Public Safety Technology in the News

Computer Technology Fingers Illegal Aliens
Allentown Morning Call, (03/10/2009), Robert H. Orenstein

For several months, Bucks and Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania have been using a new system developed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that can determine an individual's criminal record within a matter of minutes. Suspects place their hands on an imaging screen that scans their fingerprints into a computer linked to a federal database, and it produces information on outstanding warrants and whether the person is in the country illegally. ICE plans to extend the system to more than 6,000 local police booking centers and jails nationwide by the end of 2012. Criminals eligible for deportation will be turned over to ICE after they complete their sentences in county jails. The two counties were selected for the program because they already had compatible computer systems that required only minor upgrades.
www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_2aliens.6811165mar10,0,7600992.story

Police Departments Keeping Public Informed on Twitter
CNN.com (03/13/2009)

Police departments across the country are increasingly using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to keep the public informed. For example, the Lakeland (Fla.) Police Department recently posted a notice regarding investigation of a suspicious package found on a rooftop. These sites have proven a speedy and convenient way to distribute press releases, Amber Alerts, and other information important to the public.
www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/13/police.social.networking/index.html

Fingerprint Match Maker Is One Super Sleuth
Baltimore Sun, (03/17/2009), Tyeesha Dixon

A $12 million upgrade to Maryland's Automated Fingerprint Identification System is providing fingerprint examiners and law enforcement officials with more accurate fingerprint hits, more quickly. The Web-based, digitized system produces high-definition fingerprint images, and the state expects to be able to find matches for tens of thousands of previously unmatchable fingerprints. The new system has already made more than 150 matches in Howard County alone. The Howard County Police Department began using the system in November and was the first agency to report to the state that it was able to solve cold cases because of the new system.
www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-to.prints17mar17,0,6222694.story

State of Maryland Stays Ahead of Criminals with New Law Enforcement Dashboard
Business Wire, (03/17/2009)

The Law Enforcement Dashboard is a new tool being used by Maryland state law enforcement personnel and agencies to look up the criminal history of defendants and offenders. Previously, the state used separate databases for its divisions of corrections and parole, State Police Gun Registry and Sex Offender Registry, which made cross-referencing between systems and confirming identification and criminal history information nearly impossible. Law Enforcement Dashboard, which works with real-time data, simplifies data mining and querying through high performance, call-level interfaces to data on the various databases. Query response times have dropped 90 percent.
www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090317005103&newsLang=en

North Carolina Police Receive Sky Arrow LSA
Aero-News.Net (0312/2009)

A long-awaited Sky Arrow light sport aircraft, purchased through a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) study on the effectiveness of light planes, arrived at North Carolina's Piedmont Triad International Airport in early March. The plane will be used in a cooperative program involving sheriff's departments in Guilford, Alamance, Davidson and Randolph counties. The aircraft will be used in surveillance, missing persons searches and routine patrol duties. Maintenance and fuel costs will be paid through funds recovered in drug raids. The DOJ study has a goal of showing that light sport aircraft can perform traditional aerial law enforcement support more efficiently than fixed-wing planes. The Sky Arrow is noted for having a fast response time.
www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?ContentBlockID=a9b6fabb-ba08-454e-9ba0-803df4fb5d88

Police Employ "I Spy" Method
Delaware Online, (03/11/2009), Rachel Kipp

Delaware State University police officers are participating in a pilot project to test software that provides real-time updates of information related to vehicles connected to outstanding criminal or traffic cases. Cameras mounted on either side of cruiser trunks are connected to real-time "hot lists" and the officer's laptop puts out an alert if a vehicle has been reported stolen, is registered to someone with an outstanding warrant or matches a license number from an Amber Alert. Other partners in the project include the state departments of transportation and safety, and homeland security. The project is funded by a $328,297 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
www.delawareonline.com/article/20090311/NEWS01/903110342

County Purchases Safe ID System
Jackson County Chronicle, (03/13/2009), Megan VerHelst

The Jackson County Sheriff's Department and the Brockway Police Department have jointly implemented a SafeAssured ID system to help with searches for missing persons. The program helps find missing children and adults by quickly delivering pertinent information to law enforcement and the media. It is operated in cooperation with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Families will receive a full-color photo identification card and a mini-CD that can hold up to 10 digital fingerprints, digital photos, a video containing movement and mannerisms, voice recognition, physical description, personal information and a family code word. The family retains the CD-ROM and brings it to law enforcement in the event it is needed. The first copy of any individual's information is free; there is a small charge for additional copies.
www.jacksoncountychronicle.com/articles/2009/03/13/news/04id.txt

New York State Invests $1 Million in Federal Funds to Make Roadways Safer
EmpireStateNews.Net, (03/20/2009)

New York State has used more than $1 million in federal funds to invest in license plate reader (LPR) technology for 52 law enforcement agencies across the state. LPR technology uses digital cameras to capture approximately one image of a license plate per second from cars moving at up 100 miles per hour. The photos are quickly compared to a large database and provide information to officers on matches with missing or stolen vehicles. Funds were awarded to law enforcement agencies in 25 different New York counties: Broome, Chautauqua, Chenango, Erie, Fulton, Herkimer, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Niagara, Onondaga, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Suffolk, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster, Washington, Wayne, Westchester and Wyoming.
www.empirestatenews.net/News/20090320-3.html

New Eye Scan Technology Installed by Scott County Sheriff's Department
Southeast Missourian, (03/23/2009), Bridget DiCosmo

The Scott County (Mo.) Sheriff's Department recently became the first law enforcement agency in the state install iris recognition software for use in identifying missing persons. (Iris recognition may eventually replace fingerprinting as the main resource for identifying missing or abducted children.) A Scott County spokesperson said that approximately 300 law enforcement agencies across the country currently use iris recognition software. The equipment cost just under $5,000 and the funding came from the inmate security fund. Deputies have begun training on the system, which includes two packages, Senior Safety Net and the Child Project. Both systems photograph an individual's irises and store the image for use in a national database. If an individual whose irises have been scanned is ever reported missing, a participating law enforcement agency could use the image to make a positive identification.
www.semissourian.com/article/20090323/NEWS01/703239942

Cops Help Dream Up High-Tech Police Car
CNN, (03/23/2009)

Carbon Motors Corp. has designed a new high-tech "cop car" prototype based on input and suggestions received from more than 3,000 law enforcement officers. The resulting vehicle has a 300-horsepower clean diesel engine, flashing lights visible from all angles, an ergonomic cockpit, an onboard computer with voice command and instant license plate recognition and integrated shotgun mounts. Rear-hinged "suicide doors" in the back seat make it easier for handcuffed passengers to get in and out, and the seat is designed so prisoners can ride comfortably with their hands restrained behind their backs. Front seats have recesses to accommodate bulky equipment belts. Company officials says the price will be competitive with retrofitting an ordinary vehicle for law enforcement work. Production is scheduled to begin in 2012.
www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/23/high.tech.cop.car/index.html