Public Safety Technology in the News

Vendors, Cops, Profs Team to Study Cybercrime
PC World, (10/11/2008), John Fontana

Public safety, national security, financial and corporate fraud, and individual protection against crimes such as identify theft and fraud will be the focus areas of the newly formed Center for Applied Identity Management Research. A group of corporations, government agencies and academic institutions have banded together to form the center, which will study and help solve identity management challenges related to cybercrime, terrorism and narcotics trafficking. The nonprofit research corporation is headquartered at Indiana University.
www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/152156/vendors_cops_profs_team_to_study_cybercrime.html

“Brain Fingerprinting” Could Be Breakthrough in Law Enforcement
KOMOnews.com, (10/10/2008), KOMO staff

A Seattle-based company has developed a "brain fingerprinting" process, termed "a lie detector for the 21st century," that provides court-admissible evidence of how a person's brain reacts to words and images related to a crime. Brain Fingerprinting Labs uses a technology based on the premise that an individual who has been at a crime scene and is then shown a photograph of the scene, has an involuntary brain reaction that cannot be disguised. Its creator, a Seattle neuroscientist, has offered $100,000 to anyone who can defeat the technology.
www.komonews.com/news/local/30821859.html

County Jail Inmate Tracking System for Public Set Up
Sharon Herald, (10/24/2008), Matt Snyder

Residents of Mercer County, Penna., can sign up anonymously to receive notifications if a certain inmate is released or escaped. The Statewide Automated Victim Information Notification (SAVIN) system can bring peace of mind to victims and also provide information to parents concerned about child molesters and firefighters concerned about arsonists. The free service is available 24 hours a day and provides alerts either via e-mail or the telephone.
www.sharonherald.com/local/local_story_296214843.html

Equipment May Speed Emergency Response
Courier-Post, (10/13/2008), Adam Smeltz

An extensive technology upgrade recently approved in Camden County, New Jersey, will permit the county's communications center to accurately track the location of its police cruisers, fire trucks and ambulances, and allow the pinpoint tracking of calls made from newer model cell phones. The automated vehicle location (AVL) system, expected to be in place by early 2009, should improve response time.
www.courierpostonline.com/article/20081013/NEWS01/810130338/1006

NIEM Ventures Forth
Government Computer News, (10/06/2008), Joab Jackson

A beta of version 2.1 of the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) should be released by the end of 2009. Based on the Global justice XML Data Model, the new version of NIEM includes a number of new features, including version independence for separate domains and new vocabulary sets. The new sets include juvenile justice terms and biometrics terms.
www.gcn.com/print/27_25/47300-1.html

Got a Tip? Text a Cop
Battle Creek Enquirer, (10/13/2008)

Battle Creek's crime tip program, Silent Observer, has begun accepting anonymous text messages, providing citizens with another route to help get crime off the city's streets. A new software program called Tipsoft, which is available nationwide, allows dispatchers to read text messages onscreen and reply via e-mail. This new initiative allows tipsters to remain anonymous, just as they are when they use the telephone to report crimes to Silent Observer.
www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20081013/NEWS01/810130308/1002/NEWS01

So Long, “Crunchy, Old Yellow Ticket”
Neighborhood Star, (10/15/2008), Paige Winfield

A new electronic ticketing system in the Chicago area counties of DuPage, Will, Kane, McHenry, Cook and DeKalb will shorten the length of time needed for officers to issue tickets and eliminate the need for manual data entry - not to mention making it easier for drivers to read their tickets. Officers will enter the car's license plate number and the driver's license number into a laptop, then make some menu selections on their laptops to produce the electronic tickets. The citations will then be automatically transmitted into a processing system, ending up at the county clerk's office.
www.southtownstar.com/neighborhoodstar/orlandpark/1221713,6_1_NA15_TICKETS_S1.article

License Plate Readers Help Recover Stolen Cars
East Valley Tribune, (10/17/2008), Mike Sakal

Since May 1, 2008, the Scottsdale (Ariz.) police Department has used four automatic license plate reader systems to recover 26 stolen vehicles. The system consists of two cameras facing forward and two facing to the rear, mounted on a standard police cruiser, and capable of scanning up to 1,000 license plates per hour. If the system generates a "hit" on a particular license plate, it alerts the officers in the cruiser immediately. Of the 26 vehicles recovered due to use of the technology, five included apprehension of a suspect who was in the vehicle at the time of the “hit.”
www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/128338

Washington, D.C. Launches Crime Text Alerting System for Local Businesses
MarketWatch, (10/15/2008)

D.C. police Alert allows the District of Columbia Metropolitan police Department to send text messages to local businesses, alerting them to crimes that have taken place in their neighborhoods. The messages can be sent to cell phones, Blackberries, and other paging devices. If anyone receiving an alert has pertinent information, that individual should call 911. Business owners and employees must subscribe to participate in the service.
www.marketwatch.com/news/story/washington-dc-launches-crime-text/story.aspx?guid=%7BD0922086-59DE-4D36-840E-6F3584BB834A%7D&dist=hppr

Officers at Risk by Resisting Armor
USA Today, (10/28/2008), Kevin Johnson

Law Enforcement analysts estimate that as much as 50 percent of all Law Enforcement officers in the country do not wear their body armor regularly, despite the fact that the risk of dying from a gunshot wound is 14 times higher for officers not wearing their armor. Comfort appears to be the major issue for many officers, and many Law Enforcement agencies to do not mandate that their officers wear vests when on duty. There is some concern that new body armor standards issued by the National Institute of justice in July 2008 will result in heavier, less comfortable vests. Affordability is also a concern for smaller departments.
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-10-24-police-armor_N.htm