Public Safety Technology in the News

Tasers Not Heart Risk, Study Finds
Orlando Sentinel, (1/16/09), Henry Pierson Curtis

A study released by the Annals of Emergency Medicine has found no links between law enforcement use of electro-muscular disruption (EMD) devices (commonly known as "stun guns" or "tasers") and fatal heart attacks. In the course of the study, researchers at five U.S. medical schools reviewed 1,201 incidents in which law enforcement officers used EMDs and found only three in which serious injuries could be tied to their use. The study medically evaluated all of the subjects and found that none showed any irregular heart activity attributable to the electrical charge. The American College of Emergency Physicians reviewed the findings, which involved six law enforcement agencies: Marion County (Fla.), Sheriff's Office, Chandler (Ariz.) Police Department, Fairfax County (Va.) Police Department, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Shreveport (La.) Police Department and the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System, which includes approximately 80 Chicago-area jurisdictions. www.officer.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=45037

Hawthorne Officer Invents Low-Tech Crime Tool
NBCLosAngeles.com, (1/19/09)

Hawthorne (Calif.) police officer Rob Storey has created and marketed a device called ClimbAssist, a ladder-like tool that will help get officers over high and difficult fences quickly and quietly. Designed to fit in the back of a patrol car and made of lightweight aluminum, Climb Assist is 55 inches long and weighs less than 16 pounds. It hooks over the top of an otherwise difficult-to-scale fence and then locks into place. An accompanying molded PVC cap can be placed over the top of the fence, protecting officers from injury by spikes and allowing them to sit on top of the fence and pass equipment across, if needed. More than 70 law enforcement agencies have already purchased the device and put it into use.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28649795/

Police Departments Look for More Fuel-Cutting Cars
Associated Press, (1/21/09), Jim Suhr

In the light of increased fuel prices, law enforcement agencies around the country are looking for more efficient alternatives to the traditional low-mileage Ford Crown Victorias often used as patrol cars. Examples include Gulf Breeze, Fla., where Chief Peter Paulding is looking to place electric engines in some of his department's patrol cars; Salt Lake City, which recently put Toyota Camry hybrids on the street; and Chahokia, Ill., where Chief Richard Watson has installed a four-cylinder Pontiac Vibe GT in his fleet. Meanwhile, Atlanta-based Carbon Motors Corp. has designed a prototype patrol vehicle, the E7 (known as the Machine) with a twin-turbo diesel engine that reportedly uses 40 percent less fuel than Crown Victorias. However, this prototype has yet to hit the commercial market.
hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MELTDOWN_POLICE_CARS?SITE=MDHAG&SECTION=OLYMPICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

SQUID: The Long (and Sticky) Arms of the Law
Newswise, (1/16/09)

The Safe Quick Undercarriage Immobilization Device (SQUID), a prototype device for trapping suspect vehicles, resembles a cheese wheel full of holes when closed and a mass of sea-creature tentacles that can entangle a car's axles when deployed. The 1.5-foot-wide disc, developed by Engineering Science Analysis Corporation (ESA) of Tempe, Ariz., was funded by the Small Business Innovation Research Office of the U. S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate. Its developers plan to have it commercially available by 2010.
www.newswise.com/articles/view/548162/

New Fingerprint Technology Helps Deputies in Field
KHTUS AM 1220, (1/23/09)

The Santa Clarita Valley (Calif.) Sheriff's Station recently began using nine Cogent Systems BlueCheck mobile identification devices to help with investigation and arrest procedures. The devices include secure wireless fingerprint capability, Bluetooth technology and cellular phone service. The BlueCheck devices permit deputies to perform a rapid fingerprint check of subjects in the field, compare those prints to more than 4 million known prints and potentially receive an identification response within minutes.
www.hometownstation.com/local-news/deputies-santa-clarita-2009-01-22-16-15.html

Authoritative Resources: Four Technology Centers of Excellence
Officer.com, (October 2008), Rebecca Kanable

This article profiles the four NIJ Centers of Excellence (Communications, Forensic Sciences, Sensors, Surveillance and Biometrics, and Weapons and Protective Systems) and the services and programs they offer.
www.officer.com/print/Law-Enforcement-Technology/Authoritative-resources--Four-technology-centers-of-excellence/1$43837

Running Michigan's Gauntlet
Officer.com, (November 2008), Jonathan Kozlowski

The Michigan State Police Vehicle (MSPV) tested police vehicles for acceleration, top speed, braking and dynamics in a series of tests held Sept. 20-22, 2008. Models tested in this year's annual evaluation were three Ford Police Interceptors, the 3.27 and 3.55 models and a non-published law enforcement-only model; two Chevrolet Impalas, the 9C1 and E85; two Chevrolet Tahoes (the only SUV-type vehicle included), 5.7 and E85; Dodge Chargers 3.5 and 5.7; the BMW R1200RTP and G 650 XP; the Harley-Davidson Police Road King and Electra Glide; and the Buell Ulysses XB12XP. The article includes complete test results.
www.officer.com/print/Law-Enforcement-Technology/Running-Michigans-gauntlet/1$44227

The ABCs of PPE
Officer.com, (September 2008), Pamela Mills Senn

James Scanlon, an officer for the Columbus (Ohio) Police Department and co-founder and assistant SWAT team leader of the North American SWAT Training Association (NASTA), talks about the changes in the law enforcement/personal protective equipment field in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The interview specifically focuses on body armor and the need for chemical/biological/radiological/nuclear protection.
www.officer.com/print/Law-Enforcement-Technology/The-ABCs-of-PPE/1$43293

National Auto Fraud and Theft Prevention System Goes Live
U.S. Department of Justice, (01/29/2009)

The U.S. Department of Justice has released an online computer system to provide law enforcement with new tools to investigate fraud, theft and other crimes involving vehicles. The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) allows state motor vehicle administrators to verify and exchange titling and brand data and provides law enforcement officials, consumers and others with critical information regarding vehicle histories. Consumers, through third-party, fee-for-service Web sites, will have access to a vehicle's brand history, odometer data and basic vehicle information, and can be redirected to the current state of record to access the full title record if available. Law enforcement professionals can track a vehicle's status from state to state and access the system directly.
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/2009/bja09020.htm