NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary
Thursday, October 12, 2006
"New System Speeds Up Criminal Identification"
Chicago Tribune (10/06/06) P. C7; Yang, Tony C.
Rather than going through a long and complicated process of comparing criminal records via faxes and fingerprints, Cook County law enforcement officials now have access to a database that contains criminal records, tattoos, and other information used to identify criminals. The database is called the Criminal Apprehension and Booking System and is available to the more than 120 police departments in Cook County and funded by a $5 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security. Bill Cunningham of the Cook County sheriff's office says the database is easy to use. "Our goal is to have everybody on the same page when it comes to collecting information on bad guys," he explains. The database is expected to be used statewide very soon.
http://www.chicagotribune.com
/news/local/chicago/chi-06100
60246oct06,1,2262648.story?co
ll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed
"911 Dispatchers Now Able to Locate People in Distress"
Maui News (HI) (10/08/06); Fujimoto, Lila
The Maui Police Department is employing a new computer mapping system to track emergency calls. The technology directed police to an accident scene this summer after the dispatcher received only minimal information about the location of a car that went off the roadway. Nextel, Verizon Wireless, Cingular, T-Mobile, and Sprint are providing cellular service for the system. Police can also use the system to obtain the cell phone number of a caller. Nextel offered the service first, while the other carriers began participating in the program this year. Wireless carriers are charging each customer 66 cents per month for the service.
http://www.mauinews.com
/story.aspx?id=24017
"Computer Program Analyzes Statistics To Help Fight Crime"
East Valley Tribune (Mesa, AZ) (10/07/06); Richardson, Christian
Law enforcement officials in Mesa, Ariz., are hoping that using CompStat will make it easier for them to catch and locate criminals. "What it's going to do for the city of Mesa is it's going to make a much more efficient police department and a better crime fighter," says Mesa chief of police George Gascon. CompStat, which has already been used by the New York Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department, works by analyzing data to come up with statistics. Once the system is completely implemented, officials will be able to view data that is one week old, instead of months, in an effort to study crime statistics and arrest from the previous day. Detective Jeff Godown says the system has helped bring the crime rate down in Los Angeles for three years in a row. Mesa police plan to get together every other week to go over CompStat's numbers, with detectives eventually scheduled to participate, and then the public will be invited to join in. Godown says other agencies across the nation are also considering CompStat.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/
"State Program to Speed DNA Analysis in SoCal Sex Assault Cases"
San Francisco Chronicle (10/08/06)
California has launched a new program that seeks to hasten the process for comparing DNA samples of sexual assault victims to DNA samples of convicted sex offenders, according to state Attorney General Bill Lockyer. The program calls for the California Department of Justice to compare the victim's DNA sample to DNA profiles contained in the national criminal database in five days or less. More than 287,000 DNA samples still require testing by California's crime lab, which receives 20,000 DNA samples each month. The new program hopes to bypass the lengthy time process--testing of DNA samples taken from sexual assault victims can currently take as long as six months--by sending a separate sample for quicker analysis to the crime lab. Los Angeles County law enforcement personnel will be the sole participants in the program for now.
http://www.sfgate.com
/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n
/a/2006/10/08/st
ate/n215425D61.DTL&h
w=state+program+to+spee
d+DNA+analysis&sn=001&sc=1000
"State Prison in Jessup Transferring Inmates, Converting to Minimum-Security"
Washington Post (10/08/06) P. C2; Hernandez, Nelson
As part of its effort to transform the 128-year-old Maryland House of Correction into a minimum-security prison, the state Division of Correction has transferred roughly 1,100 medium- and maximum-security inmates at the Jessup facility to other prisons in the state. The remaining prisoners will be moved to the North Branch Correctional Institution in Cumberland next year. According to Maj. Priscilla Doggett with the Division of Correction, the prisoners are being moved from the Jessup facility because the maximum-security institute in Cumberland is a newly designed prison that can better serve the needs of maximum-security inmates. Doggett noted that the North Branch prison has a modern layout that makes it easier to track prisoners. The House of Correction, by comparison, is an antiquated facility where inmates have discovered how to jam cell locks, which poses a security risk to correctional officers and other inmates. The transfer of prisoners is one of a number of changes being made to Maryland's prison system in the wake of the fatal stabbing of Officer David McGuinn at the Jessup prison in July. For example, the Division of Correction's Acting Commissioner, John A. Rowley, said last month that he would spend $5 million on security improvements, including surveillance cameras, new protective equipment, and a larger staff of intelligence officers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com
/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/1
0/07/AR2006100700763.html
"Author: Crime Prediction Possible"
Herald-Sun (NC) (10/05/06) P. C1; Dopart, BriAnne
RTI International behavioral scientist Colleen McCue says law enforcement can use similar analytical and computing strategies to predict when and where the next crime will occur, as today financial analysts use to steer their investing. Data-mining and predictive analysis techniques also are used today by large corporate marketing departments. McCue herself has used data-mining and predictive analysis for Virginia's Richmond Police Department before joining RTI. McCue's research there led to a 47 percent reduction in gunfire complaints on New Year's Eve 2003 compared to 2002, and her strategy deployed 50 fewer police officers than the year before. This saved Richmond $15,000. McCue says, "One of the things we found was that crime, like any other behavior, has a pattern." For instance, McCue discovered that many convicted suspects in rape cases in which a rapist did not know their victim often began their criminal career as small-time burglars who broke in houses, but often escaped with little or nothing. Identifying these patterns can abet preventive policing.
http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-775750.html
"Border Cameras Operating, But Not Online Yet"
Austin American-Statesman (TX) (10/05/06) P. B1; Castillo, Juan
Texas Gov. Rick Perry is implementing a border surveillance project in which cameras will enable U.S. citizens to watch the U.S.-Mexican border online and report crimes. Yet while 15 new cameras have begun operating since Perry's program kicked off on June 1 this year, and while the video feeds now are visible to law enforcement, they have yet to go live on the Internet. The program is backed by $5 million in state funding. "We have to make sure these things are secure and that they can handle the tremendous amount of hits we know we'll have through the servers," says Perry election campaign representative Robert Black. "You're going to get millions of people on it." Brooks County, Texas, rancher Mike Vickers says hundreds of illegal immigrants cross his property every day. He thinks this virtual video-watch program will be effective on private property such as his ranch.
http://www.statesman.com
/search/content/gen/ap/TX_Bo
rder_Cameras.html
"Lorain County Internet Site Alerts Police and Public"
Plain Dealer (Cleveland) (10/05/06) P. B1; Puente, Mark
Ohio has a new information sharing system that can post photos and images on cell phones and computers called Lorain Information Sharing Agreement (LISA). LISA was paid for by a $42,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and $42,000 in forfeited drug money from prosecutor Dennis Will. The system can post photos of missing children, images of a someone using a stolen credit card, and surveillance videos of crimes from across the county. LISA is not designed to be a substitute for the Amber Alert, but it allows police officers to post information about a suspect without any restrictions. Will says LISA was needed as a way for police to share information throughout Lorain county's 18 departments. Residents who have information on a crime can post it anonymously online. Currently, about 50 people have registered to receive alerts and 130 alerts have already been sent between departments and 35 have been sent to the public, according to Bill Visalden, a Sheffield detective.
http://www.cleveland.com
/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?
/base/lorain/1160037336226
810.xml&coll=2
"Tavern Camera Mandate Proposed"
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (10/04/06); Sandler, Larry
Milwaukee aldermen are considering the imposition of a mandate that would force all drinking establishments in the city, with the exception of restaurants and possibly smaller taverns, to install digital surveillance technology to reduce violence and other disorders both inside and outside. The measure would require the impacted establishments to install the cameras in such a way as to monitor parking lots and abutting streets and give a "panoramic, full-frame view" of the entire premises inside. The bars and nightclubs would have to keep images for at least a week and provide them to law enforcement upon request. Already, convenience stores in the city are required to have video cameras, as are any retail outlets where police have been called to at least three times in a year. Bar owners say the measure will cost them at least $10,000 for equipment and installation.
http://www.jsonline.com
/story/index.aspx?id=508261
"Hey Bad Guys, Try Finding These New Police Cameras"
Chicago Sun-Times (10/04/06) P. 18; Spielman, Fran
Chicago police are installing 100 new surveillance cameras costing $1 million dollars in high-crime areas next year in the city's continuing efforts to deter gang- and drug-related activity. The new cameras have night vision capability, can rotate 360 degrees, cost $6,000 a piece, and can store and download digital recordings in minutes. They look like streetlights and, at 15 pounds, are smaller and lighter than the 200 older cameras currently watching the city's streets. The older cameras, which are equipped with a flashing blue light and tagged with the Chicago Police Department's logo, each cost $30,000 and weigh 100 pounds. Both cameras are able to transmit images to 911 call centers and district stations through microwave antennae. Officials hope future cameras will be able to detect gunshots. Although the new cameras will allow police to catch criminals who unknowingly break the law in an area under surveillance, some residents prefer the older cameras because they help scare off potential lawbreakers before the crime is committed. According to Mayor Richard M. Daley, the cameras are the "next best thing" to having a police officer on every corner.
http://www.suntimes.com
/news/metro/82289,CST-NWS-cameras04.article
"$4.8 Million Upgrade Will Expand Dispatch Capabilities"
Noblesville Ledger (TN) (10/03/06) P. 6; Sikich, Chris
Police in Hamilton County, Ind., put part of a $4.8 million Homeland Security grant towards new technology updating the county's crime-fighting resources. The Hamilton County and city of Carmel emergency dispatch centers are now equipped with New World software, which will help officers improve many different aspects of emergency response and perhaps inspire more cooperation between jurisdictions. The upgrade will allow the dispatch centers to provide backup for each other as well as simplify data-sharing and information-gathering. A new mapping system will let dispatchers find the precise locations of officers or people in need of assistance and make sure that the closest available officer is dispatched to a call. Officers will also be able to view the maps via laptop computers in squad cars. The upcoming record-management portion of the software, fully functional on Oct. 30, will provide a centralized location for various information and increase the ease of tracking crime statistics and trends. The new program is compatible with the city of Nobelsville's dispatch and records center, which was updated in 2001, though Nobelsville will not be able to integrate fully with the New World network. http://www.thenoblesvilleledger.com
/articles/9/077947-6299-093.html
"Police to Pilot New Forensics Weapon"
This is Bradford and District (UK) (10/05/06); Wright, Steve
In the United Kingdom, Operation Recall--a successful two-year-old investigation into West Yorkshire's unsolved rape and murder cases--recently received a huge boost when county police were one of four forces selected to pilot a cutting-edge DNA analysis program. The Forensic Science Service says that DNAboost, a computer-based analysis system, will help police identify 15 percent more offenders, and West Yorkshire police hope to use the program to solve 40 percent more cold cases. DNAboost allows investigators to make identifications in cases where more than one person has touched a surface or when a sample is small or of a low quality. Over the next few weeks, police will use the program to re-examine cases that were unsuccessfully analyzed during Operation Recall to see if DNAboost can make a match where the old technology failed.
http://www.thisisbradford.co.uk
/news/tibnews/display.var.9533
04.0.police_to_pilot_new_fore
nsics_weapon.php
"Madigan: Internet Crimes Against Children Presents Equipment for Waterloo Police Department to Track On-Line Predators"
US States News (10/04/06)
Attorney General Lisa Madigan recently reported the grant of state-of-the art computer hardware, forensic software, and training to the Waterloo Police Department. The equipment and training comes through a federal grant awarded to the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force as part of its mission of increasing the forensic capabilities of Illinois police agencies in the recovery of evidence in child exploitation cases. Madigan applauded the commitment by Chief Joseph Brauer and Captain Suzanne Sweet of the Waterloo Police Department in using the equipment and training to help protect Metro East children from sexual predators. "As younger children become more frequent Internet users, the need to protect them from the dangers lurking on-line has increased," Madigan said. According to a national survey of youth conducted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 34 percent of youth surveyed reported seeing sexually explicit material on-line, 9 percent of youth reported being harassed on-line and 13 percent of youth surveyed reported being solicited for sex on-line. "We must be vigilant in protecting the children of Illinois from the threat of on-line predators," Madigan said. "This equipment will further enhance the ability to identify, arrest and prosecute sexual predators." Illinois' Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) was created in 2004 and is funded through a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Currently, approximately 60 law enforcement agencies statewide are partners of ICAC and work collaboratively to combat child victimization in Illinois. ICAC's goal is to identify, arrest and convict sex offenders who prey on children using computer technology - including the Internet
. http://w3.nexis.com/sources
/scripts/info.pl?296938
"Click It and Ticket"
Boston Herald (10/03/06) P. 3; Fargen, Jessica
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has proposed an ordinance that would allow for the placement of red light cameras at designated intersections in the city. The cameras would capture an image of the rear license plate of cars running red lights at the intersections. The car's owner would then be mailed a $100 ticket for a first offense, with fines increasing for subsequent offenses. An appeal is allowed. About 20 states currently use red light cameras, and studies have shown that they have cut down on violations and some types of accidents. However, Menino's effort to install red light cameras in Boston faces opposition from the Massachusetts Legislature, which has blocked several of Menino's previous attempts to bring the technology to his city. In addition, the National Motorists Association has said some studies have shown that red light cameras cause more rear-end collisions and that poor timing of traffic signals is responsible for red light running. "This is not an enforcement issue," said the National Motorists Association's Eric Skrum. "This is an engineering issue. If you have a problem intersection and you put up a camera, that problem still exists."
http://news.bostonherald.com
/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=160465
"Wired For Trouble"
Government Executive (09/15/06) Vol. 38, No. 16, P. 61; Perera, David
After more than a decade of struggling by federal law enforcers, the final contract for the Integrated Wireless Network (IWN) is expected to be worth $10 billion over 15 years and will be awarded in early 2007, although some close to the project, headed by the Department of Justice (DOJ), have expressed concerns about the actual effectiveness of the plan. The field of competitors for the contract to create an interoperable wireless radio communications and provide broadband data capabilities in the field for 80,000 federal law enforcement personnel in the Justice, Homeland Security, and Treasury departments narrowed this summer to Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics. The system will also address the concerns of Project 25, a national public-private land mobile radio standards-making body. However, some officials have questioned IWN's focus on federal interoperability, a system best suited for first responders, while others counter that the network is not necessarily meant for first responders. Some also contend that Project Safecom, a federal nationwide program funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for standardizing federal radio interoperability nationwide, should be involved in the project. Other officials contend that Safecom's time- and cost-intensive procurement process would alienate law enforcers at the state and local levels, and that IWN has the potential to receive more funding than Safecom. As it is, the Department of Justice's fiscal 2006 budget request for IWN was cut to $90 million, and industry insiders say the project needs much more funding in order for the system to be effective. Questions linger about the reliability of the network, and whether switching to a cellular infrastructure would help keep the technology relevant in the future.
http://www.govexec.com
/dailyfed/0906/092706mm.htm
"Modeling Terrorists"
IEEE Spectrum (09/06) Vol. 43, No. 9, P. 26; Goldstein, Harry
Prediction and prevention of terrorist incidents could be aided by new simulators, such as first-person shooter-type games in which synthetic human agents improvise because they follow individualized sets of complicated rules instead of an inflexible script; such simulators model terrorists and their accomplices through profiling of terrorist backgrounds, value systems, and other variables. The development of such simulations is fueled by a belief that terrorists' mindset, motives, and organizational makeup--and thus their actions and plots--could be determined by computers equipped with the appropriate software. Outside observers are betting that software designed to identify key members of a terrorist organization will be used by intelligence analysts to compile a list of people to terminate or apprehend so as to cripple the organization most effectively; this possibility generates concern about the moral implications of relying on such models to make life-and-death decisions, and also raises questions as to whether analysts will even avail themselves of such technology, should it become widely available. Experts such as Ball State University anthropologist Jim Nyce strongly doubt that these tools will be employed by the intelligence community, "because the cognitive, intellectual, and work requirements have not been taken into account in their design." Among the drawbacks of current intelligence analysis cited by experts is analysts' dependence on informal analytical methods, their tendency to make forecasts based on incorrect rules, and their responsibility after 9/11 to sift through even more data because of the elusive nature of terrorists and the conviction that the Internet is their primary means of communication. University of Pennsylvania professor Barry Silverman thinks analysts' job could be greatly enhanced by having computers model an individual terrorist's desired vision for the world and what actions he is willing to take to realize that vision. Silverman's team has produced simulated terrorists complete with physiological traits, long-term memories, value systems, and reasoning skills extracted from over 100 models and theories drawn from political science, anthropology, and psychology, along with empirical data from medical and social science field research, polls, and experiments.
http://www.spectrum.i
eee.org/sep06/4424
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
First Woman Thunderbird Pilot Proud to Serve
By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2006 – Women have served in the Air Force for years, making valuable contributions, but gender and race differences have never been an important factor in accomplishing the Air Force mission, the first woman pilot on the Air Force Thunderbirds said here today. "What we need to concentrate on is what we have in common, which is that warrior spirit that's in all of our hearts, that has created us the way we are -- to choose to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves," Air Force Maj. Nicole Malachowski said during a speech at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, at Arlington National Cemetery.
Malachowski, who flies the No. 3 jet as the right wing pilot in the Thunderbirds' diamond formation, is in town with the team for the dedication of the Air Force Memorial Oct. 14. She has been with the Thunderbirds for a year, and this will be her 55th demonstration.
Being the first woman Thunderbird pilot is an honor, Malachowski said, but the more important thing for her is the opportunity to serve with so many talented men and women and share the Air Force story with the public.
"We are a team whose job is to go out there and represent the United States Air Force and the 530,000 men and women who wear Air Force blue with the honor, the respect and the dignity that they deserve," she said. "We're out there to represent what we know to be true -- the fantastic hard work, dedication and professionalism of the men and women in our Air Force that we have the privilege to work alongside."
The Thunderbirds spend a majority of their time doing community outreach. As part of that, they speak to a lot of children, Malachowski said. Meeting with these children, especially those who are part of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, is a blessing for her, she said, and gives her a healthy dose of humility. She recalled meeting one young boy who had only a month to live and whose wish was to meet a Thunderbird pilot.
"People talk about our military people being so courageous and heroic, and they are, and I'm very proud to be a part of the Air Force, but you look at a kid like this and you think, 'What is courage? What is heroism? It's standing right in front of us,'" she said. "This is why we wear these uniforms and why we go out and defend our nation."
Malachowski first became interested in flying at the age of 5, when she saw an air show in her native Las Vegas. She set her sights on becoming an Air Force pilot and never looked back. She started flying with the Civil Air Patrol when she was 12, and by 16 was doing solo flights. After high school, she attended the Air Force Academy and has since seen various assignments as an F-15E pilot, including a tour in Iraq. She said she hopes her service in the Thunderbirds is an example to young girls and to all children that they can achieve their dreams.
"The message to all young Americans is that it's great to have a dream; it's great to have goals," she said. "Pursue something that you are passionate about, and then pursue excellence in that. And surround yourself with a positive team. I hope that when they see the Air Force Thunderbirds, they realize they can achieve any dream, and that a great team to have is certainly the Air Force."
Women have served in the Thunderbirds since 1974, just not in a pilot capacity, Malachowski said. Of the 130 officers and enlisted personnel on the Thunderbird team, 15 are women. Besides the six demonstration pilots, the Thunderbirds are made up of support personnel from about 25 different career fields.
The Thunderbirds have a grueling schedule, as they are on the road about 220 days during their eight-month air show season, but every team member considers it a privilege to serve and share the Air Force story, Malachowski said. For her part, she said she is just glad to have been born into a time of opportunities for women in the military.
"Women love their country too, and there are a lot of us who choose to do that by wearing a military uniform," she said. "I have seen and traveled the world, and it is just a wonderful thing to be a woman living in a country that provides you so many wonderful opportunities and freedoms that are unmatched anywhere else in the world. And the Air Force simply takes that to another level."
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2006 – Women have served in the Air Force for years, making valuable contributions, but gender and race differences have never been an important factor in accomplishing the Air Force mission, the first woman pilot on the Air Force Thunderbirds said here today. "What we need to concentrate on is what we have in common, which is that warrior spirit that's in all of our hearts, that has created us the way we are -- to choose to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves," Air Force Maj. Nicole Malachowski said during a speech at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, at Arlington National Cemetery.
Malachowski, who flies the No. 3 jet as the right wing pilot in the Thunderbirds' diamond formation, is in town with the team for the dedication of the Air Force Memorial Oct. 14. She has been with the Thunderbirds for a year, and this will be her 55th demonstration.
Being the first woman Thunderbird pilot is an honor, Malachowski said, but the more important thing for her is the opportunity to serve with so many talented men and women and share the Air Force story with the public.
"We are a team whose job is to go out there and represent the United States Air Force and the 530,000 men and women who wear Air Force blue with the honor, the respect and the dignity that they deserve," she said. "We're out there to represent what we know to be true -- the fantastic hard work, dedication and professionalism of the men and women in our Air Force that we have the privilege to work alongside."
The Thunderbirds spend a majority of their time doing community outreach. As part of that, they speak to a lot of children, Malachowski said. Meeting with these children, especially those who are part of the Make-a-Wish Foundation, is a blessing for her, she said, and gives her a healthy dose of humility. She recalled meeting one young boy who had only a month to live and whose wish was to meet a Thunderbird pilot.
"People talk about our military people being so courageous and heroic, and they are, and I'm very proud to be a part of the Air Force, but you look at a kid like this and you think, 'What is courage? What is heroism? It's standing right in front of us,'" she said. "This is why we wear these uniforms and why we go out and defend our nation."
Malachowski first became interested in flying at the age of 5, when she saw an air show in her native Las Vegas. She set her sights on becoming an Air Force pilot and never looked back. She started flying with the Civil Air Patrol when she was 12, and by 16 was doing solo flights. After high school, she attended the Air Force Academy and has since seen various assignments as an F-15E pilot, including a tour in Iraq. She said she hopes her service in the Thunderbirds is an example to young girls and to all children that they can achieve their dreams.
"The message to all young Americans is that it's great to have a dream; it's great to have goals," she said. "Pursue something that you are passionate about, and then pursue excellence in that. And surround yourself with a positive team. I hope that when they see the Air Force Thunderbirds, they realize they can achieve any dream, and that a great team to have is certainly the Air Force."
Women have served in the Thunderbirds since 1974, just not in a pilot capacity, Malachowski said. Of the 130 officers and enlisted personnel on the Thunderbird team, 15 are women. Besides the six demonstration pilots, the Thunderbirds are made up of support personnel from about 25 different career fields.
The Thunderbirds have a grueling schedule, as they are on the road about 220 days during their eight-month air show season, but every team member considers it a privilege to serve and share the Air Force story, Malachowski said. For her part, she said she is just glad to have been born into a time of opportunities for women in the military.
"Women love their country too, and there are a lot of us who choose to do that by wearing a military uniform," she said. "I have seen and traveled the world, and it is just a wonderful thing to be a woman living in a country that provides you so many wonderful opportunities and freedoms that are unmatched anywhere else in the world. And the Air Force simply takes that to another level."
Noble Cause Misconduct and NYPD
October 11, 2006 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors, has added two former New York Police Department detectives whose work explores police corruption and police misconduct in the NYPD.
Randy Jurgensen was born and raised in New York City. He served in the U.S. Army as a Paratrooper and Green Beret. Randy received numerous medals for his military duty, including three Bronze Stars; and the Purple Heart. After returning from his military service in Korea, he joined the New York Police Department. During his tenure with the NYPD, Randy worked as an undercover Narcotics Detective and a homicide detective in Harlem. During his Harlem years, the murder of Police Officer Philip Cardillo became the catalyst for one of the largest scandals in the history of the NYPD.
Randy Jurgensen, along with his co-author Robert Cea (retired NYPD), give an account of the scandal in “Circle of Six: The True Story of New York's Most Notorious Cop-Killer and the Cop Who Risked Everything to Catch Him.” According to the book, ‘On Friday, April 14, 1972, the police were summoned to Mosque Number 7 in Harlem, led at the time by the Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan, for a ten-thirteen: officer in need of help. The turn of events after this police officer distress call has become perhaps the most legendary story in NYPD history. Police entered the Mosque and a conflict occurred, leaving Office Cardillo dead; and, the city on the brink of a full-scale riot. Sensing a potential crisis and conflict with the Nation of Islam and the Black Liberation Army, New York City Mayor John Lindsay, Commissioner Benjamin Ward, and Congressman Charles Rangel acquiesced to the city's black leaders and ordered the police out of the Mosque.
Subsequently, the details of Officer Cardillo's murder and the events of what happened at the Mosque were covered up and an investigation was never truly launched until NYPD detective Randy Jurgensen began his own investigation. For four years, he would not rest, taking on the Mayor, his superiors in the NYPD, the Nation of Islam, and seemingly at times, the entire city of New York, before he could affect an arrest. His investigation revealed the tragic and shameful story of the political scandal and cover-up that rocked the NYPD and the Nation of Islam.
Robert Cea, Randy Jurgensen's co-author, is also a former NYPD detective. As a new recruit Cea learned of Jurgensen's heroism, and the tales of this case are told to this day to each and every recruit at the Police Academy. When Robert Cea retired from the NYPD, he was the fifth-most-decorated officer in the department's history. And he was still only in his early thirties. David Pitt of the American Library Association asks, “So why would an ambitious, aggressive, highly respected detective end his career so early? Because, like others before him, Cea had fought bitter battles with his own conscience over the way he did his job. The book explores one of a police officer's toughest dilemmas: When and how much is it necessary to bend the rules in order to catch the bad guys? This isn't a story of police corruption in the manner of Serpico or Prince of the City. This one is about moral corruption, about one man's personal descent into dishonesty.” “No Lights, No Sirens : The Corruption and Redemption of an Inner City Cop” is Robert Cea’s “sometimes shocking memoir, which is written in honest, gritty prose.”
Police-Writers.com now lists 149 police officers and their 430 books in six categories.
Randy Jurgensen was born and raised in New York City. He served in the U.S. Army as a Paratrooper and Green Beret. Randy received numerous medals for his military duty, including three Bronze Stars; and the Purple Heart. After returning from his military service in Korea, he joined the New York Police Department. During his tenure with the NYPD, Randy worked as an undercover Narcotics Detective and a homicide detective in Harlem. During his Harlem years, the murder of Police Officer Philip Cardillo became the catalyst for one of the largest scandals in the history of the NYPD.
Randy Jurgensen, along with his co-author Robert Cea (retired NYPD), give an account of the scandal in “Circle of Six: The True Story of New York's Most Notorious Cop-Killer and the Cop Who Risked Everything to Catch Him.” According to the book, ‘On Friday, April 14, 1972, the police were summoned to Mosque Number 7 in Harlem, led at the time by the Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan, for a ten-thirteen: officer in need of help. The turn of events after this police officer distress call has become perhaps the most legendary story in NYPD history. Police entered the Mosque and a conflict occurred, leaving Office Cardillo dead; and, the city on the brink of a full-scale riot. Sensing a potential crisis and conflict with the Nation of Islam and the Black Liberation Army, New York City Mayor John Lindsay, Commissioner Benjamin Ward, and Congressman Charles Rangel acquiesced to the city's black leaders and ordered the police out of the Mosque.
Subsequently, the details of Officer Cardillo's murder and the events of what happened at the Mosque were covered up and an investigation was never truly launched until NYPD detective Randy Jurgensen began his own investigation. For four years, he would not rest, taking on the Mayor, his superiors in the NYPD, the Nation of Islam, and seemingly at times, the entire city of New York, before he could affect an arrest. His investigation revealed the tragic and shameful story of the political scandal and cover-up that rocked the NYPD and the Nation of Islam.
Robert Cea, Randy Jurgensen's co-author, is also a former NYPD detective. As a new recruit Cea learned of Jurgensen's heroism, and the tales of this case are told to this day to each and every recruit at the Police Academy. When Robert Cea retired from the NYPD, he was the fifth-most-decorated officer in the department's history. And he was still only in his early thirties. David Pitt of the American Library Association asks, “So why would an ambitious, aggressive, highly respected detective end his career so early? Because, like others before him, Cea had fought bitter battles with his own conscience over the way he did his job. The book explores one of a police officer's toughest dilemmas: When and how much is it necessary to bend the rules in order to catch the bad guys? This isn't a story of police corruption in the manner of Serpico or Prince of the City. This one is about moral corruption, about one man's personal descent into dishonesty.” “No Lights, No Sirens : The Corruption and Redemption of an Inner City Cop” is Robert Cea’s “sometimes shocking memoir, which is written in honest, gritty prose.”
Police-Writers.com now lists 149 police officers and their 430 books in six categories.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Chief of Police, Diplomatic Security and Silver Flying Saucers
October 10, 2006 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors, has added Michael Jaquish a retired chief of police, world traveler and author.
The retired Chief of Police of the Okanogan Police Department (Washington), Michael Jaquish has degrees in Business Administration and Law Enforcement. His book, “Tales of a Country Cop in Africa,” traces the experiences of a Jaquish, a small-town cop, who, following a divorce, retired from law enforcement to pursue a career in international diplomatic security and intelligence. In 1989, he traveled to Liberia, West Africa, where, shortly after his arrival, savagery and revolution exploded across the West African countryside.
He spent the next seven years conducting security & intelligence operations for the US Embassy, NASA, USAID, Voice of America, United Nations, European Union and a variety of other government and private companies. Michael’s duties carried him to Liberia, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Morocco and he often worked in the midst of civil war and political unrest. In the fall of 1997 he returned to the United States where he has worked primarily as a trainer and consultant for security companies such as BRINK’S, Incorporated, Blackwater USA, Pierce County Security and various fugitive recovery operations. Since the terrorist attacks on America on September 11, 2001, Michael has been deeply committed to raising the bar for professionalism within the private security industry.
Drawing from his law enforcement, academic and private security experience Michael Jaquish has also written, “The Role of the Security Officer.” This work is “an excellent choice for individuals, private consultants or college instructors searching for an appropriate student textbook that covers the fundamentals of basic security guard training. It is written in a lively and creative style that quickly grabs and holds the attention of the reader while covering the full range of fundamentals of the armed and unarmed security guard profession. The book was written to cover requirements of Washington State Armed and Unarmed Guard licensing training requirements but it meets or exceeds training needs in other states as well.”
Michael Jaquish has also ventured into the realm of a science fiction writer with “Time Loves a Hero.” The book is billed as “a fast-paced science fiction novel written in the style of the early sci-fi writers. The story begins with a young couple (Troy and Dorian) in North Bend, Washington who are abducted by "Aliens" in a silver flying saucer. The plot takes an unexpected twist when the couple learns how inaccurate their initial impressions are.”
Michael can be contacted via his website at www.countrycopbooks.com. There he writes about current global and domestic politics and events and publishes his opinions on his blog, Stranger in a Strange Land.
Police-Writers.com lists 147 police officers turned writers and their 428 books in six categories.
The retired Chief of Police of the Okanogan Police Department (Washington), Michael Jaquish has degrees in Business Administration and Law Enforcement. His book, “Tales of a Country Cop in Africa,” traces the experiences of a Jaquish, a small-town cop, who, following a divorce, retired from law enforcement to pursue a career in international diplomatic security and intelligence. In 1989, he traveled to Liberia, West Africa, where, shortly after his arrival, savagery and revolution exploded across the West African countryside.
He spent the next seven years conducting security & intelligence operations for the US Embassy, NASA, USAID, Voice of America, United Nations, European Union and a variety of other government and private companies. Michael’s duties carried him to Liberia, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Morocco and he often worked in the midst of civil war and political unrest. In the fall of 1997 he returned to the United States where he has worked primarily as a trainer and consultant for security companies such as BRINK’S, Incorporated, Blackwater USA, Pierce County Security and various fugitive recovery operations. Since the terrorist attacks on America on September 11, 2001, Michael has been deeply committed to raising the bar for professionalism within the private security industry.
Drawing from his law enforcement, academic and private security experience Michael Jaquish has also written, “The Role of the Security Officer.” This work is “an excellent choice for individuals, private consultants or college instructors searching for an appropriate student textbook that covers the fundamentals of basic security guard training. It is written in a lively and creative style that quickly grabs and holds the attention of the reader while covering the full range of fundamentals of the armed and unarmed security guard profession. The book was written to cover requirements of Washington State Armed and Unarmed Guard licensing training requirements but it meets or exceeds training needs in other states as well.”
Michael Jaquish has also ventured into the realm of a science fiction writer with “Time Loves a Hero.” The book is billed as “a fast-paced science fiction novel written in the style of the early sci-fi writers. The story begins with a young couple (Troy and Dorian) in North Bend, Washington who are abducted by "Aliens" in a silver flying saucer. The plot takes an unexpected twist when the couple learns how inaccurate their initial impressions are.”
Michael can be contacted via his website at www.countrycopbooks.com. There he writes about current global and domestic politics and events and publishes his opinions on his blog, Stranger in a Strange Land.
Police-Writers.com lists 147 police officers turned writers and their 428 books in six categories.
Monday, October 09, 2006
DNA Identifies Missing WWII Airmen
Editors Note: Although not directly related to criminal justice, the use of DNA to identify remains from 60 years past should be of interest to criminal justice professionals.
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is 1st Lt. Shannon E. Estill, U.S. Army Air Forces, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He will be buried on October 10 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
On April 13, 1945, Estill's P-38J Lightning was struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire while attacking targets in eastern Germany. Another U.S. pilot reported seeing Estill's aircraft explode and crash. Because the location of the crash site was within the Russian-controlled sector of occupied Germany, U.S. military personnel could not recover Estill's remains after the war.
In 2003, a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) investigated a crash site near the town of Elsnig in eastern Germany. The site had been reported by two German nationals whose hobby is finding the location of World War II crash sites. They also claimed to have found remains at the site, which they turned over to U.S. Army officials. The team surveyed the site and interviewed two more men who witnessed the crash as children.
In 2005, another JPAC team excavated the crash site and recovered additional human remains as well as P-38 wreckage. Included in the recovered wreckage was an aircraft data plate from Estill's plane.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of the remains, matching DNA sequences from a maternal relative.
For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/ or call (703) 699-1169.
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is 1st Lt. Shannon E. Estill, U.S. Army Air Forces, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He will be buried on October 10 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
On April 13, 1945, Estill's P-38J Lightning was struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire while attacking targets in eastern Germany. Another U.S. pilot reported seeing Estill's aircraft explode and crash. Because the location of the crash site was within the Russian-controlled sector of occupied Germany, U.S. military personnel could not recover Estill's remains after the war.
In 2003, a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) investigated a crash site near the town of Elsnig in eastern Germany. The site had been reported by two German nationals whose hobby is finding the location of World War II crash sites. They also claimed to have found remains at the site, which they turned over to U.S. Army officials. The team surveyed the site and interviewed two more men who witnessed the crash as children.
In 2005, another JPAC team excavated the crash site and recovered additional human remains as well as P-38 wreckage. Included in the recovered wreckage was an aircraft data plate from Estill's plane.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of the remains, matching DNA sequences from a maternal relative.
For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/ or call (703) 699-1169.
Police Department Hiring
Hiring and Maintaining a Quality Police Force
Live Webcast and Satellite Broadcast
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
October 24, 2006 • 2:00 – 3:30 PM ET
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
A free, live, interactive webcast and satellite broadcast addressing issues involved with recruiting, hiring, and retaining qualified law enforcement officers. Viewers will learn how local law enforcement agencies and local governments are dealing with these issues. Some topics to be addressed are:
Major challenges to recruiting, hiring, and retaining quality
law enforcement officers.
How agencies have overcome those challenges.
How agencies are marketing the hiring of police officers in the spirit of service instead of in the spirit of adventure.
What training methods and incentives agencies are using to retain quality police officers and keep employee turnover low.
How agencies are partnering with communities to ensure quality policing.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Charles Hank, lieutenant in the Personnel Bureau, Employment Services Section of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD).
Ronald L. Davis, chief of police, East Palo Alto, California.
Albert Nájera, chief of police, Sacramento, California.
Major Jim Previtera, head of the Training Division of the Hillsborough County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office, and supervisor at the Recruitment and Screening Bureau.
Johnny L. Dupree, mayor, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
The webcast will also feature taped comments by:
Jerry Sanders, mayor, San Diego, California.
Dr. Edwin C. Daley, city manager, Winchester, Virginia.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Sign up today at http://www.DOJConnect.com. View the program live from any computer or via satellite broadcast and submit questions to our panel of experts by e-mail.
UNABLE TO VIEW THE WEBCAST OR SATELLITE BROADCAST LIVE?
The program will be archived at
http://www.DOJConnect.com for 12 months; watch anytime, 24/7.
HOW TO MAXIMIZE THE VALUE OF THE WEBCAST OR SATELLITE BROADCAST
Host a town hall meeting at your location where groups can watch together. Conduct discussion sessions after the program. Discussion guides will be available prior to the program on http://www.DOJConnect.com.
Tell your partners and colleagues about the webcast through your e-mail listserv and other communication methods or forward this e-mail.
Promote the webcast on your organization’s web site. Banners are available for use on your site at http://www.DOJConnect.com
For more information, visit http://www.DOJConnect.com
or call 800.421.6770.
Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).
Live Webcast and Satellite Broadcast
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
October 24, 2006 • 2:00 – 3:30 PM ET
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
A free, live, interactive webcast and satellite broadcast addressing issues involved with recruiting, hiring, and retaining qualified law enforcement officers. Viewers will learn how local law enforcement agencies and local governments are dealing with these issues. Some topics to be addressed are:
Major challenges to recruiting, hiring, and retaining quality
law enforcement officers.
How agencies have overcome those challenges.
How agencies are marketing the hiring of police officers in the spirit of service instead of in the spirit of adventure.
What training methods and incentives agencies are using to retain quality police officers and keep employee turnover low.
How agencies are partnering with communities to ensure quality policing.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Charles Hank, lieutenant in the Personnel Bureau, Employment Services Section of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD).
Ronald L. Davis, chief of police, East Palo Alto, California.
Albert Nájera, chief of police, Sacramento, California.
Major Jim Previtera, head of the Training Division of the Hillsborough County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office, and supervisor at the Recruitment and Screening Bureau.
Johnny L. Dupree, mayor, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
The webcast will also feature taped comments by:
Jerry Sanders, mayor, San Diego, California.
Dr. Edwin C. Daley, city manager, Winchester, Virginia.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Sign up today at http://www.DOJConnect.com. View the program live from any computer or via satellite broadcast and submit questions to our panel of experts by e-mail.
UNABLE TO VIEW THE WEBCAST OR SATELLITE BROADCAST LIVE?
The program will be archived at
http://www.DOJConnect.com for 12 months; watch anytime, 24/7.
HOW TO MAXIMIZE THE VALUE OF THE WEBCAST OR SATELLITE BROADCAST
Host a town hall meeting at your location where groups can watch together. Conduct discussion sessions after the program. Discussion guides will be available prior to the program on http://www.DOJConnect.com.
Tell your partners and colleagues about the webcast through your e-mail listserv and other communication methods or forward this e-mail.
Promote the webcast on your organization’s web site. Banners are available for use on your site at http://www.DOJConnect.com
For more information, visit http://www.DOJConnect.com
or call 800.421.6770.
Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Computer science, police commissioners and serial killers
October 8, 2006 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors added three police officers turned authors: Debra Shinder, Bernard Kerik and Rosanna Filippello.
Debra Shinder, a former Police Officer with the Roanoke Police Department; and instructor at the North Central Texas Regional Police Academy and the Criminal Justice Training Center at Eastfield College, has written two books "Computer Networking Essentials" for Cisco Press and "Scene of the Cybercrime."
The NYPD 40th Police Commissioner, Bernard Kerik's, pens his personal story which is interesting and inspiring. As a young man, he is often in trouble and even quits school. Ultimately, he gains a sense of purpose in the military and embarks on a career in law enforcement that culminates in his becoming NYPD’s Police Commissioner. Bernard Kerik’s book takes the read from the sagging row houses of New Jersey to the cocaine fields of Colombia; from the razor wire of Rikers Island to the streets of New York City.
In “The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit of Justice” Bernard Kerik details his life as a jail warden with a black belt in martial arts and a background in international security and anti-terrorism; taking a substantial pay cut to become a New York Police Department beat cop on the streets of Times Square. As a fearless narcotics detective, he went undercover to buy drugs in Harlem, seized millions of dollars of cocaine from the druglords of the Cali cartel, and was awarded the New York Police Department's Medal of Valor. As New York City's 40th Police Commissioner, Kerik directed the largest municipal police force in the world, and his battles continued. And yet Bernard Kerik's greatest battle was not pitched on tough city streets, but within himself. The greatest unsolved case of his life: the tragic mystery of his own mother, who abandoned her young son 41 years ago.
Rosanna Filippello was born and raised in Philadelphia and graduated from Cardinal Dougherty High School in 1986. She then attended Temple University for a time before joining the police department in 1993. Filippello works as a patrol officer in the "Fighting" Fourteenth District of the city. Of her five books, the Angelo Mystery Series is likely the most interesting. In the third of the series, “Angel of Death,” A known pedophile is found murdered and mutilated in North Philadelphia. Angelo, Philadelphia’s top Homicide detective (and the series namesake) is assigned the case. Soon the body count starts piling up and the only common link is the fact that the victims were ritualistically killed ex-convicts.
Police-Writers.com hosts 146 police officers (representing over 70 police departments) and their 425 books in six categories.
Debra Shinder, a former Police Officer with the Roanoke Police Department; and instructor at the North Central Texas Regional Police Academy and the Criminal Justice Training Center at Eastfield College, has written two books "Computer Networking Essentials" for Cisco Press and "Scene of the Cybercrime."
The NYPD 40th Police Commissioner, Bernard Kerik's, pens his personal story which is interesting and inspiring. As a young man, he is often in trouble and even quits school. Ultimately, he gains a sense of purpose in the military and embarks on a career in law enforcement that culminates in his becoming NYPD’s Police Commissioner. Bernard Kerik’s book takes the read from the sagging row houses of New Jersey to the cocaine fields of Colombia; from the razor wire of Rikers Island to the streets of New York City.
In “The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit of Justice” Bernard Kerik details his life as a jail warden with a black belt in martial arts and a background in international security and anti-terrorism; taking a substantial pay cut to become a New York Police Department beat cop on the streets of Times Square. As a fearless narcotics detective, he went undercover to buy drugs in Harlem, seized millions of dollars of cocaine from the druglords of the Cali cartel, and was awarded the New York Police Department's Medal of Valor. As New York City's 40th Police Commissioner, Kerik directed the largest municipal police force in the world, and his battles continued. And yet Bernard Kerik's greatest battle was not pitched on tough city streets, but within himself. The greatest unsolved case of his life: the tragic mystery of his own mother, who abandoned her young son 41 years ago.
Rosanna Filippello was born and raised in Philadelphia and graduated from Cardinal Dougherty High School in 1986. She then attended Temple University for a time before joining the police department in 1993. Filippello works as a patrol officer in the "Fighting" Fourteenth District of the city. Of her five books, the Angelo Mystery Series is likely the most interesting. In the third of the series, “Angel of Death,” A known pedophile is found murdered and mutilated in North Philadelphia. Angelo, Philadelphia’s top Homicide detective (and the series namesake) is assigned the case. Soon the body count starts piling up and the only common link is the fact that the victims were ritualistically killed ex-convicts.
Police-Writers.com hosts 146 police officers (representing over 70 police departments) and their 425 books in six categories.
Police-Writers.com adds “A Cop's Guide to Occult Investigations”
October 8, 2006 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors added Tony M. Kail to the listings of police writers.
Tony M. Kail is Founder and Director of World View Intelligence. Tony has served as a consultant and law enforcement trainer for numerous regional, state and federal agencies. He has over fifteen years of experience in research and training on the subject of magico-religious cultures and crime.
Tony has performed fieldwork with a number of religious traditions throughout the United States. He has observed and documented a number of ceremonies and rituals of various religious cultures. His primary expertise is in the area of African Traditional religions and Neo-Paganism. Kail has received specialized training in the field of ritualistic crime investigation from the Miami Police Department.
Kail has served as a Sheriff's Deputy with the Madison County Sheriff's Department as well as Animal Cruelty Officer with the Madison County Humane Society. He has served as adjunct instructor in the Police Sciences Division of the Nashville State Community College since 2000.
Kail is author of the book A Cop's Guide to Occult Investigations from Paladin Press. He is also the author of several articles on religious culture for such law enforcement publications as Law and Order, Police Quarterly and The Backup.
Kail is also a member of the following professional associations: American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers; Tennessee Chapter of the International Association for Identification and the Public Safety Writers Association of America
In Tony Kail’s book, “Cop's Guide to Occult Investigations: Understanding Satanism, Santeria, Wicca, and Other Alternative Religions,” the reader finds out how to interpret rituals, develop contacts in the occult community, recognize signs of juveniles dabbling in the occult, conduct investigations into an occult-related crime and more. The reader will see how gangs and hate groups use occult symbolism to empower members and terrify victims and learn to identify ritual tools with the illustrated field guide.
Police-Writers.com hosts 142 police officers and their 424 books in six categories.
Tony M. Kail is Founder and Director of World View Intelligence. Tony has served as a consultant and law enforcement trainer for numerous regional, state and federal agencies. He has over fifteen years of experience in research and training on the subject of magico-religious cultures and crime.
Tony has performed fieldwork with a number of religious traditions throughout the United States. He has observed and documented a number of ceremonies and rituals of various religious cultures. His primary expertise is in the area of African Traditional religions and Neo-Paganism. Kail has received specialized training in the field of ritualistic crime investigation from the Miami Police Department.
Kail has served as a Sheriff's Deputy with the Madison County Sheriff's Department as well as Animal Cruelty Officer with the Madison County Humane Society. He has served as adjunct instructor in the Police Sciences Division of the Nashville State Community College since 2000.
Kail is author of the book A Cop's Guide to Occult Investigations from Paladin Press. He is also the author of several articles on religious culture for such law enforcement publications as Law and Order, Police Quarterly and The Backup.
Kail is also a member of the following professional associations: American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers; Tennessee Chapter of the International Association for Identification and the Public Safety Writers Association of America
In Tony Kail’s book, “Cop's Guide to Occult Investigations: Understanding Satanism, Santeria, Wicca, and Other Alternative Religions,” the reader finds out how to interpret rituals, develop contacts in the occult community, recognize signs of juveniles dabbling in the occult, conduct investigations into an occult-related crime and more. The reader will see how gangs and hate groups use occult symbolism to empower members and terrify victims and learn to identify ritual tools with the illustrated field guide.
Police-Writers.com hosts 142 police officers and their 424 books in six categories.
Police-Writers.com adds Leach Consulting to list of Police Officer Websites
October 8, 2006 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors includes a comprehensive listing of Police Officer Websites and Police Officer Blogs. Police-Writers.com has added Leach Consulting to the website listings.
LEACH CONSULTING, LLC
Tad Leach was born and raised in the Chicago area. After graduating from college with a B.S. Degree in Business Administration and working in the banking field, he joined the Wheeling (IL) Police Department. His experience includes Patrol, Juvenile, Detectives, Watch Commander, Records and Communications Supervisor, Administrative Sergeant and Acting Deputy Chief in charge of the Support Services Division. He then joined the Lincolnwood (IL) Police Department as Deputy Chief and was subsequently appointed Chief of Police. In that capacity he was responsible for the total police operation in a multi-ethnic suburb of Chicago, including joint dispatching for Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services. Lincolnwood is bordered on three sides by the City of Chicago and experiences a disproportionate amount of crime, traffic and calls for service activity to population due to location, socio-economic standing and business/commercial base
Leach Consulting offers: Personnel needs assessments; Organizational structure analysis; Police Department formation (new agency); Communications needs assessments; Policy and procedures analysis; Total organization analysis; Training needs assessment; Internal investigations review (procedures and/or individual case assessment); Personnel assessment, including Chief of Police/Command Officer evaluation; Chief of Police selection process; Testing/selection process evaluation (initial hiring, specialized positions and/or promotions).
Police-Writers.com hosts 142 police officers and their 424 books in six categories.
LEACH CONSULTING, LLC
Tad Leach was born and raised in the Chicago area. After graduating from college with a B.S. Degree in Business Administration and working in the banking field, he joined the Wheeling (IL) Police Department. His experience includes Patrol, Juvenile, Detectives, Watch Commander, Records and Communications Supervisor, Administrative Sergeant and Acting Deputy Chief in charge of the Support Services Division. He then joined the Lincolnwood (IL) Police Department as Deputy Chief and was subsequently appointed Chief of Police. In that capacity he was responsible for the total police operation in a multi-ethnic suburb of Chicago, including joint dispatching for Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services. Lincolnwood is bordered on three sides by the City of Chicago and experiences a disproportionate amount of crime, traffic and calls for service activity to population due to location, socio-economic standing and business/commercial base
Leach Consulting offers: Personnel needs assessments; Organizational structure analysis; Police Department formation (new agency); Communications needs assessments; Policy and procedures analysis; Total organization analysis; Training needs assessment; Internal investigations review (procedures and/or individual case assessment); Personnel assessment, including Chief of Police/Command Officer evaluation; Chief of Police selection process; Testing/selection process evaluation (initial hiring, specialized positions and/or promotions).
Police-Writers.com hosts 142 police officers and their 424 books in six categories.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Law Enforcement News Summary
NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary
Thursday, October 5, 2006
"Lost in Musty Files, Police Turning to Web for Cold Case Help"
Associated Press (09/30/06); Barrouquere, Brett
The Kentucky State Police recently posted online information about close to 130 unsolved murders in the state's last 50 years in hopes of attracting people with additional information. Kentucky's gambit is not uncommon, as law enforcement in Alaska and Texas have done the same. Baltimore County Police Department's William Toohey says the Internet is a great tool to reach people who might know something about a case, but since the incident in question have left the state. "If you're going to do law enforcement these days, you've got to use the Internet," says Toohey. The Kentucky State Police did receive significant information in one case after they posted it online. A sister-in-law located in Wisconsin was performing an Internet search for her husband's brother, who disappeared in 1993, when she and then her husband recognized the artist's sketch of the unidentified man in a Kentucky found-body case. http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com
/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061001
/NEWS02/610010302
"Police Chief Weighs a Stun Gun Tryout"
Washington Post (09/28/06) P. T3; Hernandez, Nelson
The Howard County, Md., Police Department intends to evaluate the possibility of using electric stun guns to disable unruly suspects. At present, a county law bans their use, so the police department would first need to convince the Howard County Council to lift the ban. Upwards of 7,000 of the country's 18,000 police agencies use stun guns, according to Amnesty International. The weapons are viewed as a nonlethal way to subdue suspects, but they have been associated with in-custody deaths, and critics also claim that police officers could misuse the weapons. There are several other types of nonlethal weapons being used across the country, including pepper balls, beanbag shotguns, and pepper spray. However, unruly suspects, especially those on drugs, are sometimes capable of withstanding the effects of these weapons. This is rarely the case with stun guns, which typically cause people to collapse after two or three seconds as their neuromuscular system is shut down. Stun gun victims usually regain their muscle movements in 15 minutes, providing police with plenty of time to handcuff the suspect. Doug Ward, deputy director of Johns Hopkins University's Division of Public Safety Leadership, explains that stun guns sometimes have unintended, fatal results, especially if the suspect has health issues or falls down and becomes injured.
http://www.washingtonpost.com
/wp-dyn/print/community/loud
oun/index.html
"Iris Scanning Now Used to Track Sexual Offenders"
Sheriff (10/06) Vol. 58, No. 5, P. 24; O'Reilly, Kevin
In July, the Mecklenburg County (N.C.) Sheriff's Department became the first in the country to install BI2 Technologies' Sex Offender Registry and Identification System (SORIS), which registers and positively identifies convicted sexual predators using iris recognition biometric technology. The system uses a special high-resolution camera to capture a digital photograph of each of the sex offender's eyes and create a unique iris code for each individual enrolled in the system. Once a convicted sex offender is registered in the national SORIS system, their location and identity is verified within seconds from any participating agency simply by looking in the camera. SORIS is portable and can be used on a wireless network, which means law enforcement agencies who use it have the ability to go to the homes of suspected offenders and identify them immediately, said Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph. Iris recognition has a number of advantages over other types of biometric systems. The human iris is absolutely unique--even between identical twins or a person's right and left eyes--and its physical characteristics do not change with age. In addition, fingerprints, facial identification, retina scan, and voice recognition do not provide the level of accuracy, speed, or cost-effectiveness found with iris recognition technology.
http://www.sheriffs.org
"Surveying the Scene"
Government Technology (09/06) Vol. 19, No. 9, P. 58; McKay, Jim
The Smart Station survey device by Leica Geosystems enables police officers in Sparks, Nev., to chart a motor vehicle accident scene within 30 minutes or less, compared to the previous tape-measure and hand-diagramming method that took three hours. The Sparks police department purchased the machine for $41,000, and they are still training police officers to use it. "We get our roadways open a lot faster," says Sparks Traffic Officer Shane Minick. The SmartStation records all accident data at the scene with a global positioning system (GPS) called a GPS rover, and then overlays those points onto a city map of the scene, creating a more accurate and much faster map of the accident wreckage. Before in Sparks, the plotting of the points was done by hand, and it was overlaid onto aerial photos for a composite of the accident.
http://www.govtech.net
/magazine/story.php?id=100901
"NIST Experiments Test Frangibles Against Vests"
Police (09/06) Vol. 30, No. 9, P. 19
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is analyzing the trajectories of bullet fragments that occur when frangible bullets impact sturdy material. Concerns have increased about the damage potential of frangible bullets because of the relative softness of body armor used by first-responders and law enforcement officers. The research being conducted by NIST relies on a device developed by the association to determine the affect of "frangible bullets" when striking metal. The Kolsky bar device focuses on the metal's reaction to the impact. Frangible bullets are made to break apart when striking a hard material, which raises concerns about injuries caused by ricochets. The institute will use the data obtained from its research to serve as the foundation for additional studies. The Department of Justice will examine the conclusions of the various studies to assess the existing body-armor performance standard. http://www.policemag.com
"FDA Approves Treatment for Nerve-Poisoning Agents for Use by Trained Emergency Medical Services Personnel"
Medical News Today (10/02/06)
The FDA has approved Duodote by Meridian Medical Technologies for use by emergency medical service providers to treat people affected by nerve gas attacks, which can include exposure to sarin, certain insecticides, and any organophosphorus life-threatening nerve agents. Duodote combines atrophine and pralidoxime chloride in an injection formulation. This combination was first approved in 2002 under acronym ATNAA for military use only. "Today's approval facilitates the stockpiling of the product so that it can be used to treat civilians in an emergency," says FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research deputy director Dr. Douglas Throckmorton. He adds that "Duodote may be administered only by well-trained emergency medical personnel."
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
/medicalnews.php?newsid=53094&nfid=rssfeeds
"Just Hit Record: TiVo Goes on Patrol"
Washington Technology (10/02/06) Vol. 21, No. 19, P. 21; Beizer, Doug
The Rockville (Maryland) Police Department (RPD) is deploying new in-car video equipment in its squad cars that starts recording in 60-second segments as soon as it is turned on, says the department's Cpl. Kenneth Matney. The system consists of a control panel, a forward-facing camera, and a low-light infrared camera, and continuously records and re-records in 60-second intervals until the entire system is activated. At that point, recording takes place on the hard drive, but the most recent 60-second segment is stored. This provides police officers with a better chance of retaining crucial evidence. RPD opted to migrate to ICOP Digital's 20/20 digital system because of the technology's advantages over standard tape, according to Matney. "It helps us out, it provides us evidence in court, and it has beaten several false complaints on officers," he notes. The new digital system has a 20G hard drive that can hold eight hours of higher quality footage or 16 hours of extended-play footage, and can also be placed into a docking system to download footage to a server. Laura Owen, ICOP's president and chief operating officer, says the best arrangement for a police department is to have a separate server for storing and overseeing video files, but this is not mandatory. The 20/20 model is compatible with additional devices like the NOPTIC thermal imaging camera by Autoliv and license plate recognition technology from PIPS Technology; by December, new software will also allow the sharing of files among agencies via Web protocols, according to Owen.
http://www.washingtontechnology.com
"Camera Lets Law Enforcement Stand Back for a Closer Look"
Beaumont Enterprise (09/28/06); Myers, Ryan
Beaumont, Texas, police are in the process of obtaining a VideoProbe XL PRO device that will enable them to inspect inside containers without opening them, which will minimize hazardous exposure to police officers. The VideoProbe XL PRO by General Electronics Inspection Technologies is a camera mounted within the thin end of a flexible tube. Beaumont Police Department Sgt. Tim Ocnaschek says it will help police officers reduce their exposure to container contents. He says the department may use it for narcotics operations as well as for any suspicious container inspections. The $33,465 instrument also can detect and record sound. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security provided $27,800 in grant funding for it.
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com
"Alabama Police Department Runs 100 Percent E-85 Fleet"
Police (09/06) Vol. 30, No. 9, P. 17; Knight, Cheryl
The Hoover Police Department (HPD) uses E-85 to fuel its entire fleet of Chevrolet Tahoe Police cars, which ranks the department as the national leader among law enforcement agencies using the fuel. The Hoover Public Safety Facility houses refueling equipment for the vehicles, which average 24,000 gallons of fuel consumption each month. The HPD distributed E-85 fueling cards to its officers that provide important information, such as how many miles the vehicles travel before stopping for more fuel. The information is used when conducting analysis of the vehicles' value to the Alabama-based police department. Dave Lindon, fleet management director for the City of Hoover, said the 2005 Tahoe is an excellent vehicle for police applications. He reports that using E-85 to power the vehicles has provided environmental benefits, plus lessened dependence on imported oil. Lindon adds that officers have praised the E-85 Tahoes. http://www.policemag.com
"Looking Toward the "Agency of the Future""
Law Enforcement Technology (09/06) P. 52; Ruderman, Jan
Jan Ruderman, a senior director for Panasonic Solutions Co.'s Public Sector operations, said that technology vendors are collaborating with law enforcement officials in designing future tools. Ruderman adds that law enforcement have always used the latest technological developments to enhance their ability to apprehend suspects and discourage law breaking. Today's police officers can access more content than ever before via mobile data terminals and pagers. High-speed data transmission and solutions using wireless technology provide officers with immediate access to data. Having mobile access to data has emerged as a cornerstone for law enforcement agencies interested in fully utilizing the latest technology. Officers that are still without mobile technology believe that not having wireless capabilities keeps them isolated from the public by confining them to their vehicles most of the time to carry out tasks, like making reports. Surveillance technologies, such as video recording devices placed in high-crime areas, can effectively enable officers to patrol more territory than ever before without having to be at each location. However, adoption of high-tech tools face potential obstacles as the result of budgetary concerns, departmental policies, and other obstacles. http://www.officer.com/magazines/let/
"Next Generation 911 Systems"
Police and Security News (09/06) Vol. 22, No. 5, P. 47; Scott, Mike
Upgrading E911 systems has now become a big priority for public safety departments. Courtney McCarron at the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) agrees with public safety agencies that E911 systems as money savers are more effective than ever. "These new systems can handle so much more data and the investment can be worth it in the future," says McCarron. McCarron says now is a good time to purchase new 911 systems because of the rapidly changing technology and the high cost of 911 technology. 911 systems are always changing, which poses a challenge to customers. Intrado CTO Stephen Meer says communication centers should not have to keep adding equipment to their center. Lt. Don Huckabee admires E911 systems that are user-friendly and fully integrated. Huckabee says he looks for vendors that offer free upgrades. Intrado is developing a software program that directs 911 calls to the right area. Public safety vendors such as Meer and Paul Guest at Positron Public Safety Systems want to offer a more efficient flow of communication and better operability. "We need to make sure that, as many refinements are being made to the new E911 systems, there are no sacrifices to the actual product," says Guest. "I think there is a pent up demand for VoIP as people move toward increasing the intelligence they get from their systems." Many systems now offer public safety agencies the ability to communicate through a wired or wireless system across several networks.
http://www.policeandsecuritynews.com
"Greenfield Police Stepping Up Crime Fighting With Technology"
Californian (09/27/06) P. 1A; Vijayan, Sunita
The Greenfield, Calif., police department continues to invest in new technology. A month after purchasing a remote-controlled inspection robot, the police department is rolling out Taser Cams that are designed to record sound and video whenever electronic stun guns are deployed. The small video camera attaches to the bottom of a Taser, and uses rechargeable batteries that last up to 90 minutes. Greenfield purchased eight of the Taser Cams, which hit the market two months ago, using a $3,200 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The unit also produces a flash to warn police officers when the lens is obstructed. "My expectation is that the Taser Cams will vindicate the policies and training we have, and it will also be physical proof of what happened" when stun guns were in use, says Greenfield Police Chief Joe Grebmeier. Greenfield's investment comes at a time when nearby police departments and the local sheriff's office have had suspects die after receiving electrical jolts from Tasers. Meanwhile, the $5,000 MMP-8 robot will be used to stake out dangerous areas that police officers are unable to reach.
http://www.californianonline.com
"Police, Banks Not in Sync on Identity Crime?"
American Banker (09/27/06); Wolfe, Daniel
Banking and financial-services officials who have put enormous amounts of resources into combating online fraud are complaining about the difficulty of getting law enforcement agencies to pursue cases, with Fair Isaac Corp.'s Ted Crooks saying, "The relative ineffectiveness of law enforcement in dealing with fraud has become a critical issue." The problem stems both from different methods--investigators can be uncomfortable working with information from highly automated banking systems--and the fact that law enforcement often sees cases involving only tens of thousands of dollars, as opposed to millions of dollars, as much lower priority than banking officials consider them to be.
http://americanbanker.com
/article.html?id=20060926
E4FB1ZKX&from=technology
"Scan System to Mend Gap in Crime Files: Sheriff Fingerprinting for Petty Offenses"
Columbia Daily Tribune (MO) (09/27/06); Luecke, Jacob
Boone County, Mo., has invested in a new digital fingerprint scanner, and the Sheriff's Department plans to use the technology in the county courthouse to ensure that people who are charged with minor offenses will be fingerprinted. In the past, officers often wrote court summons at the scene for suspects instead of bringing them in for fingerprinting, which meant that people's criminal records were not always accurate. Once the county has a fingerprint, it can forward the fingerprint and new crimes to the state criminal database. By installing the digital fingerprint system at the courthouse, the county now can fingerprint suspects whenever they show up for court hearings. The county used a grant from the Department of Justice to obtain the digital technology, which would have cost $50,000. The Columbia Police Department also hopes to take advantage of the new digital fingerprint scanner. "I'm hoping to be up and operating with all the agencies involved by November or December, somewhere in that range," says Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey. http://www.columbiatribune.com
"Los Angeles Counterterrorism Center Goes Live"
Law Enforcement Technology (09/06) Vol. 33, No. 9, P. 99
California's Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Center (LAJRIC) is now up and running, a joint center for officers from the FBI, Homeland Security, Los Angeles Police Department, and Los Angeles County Terrorist Early Warning Group. LAJRIC has over 200 desktop PCs and a Memex data-crunching system for cross-pollinating data, tips, and leads among all these agencies. LAJRIC will also help them coordinate with local California law enforcement, and provide an unclassified data environment to local law enforcement.
http://www.officer.com/magazines/let/
Thursday, October 5, 2006
"Lost in Musty Files, Police Turning to Web for Cold Case Help"
Associated Press (09/30/06); Barrouquere, Brett
The Kentucky State Police recently posted online information about close to 130 unsolved murders in the state's last 50 years in hopes of attracting people with additional information. Kentucky's gambit is not uncommon, as law enforcement in Alaska and Texas have done the same. Baltimore County Police Department's William Toohey says the Internet is a great tool to reach people who might know something about a case, but since the incident in question have left the state. "If you're going to do law enforcement these days, you've got to use the Internet," says Toohey. The Kentucky State Police did receive significant information in one case after they posted it online. A sister-in-law located in Wisconsin was performing an Internet search for her husband's brother, who disappeared in 1993, when she and then her husband recognized the artist's sketch of the unidentified man in a Kentucky found-body case. http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com
/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061001
/NEWS02/610010302
"Police Chief Weighs a Stun Gun Tryout"
Washington Post (09/28/06) P. T3; Hernandez, Nelson
The Howard County, Md., Police Department intends to evaluate the possibility of using electric stun guns to disable unruly suspects. At present, a county law bans their use, so the police department would first need to convince the Howard County Council to lift the ban. Upwards of 7,000 of the country's 18,000 police agencies use stun guns, according to Amnesty International. The weapons are viewed as a nonlethal way to subdue suspects, but they have been associated with in-custody deaths, and critics also claim that police officers could misuse the weapons. There are several other types of nonlethal weapons being used across the country, including pepper balls, beanbag shotguns, and pepper spray. However, unruly suspects, especially those on drugs, are sometimes capable of withstanding the effects of these weapons. This is rarely the case with stun guns, which typically cause people to collapse after two or three seconds as their neuromuscular system is shut down. Stun gun victims usually regain their muscle movements in 15 minutes, providing police with plenty of time to handcuff the suspect. Doug Ward, deputy director of Johns Hopkins University's Division of Public Safety Leadership, explains that stun guns sometimes have unintended, fatal results, especially if the suspect has health issues or falls down and becomes injured.
http://www.washingtonpost.com
/wp-dyn/print/community/loud
oun/index.html
"Iris Scanning Now Used to Track Sexual Offenders"
Sheriff (10/06) Vol. 58, No. 5, P. 24; O'Reilly, Kevin
In July, the Mecklenburg County (N.C.) Sheriff's Department became the first in the country to install BI2 Technologies' Sex Offender Registry and Identification System (SORIS), which registers and positively identifies convicted sexual predators using iris recognition biometric technology. The system uses a special high-resolution camera to capture a digital photograph of each of the sex offender's eyes and create a unique iris code for each individual enrolled in the system. Once a convicted sex offender is registered in the national SORIS system, their location and identity is verified within seconds from any participating agency simply by looking in the camera. SORIS is portable and can be used on a wireless network, which means law enforcement agencies who use it have the ability to go to the homes of suspected offenders and identify them immediately, said Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph. Iris recognition has a number of advantages over other types of biometric systems. The human iris is absolutely unique--even between identical twins or a person's right and left eyes--and its physical characteristics do not change with age. In addition, fingerprints, facial identification, retina scan, and voice recognition do not provide the level of accuracy, speed, or cost-effectiveness found with iris recognition technology.
http://www.sheriffs.org
"Surveying the Scene"
Government Technology (09/06) Vol. 19, No. 9, P. 58; McKay, Jim
The Smart Station survey device by Leica Geosystems enables police officers in Sparks, Nev., to chart a motor vehicle accident scene within 30 minutes or less, compared to the previous tape-measure and hand-diagramming method that took three hours. The Sparks police department purchased the machine for $41,000, and they are still training police officers to use it. "We get our roadways open a lot faster," says Sparks Traffic Officer Shane Minick. The SmartStation records all accident data at the scene with a global positioning system (GPS) called a GPS rover, and then overlays those points onto a city map of the scene, creating a more accurate and much faster map of the accident wreckage. Before in Sparks, the plotting of the points was done by hand, and it was overlaid onto aerial photos for a composite of the accident.
http://www.govtech.net
/magazine/story.php?id=100901
"NIST Experiments Test Frangibles Against Vests"
Police (09/06) Vol. 30, No. 9, P. 19
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is analyzing the trajectories of bullet fragments that occur when frangible bullets impact sturdy material. Concerns have increased about the damage potential of frangible bullets because of the relative softness of body armor used by first-responders and law enforcement officers. The research being conducted by NIST relies on a device developed by the association to determine the affect of "frangible bullets" when striking metal. The Kolsky bar device focuses on the metal's reaction to the impact. Frangible bullets are made to break apart when striking a hard material, which raises concerns about injuries caused by ricochets. The institute will use the data obtained from its research to serve as the foundation for additional studies. The Department of Justice will examine the conclusions of the various studies to assess the existing body-armor performance standard. http://www.policemag.com
"FDA Approves Treatment for Nerve-Poisoning Agents for Use by Trained Emergency Medical Services Personnel"
Medical News Today (10/02/06)
The FDA has approved Duodote by Meridian Medical Technologies for use by emergency medical service providers to treat people affected by nerve gas attacks, which can include exposure to sarin, certain insecticides, and any organophosphorus life-threatening nerve agents. Duodote combines atrophine and pralidoxime chloride in an injection formulation. This combination was first approved in 2002 under acronym ATNAA for military use only. "Today's approval facilitates the stockpiling of the product so that it can be used to treat civilians in an emergency," says FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research deputy director Dr. Douglas Throckmorton. He adds that "Duodote may be administered only by well-trained emergency medical personnel."
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
/medicalnews.php?newsid=53094&nfid=rssfeeds
"Just Hit Record: TiVo Goes on Patrol"
Washington Technology (10/02/06) Vol. 21, No. 19, P. 21; Beizer, Doug
The Rockville (Maryland) Police Department (RPD) is deploying new in-car video equipment in its squad cars that starts recording in 60-second segments as soon as it is turned on, says the department's Cpl. Kenneth Matney. The system consists of a control panel, a forward-facing camera, and a low-light infrared camera, and continuously records and re-records in 60-second intervals until the entire system is activated. At that point, recording takes place on the hard drive, but the most recent 60-second segment is stored. This provides police officers with a better chance of retaining crucial evidence. RPD opted to migrate to ICOP Digital's 20/20 digital system because of the technology's advantages over standard tape, according to Matney. "It helps us out, it provides us evidence in court, and it has beaten several false complaints on officers," he notes. The new digital system has a 20G hard drive that can hold eight hours of higher quality footage or 16 hours of extended-play footage, and can also be placed into a docking system to download footage to a server. Laura Owen, ICOP's president and chief operating officer, says the best arrangement for a police department is to have a separate server for storing and overseeing video files, but this is not mandatory. The 20/20 model is compatible with additional devices like the NOPTIC thermal imaging camera by Autoliv and license plate recognition technology from PIPS Technology; by December, new software will also allow the sharing of files among agencies via Web protocols, according to Owen.
http://www.washingtontechnology.com
"Camera Lets Law Enforcement Stand Back for a Closer Look"
Beaumont Enterprise (09/28/06); Myers, Ryan
Beaumont, Texas, police are in the process of obtaining a VideoProbe XL PRO device that will enable them to inspect inside containers without opening them, which will minimize hazardous exposure to police officers. The VideoProbe XL PRO by General Electronics Inspection Technologies is a camera mounted within the thin end of a flexible tube. Beaumont Police Department Sgt. Tim Ocnaschek says it will help police officers reduce their exposure to container contents. He says the department may use it for narcotics operations as well as for any suspicious container inspections. The $33,465 instrument also can detect and record sound. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security provided $27,800 in grant funding for it.
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com
"Alabama Police Department Runs 100 Percent E-85 Fleet"
Police (09/06) Vol. 30, No. 9, P. 17; Knight, Cheryl
The Hoover Police Department (HPD) uses E-85 to fuel its entire fleet of Chevrolet Tahoe Police cars, which ranks the department as the national leader among law enforcement agencies using the fuel. The Hoover Public Safety Facility houses refueling equipment for the vehicles, which average 24,000 gallons of fuel consumption each month. The HPD distributed E-85 fueling cards to its officers that provide important information, such as how many miles the vehicles travel before stopping for more fuel. The information is used when conducting analysis of the vehicles' value to the Alabama-based police department. Dave Lindon, fleet management director for the City of Hoover, said the 2005 Tahoe is an excellent vehicle for police applications. He reports that using E-85 to power the vehicles has provided environmental benefits, plus lessened dependence on imported oil. Lindon adds that officers have praised the E-85 Tahoes. http://www.policemag.com
"Looking Toward the "Agency of the Future""
Law Enforcement Technology (09/06) P. 52; Ruderman, Jan
Jan Ruderman, a senior director for Panasonic Solutions Co.'s Public Sector operations, said that technology vendors are collaborating with law enforcement officials in designing future tools. Ruderman adds that law enforcement have always used the latest technological developments to enhance their ability to apprehend suspects and discourage law breaking. Today's police officers can access more content than ever before via mobile data terminals and pagers. High-speed data transmission and solutions using wireless technology provide officers with immediate access to data. Having mobile access to data has emerged as a cornerstone for law enforcement agencies interested in fully utilizing the latest technology. Officers that are still without mobile technology believe that not having wireless capabilities keeps them isolated from the public by confining them to their vehicles most of the time to carry out tasks, like making reports. Surveillance technologies, such as video recording devices placed in high-crime areas, can effectively enable officers to patrol more territory than ever before without having to be at each location. However, adoption of high-tech tools face potential obstacles as the result of budgetary concerns, departmental policies, and other obstacles. http://www.officer.com/magazines/let/
"Next Generation 911 Systems"
Police and Security News (09/06) Vol. 22, No. 5, P. 47; Scott, Mike
Upgrading E911 systems has now become a big priority for public safety departments. Courtney McCarron at the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) agrees with public safety agencies that E911 systems as money savers are more effective than ever. "These new systems can handle so much more data and the investment can be worth it in the future," says McCarron. McCarron says now is a good time to purchase new 911 systems because of the rapidly changing technology and the high cost of 911 technology. 911 systems are always changing, which poses a challenge to customers. Intrado CTO Stephen Meer says communication centers should not have to keep adding equipment to their center. Lt. Don Huckabee admires E911 systems that are user-friendly and fully integrated. Huckabee says he looks for vendors that offer free upgrades. Intrado is developing a software program that directs 911 calls to the right area. Public safety vendors such as Meer and Paul Guest at Positron Public Safety Systems want to offer a more efficient flow of communication and better operability. "We need to make sure that, as many refinements are being made to the new E911 systems, there are no sacrifices to the actual product," says Guest. "I think there is a pent up demand for VoIP as people move toward increasing the intelligence they get from their systems." Many systems now offer public safety agencies the ability to communicate through a wired or wireless system across several networks.
http://www.policeandsecuritynews.com
"Greenfield Police Stepping Up Crime Fighting With Technology"
Californian (09/27/06) P. 1A; Vijayan, Sunita
The Greenfield, Calif., police department continues to invest in new technology. A month after purchasing a remote-controlled inspection robot, the police department is rolling out Taser Cams that are designed to record sound and video whenever electronic stun guns are deployed. The small video camera attaches to the bottom of a Taser, and uses rechargeable batteries that last up to 90 minutes. Greenfield purchased eight of the Taser Cams, which hit the market two months ago, using a $3,200 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The unit also produces a flash to warn police officers when the lens is obstructed. "My expectation is that the Taser Cams will vindicate the policies and training we have, and it will also be physical proof of what happened" when stun guns were in use, says Greenfield Police Chief Joe Grebmeier. Greenfield's investment comes at a time when nearby police departments and the local sheriff's office have had suspects die after receiving electrical jolts from Tasers. Meanwhile, the $5,000 MMP-8 robot will be used to stake out dangerous areas that police officers are unable to reach.
http://www.californianonline.com
"Police, Banks Not in Sync on Identity Crime?"
American Banker (09/27/06); Wolfe, Daniel
Banking and financial-services officials who have put enormous amounts of resources into combating online fraud are complaining about the difficulty of getting law enforcement agencies to pursue cases, with Fair Isaac Corp.'s Ted Crooks saying, "The relative ineffectiveness of law enforcement in dealing with fraud has become a critical issue." The problem stems both from different methods--investigators can be uncomfortable working with information from highly automated banking systems--and the fact that law enforcement often sees cases involving only tens of thousands of dollars, as opposed to millions of dollars, as much lower priority than banking officials consider them to be.
http://americanbanker.com
/article.html?id=20060926
E4FB1ZKX&from=technology
"Scan System to Mend Gap in Crime Files: Sheriff Fingerprinting for Petty Offenses"
Columbia Daily Tribune (MO) (09/27/06); Luecke, Jacob
Boone County, Mo., has invested in a new digital fingerprint scanner, and the Sheriff's Department plans to use the technology in the county courthouse to ensure that people who are charged with minor offenses will be fingerprinted. In the past, officers often wrote court summons at the scene for suspects instead of bringing them in for fingerprinting, which meant that people's criminal records were not always accurate. Once the county has a fingerprint, it can forward the fingerprint and new crimes to the state criminal database. By installing the digital fingerprint system at the courthouse, the county now can fingerprint suspects whenever they show up for court hearings. The county used a grant from the Department of Justice to obtain the digital technology, which would have cost $50,000. The Columbia Police Department also hopes to take advantage of the new digital fingerprint scanner. "I'm hoping to be up and operating with all the agencies involved by November or December, somewhere in that range," says Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey. http://www.columbiatribune.com
"Los Angeles Counterterrorism Center Goes Live"
Law Enforcement Technology (09/06) Vol. 33, No. 9, P. 99
California's Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Center (LAJRIC) is now up and running, a joint center for officers from the FBI, Homeland Security, Los Angeles Police Department, and Los Angeles County Terrorist Early Warning Group. LAJRIC has over 200 desktop PCs and a Memex data-crunching system for cross-pollinating data, tips, and leads among all these agencies. LAJRIC will also help them coordinate with local California law enforcement, and provide an unclassified data environment to local law enforcement.
http://www.officer.com/magazines/let/
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
CBR Weapons and WMD Terrorism News- October 4, 2006
Detectors hunt anthrax [Bacillus anthracis]
5 years after deadly attack “More than 1,000 biological detectors are sniffing mail across the country for dangerous contamination as the hunt goes on for whoever put anthrax [Bacillus anthracis spores] in letters and killed five persons just after the September 11 attacks. The U.S. Postal Service has taken action to prevent a repeat [of the attacks]. ‘We have fully deployed the fleet of bio-detection systems’ on canceling machines at 271 mail-processing locations, Postal Vice President Tom Day said. A modified version for larger, flat mail items will be put into service next year, he said.~Installation of the current system cost $800 million, provided by Congress, and the post office is spending about $70 million to operate it.
That annual cost is expected to climb to $120 million.” (The Washington Times; 04Oct06; Randolph E. Schmid and Michael J. Sniffen, AP) http://washingtontimes.com
/functions/print.php?StoryID
=20061003-103956-5418r
Complexity of N.J.’s [New Jersey’s] public health structure raises questions about its ability to respond
“New Jersey has one of the most complex local public health infrastructures in the nation. There are 115 local health departments and more than 500 local boards of health -- a third of all the local boards of health in the entire nation. ‘You have an incredibly intense, piecemeal infrastructure that is incredibly dysfunctional,’ said Laura Kahn, author of a recent two-year study of the public health systems in four states, including New Jersey. In her study, Kahn asked physicians whether they felt prepared to recognize unusual infectious diseases. Only half of the 155 respondents indicated they were ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ prepared.” (The Star-Ledger, 04Oct06, Amy Ellis Nutt)
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger
/index.ssf?/base/news-9/11599
37280298970.xml&coll=1
Strategy combats weaponized anthrax
“U.S. scientists say they've developed a countermeasure to combat weaponized anthrax, a biological agent used in 2001 to kill five people. ‘For anthrax to be effective, it has to be made into a fine powder that can easily enter the lungs when inhaled,’ said Clemson University chemist Ya-Ping Sun. ‘What we have done is come up with an agent that clings to the anthrax spores to make their inhalation into the lungs difficult.’ Anthrax spores are covered with carbohydrates, or simple sugars, that are used to communicate with or attract other biological species. The Clemson team used carbon nanotubes as a platform or scaffolding for displaying sugar molecules that would attract the anthrax spores.” (Science Daily, 03Oct06, UPI)
http://www.sciencedaily.com
/upi/index.php?feed=Science&a
rticle=UPI-1-20061003-1601150
0-bc-us-anthrax.xml
Anthrax probe update sought
“Five years after anthrax-tainted mail thrust a local post office to the forefront of a national bioterrorism attack, Rep. Rush Holt has called on federal investigators to meet with postal employees and update them on the status of their investigation into the deadly attacks. In a letter sent to the FBI yesterday, Holt, D-Hopewell Township [New Jersey], demanded answers for employees at the Hamilton post office that processed the tainted mail that killed five people nationally. Holt demanded the local meeting five days after the FBI rebuffed his request to share classified information on the investigation with a congressional intelligence panel.”
(The Times, 03Oct06, Lisa Coryell)
http://www.nj.com/news
/times/index.ssf?/base/new
s-2/1159848336284030.xml&coll=5
Water utilities granted chemical exemption
“Water utilities using chemicals such as chlorine will no longer have to repeat vulnerability assessments and emergency response planning previously required by the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, according to a September 29 report in the American Water Works Association's (AWWA) WaterWeek. Congressional leaders agreed on a measure to exempt water and wastewater utilities from interim chemical security requirements authorized in the 2007 spending bill for the US Department of Homeland Security, the story said.” (Water Technology Online, 02Oct06)
http://www.watertechonline.com
/NewsPrint.asp?print=1&mode=
4&N_ID=63995&UniqueURL=
683774613-2006-10-4-1-5-7
Police need terror gear: Oslo police warn that they do not have vital equipment needed to cope with a terrorist attack on the capital
“Norway's terrorism readiness will be tested in one of the biggest catastrophe scenarios ever, dubbed ‘Exercise Oslo’. At the same time police and rescue teams warn of deficiencies that limit their ability to intervene. Sigve Bolstad, head of the Oslo Police Union, believes the exercise will uncover an extremely poor state of readiness, especially if there is a mock chemical attack, for example on the underground trains or the Norwegian State Railways tunnels during rush hour.” (Afterposten,
04Oct06)
http://www.aftenposten.no/
english/local/article1482294.ece
‘Chemical bomb’ raid that found nothing cost £2.2m
“The anti-terrorist raid on a house in east London, which failed to find a suspected chemical bomb being hunted by police, cost more than £2.2 million. The bill for the raid in Forest Gate in early June, which caused deep friction between the Metropolitan Police and some Muslims, includes slightly more than £90,000 in hotel charges to put up the two families whose homes were virtually dismantled in a fruitless forensic search.”
(The Daily Telegraph, 03Oct06, John Steele)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/200
6/10/03/nterr03.xml
OPCW’s [Orgainsation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons] Seventh Associate Programme Concludes
“The Seventh Associate Programme organised by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) concluded on 29 September 2006. The ten-week programme was attended by twenty-four participants from the following OPCW Member States: Algeria, Belarus, Brazil, Cambodia, Croatia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malawi, Nigeria, Panama, Philippines, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Uruguay and Zambia. The training course facilitates the application of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in chemical industry. National capacity in the peaceful uses of chemistry is enhanced by improving the skills of qualified chemists and chemical engineers from Member States whose economies are in transition or development. The programme also increases the pool of experienced personnel that National Authorities and the OPCW can call upon in the future.” (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, 04Oct06) http://www.opcw.org/
pressreleases/2006/PR65_2006.html
[Radioactive] Source recovery pinched by success
“A program to secure radioactive sources around the country has been almost too successful, said Patrick Moss, a general engineer, who has managed the project for the federal government. ‘The program exceeded the congressional mark on sources recovered,’ he said by phone from the Los Alamos National Laboratory site office of the National Nuclear Security Administration. __Moss responded this morning to an Inspector General audit following up on LANL's Off-Site Recover Project. The project has become increasingly important in proportion to concerns about terrorist threats and especially the availability of materials that might be used in a radiological dispersal device, also known as a ‘dirty bomb.’” (Los Alamos Monitor, 04Oct06, Roger Snodgrass)
http://www.lamonitor.com
/articles/2006/10/04/headline_news/news02.txt
Congress Doubts Value of New Radiation Detectors
“U.S. lawmakers have withheld all funding for deployment of next-generation radiation detectors until the Homeland Security Department proves the new monitors are a significant improvement over those currently in place. Questions about the new technology, known as the Advanced Spectroscopic Portal monitor, are nothing new.~ The Government Accountability Office in March noted the considerable cost of the detectors, up to $500,000 per machine compared to $180,000 for the monitors now being used, while questioning the improvements offered by the new technology. The congressional doubts, however, come just as lawmakers passed a sweeping port security measure that authorizes $3.4 billion in spending over five years and requires all containers at the nation’s 22 busiest seaports to be scanned for radioactive material by the end of 2007.” (Global Security Newswire, 03Oct06, John Fox)
http://www.nti.org/d_
newswire/issues/2006_10_
3.html#C5E5B104
Russia ratifies international nuclear anti-terror treaty
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill officially ratifying the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, the Kremlin announced Tuesday. The convention, proposed by Russia, was initially signed by Putin on behalf of Russia in September 2005 after several years of negotiations between nuclear and non-nuclear nations. The Russian parliament passed the bill to ratify it earlier this month. Already 107 states have signed the treaty and six other countries have ratified it; it will enter into force after it is ratified by at least 22 countries.” (Jurist, 03Oct06, Gabriel Habouti)
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu
/paperchase/2006/10/russia-ratif
ies-international-nuclear.php
7-year term for trying to make ricin
“A Phoenix man who was convicted of trying to manufacture the deadly biological toxin known as ricin was sentenced Monday to more than seven years in prison. Denys Ray Hughes, 59, was convicted by a federal jury in June on the ricin charge and possession of explosives and a silencer. U.S. District Judge Earl Carroll, who sentenced Hughes to 87 months in prison, said the case was among the most serious he had ever tried, according to prosecutors.” (The Arizona Republic, 03Oct06, Dennis Wagner) http://www.azcentral.com
/php-bin/clicktrack/print.php?re
ferer=http://www.azcentral.c
om/community/phoenix/article
s/1003ricin1003.html
Terrorism drill today to test emergency crews, military [in South Carolina]
“A mock terrorism exercise involving soldiers from Fort Jackson and hundreds of emergency responders from around the state is planned for today in Rock Hill [South Carolina]. The drill, to be held in the Winthrop Coliseum and parts of the surrounding Winthrop Farm, will simulate a terrorist attack that includes the use of chemical or biological weapons.”
(Rock Hill Herald, 04Oct06, Matt Garfield)
http://www.heraldonline.com
/109/story/7462.html
Anti-terror insurance expands for U.S. firms
“Insurance coverage for a terrorist attack like the one on Sept. 11, 2001, has expanded significantly in the past five years as a result of a U.S. government program that pays for the bulk of the damage, a Bush administration report has said. But the report, released late Monday, said there was virtually no coverage available for most of the damage that would come from a nuclear attack or one carried out with chemical or biological weapons.” (International Herald Tribune, 03Oct06, Bloomberg News)
http://www.iht.com/articles
/2006/10/03/business/ibrief.php
California man charged with threatening Bush, Cheney
“An engineer at a nuclear power plant near Sacramento has been charged with sending threatening letters containing a powdery substance to the same Sierra foothills country club where President Bush will appear Tuesday for a Republican campaign event. Michael Lee Braun, 51, appeared Monday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento on two federal charges of sending threats through the mail. The FBI said he also is a suspect in mailing dozens of similar threats since shortly after the 2001 terrorist attacks. ‘Each of the letters contained a written threat, usually death by some kind of WMD agent (anthrax, toxic chemical poison, radioactive dust or improvised explosives) and some unknown, white, powdery substance, or items simulating a possible letter/package improvised explosive device,’
according to the affidavit by Special Agent Timothy Lester.” (North County Times; 03Oct06; Don Thompson, AP)
http://www.nctimes.com
/articles/2006/10/03/news/
state/17_01_0010_2_06.txt
5 years after deadly attack “More than 1,000 biological detectors are sniffing mail across the country for dangerous contamination as the hunt goes on for whoever put anthrax [Bacillus anthracis spores] in letters and killed five persons just after the September 11 attacks. The U.S. Postal Service has taken action to prevent a repeat [of the attacks]. ‘We have fully deployed the fleet of bio-detection systems’ on canceling machines at 271 mail-processing locations, Postal Vice President Tom Day said. A modified version for larger, flat mail items will be put into service next year, he said.~Installation of the current system cost $800 million, provided by Congress, and the post office is spending about $70 million to operate it.
That annual cost is expected to climb to $120 million.” (The Washington Times; 04Oct06; Randolph E. Schmid and Michael J. Sniffen, AP) http://washingtontimes.com
/functions/print.php?StoryID
=20061003-103956-5418r
Complexity of N.J.’s [New Jersey’s] public health structure raises questions about its ability to respond
“New Jersey has one of the most complex local public health infrastructures in the nation. There are 115 local health departments and more than 500 local boards of health -- a third of all the local boards of health in the entire nation. ‘You have an incredibly intense, piecemeal infrastructure that is incredibly dysfunctional,’ said Laura Kahn, author of a recent two-year study of the public health systems in four states, including New Jersey. In her study, Kahn asked physicians whether they felt prepared to recognize unusual infectious diseases. Only half of the 155 respondents indicated they were ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ prepared.” (The Star-Ledger, 04Oct06, Amy Ellis Nutt)
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger
/index.ssf?/base/news-9/11599
37280298970.xml&coll=1
Strategy combats weaponized anthrax
“U.S. scientists say they've developed a countermeasure to combat weaponized anthrax, a biological agent used in 2001 to kill five people. ‘For anthrax to be effective, it has to be made into a fine powder that can easily enter the lungs when inhaled,’ said Clemson University chemist Ya-Ping Sun. ‘What we have done is come up with an agent that clings to the anthrax spores to make their inhalation into the lungs difficult.’ Anthrax spores are covered with carbohydrates, or simple sugars, that are used to communicate with or attract other biological species. The Clemson team used carbon nanotubes as a platform or scaffolding for displaying sugar molecules that would attract the anthrax spores.” (Science Daily, 03Oct06, UPI)
http://www.sciencedaily.com
/upi/index.php?feed=Science&a
rticle=UPI-1-20061003-1601150
0-bc-us-anthrax.xml
Anthrax probe update sought
“Five years after anthrax-tainted mail thrust a local post office to the forefront of a national bioterrorism attack, Rep. Rush Holt has called on federal investigators to meet with postal employees and update them on the status of their investigation into the deadly attacks. In a letter sent to the FBI yesterday, Holt, D-Hopewell Township [New Jersey], demanded answers for employees at the Hamilton post office that processed the tainted mail that killed five people nationally. Holt demanded the local meeting five days after the FBI rebuffed his request to share classified information on the investigation with a congressional intelligence panel.”
(The Times, 03Oct06, Lisa Coryell)
http://www.nj.com/news
/times/index.ssf?/base/new
s-2/1159848336284030.xml&coll=5
Water utilities granted chemical exemption
“Water utilities using chemicals such as chlorine will no longer have to repeat vulnerability assessments and emergency response planning previously required by the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, according to a September 29 report in the American Water Works Association's (AWWA) WaterWeek. Congressional leaders agreed on a measure to exempt water and wastewater utilities from interim chemical security requirements authorized in the 2007 spending bill for the US Department of Homeland Security, the story said.” (Water Technology Online, 02Oct06)
http://www.watertechonline.com
/NewsPrint.asp?print=1&mode=
4&N_ID=63995&UniqueURL=
683774613-2006-10-4-1-5-7
Police need terror gear: Oslo police warn that they do not have vital equipment needed to cope with a terrorist attack on the capital
“Norway's terrorism readiness will be tested in one of the biggest catastrophe scenarios ever, dubbed ‘Exercise Oslo’. At the same time police and rescue teams warn of deficiencies that limit their ability to intervene. Sigve Bolstad, head of the Oslo Police Union, believes the exercise will uncover an extremely poor state of readiness, especially if there is a mock chemical attack, for example on the underground trains or the Norwegian State Railways tunnels during rush hour.” (Afterposten,
04Oct06)
http://www.aftenposten.no/
english/local/article1482294.ece
‘Chemical bomb’ raid that found nothing cost £2.2m
“The anti-terrorist raid on a house in east London, which failed to find a suspected chemical bomb being hunted by police, cost more than £2.2 million. The bill for the raid in Forest Gate in early June, which caused deep friction between the Metropolitan Police and some Muslims, includes slightly more than £90,000 in hotel charges to put up the two families whose homes were virtually dismantled in a fruitless forensic search.”
(The Daily Telegraph, 03Oct06, John Steele)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/200
6/10/03/nterr03.xml
OPCW’s [Orgainsation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons] Seventh Associate Programme Concludes
“The Seventh Associate Programme organised by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) concluded on 29 September 2006. The ten-week programme was attended by twenty-four participants from the following OPCW Member States: Algeria, Belarus, Brazil, Cambodia, Croatia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malawi, Nigeria, Panama, Philippines, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Uruguay and Zambia. The training course facilitates the application of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in chemical industry. National capacity in the peaceful uses of chemistry is enhanced by improving the skills of qualified chemists and chemical engineers from Member States whose economies are in transition or development. The programme also increases the pool of experienced personnel that National Authorities and the OPCW can call upon in the future.” (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, 04Oct06) http://www.opcw.org/
pressreleases/2006/PR65_2006.html
[Radioactive] Source recovery pinched by success
“A program to secure radioactive sources around the country has been almost too successful, said Patrick Moss, a general engineer, who has managed the project for the federal government. ‘The program exceeded the congressional mark on sources recovered,’ he said by phone from the Los Alamos National Laboratory site office of the National Nuclear Security Administration. __Moss responded this morning to an Inspector General audit following up on LANL's Off-Site Recover Project. The project has become increasingly important in proportion to concerns about terrorist threats and especially the availability of materials that might be used in a radiological dispersal device, also known as a ‘dirty bomb.’” (Los Alamos Monitor, 04Oct06, Roger Snodgrass)
http://www.lamonitor.com
/articles/2006/10/04/headline_news/news02.txt
Congress Doubts Value of New Radiation Detectors
“U.S. lawmakers have withheld all funding for deployment of next-generation radiation detectors until the Homeland Security Department proves the new monitors are a significant improvement over those currently in place. Questions about the new technology, known as the Advanced Spectroscopic Portal monitor, are nothing new.~ The Government Accountability Office in March noted the considerable cost of the detectors, up to $500,000 per machine compared to $180,000 for the monitors now being used, while questioning the improvements offered by the new technology. The congressional doubts, however, come just as lawmakers passed a sweeping port security measure that authorizes $3.4 billion in spending over five years and requires all containers at the nation’s 22 busiest seaports to be scanned for radioactive material by the end of 2007.” (Global Security Newswire, 03Oct06, John Fox)
http://www.nti.org/d_
newswire/issues/2006_10_
3.html#C5E5B104
Russia ratifies international nuclear anti-terror treaty
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill officially ratifying the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, the Kremlin announced Tuesday. The convention, proposed by Russia, was initially signed by Putin on behalf of Russia in September 2005 after several years of negotiations between nuclear and non-nuclear nations. The Russian parliament passed the bill to ratify it earlier this month. Already 107 states have signed the treaty and six other countries have ratified it; it will enter into force after it is ratified by at least 22 countries.” (Jurist, 03Oct06, Gabriel Habouti)
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu
/paperchase/2006/10/russia-ratif
ies-international-nuclear.php
7-year term for trying to make ricin
“A Phoenix man who was convicted of trying to manufacture the deadly biological toxin known as ricin was sentenced Monday to more than seven years in prison. Denys Ray Hughes, 59, was convicted by a federal jury in June on the ricin charge and possession of explosives and a silencer. U.S. District Judge Earl Carroll, who sentenced Hughes to 87 months in prison, said the case was among the most serious he had ever tried, according to prosecutors.” (The Arizona Republic, 03Oct06, Dennis Wagner) http://www.azcentral.com
/php-bin/clicktrack/print.php?re
ferer=http://www.azcentral.c
om/community/phoenix/article
s/1003ricin1003.html
Terrorism drill today to test emergency crews, military [in South Carolina]
“A mock terrorism exercise involving soldiers from Fort Jackson and hundreds of emergency responders from around the state is planned for today in Rock Hill [South Carolina]. The drill, to be held in the Winthrop Coliseum and parts of the surrounding Winthrop Farm, will simulate a terrorist attack that includes the use of chemical or biological weapons.”
(Rock Hill Herald, 04Oct06, Matt Garfield)
http://www.heraldonline.com
/109/story/7462.html
Anti-terror insurance expands for U.S. firms
“Insurance coverage for a terrorist attack like the one on Sept. 11, 2001, has expanded significantly in the past five years as a result of a U.S. government program that pays for the bulk of the damage, a Bush administration report has said. But the report, released late Monday, said there was virtually no coverage available for most of the damage that would come from a nuclear attack or one carried out with chemical or biological weapons.” (International Herald Tribune, 03Oct06, Bloomberg News)
http://www.iht.com/articles
/2006/10/03/business/ibrief.php
California man charged with threatening Bush, Cheney
“An engineer at a nuclear power plant near Sacramento has been charged with sending threatening letters containing a powdery substance to the same Sierra foothills country club where President Bush will appear Tuesday for a Republican campaign event. Michael Lee Braun, 51, appeared Monday in U.S. District Court in Sacramento on two federal charges of sending threats through the mail. The FBI said he also is a suspect in mailing dozens of similar threats since shortly after the 2001 terrorist attacks. ‘Each of the letters contained a written threat, usually death by some kind of WMD agent (anthrax, toxic chemical poison, radioactive dust or improvised explosives) and some unknown, white, powdery substance, or items simulating a possible letter/package improvised explosive device,’
according to the affidavit by Special Agent Timothy Lester.” (North County Times; 03Oct06; Don Thompson, AP)
http://www.nctimes.com
/articles/2006/10/03/news/
state/17_01_0010_2_06.txt
Police author writes on Christian law enforcement
San Dimas (CA) October 5, 2006. Police-writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors has added its 142nd police officer, Michael Dye.
Michael Dye is a 21 year veteran of law enforcement. Currently, he is sergeant with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department. His book, “The PeaceKeepers: A Bible Study for Law Enforcement,” asks the question - "How can I be both a cop and a Christian?"
According to the Michael’s book, police officers work in a world where there is constant struggle between good and evil. More than any other public service profession; those in the field of law enforcement are in a unique position to make a spiritual difference in the lives of both co-workers and citizens whom they encounter. However; without a firm spiritual foundation, the stress found in a law enforcement career can drag the police officer down emotionally thus leading to stress in the family, divorce, addiction, and in extreme cases even suicide.
The PeaceKeepers: A Bible Study for Law Enforcement is designed to be used by individual law enforcement officers and small groups. It is written by a Christian law enforcement veteran using real life situations that all police officers can appreciate. By using biblical quotes and spiritual references, the Peacekeepers study helps you discover and understand God's purpose for your life and career. Chapter topics include issues such as work stress, becoming spiritually connected, developing a stronger marriage and family, and being a sound witness for Christ.
Although not written by a police officer, Police-Writers.com offers as a companion to Michael Dye’s book, the Police Officer’s Bible. In the U.S. a police officer dies in the line of duty every 57 hours. Facing the worst elements in society exacts a toll both personally and in the family of police officers. According to the publisher, “God’s Word provides both power and perspective for these who are on the frontlines of our cities and villages. The Holman Christian Standard Policeman’s Bible is designed specifically for these who serve in a clearly God-ordained role. It contains devotions, prayers, and suggested Scripture readings for a wide variety of occasions.”
Police-Writers.com now lists 142 police officers turned authors and there 424 books in six categories.
Michael Dye is a 21 year veteran of law enforcement. Currently, he is sergeant with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department. His book, “The PeaceKeepers: A Bible Study for Law Enforcement,” asks the question - "How can I be both a cop and a Christian?"
According to the Michael’s book, police officers work in a world where there is constant struggle between good and evil. More than any other public service profession; those in the field of law enforcement are in a unique position to make a spiritual difference in the lives of both co-workers and citizens whom they encounter. However; without a firm spiritual foundation, the stress found in a law enforcement career can drag the police officer down emotionally thus leading to stress in the family, divorce, addiction, and in extreme cases even suicide.
The PeaceKeepers: A Bible Study for Law Enforcement is designed to be used by individual law enforcement officers and small groups. It is written by a Christian law enforcement veteran using real life situations that all police officers can appreciate. By using biblical quotes and spiritual references, the Peacekeepers study helps you discover and understand God's purpose for your life and career. Chapter topics include issues such as work stress, becoming spiritually connected, developing a stronger marriage and family, and being a sound witness for Christ.
Although not written by a police officer, Police-Writers.com offers as a companion to Michael Dye’s book, the Police Officer’s Bible. In the U.S. a police officer dies in the line of duty every 57 hours. Facing the worst elements in society exacts a toll both personally and in the family of police officers. According to the publisher, “God’s Word provides both power and perspective for these who are on the frontlines of our cities and villages. The Holman Christian Standard Policeman’s Bible is designed specifically for these who serve in a clearly God-ordained role. It contains devotions, prayers, and suggested Scripture readings for a wide variety of occasions.”
Police-Writers.com now lists 142 police officers turned authors and there 424 books in six categories.
Police Officer’s Bible
The events of September 11, 2001 brought to our awareness the quiet heroism at work in both the large cities and the small towns and villages across the U.S. Every day police, men and women, put their lives on the line as servants of God, restraining the evil that seeks to destroy society. In the U.S. a police officer dies in the line of duty every 57 hours. Not only that, facing the worst elements in society exacts a toll both personally and in the family of police officers.
God’s Word provides both power and perspective for these who are on the frontlines of our cities and villages. The Holman Christian Standard Policeman’s Bible is designed specifically for these who serve in a clearly God-ordained role. It contains devotions, prayers, and suggested Scripture readings for a wide variety of occasions.
Click here for more information on the Police Officer’s Bible.
www.police-writers.com/police_officers_bible.html
God’s Word provides both power and perspective for these who are on the frontlines of our cities and villages. The Holman Christian Standard Policeman’s Bible is designed specifically for these who serve in a clearly God-ordained role. It contains devotions, prayers, and suggested Scripture readings for a wide variety of occasions.
Click here for more information on the Police Officer’s Bible.
www.police-writers.com/police_officers_bible.html
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