The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) provides the Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary as a service to law enforcement, corrections, and forensic science practitioners. The Summary includes abstracts of articles from major newspapers, business magazines, Web sites, national and international wire services, and periodicals focusing on law enforcement and corrections technology. Please note that providing synopses of articles on law enforcement and corrections technology or the mention of specific manufacturers or products does not constitute the endorsement of the U.S. Department of Justice or NLECTC. Reproduction of this text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold, and the NLECTC Law Enforcement & Corrections Technology News Summary should be cited as the source of the information.

December 27, 2007

We are always interested in our readers' comments and feedback about this service. Please send your comments, questions, or suggestions to asknlectc@nlectc.org.

NLECTC Spotlight

Incident Mapping and Analysis Program (IMAP) Courses

Four to five times a year, NLECTC-Southeast offers introductory ArcGIS classes for law enforcement and corrections personnel. Introduction to ArcGIS I and Introduction to ArcGIS II are offered free of charge and are geared toward personnel with little or no mapping experience. These courses are an excellent precursor for the Crime Mapping and Analysis Program (CMAP) courses offered by NLECTC-Rocky Mountain. NLECTC-Southeast schedules IMAP classes as interest dictates and classes may be held in either North Charleston, South Carolina, or in the Center's mobile computer laboratory. If you are interested in the IMAP schedule for 2008, please contact Ed Hoskins at NLECTC-Southeast at nlectc-se@nlectc-se.org or 800-292-4385.

Caught With Field Search

In June 2007, a convicted sex offender and former Iowa State Patrol trooper was caught with child pornography on his computer by his probation officer. The probation officer was able to detect these images using Field Search — a software tool created by NLECTC-Rocky Mountain and provided free of charge to active community corrections professionals. Field Search allows nontechnical probation and parole officers to quickly and efficiently search an offender's computer and create a detailed report of their findings. This offender was charged with a probation violation and could face additional charges thanks in part to the Field Search tool. For more information on Field Search, including how to request a copy, please visit www.justnet.org/fieldsearch/.

NIJ Project Provides Local Law Enforcement Air Support

Through a grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the Rural Law Enforcement Technology Center (RULETC) is making available a Sky Arrow 600 Sport airplane at no cost to the Mason County and Fleming County (Kentucky) sheriff's departments. These departments will evaluate their use of the light-sport aircraft for six months and at the end of this period RULETC will examine how often and for what purposes the airplane was used. If successful, the evaluation period can be extended an additional six months. The aircraft has already been used to search for stolen vehicles and for a marijuana crop. For more information on the project contact RULETC at ruletc@aol.com or 866-787-2553, or contact the Border Research and Technology Center (Austin, Texas) at brtc@txsheriffs.org or 512-445-2316.

Public Safety Technology in the News

Tracking Drunk Drivers
CBS-21 WHP (Harrisburg, PA), (12/7/2007), Myranda Stephens

Pennsylvania State Police report that they often see an increase in DUI incidents during the holiday season. Thanks to a software application called Prophecy Program, the police can track these DUI incidents by location and the software will provide a map predicting the times and locations of future incidents. State Police use this output to identify trouble spots quickly and deploy officers to these areas. The software can also be used to track other crimes.
www.whptv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=5fe52ccc-85e5-4916-a713-19ebba6c1037

Iris Scans Let Law Enforcement Keep Eye on Criminals
USA Today (12/4/2007), Wendy Koch

Sheriff's offices across the country are using iris recognition technology to identify missing persons and sex offenders. Most agencies are using the technology to collect iris scans of senior citizens and children. These scans are stored in databases that can be searched as needed. Some agencies are capturing the iris scans of convicted sex offenders and inmates in order to identify offenders in the event of future crimes and to ensure the correct inmate is released. Iris recognition technology compares a greater level of detail than fingerprint recognition technology and departments are finding that they can find matches much faster using a centralized database of iris scans.
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-12-04-iris_N.htm

U.S. Eyes 'Pain Beam' for Home Security, Law Enforcement
Wired.com (12/10/2007), David Hambling

The Active Denial System (ADS) is a less-lethal technology that uses microwaves to cause a burning sensation on the outer surface of the skin without injuring the target. ADS has not been deployed by the U.S. military yet, but the system's manufacturer is looking into implementing the technology for law enforcement use. The current system is too large and too expensive to be practical for most police departments, so the National Institute of Justice is working with Raytheon to develop a handheld version with a hundred-foot range. Raytheon is also working with Sandia National Laboratories to develop a version of ADS for securing nuclear stockpiles.
www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2007/12/pain_beam

DOJ Tests Suspicious-Activity Reporting System
FCW.com (12/10/2007), Jason Miller

Through its Law Enforcement Online (LEO) system, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is testing a new system designed to improve the sharing of suspicious-activity reporting among Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies. The new system, called E-Guardian, is based on the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) standard. The U.S. Department of Justice is funding State fusion centers, which are required to use NIEM for sharing information. The current plan is to include E-Guardian as one of the systems to be used by these fusion centers.
www.fcw.com/online/news/151032-1.html

New Database Links Guns, Criminal Histories
LA Daily News (12/10/2007), Jason Kandel

The California Department of Justice and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) are using the new Armed Prohibited Persons System program to identify gun owners with criminal histories. The statewide database currently contains approximately 9,000 records on people who are prohibited from owning firearms along with records on gun owners. Law enforcement agencies can access the system to easily identify individuals who own guns illegally. An LAPD task force has used the system this fall to identify and search 71 locations. These searches led to the seizure of 28 guns and the arrest of 8 individuals.
www.dailynews.com/news/ci_7679381

Police Say GPS Helps Crack Case in Drive-By Slaying
Los Angeles Times (12/12/2007), Andrew Blankstein and Richard Winton

The Los Angeles Police Department received an important lead in a murder case by accessing data from a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system that was tracking the location of 20 gang members. As part of a new State program, 20 gang members were fitted with GPS monitoring bracelets as part of their parole agreements. The GPS system records the date, time, and location of each parolee. As soon as the drive-by shooting occurred, Sgt. Ruby Malachi directed officers at the LAPD's crime analysis center to search the system for the date, time, and location of the shooting. The system's data reported that one of the gang members being tracked was in the vicinity when the shooting occurred. Based on this information and evidence from witnesses, the police eventually arrested seven suspects, including the gang member being tracked. LAPD has traditionally used the GPS system to track sex offenders, but is now seeking to expand the gang member tracking program.
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gps12dec12,1,5363458.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

Electronic Tickets Cite Drivers With Cyber Speed
Noblesville Daily Times (12/3/2007), Rebecca L. Sandlin

The Indian State Police have put into operation the Electronic Citation and Warning System (E-CWS) as a tool for issuing warnings and citations to motorists. It is anticipated that the system will be safer for troopers in terms of time spent outside the cruiser, and reduce time and paperwork involved with issuing citations. Using their laptops, officers will scan motorist information from the barcodes located on motor vehicle registration cards and driver's licenses and generate a ticket for the motorist, the officer, and the courts.
www.county29.net/cms2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8402&Itemid=230

New Court Video System Saves Navajo County Time and Money
AZJournal.com (11/28/2007), Tammy Gray-Searles

Navajo County, in Arizona, recently implemented a video conferencing system with money from a Fill the Gap grant from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission. The system will be used by the justice courts, the jail, and in two superior court courtrooms. It is hoped the system will save money in transportation costs, and provide increased security by reducing inmate movement. Because of the systems real-time capabilities, judges and court staff will be able to attend conferences, meetings, and trainings remotely, which will allow court cases to proceed with limited disruptions and ensure defendants a speedy process. In the future, the video conferencing system can allow attorneys to perform remote client visits, or allow inmates to visit with families over long distances.
www.azjournal.com/news/126/ARTICLE/1541/2007-11-28.html

Millions Coming to NH for Emergency Radio
UnionLeader.com (12/2/2007), Shawne K. Wickham

The state of New Hampshire will receive just under $6 million in public safety funding, which is part of nearly a billion dollars that have been set aside by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) — a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce. This money is part of the anticipated $10 to $15 billion the Federal Government expects to receive when it auctions off spectrum space that is presently used by analog TV broadcasts. The vacated spectrum space will then be used to create a national public safety communications network, and the money offered by the NTIA will be used to assist public safety agencies obtain equipment to use the new network.
www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Millions+coming+to+NH+for+emergency+radio&articleId=74a09b06-ccea-440b-9e9b-19a17777ba2b

Upcoming Events

Personal Protective Equipment Conference, November 28-30, 2007, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/events/peronsal-protective-equipment.htm

ACA Winter 2008 Conference, January 11-16, 2008, Grapevine, Texas
www.aca.org/Conferences/Winter08/home.asp

National Symposium on Cyber Crime, February 11-14, 2008, Long Beach, California
www.cacpt.uscourts.gov/conf/

NIJ Rural Law Enforcement Technology Institute, February 24-28, 2008, Charleston, South Carolina
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/events/rural-institute.htm

2008 Innovative Technologies for Community Corrections Conference, June 9-11, 2008, Denver, Colorado
www.justnet.org/training/commcorr.html

New Releases

Incident Commander: A Training Simulation for Public Safety Personnel
www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=239168

Portable X-Ray Systems for Use in Bomb Identification
www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/218586.pdf