main ingredient used to make meth. The system automatically takes the name, address and driver's license information of the buyer, then contacts law enforcement through email when the customers goes over the purchase limit. Tracking systems closely monitor purchasing patterns for people who try to circumvent the law by going to more than one pharmacy to purchase the drug. New models allow police officers to track purchases by street or neighborhood.
http://www.newsday.com/search/sns-ap-tracking-meth,0,4587626.story
"Advance Driving Class for Police"
WSIL-TV (07/20/07)
The Southern Illinois Criminal Justice Program's S-I-U advance driving course can help police officers and emergency responders improve their skills behind the wheel in a number of specific situations to minimize potential risks. One exercise students are required to complete is called the Serpentine, which helps drivers with comfortable hand-positioning and handling of a vehicle. Another obstacle includes the Skid-pad, which helps drivers learn to control their vehicles on slippery surfaces. Additional training is offered in the eight-hour course on off-road recovery, controlled braking, and vehicle handling. However, before students get to the obstacle courses on the driving range, they must complete classroom training on high-speed pursuits. Lead instructor Dan Shannon notes, "We [emergency responders and police officers] spend a lot of time and hours behind that wheel in all kinds of conditions," which is why advanced driving skills are necessary. http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=2781&type=top
"The FBI's RCFL Program is Offering a Free Webinar About Digital Evidence for Law Enforcement"
Sheriff (06/07) Vol. 59, No. 3, P. 36; Cocuzzo, Gerard J.
The FBI has created the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory (RCFL) Program to train law enforcement communities about digital evidence technology. Criminals are increasingly being caught by evidence such as online searches and email, among other digital evidence, so the FBI's initiative introduces responders to this realm of knowledge via training center and a digital evidence laboratory. Law enforcement agencies from all levels are involved in working with FBI forensics experts and the RCFL has assisted in investigations such as 9/11 and Enron since the program's inception. Sheriff Gary T. Maha, serving on the RCFL Program's National Steering Committee, said, "Law enforcement must get ahead of the criminals when it comes to high-tech, and the way to do that is through education and training." http://www.sheriffs.org
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Law Enforcement Technology
NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary
Thursday, July 26, 2007
"NOPD Unveils New Crime Maps"
New Orleans Times-Picayune (07/20/07) P. 1; McCarthy, Brendan
On July 19, the New Orleans Police Department launched an upgraded Web site mapping tool that lays out crimes on a map. The tool, located at the bottom of the police department's Web site, permits users to enter any address in New Orleans. At that point, they can look for particular crimes, zoom in and out of certain neighborhoods, and locate incidents going back to the start of 2005. The mapping tool was published on the Web site in early May and got poor reviews from users, who contended that crime information was missing, the maps were difficult to read, and directions were bad. Since then, police department technology head Maj. Michael Sauter and the Mayor's Office of Technology have redone the model and included numerous features. Users can now look by police district boundaries, neighborhoods, ZIP codes, and other information. In addition, they can email maps and transfer the information onto spreadsheets. Sauter notes that around 95 percent of all uniform crime events will be included in the mapping database.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/
base/news-8/118491566289730.xml&coll=1
"Do Tasers Save Lives? DeKalb Takes Another Look"
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (07/23/07); Simpson, David
The DeKalb County, Ga., Police Department, which stopped using Taser stun guns in 2005 due to alleged fatalities, is reconsidering the device. Before DeKalb withdrew its Tasers, the guns had been employed 62 times without a reported injury or complaint by a civilian, notes Maj. J.E. Helms, who heads training for DeKalb police. Helms stresses he does not think Tasers by themselves cause fatalities. DeKalb Police Chief Terrell Bolton has obtained the assistance of Southern Christian Leadership Conference president Charles Steele Jr. in facilitating the comeback of Tasers for DeKalb police. Steele states he is in favor of the decision, so long as officers and medical employees are correctly instructed. Meanwhile, R.K. de Graaf, the vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police's DeKalb chapter, stresses the stun guns protect both officers and suspects from injuries. Nationally, Tasers have been marketed as a way to lower shootings, with varied results. Shootings in Miami are said to have significantly fallen when Tasers are employed, while Houston saw its shooting fatalities rise from two in 2004 to 11 in 2005 after Tasers were distributed to officers.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/
stories/2007/07/22/taser_0723.html
"Laconia Police Eye Use of TASERs"
Laconia Citizen (NH) (07/20/07)
The Laconia, N.H., Police Department is ready to wrap up another fiscal year and is thinking about employing Taser stun guns. The department has already bought one Taser. While both the Belknap Sheriff's Department and the Tilton Police Department employ Tasers, Laconia Police Chief Tom Oetinger said on July 19 that he wants Lt. Steve Clarke to perform an in-depth study of the guns' utilization across New Hampshire and nationally before they are implemented in Laconia. "While I'm always interested in being ahead of the curve in a lot of areas, technology involving the use of force is something where I tend to be conservative until there is some sort of ability to benchmark it and there has been significant street use by other organizations," Oetinger stated.
http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=
/20070720/CITIZEN_01/107200345/-1/CITIZEN
"Cameras to Catch Street Action"
Capital Times (WI) (07/19/07) P. B2; Miller, Mike
Police in Madison, Wis., are using video cameras to better monitor a busy downtown area of the city heavily populated by bars and clubs. The department says they hope this new technology will provide a more efficient, cost effective way of monitoring the area. The city has spent an additional $100,000 to up police presence in the downtown district as a response to some recent robberies and disturbances caused by drinkers leaving the bars. One camera will be set up in the area on a trial basis. If the trial proves successful, eight more will be put in place by fall. These cameras will be hooked up to laptops in police cruisers allowing officers to monitor several areas at once. http://www.madison.com
"Homeland Security Grants Aid Vital Communications"
Omaha World-Herald (NE) (07/19/07); Stoddard, Martha
New grants announced on July 18 will provide Iowa and Nebraska significant help in offering police, fire fighters, and additional emergency responders the means to speak with each other. Iowa's 911 project manager, John Benson, explained the new grant will be crucial to his state's communications campaign. Nebraska Emergency Management Agency assistant director Al Berndt added that his state has employed a large percentage of its homeland security money to expand the communications network throughout Nebraska. Nebraska has evolved in enabling law enforcement and first responders to talk with each other within certain areas, he added. The initiative includes new radio equipment and technology. Berndt says the next phase is to expand that ability to the entire state and get state agencies on board. The U.S. government is offering $968 million for communications nationwide, utilizing money presented by Congress in a bill from 2005. http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10081784
"A Full-Scale Immersion in Disaster Training"
Colorado Springs Gazette (07/22/07); Zubeck, Pam
The National Exercise Program's latest simulation center in Washington, D.C., conducted a nationwide emergency response training between April 30 and May 17, engaging emergency responders from 11 states and six federal agencies. The latest nationwide drill, Ardent Sentry, cost $20 million and forced responders to extend their resources as a Category 3 mock hurricane hit New England--affecting seven states--and several other disasters occurred within days. The national center is expected to provide written and electronic synopses of the training simulations involving various local and federal personnel to help local and state governments create their own training programs for emergency responders. The center also will offer tabletop exercises and other localized drill information. Officials at the center say that a nuclear disaster will overwhelm many local response teams and their ability to medically care for the injured and exposed.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/national_25130___article.html/pino_local.html
"La. State Police Crime Lab Shrinks Rape Kit Backlog"
Advocate (07/18/07) P. A1; Vetter, Kimberly
The backlog of sexual-assault kits in Louisiana that have not been examined for DNA evidence has fallen from 3,100 four years ago to 200. Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory director Capt. Jerry Patrick notes that kits between 2004 and this year exist, and that the remainder of the kits, many of them going back to the 1980s, have been taken care of. Patrick credits the lab's ability to lower its backlog to federal grant funds and an expansion in the lab's DNA program. He adds that processing a single rape kit for DNA information costs between $600 and $1,000. Being able to reduce Louisiana's backlog has created an increase in the ability to resolve cold cases. After a rape kit is processed, the results are studied and put in a database known as the Combined Index System (CODIS). The database employs a pair of indexes to produce investigative crimes in cases where biological proof is found at a crime scene. The Convicted Offender index lists DNA profiles of individuals found guilty of felony sex crimes and additional violent offenses. http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/8566202.html
"State Gears Up to Use Internet to Improve 911 Calls"
Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN) (07/18/07); Jacobs, Don
Emergency Services centers are looking for ways to use the Internet to make responding to a crisis faster and easier. Tennessee is one state already looking to institute a new Web-based technology called Next Generation-911 (NG-911). This system will use a combination of Internet technology and fiber-optics that will allow callers to communicate visual as well as verbal information to dispatchers. The dispatchers will then be able to use the same system to send that message to personnel in the field. It will also allow emergency service workers from across the state to better coordinate their efforts. For example, police will be able to use the system to scan fingerprints during traffic stops. NG-911 can also be used to transmit a 3-D map of a building in a siege situation to help officers find the safest way to extract hostages.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/jul/18/state-gears-
up-to-use-internet-to-improve-911/
"State-Run Sites Not Effective Vs. Terror"
USA Today (07/23/07); Hall, Mimi
The 42 anti-terrorism "fusion" centers that have been created in 37 states have thus far proved inefficient at sharing information to combat terrorism, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service. The fusion centers were created with the aim of increasing information-sharing among federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. But many of the centers have strayed from their central anti-terrorism mission and have instead "increasingly gravitated toward an all-crimes and even broader all-hazards approach," the report says. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has provided states with some $380 million in funding to create the fusion centers. One common problem plaguing the centers is that federal agents have resisted sharing information with local police, said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who believes there should be a requirement that federal analysts be posted at each center. One DHS official predicts that by the end of 2008, 35 DHS analysts will be working in the centers.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-23-intel-centers_N.htm
"Notification System Gives Status of Criminal Cases"
Reading Eagle (PA) (07/18/07); Young, Mary E.
Victims and witnesses of crime in Berks County, Pa., might be automatically informed in the near future by email or phone when the defendants in whose cases they had a part are to be set free from jail. Computer equipment would be made available within eight weeks after the county commissioners sanction county involvement in the system. A federal grant of $1.25 million will fund the equipment. Victims and witnesses who choose to be entered into the system will have to offer contact data and utilize a personal identification code to obtain information. The system would inform users when a certain defendant is set free on bail, has finished a jail term, or is sent to another facility. District Attorney Mark C. Baldwin believes the system will be helpful as well to law enforcement officials. The system will eventually have data on prisoners in all 53 of Pennsylvania's county prisons and possibly data on inmates in state jails. The system was scheduled to be voted on July 19. http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=50794
"New Lab Expands N.Y.'s Ability to Analyze DNA"
Newark Star-Ledger (NJ) (07/19/07) P. 32
New York City intends to expand its study of DNA evidence by over 17,000 cases annually, due to a new forensics lab that authorities claim is the biggest in the nation. On July 18, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city representatives met to formally launch the Forensic Biology Laboratory of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. New York City wants to begin studying DNA evidence in over 20,000 cases annually, up from the present 3,000 per year. The facility cost nearly $290 million, and has 75,000 square feet of lab room. Bloomberg explained that the lab would enable New York City to locate criminals, and also rule out innocent individuals and study DNA evidence in crimes beside murder cases, including burglaries. He added that the lab would be utilized as well by the Missing Persons agency and the unit that attempts to locate the remains of World Trade Center victims. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly stated that police officers would be alternating their protocols to make obtaining DNA an element of more crime investigations. "We'll be increasing our obtaining of DNA samples and training people, our evidence collection teams," Kelly said. http://www.nj.com/news/ledger
"Digital Prints"
Idaho Falls Post Register (07/19/07) P. A1; Wells, Heather
The Rexburg, Idaho, Police Department has been pursuing those who are involved in child pornography with the aid of new software that permits investigators to acquire digital proof from storage devices in computers by making a copy of their hard drives. The software can find files that were rewritten or removed, helping to catch child pornographers and embezzlers, and breaking up drug rings. Rexburg police are now utilizing the Forensic Tool Kit to look into a pair of child pornography cases, and they hope to bring charges soon. Earlier in 2007, Rexburg Police Department Det. Supervisor Lt. Shane Turmin requested a federal grant for $14,000 to buy the tool kit. Though the Idaho Falls Police Department does not employ the kit, it does have access to related software. That department has been able to determine passwords on computers and obtain files as primary evidence in child pornography cases. Last year, 17,291 cyber-crime complaints were filed in this country. http://www.idahonews.com
"Sheriff Welcomes Statewide Role"
New Orleans Times-Picayune (07/19/07) P. 1; Scallan, Matt
The newly elected president of the Louisiana Sheriff's Association says adding technology to the sheriff's department will be a priority for him. St. Charles Parish's Sheriff Greg Champagne says technology is an integral part of the department's operations and should be readily available. "The law says we have to register sex offenders, but about half the departments in the state are still filing paper documents and fingerprints with State Police," Champagne states. To remedy the problem, Champagne says efforts are underway to "get all the departments on the same sex offender [reporting] program." As part of the effort, all of the departments will move to new 700 MHz radio systems so that first responders from various agencies can communicate, and email alert systems will be implemented for residents to let them know when criminals are in their area.
http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/
base/news-4/1184833711296930.xml&coll=1
"Watching You: Downtown Camera Proposal Gains Momentum"
Daily Progress (07/18/07); Rosen, Seth
Charlottesville, Va., law enforcement are backing an approximately $300,000 proposal that would install cameras downtown to monitor high-crime areas. Police say aside from circumventing potential crimes in the area, the cameras would also assist in investigations. Councilors say that they need more information about the placement and monitoring of the cameras before reaching a decision, but in light of eight assaults that have taken place downtown in the span of two months, the proposal is gaining momentum. "Whether [the public's safety concerns] are real or perceived, we have a responsibility to try to address it in as many ways as we possibly can," said Police Chief Timothy J. Longo. Although councilors noted that some residents might cite privacy issues as reasons for preventing the surveillance, they say public safety should rank above those concerns. The exact method for monitoring the cameras is still up for discussion, but Longo said the surveillance footage would only be used by law enforcement. Longo also said real-time should be used to stream the footage, yet such technology is also more costly. Charlottesville has no current deadline for receiving the bids or voting on the cameras.
http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP/MGArticle/
CDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173352040076&path=
"Pepper Spray: Is the Hot Stuff Still Relevant in Our High-Tech Electronic World?"
Police and Security News (06/07) Vol. 23, No. 3, P. 65; Ijames, Steve
The use of pepper spray made with Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) became widespread among the majority of U.S. law enforcement agencies by 1992, and its use is still relevant today. Tests conducted in the late 1990s by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the University of North Carolina found that OC-based sprays are generally safe and effective and that just two of 63 proximal deaths over a period of five years could be attributed to pepper spray. The report also concluded that pepper spray helped reduce injuries among officers as well as suspects, slashed complaints of excessive force, and was used to successfully handle resistance in 85 percent of the cases where it was used. Compared to TASERs, pepper spray is more affordable, priced at about $12 per officer. The newer versions are also more effective, based on evidence that pain is a result of the portion of capsaicinoid in the product and that cone-shaped delivery units require less accuracy compared to conventional spray tools. Pepper sprays are also effective for cases that go beyond the TASER and when multiple suspects are present. One of the newest pepper spray products is the TigerLight, which features a super-bright light and a concealed blast of pepper spray on the handle end. The device is intended for one-handed use and a study by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office indicates that compliance among suspects was achieved by deputies in 98 percent of the cases when it was used. http://www.policeandsecuritynews.com
"Interoperability: A 21st Century Name for an Evolving Requirements in Ocean City, Maryland"
Sheriff (06/07) Vol. 59, No. 3, P. 11; Dimaio, Bob
For Ocean City, Md., the meaning of interoperability indicates being able to instantly communicate with people from other agencies, departments, or areas via dependable and high quality service. For example, the governments of Ocean City and Worcester County, Md., distribute separate radio systems that link together via a system-to-system network connection. The radios' programming allows them to work on either system. Every Ocean City radio also features extra channels from the National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC) designed to let incompatible radios communicate. A countrywide initiative has been launched to build repeater coverage using these channels, and Maryland is spearheading the effort through projects such as the Maryland Eastern Shore Interoperability Network (MESIN). MESIN provides interoperability to counties through such 800 MHz NPSPAC mutual aid channels as 8Call, 8TAC-1, 8TAC-2, 8TAC-3, and 8TAC-4. MESIN is an IP-based network that features gateways, routers, and a fully redundant switch, utilizing 12 tower sites across Maryland's Eastern Shore for disparate personnel with 800 MHz equipment. In 2006, Ocean City added a self-contained Mobile Command Vehicle that has a stand alone 4 channel trunked radio site that can work in conjunction with or in place of the Ocean City Trucked System. More than 100 portable radios are stored ready for use. Another system that enables interoperability is the ACU1000 Interconnect System that can link low band, VHF band, UHF band, military band, 800 MHz band, and wireless phones; modifications in the field for radios can be made as needed using onboard hardware and software. http://www.sheriffs.org
Thursday, July 26, 2007
"NOPD Unveils New Crime Maps"
New Orleans Times-Picayune (07/20/07) P. 1; McCarthy, Brendan
On July 19, the New Orleans Police Department launched an upgraded Web site mapping tool that lays out crimes on a map. The tool, located at the bottom of the police department's Web site, permits users to enter any address in New Orleans. At that point, they can look for particular crimes, zoom in and out of certain neighborhoods, and locate incidents going back to the start of 2005. The mapping tool was published on the Web site in early May and got poor reviews from users, who contended that crime information was missing, the maps were difficult to read, and directions were bad. Since then, police department technology head Maj. Michael Sauter and the Mayor's Office of Technology have redone the model and included numerous features. Users can now look by police district boundaries, neighborhoods, ZIP codes, and other information. In addition, they can email maps and transfer the information onto spreadsheets. Sauter notes that around 95 percent of all uniform crime events will be included in the mapping database.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/
base/news-8/118491566289730.xml&coll=1
"Do Tasers Save Lives? DeKalb Takes Another Look"
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (07/23/07); Simpson, David
The DeKalb County, Ga., Police Department, which stopped using Taser stun guns in 2005 due to alleged fatalities, is reconsidering the device. Before DeKalb withdrew its Tasers, the guns had been employed 62 times without a reported injury or complaint by a civilian, notes Maj. J.E. Helms, who heads training for DeKalb police. Helms stresses he does not think Tasers by themselves cause fatalities. DeKalb Police Chief Terrell Bolton has obtained the assistance of Southern Christian Leadership Conference president Charles Steele Jr. in facilitating the comeback of Tasers for DeKalb police. Steele states he is in favor of the decision, so long as officers and medical employees are correctly instructed. Meanwhile, R.K. de Graaf, the vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police's DeKalb chapter, stresses the stun guns protect both officers and suspects from injuries. Nationally, Tasers have been marketed as a way to lower shootings, with varied results. Shootings in Miami are said to have significantly fallen when Tasers are employed, while Houston saw its shooting fatalities rise from two in 2004 to 11 in 2005 after Tasers were distributed to officers.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/
stories/2007/07/22/taser_0723.html
"Laconia Police Eye Use of TASERs"
Laconia Citizen (NH) (07/20/07)
The Laconia, N.H., Police Department is ready to wrap up another fiscal year and is thinking about employing Taser stun guns. The department has already bought one Taser. While both the Belknap Sheriff's Department and the Tilton Police Department employ Tasers, Laconia Police Chief Tom Oetinger said on July 19 that he wants Lt. Steve Clarke to perform an in-depth study of the guns' utilization across New Hampshire and nationally before they are implemented in Laconia. "While I'm always interested in being ahead of the curve in a lot of areas, technology involving the use of force is something where I tend to be conservative until there is some sort of ability to benchmark it and there has been significant street use by other organizations," Oetinger stated.
http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=
/20070720/CITIZEN_01/107200345/-1/CITIZEN
"Cameras to Catch Street Action"
Capital Times (WI) (07/19/07) P. B2; Miller, Mike
Police in Madison, Wis., are using video cameras to better monitor a busy downtown area of the city heavily populated by bars and clubs. The department says they hope this new technology will provide a more efficient, cost effective way of monitoring the area. The city has spent an additional $100,000 to up police presence in the downtown district as a response to some recent robberies and disturbances caused by drinkers leaving the bars. One camera will be set up in the area on a trial basis. If the trial proves successful, eight more will be put in place by fall. These cameras will be hooked up to laptops in police cruisers allowing officers to monitor several areas at once. http://www.madison.com
"Homeland Security Grants Aid Vital Communications"
Omaha World-Herald (NE) (07/19/07); Stoddard, Martha
New grants announced on July 18 will provide Iowa and Nebraska significant help in offering police, fire fighters, and additional emergency responders the means to speak with each other. Iowa's 911 project manager, John Benson, explained the new grant will be crucial to his state's communications campaign. Nebraska Emergency Management Agency assistant director Al Berndt added that his state has employed a large percentage of its homeland security money to expand the communications network throughout Nebraska. Nebraska has evolved in enabling law enforcement and first responders to talk with each other within certain areas, he added. The initiative includes new radio equipment and technology. Berndt says the next phase is to expand that ability to the entire state and get state agencies on board. The U.S. government is offering $968 million for communications nationwide, utilizing money presented by Congress in a bill from 2005. http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10081784
"A Full-Scale Immersion in Disaster Training"
Colorado Springs Gazette (07/22/07); Zubeck, Pam
The National Exercise Program's latest simulation center in Washington, D.C., conducted a nationwide emergency response training between April 30 and May 17, engaging emergency responders from 11 states and six federal agencies. The latest nationwide drill, Ardent Sentry, cost $20 million and forced responders to extend their resources as a Category 3 mock hurricane hit New England--affecting seven states--and several other disasters occurred within days. The national center is expected to provide written and electronic synopses of the training simulations involving various local and federal personnel to help local and state governments create their own training programs for emergency responders. The center also will offer tabletop exercises and other localized drill information. Officials at the center say that a nuclear disaster will overwhelm many local response teams and their ability to medically care for the injured and exposed.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/national_25130___article.html/pino_local.html
"La. State Police Crime Lab Shrinks Rape Kit Backlog"
Advocate (07/18/07) P. A1; Vetter, Kimberly
The backlog of sexual-assault kits in Louisiana that have not been examined for DNA evidence has fallen from 3,100 four years ago to 200. Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory director Capt. Jerry Patrick notes that kits between 2004 and this year exist, and that the remainder of the kits, many of them going back to the 1980s, have been taken care of. Patrick credits the lab's ability to lower its backlog to federal grant funds and an expansion in the lab's DNA program. He adds that processing a single rape kit for DNA information costs between $600 and $1,000. Being able to reduce Louisiana's backlog has created an increase in the ability to resolve cold cases. After a rape kit is processed, the results are studied and put in a database known as the Combined Index System (CODIS). The database employs a pair of indexes to produce investigative crimes in cases where biological proof is found at a crime scene. The Convicted Offender index lists DNA profiles of individuals found guilty of felony sex crimes and additional violent offenses. http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/8566202.html
"State Gears Up to Use Internet to Improve 911 Calls"
Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN) (07/18/07); Jacobs, Don
Emergency Services centers are looking for ways to use the Internet to make responding to a crisis faster and easier. Tennessee is one state already looking to institute a new Web-based technology called Next Generation-911 (NG-911). This system will use a combination of Internet technology and fiber-optics that will allow callers to communicate visual as well as verbal information to dispatchers. The dispatchers will then be able to use the same system to send that message to personnel in the field. It will also allow emergency service workers from across the state to better coordinate their efforts. For example, police will be able to use the system to scan fingerprints during traffic stops. NG-911 can also be used to transmit a 3-D map of a building in a siege situation to help officers find the safest way to extract hostages.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/jul/18/state-gears-
up-to-use-internet-to-improve-911/
"State-Run Sites Not Effective Vs. Terror"
USA Today (07/23/07); Hall, Mimi
The 42 anti-terrorism "fusion" centers that have been created in 37 states have thus far proved inefficient at sharing information to combat terrorism, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service. The fusion centers were created with the aim of increasing information-sharing among federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. But many of the centers have strayed from their central anti-terrorism mission and have instead "increasingly gravitated toward an all-crimes and even broader all-hazards approach," the report says. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has provided states with some $380 million in funding to create the fusion centers. One common problem plaguing the centers is that federal agents have resisted sharing information with local police, said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who believes there should be a requirement that federal analysts be posted at each center. One DHS official predicts that by the end of 2008, 35 DHS analysts will be working in the centers.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-23-intel-centers_N.htm
"Notification System Gives Status of Criminal Cases"
Reading Eagle (PA) (07/18/07); Young, Mary E.
Victims and witnesses of crime in Berks County, Pa., might be automatically informed in the near future by email or phone when the defendants in whose cases they had a part are to be set free from jail. Computer equipment would be made available within eight weeks after the county commissioners sanction county involvement in the system. A federal grant of $1.25 million will fund the equipment. Victims and witnesses who choose to be entered into the system will have to offer contact data and utilize a personal identification code to obtain information. The system would inform users when a certain defendant is set free on bail, has finished a jail term, or is sent to another facility. District Attorney Mark C. Baldwin believes the system will be helpful as well to law enforcement officials. The system will eventually have data on prisoners in all 53 of Pennsylvania's county prisons and possibly data on inmates in state jails. The system was scheduled to be voted on July 19. http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=50794
"New Lab Expands N.Y.'s Ability to Analyze DNA"
Newark Star-Ledger (NJ) (07/19/07) P. 32
New York City intends to expand its study of DNA evidence by over 17,000 cases annually, due to a new forensics lab that authorities claim is the biggest in the nation. On July 18, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city representatives met to formally launch the Forensic Biology Laboratory of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. New York City wants to begin studying DNA evidence in over 20,000 cases annually, up from the present 3,000 per year. The facility cost nearly $290 million, and has 75,000 square feet of lab room. Bloomberg explained that the lab would enable New York City to locate criminals, and also rule out innocent individuals and study DNA evidence in crimes beside murder cases, including burglaries. He added that the lab would be utilized as well by the Missing Persons agency and the unit that attempts to locate the remains of World Trade Center victims. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly stated that police officers would be alternating their protocols to make obtaining DNA an element of more crime investigations. "We'll be increasing our obtaining of DNA samples and training people, our evidence collection teams," Kelly said. http://www.nj.com/news/ledger
"Digital Prints"
Idaho Falls Post Register (07/19/07) P. A1; Wells, Heather
The Rexburg, Idaho, Police Department has been pursuing those who are involved in child pornography with the aid of new software that permits investigators to acquire digital proof from storage devices in computers by making a copy of their hard drives. The software can find files that were rewritten or removed, helping to catch child pornographers and embezzlers, and breaking up drug rings. Rexburg police are now utilizing the Forensic Tool Kit to look into a pair of child pornography cases, and they hope to bring charges soon. Earlier in 2007, Rexburg Police Department Det. Supervisor Lt. Shane Turmin requested a federal grant for $14,000 to buy the tool kit. Though the Idaho Falls Police Department does not employ the kit, it does have access to related software. That department has been able to determine passwords on computers and obtain files as primary evidence in child pornography cases. Last year, 17,291 cyber-crime complaints were filed in this country. http://www.idahonews.com
"Sheriff Welcomes Statewide Role"
New Orleans Times-Picayune (07/19/07) P. 1; Scallan, Matt
The newly elected president of the Louisiana Sheriff's Association says adding technology to the sheriff's department will be a priority for him. St. Charles Parish's Sheriff Greg Champagne says technology is an integral part of the department's operations and should be readily available. "The law says we have to register sex offenders, but about half the departments in the state are still filing paper documents and fingerprints with State Police," Champagne states. To remedy the problem, Champagne says efforts are underway to "get all the departments on the same sex offender [reporting] program." As part of the effort, all of the departments will move to new 700 MHz radio systems so that first responders from various agencies can communicate, and email alert systems will be implemented for residents to let them know when criminals are in their area.
http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/
base/news-4/1184833711296930.xml&coll=1
"Watching You: Downtown Camera Proposal Gains Momentum"
Daily Progress (07/18/07); Rosen, Seth
Charlottesville, Va., law enforcement are backing an approximately $300,000 proposal that would install cameras downtown to monitor high-crime areas. Police say aside from circumventing potential crimes in the area, the cameras would also assist in investigations. Councilors say that they need more information about the placement and monitoring of the cameras before reaching a decision, but in light of eight assaults that have taken place downtown in the span of two months, the proposal is gaining momentum. "Whether [the public's safety concerns] are real or perceived, we have a responsibility to try to address it in as many ways as we possibly can," said Police Chief Timothy J. Longo. Although councilors noted that some residents might cite privacy issues as reasons for preventing the surveillance, they say public safety should rank above those concerns. The exact method for monitoring the cameras is still up for discussion, but Longo said the surveillance footage would only be used by law enforcement. Longo also said real-time should be used to stream the footage, yet such technology is also more costly. Charlottesville has no current deadline for receiving the bids or voting on the cameras.
http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP/MGArticle/
CDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173352040076&path=
"Pepper Spray: Is the Hot Stuff Still Relevant in Our High-Tech Electronic World?"
Police and Security News (06/07) Vol. 23, No. 3, P. 65; Ijames, Steve
The use of pepper spray made with Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) became widespread among the majority of U.S. law enforcement agencies by 1992, and its use is still relevant today. Tests conducted in the late 1990s by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the University of North Carolina found that OC-based sprays are generally safe and effective and that just two of 63 proximal deaths over a period of five years could be attributed to pepper spray. The report also concluded that pepper spray helped reduce injuries among officers as well as suspects, slashed complaints of excessive force, and was used to successfully handle resistance in 85 percent of the cases where it was used. Compared to TASERs, pepper spray is more affordable, priced at about $12 per officer. The newer versions are also more effective, based on evidence that pain is a result of the portion of capsaicinoid in the product and that cone-shaped delivery units require less accuracy compared to conventional spray tools. Pepper sprays are also effective for cases that go beyond the TASER and when multiple suspects are present. One of the newest pepper spray products is the TigerLight, which features a super-bright light and a concealed blast of pepper spray on the handle end. The device is intended for one-handed use and a study by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office indicates that compliance among suspects was achieved by deputies in 98 percent of the cases when it was used. http://www.policeandsecuritynews.com
"Interoperability: A 21st Century Name for an Evolving Requirements in Ocean City, Maryland"
Sheriff (06/07) Vol. 59, No. 3, P. 11; Dimaio, Bob
For Ocean City, Md., the meaning of interoperability indicates being able to instantly communicate with people from other agencies, departments, or areas via dependable and high quality service. For example, the governments of Ocean City and Worcester County, Md., distribute separate radio systems that link together via a system-to-system network connection. The radios' programming allows them to work on either system. Every Ocean City radio also features extra channels from the National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC) designed to let incompatible radios communicate. A countrywide initiative has been launched to build repeater coverage using these channels, and Maryland is spearheading the effort through projects such as the Maryland Eastern Shore Interoperability Network (MESIN). MESIN provides interoperability to counties through such 800 MHz NPSPAC mutual aid channels as 8Call, 8TAC-1, 8TAC-2, 8TAC-3, and 8TAC-4. MESIN is an IP-based network that features gateways, routers, and a fully redundant switch, utilizing 12 tower sites across Maryland's Eastern Shore for disparate personnel with 800 MHz equipment. In 2006, Ocean City added a self-contained Mobile Command Vehicle that has a stand alone 4 channel trunked radio site that can work in conjunction with or in place of the Ocean City Trucked System. More than 100 portable radios are stored ready for use. Another system that enables interoperability is the ACU1000 Interconnect System that can link low band, VHF band, UHF band, military band, 800 MHz band, and wireless phones; modifications in the field for radios can be made as needed using onboard hardware and software. http://www.sheriffs.org
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