NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary

Thursday, April 19, 2007

"System Can Scan Plates, Talk to Officer"
Dallas Morning News (04/15/07) P. 10B; Abshire, Richard

The Mesquite Police Department is the first in Texas to receive the PlateScan system, which uses cameras and computers to "remember" each license plate it witnesses as an officer patrols the streets or the parking-lot at an area mall. In addition, the system records a color picture of the car, with the time, date, and location as configured by GPS satellites. It also checks every plate number against databases that contain stolen and wanted vehicles and registered sex offenders. When it receives a hit, a robotic voice informs the officer. The program was launched on Feb. 28, and to date has cleared a minimum of four stolen cars, notes Mesquite police representative Lt. Steve Callarman. In one situation, a man in a stolen car drove past a parked police car while the officer was making a call. When the officer came back to his car, he was informed by the system about the stolen vehicle, and it was found nearby. It cost approximately $40,000 to outfit two police cars.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/mesquite/
stories/DN-mesplates_15eas.ART.East.Edition1.430b966.html

"Sex-Offender List Goes Online in Kane County"
Chicago Tribune (04/16/07) P. C3; Presecky, William

The Kane County, Ill., sheriff's office now has a computer tracking system for sex offenders living in unincorporated parts of the county, currently totaling roughly 55 individuals. The system is available to the public through the Web site of the sheriff's office, and allows county residents to see the locations of all sex offenders living within a mile of their location. Residents can also opt to have email or postal mail sent to them when a sex offender moves into their area. The county hopes to expand the system soon to track the additional 280 or so sex offenders who live in incorporated municipalities within the county, and plans to update the registry daily so that members of the public have the most accurate information possible about where sex offenders live.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/
chi-0704150314apr16,1,2459254.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

"Standing Guard Over Criminal Evidence"
Sacramento Bee (CA) (04/12/07) P. G1; Richie, David

To ensure the high quality of evidence from crime scenes, the city of Citrus Heights, Calif., has spent $1 million to construct a 5,800-square-foot storage structure. Only two police officers have access to the entire evidence storage facility, which has been incorporated into the existing police station. One of the two officers is Michelle Combs, a crime scene investigator/property-evidence specialist with 21 years experience in law enforcement. Both officers are essentially on-call 24/7 and are dispatched to all major crime scenes. Combs helped design and equip the van they travel in as well as the crime lab and storage facility. She says day-to-day access to the facility needs to be extremely restricted because "almost always a theft is accomplished internally." Some of the features of the facility include lockers that lock automatically after evidence is handed in, an area for drying wet items prior to processing, and a secure, temperature-controlled room to hold perishable items. Vehicles can be towed to a secure area at the back of the site. The majority of operations are conducted internally, with the exception of certain blood and drug assessments that are performed by the Sacramento County district attorney's crime lab. http://www.sacbee.com/190/story/152654.html

"Perry Touts Better Radio System"
Valley Morning Star (Texas) (04/12/07); Hernandez, Elizabeth

Texas has achieved Level 4 emergency radio communications status for interoperable communications as judged on a 1 to 6 scale, reports Texas Gov. Rick Perry. In addition, Austin, Houston, and a few other Texas areas have achieved the top ranking of Level 6. U.S. Homeland Security director for Texas Steve McCraw explains that Level 4 ranking signifies that police, firefighters, and other first-responders can communicate with each other from radios that are connected immediately through some core central command. He notes that Level 6 means first responders have radio systems that act like cell phones, which can roam onto different agency channels themselves. Perry says "radio interoperability" in Texas today enables firefighters, police, and other emergency responders to speak instantly when responding to an event. In fact, since 2003 Congress has invested $2 billion in nationwide radio interoperability. Perry adds that Level 4 communication will impact people in the field. For instance, police who stop illegal aliens will be able to radio the appropriate agency to help handle it. http://www.valleymorningstar.com/onset?id=1833&template=article.html

"Township Approves Police Radio Tower"
Ocean County Observer (04/13/07); Pais, Matt

The building of a new, 150-foot-high tower will provide police with improved radio reception when answering calls in the Whiting, N.J., region. The Manchester Township Council sanctioned a bid from TekTron for the tower during the second week of April, paving the way for the tower to be erected at the public works garage on Route 70 close to the Whiting-Lakehurst border. The tower will allow officers to stay in touch with the township's communications system no matter where they are situated. The present network is inundated with numerous "dead" spots, particularly inside the industrial structures, according to Sgt. Bob Dolan. "We expect [the new tower] will improve the in-building communications in places where officers have to either move to get a signal or often go back to their car," he said. The project is the second stage of a scheduled revamping of the police department's communications systems. Besides Manchester, numerous local police departments, including Lacey, Lakewood, Stafford, and Toms River, have already converted from typical analog radios to a digital network. The new system allows for greater communication with other county police departments and Sheriff's Department officials from Burlington and Ocean counties.
http://www.ocobserver.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
20070413/NEWS01/704130327/-1/SPORTS06

"Cops Spike Spoke Thieves"
Yuba City Appeal-Democrat (04/12/07); Young, Rob

When bicycle thieves attempted to steal an expensive model bike in Yuba City, Calif., they were not aware they led the police department to their location. On loan from Pegasus Technologies, Yuba City police planted a motion-activated transmitter on the bike, hidden in the seat. Nationwide, about 150 U.S. police departments have employed this tracking system, with prospects for it becoming a solution to automobile theft. Universities also use the tracking system, where bicycle thefts on campus are more prevalent. Although car owners can use the transmitter, Jason Cecchettini of Pegasus says bike owners cannot because the radio frequency can only be accessed by police.
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/onset?id=46900&template=article.html


"System Will Notify Crime Victims of Inmate Releases"
Harrisburg Patriot-News (PA) (04/11/07) P. A3; Lenton, Garry

Within six months, Pennsylvania plans to roll out in midstate a free service that will allow crime victims to track the whereabouts of their offenders when they are moved, released, or escape. Crime victims will be able to anonymously sign up for the Statewide Automated Victim Information Network (SAVIN) by telephone or online, and the notification system will provide alerts by telephone, email, or text message. "Any crime victim can use this software," says Jennifer Storm, executive director of the Dauphin County Victim Witness program. "It really broadens who is allowed to receive notification." Appriss, a software development company in Louisville, Ky., assisted the state in developing SAVIN, which will be limited to tracking offenders in county prisons initially. SAVIN cost $1.5 million to develop, and about $600,000 will be needed each year to maintain the system. Appriss says 1,500 communities in 43 states are using the system.
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=
doc&p_docid=11874E566D19E218&p_docnum=1



"Fingerprints Give a Hand to Security"
Wall Street Journal (04/12/07) P. B4; Keeton, Ann

Fingerprints are increasingly becoming the preferred way to use biometrics to verify an individual's identity. Roughly 10 percent of new laptops come with fingerprint sensors, which eliminate the need to remember passwords. Fingerprints are also being used by 20 million consumers in Japan for access to online bank accounts, ATMs, and point-of-sale credit card purchases. The use of fingerprints as a form of identification has taken off because many of the problems surrounding fingerprint identification--most notably hacking and spoofing, or fooling a system with a false print--have largely been addressed. AuthenTec, a maker of commercial fingerprint sensors, has patented technology that reads prints on living tissue in a layer of skin below the surface. This eliminates the possibility of the system being spoofed by someone lifting a print from a piece of tape or using a fake finger made from a mold of a real finger. In addition, stored fingerprint information is encrypted. However, spoofing and hacking remain potential problems that require continuous software updating, said AuthenTec President Larry Ciaccia.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117633761672067121.html

"Wood Co. Sheriff Plans to Monitor Prisoners"
Marshfield News Herald (WI) (04/11/07) P. 1A; Madden, Karen

The Wood County, Wis., Sheriff's Department is developing an electronic monitoring program that will allow the county to scale back the Wood County Jail work release program. The county will use technology, such as ankle bracelets, to closely monitor the location of inmates at all times. According to Sheriff Thomas Reichert, an ankle bracelet worn against the skin will even reveal blood alcohol concentration. The Sheriff's Department plans to reassign a correction officer to oversee the electronic monitoring of selected prisoners. Most residents are concerned about replacing the work release program with electronic monitoring. "It's unfortunate that we must deal with a decision on how to house our prisoners," says Reichert. "However, we are dealing with extremely limited budgets, and I am forced to decide whether to implement this type of program or lay off deputy sheriffs and correction officers."
http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
20070411/MNH0101/704110500/1980

"Backing Up Backup Calls"
Indianapolis Star (04/11/07) P. 1; Ryckaert, Vic

To prevent the occurrence of radio dead zones, or isolated areas with little or no radio reception, officials in Marion County, Ind., agreed in 2006 to replace the county's existing 16-year-old system with a digital one. Officials say the new system will be financed through grants and a bond that will be repaid using local tax money, and workers have already launched construction on new communication towers. The Metropolitan Emergency Communications Agency (MECA) will replace all its analog radio equipment with digital gear from Motorola and will also build six extra antenna towers to accompany the existing five. Such actions are expected to virtually eliminate all the areas with poor reception. Officials say the new system will also enhance communication in high-rise buildings. New communications sites are being built at Butler University, Lawrence, Geist, and Cumberland, while removing towers and backup power systems will be improved. More than 6,500 new radios and 80 dispatch consoles will be distributed among public safety and public service personnel, including the Department of Public Works and IndyGo. The new gear will allow emergency responders to be able to talk with one another during crises regardless of where in the county they are, according to Ray Raney, executive director of MEC. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007704110508

"Tool Helps Police Track Sex Offenders"
Florida Times-Union (04/11/07) P. B5; Kerr, Jessie-Lynne

With help from LexisNexis, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has launched a new investigative tool to enable law enforcement to take faster action against child abductors and absconding sex offenders. According to Jim Peck, chief executive officer of LexisNexis Risk and Information Analytics Group, there are 600,000 sex offenders nationwide, but 100,000 of them fail to register as legally required and move across state borders to remain anonymous. LexisNexis' system mines through public records to gather various types of data about sex offenders. These people "ultimately get into our system, and our system is able to distinguish between an innocent person and a sexual predator who happen to have the same names," says Peck. In the case of a child abduction, officials can key in the ZIP code of the incident to obtain a list of all the registered and unregistered sex offenders in the area. The system helps lead officers "to the right doors," says Peck. FDLE official Mary Coffee says any law enforcement agency in the state can use the technology through the state's secure and private network. She says the system has already helped the state locate more than 1,300 unregistered sex offenders.
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/041107/met_9164427.shtml

"Training Planned to Improve Campus Security"
Boston Globe (04/18/07); Smalley, Suzanne

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has ordered the state's 29 public colleges to assess their emergency response plans and security practices in response to the Virginia Tech shooting rampage. Local and state government and law enforcement officials met privately Tuesday to discuss ways to improve security on Massachusetts campuses and prepare for emergencies. To that end, the Boston Police Department announced that it will train local college security teams on how to react to school shootings, though this training will take different forms, depending on whether campus security forces are armed or unarmed. Armed security forces will receive training on SWAT techniques, while unarmed security guards will mostly be trained on how to quickly call for police help and how to work with responding officers. Officials have also discussed the use of emergency communications technology to alert students about school shootings, including an initiative aimed at connecting campuses to a police radio network used by Boston law enforcement. A heavy emphasis is also being placed on preventing shootings by paying more attention to the red flags and danger signs that could indicate a student is about to become violent. A spokesman for the University of Massachusetts at Boston said that the Virginia Tech shooting underscores the unpredictable nature of events that university security efforts must be prepared for--and that there is always room for improvement, more cooperation, more thoroughness, and greater adaptability.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/
04/18/training_planned_to_improve_campus_security/

"New 911 System Gives Responders Huge Boost"
Minneapolis Star Tribune (04/11/07) P. 1A; Chanen, David

The Minneapolis Police Department has a new dispatching tool for its 911 center, allowing dispatchers to visually track the movements of every police car, fire truck, and ambulance on the streets via the global positioning system. In addition, police can access an aerial view of crime scenes to determine which cars are closest to the scene and then dispatch those cars as quickly as possible. The new system cost $4.3 million, and was funded through a federal Department of Homeland Security grant. When a 911 operator forwards a call to a police dispatcher, the computer system automatically locates the nearest vehicles to the address from which the call originated; information about vehicle location is never more than 10 seconds old. In addition, the system can inform officers via their laptop computers which other squad cars are responding to a particular crime scene. Fire trucks are also being equipped with laptops connected to the system, allowing them to receive turn-by-turn directions to a scene and look at the architectural plans and any particular hazards of the building to which they are heading. http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1112764.html

"With a Zap or Swipe of IDs, Device Helps Nab Scofflaws"
USA Today (04/10/07) P. 3A; Coolidge, Sharon

The Clermont County of Ohio Sheriff's Office is the first U.S. civilian law enforcement agency to test a new data device that enables officers to check a suspect's identity against 140 "wanted" or "watch" lists in the United States. Officers will use Mobilisa's m2500 Defense ID system, which can check a suspect's identity and provide answers using numerous fugitive watch lists, criminal background databases, and convicted sex offender lists in just one second. The device reads the barcode on a state ID or U.S. passport. Some privacy advocates such as Cato Institute information-policy expert Jim Harper says that if this device is used to scan crowds, for instance, it may go against the constitutional barring of unreasonable search and seizure. Clermont County Sheriff A.J. Rodenberg calls the device "the future of crime fighting." http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-09-handheld_N.htm

"Security Cameras Work, Group Told"
Reading Eagle (PA) (04/12/07); Spatz, Don

Reading, Pa., is considering a $1.8 million security camera system. The City Council is being asked to finance the $390,000 initial stage of the 25-camera plan. "Where we've installed cameras, they've made a difference," noted Lancaster Community Safety Coalition executive director Dale B. Witmer. The coalition has implemented 35 security cameras throughout Lancaster. Nearly every crime-ridden neighborhood is his city has asked the coalition for the cameras, Witmer added. Reading Councilman Jeffrey S. Waltman Sr., who initially had been reluctant about the proposal, stated on April 11 that he is now in favor of the cameras. In addition, Councilman Stratton P. Marmarou, also a supporter, announced he would like to see Berks County assist with the financing, as Lancaster County did with the cameras in the city of Lancaster. Former city policeman Michael A. Garipoli is urging Reading to spend enough money to purchase cameras that offer crisp images, as one-day photo recognition software could be implemented that can automatically concentrate on passing faces and determine which of them possess outstanding warrants. http://www.readingeagle.com

Article sponsored by Criminal Justice online leadership as well as police and military personnel who have authored books.