NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary 9-7-06

"High Tech Task Force Detective Finds Electronic Footprints Left by Suspect"
Ventura County Star (CA) (09/05/06); Hernandez, Raul

The Southern California High Tech Task Force--which is made up of Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange Counties in California and includes several law enforcement agencies such as the Ventura County Sheriff's Department--has proven "indispensable" in investigating and prosecuting several high-technology crimes, according to prosecutors Marc Leventhal and Howard Wise. In one such case, several threatening letters and a white powder disguised as anthrax were sent to Ventura County police and prosecutors. The break in the case came when detectives discovered one of their suspects had contributed to the California Fraternal Order of Police and had used the organization's logo and a fake Pasadena address on the threatening letters to make them look official. A search warrant was issued, and detectives seized the hard drives from the computer of a Thousand Oaks man. After a painstaking investigation, Ventura County Sheriff's Department Detective Kevin Donoghue--a forensic computer expert assigned to the High Tech Task Force--found the fake anthrax letters in the suspect's computer. Donoghue said the suspect had used 12 hard drives, each with the capacity to store the equivalent of 1 million pages of information. He added that trying to find the letters "was like trying to find a needle in a haystack." In addition to helping law enforcement sift through information stored on a suspect's computer, the High Tech Task Force--which relies heavily on the EnCase Forensics program, the worldwide industry standard in computer investigation technology--also analyzes information from iPods, MP3 players, and cell phones, Donoghue said.
http://www.venturacountystar.com
/vcs/county_news/article/0,1375,
VCS_226_4969094,00.html

"New Technology Opens Records Up to Orange Police Department"
Beaumont Enterprise (09/05/06); Dixon, Dee

Beginning this week, the Orange, Texas, Police Department will install laptops in its 10 patrol cars that will allow officers to search several databases when they stop a motorist. The laptops will be equipped with Thinkstream software, a wireless tool that gives officers quick access to information such as warrants, stolen vehicle reports, and photos from the department of motor vehicles and the National Crime Information Center. The Orange Police Department is planning to eventually use the Thinkstream software to tap into the Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunication System, which provides departments with access to local, state, and federal databases, said Maj. Steve Jones. The department will also install the new eFORCE records management software, which will give officers the ability to access warrant information and department data from their laptops instead of calling dispatchers at the station. In addition, the software will give Orange police officers access to records of police departments in four neighboring cities: Pinehurst, Bridge City, West Orange, and Vidor. Having access to reports from other agencies has several advantages, one being that if an officer lists someone as a suspect in a report and they are stopped somewhere else, the information can be forwarded to an investigator, said Sgt. Lynn T. Arceneaux. He added that the laptops will also allow officers to stay on the street longer because they will not have to return to the station to finish their paperwork.
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com
/site/news.cfm?newsid=17150845
&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6

"On the Same Wavelength: Costly New Radio System Will Go Online in 2009"
Northwest Florida Daily News (09/01/06); Womack, Amy Leigh

Officials in Okaloosa County, Fla., want to be able to communicate more effectively in emergencies by joining a statewide radio system. The system lets local and regional public safety groups communicate via a shared network statewide. However, the system must still deal with hurdles such as cost; Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Mike Coup estimates that the cost to buy radio units for 265 deputies would be roughly $530,000. Also, residents will no longer be able to listen to the communications. Dino Villani, Okaloosa County's public safety director, said the county's objective is to include all county agencies in the state's radio system by 2009. Currently, emergency workers, deputies, and other county workers rely on a variety of radio systems that do not communicate with each other. Some agencies have already joined the state system, such as the Florida Highway Patrol, which joined in 2003, said Maj. Steve Williams of the agency's technology and communications division. Okaloosa County 911 Coordinator Sylvia Womack said it is not mandatory that agencies take part in the state system, but those that do will experience improved communications and radio reception. Meanwhile, the state government has already constructed the radio towers and infrastructure needed by the county to participate in the state system, saving the county $10 million.
http://www.mworld.com
/m/m.w?lp=GetStory&id=214429701

"State to Spend $7 Million on Security in Prisons"
Baltimore Sun (09/02/06) P. 1B; Garland, Greg

State corrections officials in Maryland have announced they will spend $7 million to purchase surveillance cameras, radios, protective vests, and other security gear to make the state's jails safer. John A. Rowley, the new state prisons chief, said he talked with wardens and other personnel to determine the requirements for safer operations in Maryland's prisons. He said Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. "gave us everything we asked for" in the preliminary bundle of requests. Supporters of gubernatorial candidate Martin O'Malley, the mayor of Baltimore, say the move was an effort by the governor to secure votes from correctional officers. Specifically, $2.1 million has been allocated for more surveillance cameras for the Maryland House of Correction, Patuxent Institute, and Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center as well as $1 million to expand intelligence collection systems in prisons statewide. Another $2.1 million has been earmarked for walk-through scanners for staff and visitors, x-ray conveyers for examining packages, and stab-resistant vests, radio systems, and other items. Moreover, security and transport vehicles that are more than 10 years old or have upwards of 100,000 of mileage will be replaced at a cost of approximately $2 million, said officials. The department will also establish a hot line for prison personnel to report security problems directly to top officials.
http://www.baltimoresun.com
/news/local/bal-prisons0901,0,3519348.
story?coll=bal-home-headlines&track=mostemailedlink

"Seneca County's E911 'Up and Running'"
Finger Lakes Times (NY) (09/03/06); Champagne, Denise M.

The Seneca County, N.Y., Sheriff's Enhanced 911 center, which opened on Aug. 8 on the ground floor of the county office building, features five state-of-the-art workstations for dispatchers. Each of these stations has three computer screens, which give dispatchers detailed readouts on a call, shows on a map where the caller is, and allows the caller to be tracked if they are on a cell phone. This allows help to be immediately sent to the caller's location instead of forcing dispatchers to try to get location information from callers who might be upset. In addition, dispatchers can zoom in on the map and access weather information, which also helps speed up the time it takes to get emergency help to someone in need. Seneca County's E911 system also allows dispatchers to use icons to denote which law enforcement vehicles are in service. This in turn lets dispatchers quickly determine who to send to a crime, accident, fire, or medical emergency scene by immediately seeing which officers and emergency service providers are closest.
http://www.fltimes.com
/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=
12888&SectionID=38&SubSectionID=121&S=1

"Electric Eyes Zoom In on Safety"
Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN) (09/04/06) P. B2; Cook, Dick

Bob Dallas, director of the Office of Highway Safety for Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue's administration, believes that government officials can use educational strategies to garner public support for installing cameras at intersections. He recommends holding public discussions focused on the topic to encourage community support. The city of Dalton plans to install cameras to record drivers running red lights after an earlier attempt failed. The city hired Transol USA to install cameras at intersections in 2004, but the company did not fulfill its obligations under the agreement. Dalton Police Department public information officer Chris McDonald cited service as the point of contention that resulted in cancellation of the contract. Intersection cameras are able to store recordings of cars passing through red lights. The companies are responsible for sending any violations to law enforcement and also handle issuing of "electronic court summons" to offenders. The city has chosen LaserCraft to handle installation of the new camera system, with deployment expected to reach up to three cameras by the start of next year. Dallas predicts that more localities in the state will also choose to use the technology to aid enforcement of traffic laws. LaserCraft agreed in September 2005 to place 82 camera systems at intersections in Maryland.
http://www.timesfreepress.com

"Law Enforcement Agencies Explore Semantics"
Federal Computer Week (08/21/06) Vol. 20, No. 28, P. 44; Sarkar, Dibya

Semantic technology could help law enforcement groups automatically study and obtain important data on criminals from a broad range of information sources. The technology includes software proposals and methodologies, and can be a faster way to locate and share associated information between agencies in a smarter way by utilizing ontologies--models that describe data and the complete range of relationships among pieces of information. Semantic technology has three primary components, the initial one being infrastructure, such as inference engines that conduct automated classification or entry removal. The second covers tools that individuals employ, while the third component is ontologies or tagged content. Experts claim the utilization of semantic technology is increasing among consultants and application developers. The World Wide Web Consortium's implementation of a pair of semantic standards, the Resource Description Framework (RDF) and the Web Ontology Language (OWL), has further heightened the employment of semantic technology in the last two years. Law enforcement authorities are continuing to struggle with installing Extensible Markup Language-based messaging protocols such as the Global Justice XML Data Model, and 200 related projects are likely under way, notes Integrated Justice Information Systems Institute executive director Paul Wormeli. http://www.fcw.com
/article95696-08-21-06-Print

"Arizona Finds Success With Automated License Plate Readers"
Government Technology (08/31/06)

During a demonstration with the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS), Governor Janet Napolitano introduced the new License Plate Readers (LPRs) now being utilized to instantly detect stolen and suspect vehicles. The LPRs have been in use at DPS for only a few short months, and are capable of reading 1,500 plates during a standard officer's shift of eight hours. By comparison, an officer can input approximately 40 in the same period. Arizona's stolen vehicle rate is high, mainly because of its proximity to the border with Mexico. Combined with stepped up cooperation between the DPS and the state of Sonora, Mexico, the LPRs can eventually contribute to the detection of thousands of vehicles before they head south and become virtually impossible to recover. "This is an amazing and highly useful piece of technology," said Napolitano. "They are efficient and will in time have a dramatic impact on the recovery of stolen vehicles in our state, whether they are used for human trafficking, drug dealing or to strip and sell." As of early August, the LPRs had read more than 110,000 plates. The devices are in use in five DPS police interceptors, and are in use during the assigned officer's shift. Each of the devices cost $22,000, paid for through a combination of anti-racketeering (RICO) and general agency funds. The LPRs are able to photograph the driver of a suspect vehicle, in the event possession becomes an issue in filing charges or prosecution, and can pick up the plate of a vehicle being sought in an AMBER Alert. http://www.govtech.net
/localgovt/story.php?id=100799

"Grant Adds Security Cameras to Courthouse Renovation"
Orangeburg Times and Democrat (SC) (08/31/06); Lyon, Tucker

The Orangeburg County Courthouse is undergoing is first significant renovation in more than three decades. Cayce emerged as the winning bidder to install the heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) system at the courthouse for a sum of $577,000--the lowest bid made during the auction. The Orangeburg County Council selected the company to handle the project two weeks ago. A $54,409 federal grant will also pay for installation of a new security camera system at the courthouse. Installation of the HVAC system is scheduled to begin during the middle of September. The new security camera system, which will augment existing video technology and silent alarms, is part of the second phase of the project. The estimated time for completing installation of the HVAC system is 120 days. The renovation plan also calls for moving the solicitor's staff to a new location.
http://thetandd.com

"County Prison Gets Fire Inspection"
Allentown Morning Call (PA) (08/31/06); Muschick, Paul

Terry S. Foulk, the fire inspector of Easton, Pa., has recommended that the Northampton County Prison install a new fire alarm system in the building's older section. Foulk inspected that part of the prison on Aug. 16 and determined that the system was obsolete and failed to meet current fire alarm standards. He wrote in a report that newer systems can warn personnel about nonfunctional or dirty smoke detectors, which is important because prisoners cannot exit from their cells by themselves. Barbara Kowitz, Easton's City Planning and Economic Development Director, said the alarm system does not have to be replaced immediately. Foulk also recommended in his report that the prison's security cameras need to be repaired because they are "key to fire safety and trapped victims." Furthermore, he wrote that during the inspection, an officer lacked a key for a particular door and could not contact the prison's main control room to open it. However, County Corrections Director Todd Buskirk said the main control room is capable of opening all the doors automatically in an emergency.
http://www.mcall.com/news
/local/easton/all-b1_3prison-raug
31,0,3595581.story?coll=all-newslocaleaston-hed

"Algorithms to Calculate Unusual Behavior"
Computerworld Australia (09/01/06); Crawford, Michael

Researchers at National ICT Australia (NICTA) are developing sophisticated surveillance applications such as algorithms that monitor "inappropriate behavior" in public places. The Smart Applications for Emergencies (SAFE) team has already proposed a specification for a warning language that can discern and communicate threat levels. The project's goal is to deliver as much information as possible to decision makers on the front lines of an incident, with much of the work already completed having focused on improving facial-recognition algorithms. "Identifying a particular person is one thing but we are looking at unusual behavior in an open environment," said Chris Scott, research director at NICTA's Queensland laboratory. Scott says that "we are working on algorithms not just to search for a person based on facial recognition but to analyze the level of threat based on their actual behavior." Existing facial-recognition algorithms rely too much on the geometry of the face to make a comparison with the faces that are stored in memory, Scott says, adding that his team is developing algorithms to handle poor lighting and producing images from the side on. The project, which is using data from the 6,000 surveillance cameras on the network of Queensland Transport and Queensland Rail, aims to move away from the dependence on humans looking at monitors. http://www.computerworld.com.au
/index.php/id;484132779;fp;16;fpid;0

"Smart Database to Help Cape Breton Police Battle Crime"
IT World Canada (08/25/06); Areliano, Nestor E.

An "evidence database" being created for the Cape Breton Police Service in Nova Scotia is trying to reduce the administrative problems that can occur when filing big amounts of proof associated with criminal investigations. The database is being made by IBM Research, in conjunction with the Cape Breton Police Service, Cape Breton University, and area business software company ADM Solutions Inc. After it is deployed, it will permit police officers to remotely file and access information from their patrol car computer. Besides hurrying up data filing and retrieval, the database will significantly reduce the amount of paperwork, foster decision making, enable detectives to rapidly identity connections and patterns, and correctly follow the progress off an investigation. Project research has been occurring for the last eight months and the system will be ready for testing by next week by a half-dozen Cape Breton officers. Known as the Detective Analytic Workbench (DAW), the database digitally retains data such as interview tapes and wiretaps, scanned documents, forensic reports, 911 calls, and pictures and video footage from surveillance tapes. The database categorizes and cross-references data and readies it for immediate retrieval via a secured network. Instead of looking through files at the police station, a crime scene officer can access the system and enter a question for common links, patterns, and objects such as cars, weapons, and faces.
http://www.itworldcanada.com
/a/News/9b722a79-eaea-41d5
-a1ba-51ae271bb404.html

"FBI Plans Major Database Upgrade"
Government Computer News (08/28/06); Dizard, Wilson P. III

The Criminal Justice Information Service (CJIS) Division of the FBI is preparing in-depth plans for a total restructuring of its vast fingerprint database that will improve interoperability with the Department of Homeland Security's biometric records and pave the way for adding more kinds of biometrics. To symbolize these substantial changes, the FBI intends to switch the name of its Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) to Next Generational Identification (NGI). The upgrade will involve hundreds of millions of dollars with a proposal request stage starting in January 2007. President Bush stated that new biometric tactics such as facial recognition, iris scans, hand authentication, and DNA are now obtaining importance, and CJIS authorities want their system to be equipped to process them. Part of the reason for the restructuring is to lower the IAFIS mistake factor of 2 percent. Demand for IAFIS fingerprint queries has been rising, partially because background checks are occurring more often with companies and state legislatures. The three-stage procedure to construct NGI will start with a temporary Data Sharing Model scheduled to be introduced on Sept. 3. The proposal request for January 2007 will concentrate on the next two phases in constructing NGI, referred to as the Initial Operating Capability and Financial Operating Capability.
http://www.gcn.com
/print/25_26/41792-1.html


"Math Professors Solve 'Cocktail Party' Problem"
TechWeb (08/24/06); Jones, K.C.

Mathematics researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia have mathematically solved the "cocktail party" problem, and say their solution is more reliable than existing programs used to separate sound and reproduce voices. Professor Dan Casazza says separating voices that are similar in their pitch continues to be a problem for today's programs. "Our solution shows that we can pull out each voice individually, not just with the words, but with the voice characteristics of each individual," adds professor Dan Edidin. Casazza and Edidin were assisted by Radu Balan of Siemens Corporate Research on the mathematical research, which could be used for law enforcement, homeland security, and intelligence efforts. "Theoretically, our solution says you should be able to pick up voices on a squeaky old microphone and then separate them all out so that you can hear what each person is saying in his or her own voice," says Casazza. The researchers still hope to create an algorithm for their mathematical solution for pulling voices out of a crowd. Part of the funding for the research comes from the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency. http://www.techweb.com
/wire/security/192300009;jsessionid=
KXC02TJS4HG4KQSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN

"The Evidence Washline"
Law Enforcement Technology (08/06) Vol. 33, No. 8, P. 30; Mills-Senn, Pamela

Many police departments, especially smaller ones, resorted to mundane measures in the past to dry evidence because of the relatively high cost of drying cabinets. Hanging evidence to dry in unused closets, rooms, and shower stalls was common among many agencies. The makeshift approaches sometimes resulted in large amounts of evidence never adequately drying. Evidence that is not properly dried can result in contamination of DNA and trace evidence. Gieserlab President Steve Gieser notes that departments that had drying cabinets would often not follow the optimum protocols, such as conducting routine cleaning, when storing evidence. However, applying appropriate techniques for handling evidence has become more mainstream among law enforcement agencies today. The tightening of standards for evidence handling can be partially attributed to the increased use of drying cabinets in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Russell Klemann of the City of Waukesha Police Department in Wisconsin noted that the trial brought to attention many of issues involving the handling of evidence. Andy Chambre, president of AIR SCIENCE USA, said the more careful handling of evidence is also the result of health concerns because items from crime scenes can contain harmful substances, such as contaminants and bloodborne pathogens. In addition, Joe Latta of the International Association for Property and Evidence said post-conviction appeals have also prompted more departments to use drying cabinets.
http://www.officer.com

"Innovations in Law Enforcement"
Sheriff (08/06) Vol. 58, No. 4, P. 9; Struck, Laura

The information-sharing challenges illustrated by the 9/11 terrorist attacks captured the interest of the sheriffs of Louisiana's rural Jefferson Davis Parish and Lafourche Parish, Ricky Edwards and Craig Webre, whose offices became two of the state's first agencies to adopt information-sharing technology. The two parishes became hubs for the state's civil and criminal information network, the LACCIE Network, which was created and implemented along with the Baton Rouge-based firm Thinkstream. The system supports over 350 state, local, and federal criminal justice databases and allows instant information access for over 150 law enforcement agencies in Louisiana. "Thinkstream and this type of technology is going to become the norm," said Webre. "It's almost going to be impossible for an agency to provide police services if they don't have access to timely and accurate information." Police reports and suspect photographs can be instantly shared between agencies, enabling deputies in the field to access information by computer that once had to be laboriously communicated by phone, fax, or mail. "One of my goals and objectives as sheriff was to put as much information as quickly as we could in the hands of the deputies on the street so they could be better informed before approaching a potential criminal," Edwards said. Webre said he was skeptical about Thinkstream engineers' promise that they could get the system running within two or three weeks. "But, to my pleasure, they delivered--the system was installed and integrated and we were up and running as they promised," he noted. Not only has the partnership with Thinkstream helped the agencies prevent and solve crimes, it has also saved them time and money by taking some of the burden off the dispatchers and has made it easier to combat less serious crimes by enabling the agencies to access information about misdemeanors outside their jurisdictions.
http://www.sheriffs.org

"Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Software"
Law Enforcement Technology (08/06) Vol. 33, No. 8, P. 48

Bloodstain pattern analysis may not prove useful to police investigators in cases where bloodstain patterns did not occur as the result of an impacting object. W.A. Basso, president of the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, notes that crime-scene investigators could be aided by software that could analyze angular surfaces. However, software developers only offer several bloodstain pattern analysis-specific products and only a few new products are currently being created. Basso, who is also employed by the Lethbridge Regional Police Service as a member of the Forensic Identification Section, noted that software that can analyze curved surfaces would also be helpful. Nevertheless, Basso said ease of use and effectiveness are the most important factors for new software that analyze blood patterns. The results obtained from using bloodstain pattern analysis software have to be studied alongside results obtained from other accepted analysis methods, if the results are going to be used as evidence. Criminalist Carolyn Gannett also said a software application with both tracking and organization capabilities for bloodstain analysis reports could prove a useful tool for streamlining the documentation process.
http://www.officer.com