Title: TechBeat Winter 1999
Series: TechBeat
Author: National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center
Published: January 1999
Subject: Technology in law enforcement
pages: 29
bytes: 70KB

Figures, charts, forms, and tables are not included in this ASCII plain-text
file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat
graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from the
National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center at 800-
248-2742.

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Ganging Up on Gangs

Highly mobile and loosely organized, gangs in this country are notoriously
hard to track. Their leadership structure changes constantly. Their use of
street names makes members extremely difficult to identify. And their
involvement in everything from drug trafficking and prostitution to
carjacking and murder place them under a myriad of criminal activity
categories.

It was for these reasons that the Northeast Gang Information System
(NEGIS) was created--to give law enforcement officers in five
northeastern States the ability to track gang members within and across
State lines.

NEGIS had its beginnings as a gang-tracking computer program that was
initially the design of two Massachusetts State Police (MSP) investigators,
a spin-off of a similar program created by the Boston Police Department. 

Developed in Lotus [registered trademark] Notes [trademark], the
computer program had modules that let officers send messages, track
leads, identify officers and other experts with special skills, access a
library of gang-focused articles, and input or retrieve information from an
intelligence database.

"About 5 years ago we were given a mandate to pursue funding to find a
statewide solution to gangs," says Lt. Thomas Kerle, a commander in
MSP's Division of Investigative Services. "We used Boston's prototype
and built NEGIS, which is really more than a gang-tracking system. We
wanted to address bigger issues, like communication, which is by far the
biggest problem. So we built modules that address communication
between people, as well as the storage, organization, and exchange of
information."

The NEGIS Project started in 1996 at the request of President Clinton,
who saw a demonstration of the software and asked the National Institute
of Justice (NIJ) to fund its development. In fiscal year 1997, $425,000 in
NIJ funding was awarded to the Police Executive Research Forum to
provide the equipment and training to make the system operational.
NEGIS became operational in April 1998 and almost immediately began
to show results. In one Massachusetts drive-by shooting, a witness knew
only the suspectÕs moniker, or street name. The investigating officer
posted an account of the incident along with the suspect's moniker on the
NEGIS bulletin board. An officer from another agency recognized the
name and identified the suspect, who was later arrested.

According to Kerle, today NEGIS is a series of five separate databases that
serve law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island,
Connecticut, and New York. The first database is for e-mail, which
facilitates officer-to-officer communication, as well as
officer-to-prosecutor communication. The second is a resource database
that stores information about officersÕ special abilities or areas of
expertise. The third database is an online discussion, or listserv, with a
bulletin board for posting queries and images, such as shots of unfamiliar
tattoos, hand signals, gang members, or vehicles. The fourth database is a
public domain reference library with full text-search capabilities. It houses
everything from scholarly articles and research findings to ongoing studies
and newspaper stories. The fifth is an intelligence database for gang
tracking. Each of the five States maintains its own intelligence database to
comply with Federal and State privacy laws. The files contained in the
other four databases, however, are shared.

"NEGIS is another tool to help the investigator solve crimes. Although itÕs
not the silver bullet that's going to end gang violence, it complements the
other efforts we make," Kerle says. "At this time, it's hard to measure the
impact NEGIS has had. We do know itÕs been a force multiplier. Before
NEGIS, if you had a photo of a hand signal, you might have sent 40 copies
to other police departments and detective units, and hoped somebody
called you back. Or you might have had to sit there and make 40 phone
calls. With NEGIS, we can do in a few hours what might take hundreds or
thousands of hours. It eases communication, and saves people time.
NEGIS showed that an off-the-shelf product could be customized to create
a usable, affordable, criminal justice tool. It also partnered officers from
five States on a single project."

The NEGIS system, Kerle says, is compliant with Federal regulations
governing the sharing of intelligence information (28 CFR 23). Each
participating State has adopted a multipart, highly detailed set of
operational policies and procedures. To assist in the supervision of
NEGIS, the five States have formed an advisory council that periodically
meets to establish policy and address problems.

"It's a coordinated, State-based system that allows interaction between the
States, but leaves control at the State level," Kerle says. "One agency in
each State is charged with filtering new information through its State's
respective NEGIS server. The beauty of this system is that almost
everyone has a PC [personal computer] and a modem, so the cost to hook
up a new user is only $50 for the Lotus Notes license."

For more information about the Northeast Gang Information System,
contact Sharla Rausch, National Institute of Justice project manager, 202-
305-8628; Lt. Thomas Kerle, a commander in the Massa-chusetts State
Police Division of Investigative Services, 508-820-2287; or Cliff
Karchmer, Police Executive Research Forum project manager, 202-466-
7820.

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In a 1993 study, the U.S. Department of Justice estimated that nationally
there were 4,881 gangs with 249,324 members. In a more recent survey,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimated that there were more than
400,000 members in approximately 700 cities. However, other recent
studies conclude that in Chicago alone there are more than 100,000 gang
members, and that CaliforniaÕs gang membership is more than 175,000. A
further update by the Los Angeles District AttorneyÕs office indicates that
more than 125,000 gang members are documented in Los Angeles County,
and that this represents a 240-percent increase from 11 years ago, when
gang membership was estimated at 52,400.

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Keeping Track of Electronic Monitoring

At the beginning of 1998 there were approximately 6 million adults in the
United States under sentence of a court. Yet, approximately 1.8 million--
less than one-third--were incarcerated in the Nation's prisons and jails. The
rest--more than 4 million--were on probation or parole.

Since the 1970s, when jail populations began exploding, the focus of
corrections has changed from just locking up lawbreakers to also finding
safe and cost-effective alternatives to incarceration. Home detention, early
release, expanded parole, behavior modification experiments, and work
release programs were born, as was the need for a way to monitor
individuals in these programs while they were in the community. Thus,
electronic monitoring (EM) systems developed. Since then, the electronic
monitoring industry has grown at an exponential rate.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that at the beginning of this
decade, there were approximately 400 EM programs and 12,000 people
involved in them. In January 1998, there were approximately 1,500
programs and 95,000 electronic monitoring units in use, including those in
use by individuals on pretrial status, home detention, probation, parole,
and in juvenile detention.

"Electronic monitoring is a realistic alternative to incarceration for
individuals on regular probation, on pretrial status, parole, or nearing the
end of a minor drug, alcohol, or misdemeanor sentence," says Garry Pate,
a corrections specialist with the National Law Enforcement and
Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) and author of an upcoming
NLECTC information bulletin on EM systems. "In some jurisdictions
violent offenders nearing their release date also may be eligible for an EM
program," he says.

"The correctional population is rising rapidly every year, and most
jurisdictions are looking for a cost-effective alternative to building more
prisons. EM has surfaced as a viable option," Pate says. "A properly run
electronic monitoring program can be an inexpensive, community-friendly
program to harbor 'low-risk' offenders."

According to Pate, the forthcoming NLECTC electronic monitoring
information bulletin is designed for all agencies and departments,
regardless of their current involvement in electronic monitoring. The
bulletin, he says, will offer an indepth look at:

o Current and on-the-horizon home monitoring devices.

o System components.

o Buy/lease factors and options.

o Recommendations for establishing an EM program.

The bulletin will also provide a list of common EM terms and acronyms
and Federal citations granting authority for the implementation of an EM
program.

"The public's biggest concern with electronic monitoring is the possibility
of a client 'walking off' or escaping from the program," Pate says. "If an
electronic monitoring client is not where he is scheduled to be or he
decided to walk off from the program, the incident is reported to the
supervising agency and sometimes to local law enforcement officials so
that they can assist in the apprehension of the client." 

Although it is rare that walk-offs commit crimes, approximately 75
percent are caught within 24 hours. The most serious issue regarding
escape is how long it takes the program to respond. Studies indicate that
programs on average respond to an unauthorized absence within 20
minutes.

"EM offers two distinct advantages to incarceration: reducing the publicÕs
tax burden by allowing the client to pay for the EM costs and reducing jail
and prison overcrowding," Pate says. "The average cost of EM has been
estimated at between $5 and $25 per day. Compared with the $50 per day
average cost of keeping an inmate in custody, EM can save a department a
tremendous amount of money. Additionally, approximately 75 percent of
EM clients complete their program successfully," he says.

The NLECTC bulletin series provides basic information about various law
enforcement and corrections technologies and their advantages and
limitations. For more information about the upcoming NLECTC
information bulletin on electronic monitoring, contact Garry Pate at
NLECTC-National, 800-248-2742 or 301-519-5758. For more information
regarding technologies for corrections applications, contact Steve
Morrison at NLECTC-Southeast, 800-292-4385. For other titles in the
NLECTC bulletin series, call NLECTC-National at 800-248-2742 or
access the NLECTC World Wide Web site, JUSTNET, at www.nlectc.org.

-------------------------------

Making Guns Smart: 
The Next Step

The National Institute of JusticeÕs (NIJ) "smart gun" project is off the
drawing board and headed for field evaluations.

Colt's Manufacturing Company, Inc., will be delivering to NIJ two
prototypes of a weapon that can be fired only by a recognized user.
According to NIJ Program Manager Wendy Howe, NIJ plans to purchase
20 of Colt's smart guns and use them in a controlled field testing program
at two U.S. police academies. The goal is to evaluate the technology, the
weapon, and its effectiveness.

"It's similar to what NIJ did with body armor, except in that case we put
5,000 of the bullet-resistant vests on the street for field evaluation," Howe
says. "But with the smart gun, weÕre only purchasing a limited number.
We'll do a controlled study to further evaluate the technology in the hands
of the police--in situations where lives are not at stake."

According to Howe, NIJ began studying smart gun technologies several
years ago. With the identified needs and requirements of law enforcement
in mind, a group of engineers, researchers, and scientists at the U. S.
Department of EnergyÕs Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque,
New Mexico, investigated, evaluated, prioritized, and demonstrated a
variety of "smart gun" technologies that included radio frequency, voice
recognition, biometrics, and touch memory. The most promising, Howe
says, was the use of radio frequency to verify the identity of the user.

At the same time, Colt's Manufacturing was looking into similar
technology that involved verification by radio frequency. After spending
$1 million in development, the company applied to NIJ for an additional
$500,000 to take the idea of a radio frequency smart gun to the next level.
NIJ funded the grant, and by early 1998, ColtÕs had a proof-of-concept
device that it demonstrated to a group of its toughest critics--the end users.
This meeting convened law enforcement and corrections officials and
solicited their ideas about what worked and what did not. With their
feedback, Colt's then developed and tested a second-generation device,
which it delivered to NIJ late last year.

When energized, this second-generation prototype emits a radio signal. A
small, wrist transponder is worn by the user. The wrist transmitter receives
the information and returns a coded radio signal. The return signal
prompts the removal of a blocking pin within the gun's trigger mechanism,
enabling the gun to fire.

"The receiver is small enough to fit on the back of a watch, in a bracelet,
or be made a permanent part of the uniform," Howe says. "The rest of the
components are inserted in the grip. This technology is one of the most
basic. It is the kind of technology used in garage door openers, which
means there won't be any interoperability or radio spectrum problems."

Howe points out that the full-sized handgun addresses the concerns and
incorporates the suggestions that NIJ and Colt's received during their
separate studies and development of a smart gun technology--that it be
easy to operate, reliable, and affordable. The smart gun also incorporates a
number of other safety factors, most of which came from law enforcement
feedback:

o The user verification process occurs within the time required to draw and
aim a gun.

o The transponder is within an 8-inch range of the gun to activate the
trigger.

o A directional antenna built into the gun ensures that transponder signals
are received only from behind the weapon.

o An indicator that is obvious only to the user displays the enabled or
disabled status.

o A fail-safe override automatically arms the weapon if the electronics fail.

o The gun will support multiple users on the same frequency, enabling an
entire squad or a small department to use the same band.

Howe says that smart gun development has been prompted by the fact that
over the past 15 years, 16 percent of law enforcement officers who were
killed in the line of duty were by an adversary armed with the officer's
weapon. 

According to a 1997 study conducted by the Johns Hopkins School of
Public Heath in Baltimore, Maryland, 71 percent of the public and 59
percent of gun owners supported the idea of a "personalized" weapon that
could be fired only by the owner.

"Radio frequency is certainly not the only technology available," Howe
says. "It is the one that Colt's developed. The smart gun concept is simply
the next evolution in firearms technology. We've gone from black powder
to the revolver to the semiautomatic, and now weÕre going to a weapon
that can recognize--or not recognize--the person intent on firing it."

NIJ plans to conduct its field evaluations this year, Howe says. First,
however, the smart gun will undergo several levels of testing within the
National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center system
prior to being assigned to a police academy.

For more information about the National Institute of JusticeÕs smart gun
initiatives, contact Program Manager Wendy Howe, 202-616-9794.

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This Is One Crime That Didn't Compute

It was perhaps one of Detective Bill HenebryÕs best Christmas gifts. It
arrived December 26, 1996, neatly packaged in the guise of one of his
former arrestees who was housed in the local jail. Henebry, a member of
the Financial Crimes Division of the Los Angeles Police Department
(LAPD), had arrested the man earlier that year. But today, the man was
giving Henebry information about other related crimes and a number of
his criminal counterparts. This informant's "gift," however, turned into one
of CaliforniaÕs biggest and most widespread cases of financial crime. 

During the next 2 years, Henebry and a host of LAPD detectives and
Federal agents would effect more than 200 arrests and boast a 99-percent
conviction rate in an investigation that involved almost every aspect of
check fraud and forgery and the victimization of thousands of people and
businesses. The crimes were the work of a group of people who had
several things in common, one of which turned into their downfall: They
were all regular users of methamphetamine.

"My informant gave me the monikers [street names] of 25 to 50 members
of this group, which worked mainly out of the Hollywood area," Henebry
explains. "I linked up with Fred Davis, a narcotics detective in Hollywood.
Together, he and I started on a crusade to rid the area of methamphetamine
and check forgeries."

According to Henebry, the plan was to use the moniker as a starting point,
identify the person using the moniker, link the individual to a location, and
then set up surveillance. Probable cause and the subsequent search warrant
usually focused on some type of drug involvement. With the suspect
booked on drug charges, a forgery warrant generally would come later as a
result of evidence seized from the perpetratorÕs house. When the
detectives recovered stolen mail, they called in U.S. Postal Inspector Sean
Tiller, who then filed Federal charges.

Henebry and Davis uncovered incidents of stolen mail, wherein a suspect
"washed" the check with chemicals to remove the ink, then changed the
payee and the amount. Using a stolen or phony driverÕs license, the
individual cashed the check at a bank, grocery store, or other type of
check-cashing facility. The detectives also found evidence of individuals
going through the trash dumpsters of banks to obtain account numbers.
According to Henebry, they were able to design, print, and cash
counterfeit checks by using a computer program. "They even made them
with a check stub so the check would look legitimate," Henebry says.

Although law enforcement officers were successful in seizing these
computers, there was one major glitch. No one on staff could get access to
the data locked inside. It was at this point that Henebry called on the
National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center
(NLECTC)-West and its personnel, equipment, and software resources.

"I talked to NLECTC-West director Bob Pentz," Henebry says, "and he
told me to bring in the computers weÕd seized. We did, and in one
computer we found 500 reports from 1992 to the present that listed victims
this suspect had compromised. And all that came from a deleted file!

"We've found journals of day-to-day activities, information about where
they buy their dope, how they mask forgeries, and how they notify
shipping companies to deliver merchandise charged on stolen credit cards.
They kept records on 'good' accounts, so they could use the account or sell
it to somebody else. In one case, we arrested a suspect while he was online
with a credit bureau. He had changed his credit rating. He'd just gotten out
of prison, and he already had a platinum [credit] card!"

Henebry says that the investigation, which is ongoing, has netted more
than 200 arrests and cleared several hundred cases of fraud, some of which
go as far back as 1993. He notes that the group of individuals under
investigation began operations several years ago, the accidental creation of
a number of people who lived in the same apartment complex. "Some got
better at financial fraud than others, and thus moved into different aspects
of it," Henebry says. "One suspect cashed counterfeit business checks for
as much as $40,000, while another limited his income to $5,000 a day or
$25,000 a week. Others simply hired runaways and street kids to cash
checks, taking 80 percent of the amount and giving 20 percent to their
accomplices."

In addition to the drug charges, which have gone hand-in-glove with
forgery charges, Henebry says that there have been more serious crimes
solved. As a direct result of this investigation, LAPD has arrested a serial
rapist, an arsonist, a man charged with murder-for-hire, a couple involved
in murder, and an individual who had in his possession full dossiers on
several politicians and high-profile citizens. As a result of his work,
Henebry was named LAPD's first-ever Detective of the Quarter as well as
Detective of the Year by the International Association of Financial Crimes
Investigators in 1998. His work has also resulted in a heightened
awareness of the need for computer and information systems expertise in
police agencies.

Currently, NLECTC-West is helping LAPD put together its own computer
crimes unit, as well as assisting the California Peace Officers Association
to form a cybercrime consortium. "We're finding that there needs to be this
kind of expertise at the detective and sergeant level," says Pentz. "Smaller
agencies may not have the resources to devote to an endeavor of this kind,
or to do it at all. They're trying to help each other, but it's just a very tough
job."

"The other problem is that when there is someone inhouse with computer
expertise, that person is often the one the department calls on to set up its
own information systems," Pentz adds. "So these people are being worked
from both sides. This case points out that law enforcement needs pretty
sophisticated technical support, not just to help them buy new equipment
and technologies, but to help them solve ongoing cases."

For more information regarding cybercrime investigation resources,
contact NLECTC-West, 888-548-1618. Information is also available from
NLECTC-Northeast, 888-338-0584, which recently held a seminar on
cybercrime investigations that included speakers with expertise in all
aspects of computer crime.

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We Got You Covered

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), responding to recommendations by
the law enforcement and corrections community, converted its Technology
Assessment Program Information Center (TAPIC) into the National Law
Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) system.
Created in 1994 as a component of NIJ's Office of Science and
Technology, NLECTC's goal, like that of NIJ, is to offer support, research
findings, and technological expertise to help State and local law
enforcement and corrections personnel safely and more efficiently do their
jobs.

NIJ's NLECTC system consists of facilities located across the country that
are colocated with an organization or agency that specializes in one or
more specific areas of research and development. Although each of the
NLECTC facilities has a different technology focus, they work together to
form a seamless web of support, technology development, and information
to help the law enforcement and corrections communities do their jobs
more safely and efficiently.

NLECTC-National
2277 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20850
Phone: 800-248-2742 
Fax: 301-519-5149 
E-mail: asknlectc@nlectc.org

The National Center, located just 30 minutes north of Washington, D.C., is
the hub of the NLECTC system. It provides information and referral
services to anyone with a question about law enforcement and corrections
equipment or technology. Its staff manages the voluntary equipment
standards and testing program that tests and verifies the performance of
body armor, metallic handcuffs, shotguns, and police vehicles and tires.
This office produces consumer product lists of equipment meeting a
specific set of performance standards and also operates JUSTNET (Justice
Technology Information Network), an Internet World Wide Web site that
provides links to the entire NLECTC system and other appropriate sites, as
well as assistance to those seeking information about equipment,
technology, or research findings.

NLECTC-Northeast
26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY 13441
Phone: 888-338-0584 
Fax: 315-330-4315 
E-mail: nlectc_ne@rl.af.mil

NLECTC-Northeast is located at the Air Force Research Laboratory,
Rome Research Site (formerly Rome Laboratory), on the grounds of the
Griffiss Business and Technology Park. The center sponsors research and
development efforts into technologies that address command, control,
communications, computers, and intelligence. This center draws on the
expertise of Air Force scientists and engineers in its development of
technologies that can be used to detect concealed weapons on individuals,
an effort that is expected to yield stationary equipment for use in buildings
and handheld devices for field and patrol officers. Other areas of research
and development include through-the-wall sensors, audio processing,
image processing, timeline analysis, computer forensics, secure
communications, and command/control.

NLECTC-Southeast
5300 International Boulevard, North Charleston, SC 29418
Phone: 800-292-4385 
Fax: 843-760-4611 
E-mail: nlectc-se@nlectc-se.org

Two of the focus areas of NLECTC-Southeast are corrections technologies
and surplus property acquisition and distribution for law enforcement and
corrections. The center facilitates the acquisition and redistribution of
Federal surplus/excess property to State and local law enforcement and
corrections agencies. The equipment must be used for law enforcement
purposes only. Utilizing the JUSTNET Web site, the center educates law
enforcement and corrections professionals about Federal surplus and 

purchasing programs. The efforts of NLECTC-Southeast have resulted in
agencies receiving equipment they would not ordinarily have access to or
might not have been able to afford due to budgetary constraints. This
facility also studies the needs of corrections agencies. It is guided in this
mission by a committee of criminal justice, law enforcement, and
corrections practitioners that identifies requirements and sets priorities for
research and development. NLECTC-Southeast is allied with the South
Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) and the Naval Command, Control
and Ocean Surveillance Center In-Service Engineering, East Coast
Division (NISE East). NLECTC-SoutheastÕs other areas of focus include
information management and technologies, simulation training, and
designated special projects. 

NLECTC-Rocky Mountain
2050 East Iliff Avenue, Denver, CO 80208
Phone: 800-416-8086 or 303-871-2522 in the Denver area 
Fax: 303-871-2500 
E-mail: nlectc@du.edu

Located at the University of Denver, NLECTC-Rocky Mountain focuses
on communications interoperability and the difficulties that often occur
when different agencies and jurisdictions try to communicate with one
another. This facility works with law enforcement agencies, private
industry, and national organizations to implement projects that will
identify and field test new technologies to help solve the problem of
interoperability. NLECTC-Rocky Mountain also houses the newly created
Crime Mapping Technology Center, the training and practical application
arm of NIJ's Crime Mapping Research Center, which is staffed by NIJ
social scientists and scholars who utilize crime analysis research to
improve police field operations and develop crime-mapping software for
small, medium, and large departments. The Rocky Mountain facility also
conducts research into ballistics and weapons technology, as well as
information systems. Sandia National Laboratory has been designated as a
satellite of NLECTC-Rocky Mountain. The laboratory works in
partnership with NLECTC-Rocky Mountain and focuses on technology
for detecting and neutralizing explosive devices (Operation Albuquerque). 

NLECTC-West
c/o The Aerospace Corporation, 2350 East El Segundo Boulevard, El
Segundo, CA 90245-4691
Phone: 888-548-1618 
Fax: 310-336-2227 
E-mail: nlectc@law-west.org

NLECTC-West is housed on the grounds of The Aerospace Corporation, a
nonprofit corporation that provides technical oversight and engineering
expertise to the Air Force and the U.S. Government on space technology
and space security systems. NLECTC-West draws on The Aerospace
Corporation's depth of knowledge and scientific expertise to offer law
enforcement and corrections the ability to analyze and enhance audio,
video, and photographic evidence. In cooperation with The Aerospace
Corporation, this NLECTC facility also has available an extensive array of
analytic instrumentation to aid in criminal investigations, such as a
scanning electron microscope, an x-ray microscope, and a mass
spectrometer, all of which are used to process trace evidence. Its other
areas of expertise include computer architecture, data processing,
communications systems, and a recent effort to identify technologies to
stop fleeing vehicles.

Border Research and Technology Center (BRTC)
225 Broadway, Suite 740, San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 888-656-BRTC (2782) 
Fax: 888-660-BRTC (2782) 
E-mail: brtcchrisa@aol.com

The Border Research and Technology Center works with the Immigration
and Naturalization Service, the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Customs
Service, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the U.S. Attorney
for the Southern District of California to develop strategies and
technologies that will facilitate control of the Southwest border. One of its
most recognized accomplishments has been the implementation of
SENTRI (Secured Electronic Network for TravelersÕ Rapid Inspection).
BRTC also works on joint ventures to identify technologies that will stop
fleeing vehicles and is currently participating in a project to detect the
heartbeats of people concealed in vehicles or other containers.

Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES)
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Building 225, Room
A323, Gaithersburg, MD 20899
Phone: 301-975-2757 
Fax: 301-948-0978 
E-mail: oles@nist.gov

Supported by NIJ, the Office of Law Enforcement Standards applies
science and technology to the needs of the criminal justice community.
While its major objective is to develop minimum performance standards
for equipment and technology, which NIJ promulgates as voluntary
national standards, OLES also undertakes studies leading to the
publication of technical reports and user guides. Its areas of research
include clothing, communications systems, emergency equipment,
investigative aids, protective equipment, security systems, vehicles, and
weapons. It also develops measurement methods for analytical techniques
and standard reference materials for forensic scientists and crime labs.
Since the program began in 1971, OLES has coordinated the development
of nearly 200 standards, user guides, and advisory reports. Housed at the
National Institute of Standards and Technology, OLES works closely with
NLECTC-National to conduct tests and to guarantee the performance and
quality of equipment used by police and corrections.

Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization (OLETC)
Wheeling Jesuit University, 316 Washington Avenue, Wheeling, WV
26003
Phone: 888-306-5382 
Fax: 304-243-2131 
E-mail: oletc@nttc.edu

Housed at Wheeling Jesuit University, the Office of Law Enforcement
Technology Commercialization provides one of the NLECTC systemÕs
most important services, that of bringing research and private industry
together to put new technologies into the hands of law enforcement and
corrections. OLETC actively solicits manufacturers to commercialize
technologies based on requirements identified by law enforcement and
corrections practitioners. For example, it is currently seeking companies
interested in commercializing technologies already developed by the U.S.
Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory, such as a device
that lets police officers detect crack houses from a distance, microwave
and acoustic sensors that detect the motion of people behind walls or
doors, and a nondetectable, nonscannable transmitter for use in undercover
situations. OLETC works with private industry to support its efforts and
help companies streamline the commercialization process.

National Center for Forensic Science
University of Central Florida, P.O. Box 162367, Orlando, FL 32816-2367
Phone: 407-823-6469
Fax: 407-823-3162 
E-mail: natlctr@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu

The newest addition to the NLECTC system, this facility is housed in the
University of Central Florida and initially will focus on arson and
explosives research. Its mission is to conduct fundamental research into
the basic nature of fire and explosion reactions, provide the support for
developing standard protocols for analyzing arson and explosion debris,
promote the use of electronic media to access and exchange information
about the forensic sciences, and provide education opportunities to
practicing professionals and full-time students. This new facility will draw
on the experience and expertise of the university, which houses a forensic
science program with an active research program, as well as the Institute
of Simulation and Training, which is currently exploring ways to simulate
explosive reactions to study various chemical processes.

-------------------------------

From the Street. . . to the Street

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has long believed that one of the
most vital aspects of its program is the solicitation of ideas and
suggestions from criminal justice practitioners. It is this information that
helps form the framework of NIJÕs work. NIJ's Office of Science and
Technology and its National Law Enforcement and Corrections
Technology Center (NLECTC) system acquire this information through
conferences, regional workshops, and most especially through a series of
advisory groups. These groups are composed of representatives from all
areas of law enforcement, corrections, and the forensic sciences, and focus
on everything from operational technological needs to liability issues and
public acceptance of these new technologies.

One such group, the Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology
Advisory Council (LECTAC), is composed of law enforcement,
corrections, and forensics practitioners who serve as advisers to the
NLECTC system and recommend technology program priorities. Because
LECTACÕs members are also the end users of new technologies, they
bring the day-to-day needs of police and corrections officers to the
forefront. As a result of their recommendations, NIJ is able to bring in
researchers, scientists, and engineers to address the emerging needs of the
law enforcement and corrections communities.

LECTAC's current research priorities include the development of
technologies and research in the areas of concealed weapons and
contraband detection, vehicle stopping, enhanced DNA testing, officer
protection, less-than-lethal technology, information management,
counterterrorism, location and tracking, secure communications, and
noninvasive drug detection. Following are updates on several sample
projects that fall under these headings, many having both law enforcement
and corrections applications.

o Spoken Language Translation. Spoken Language Translation
automatically translates words spoken in one language to
computer-spoken words in another language. This technology will be
valuable in the timely exchange of information with foreign-language
speakers and assist with foreign-language training and proficiency. With
this project, computer-generated spoken words are produced by
text-to-speech or digital audio playback synthesis technologies. Current
demonstration systems translate spoken English to computer-spoken
Spanish, Korean, or Mandarin Chinese, and spoken Spanish or Mandarin
Chinese to computer-spoken English. System capabilities have been tested
by the California State Police. The applicability of spoken language
translation to various law enforcement and corrections requirements is
being evaluated.

o Electric Stun Projectile. A less-than-lethal device employing stun gun
technology to immediately and temporarily incapacitate a person at
stand-off range, the Electric Stun Projectile is a low-impact, wireless
projectile fired from compressed gas or powder launchers. Accurate to a
range of 10 meters, it sticks to the target with a glue-like substance or with
short, clothing attachment barbs. The projectile incorporates a battery pack
and associated electronics that impart a short burst of high-voltage pulses
capable of penetrating several layers of clothing. The pulse characteristics
are similar to well-established nonlethal electrical shock devices and will
temporarily disable individuals or cause extreme discomfort. Applicable
missions include any stand-off encounter where an individual needs to be
temporarily incapacitated without exposing law enforcement or
corrections officers to unnecessary risk. Prototype development is
complete and has been successfully fired at nonhuman targets 10 meters
away. A safety assessment leading to field trials is under way.

o In-Vehicle Voice Verification System (IVVVS). The objective of
IVVVS is to provide a biometric identification capability using voice
verification in a dedicated commuter lane, allowing registered users to
cross the United States-Mexico border without normal inspection. This
system, funded by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, is being
developed by a joint U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory-New York State
Technology Enterprise Corporation team. A driver enrolled in the system
is issued a handheld unit. When entering the dedicated commuter lane, the
driver speaks into the unit, which then transmits the voice sample via an
infrared link to a roadside receiver. The voice sample is then forwarded to
voice verification software developed by the Air Force Research
Laboratory, where the voice sample is compared to samples recorded
when the driver registered to use the system and the driverÕs identity was
verified. The system is currently being tested by 20 users. Based on the
initial results, current plans are to expand the field test to 120 users.

o Bomb Threat Training Simulator. The University of Houston, utilizing a
grant from the National Institute of Justice, has developed an alpha version
of a bomb threat training simulator (BTTS) to help train law enforcement
personnel and others in bomb threat assessment. BTTS is a
computer-based, interactive, multimedia simulator on a CD-ROM that
enables law enforcement or security officers to develop their
first-on-the-scene bomb threat response skills and supplement
conventional, classroom instruction. Because the training is simulated,
officers can improve their skills in responding to bomb threats during
downtime and without disrupting organizational operations. It offers
realistic bomb threat response training that might not otherwise be
possible due to time or cost considerations. The alpha version of BTTS has
been reviewed and NIJ is funding additional scenarios and enhancements
to make it user friendly.

o Computer Forensics Tool Kit. The project seeks to preserve the
information contained at a computer site and its environment to ensure a
valid audit trail for successful prosecution. The projectÕs main objective is
to develop a computer forensics tool kit and a set of analytic techniques
that can be used by a computer forensics investigator. Focusing on
computer examination and analysis technology, the project addresses the
reconstruction of evidence from computers where the data and files have
been intentionally or maliciously destroyed or modified for the purpose of
concealing an illegal activity. Technology to be developed includes tools
for handling password-protected files, tools for decrypting encrypted files,
tools for finding hidden data within other data (steganography), tools for
filtering known files and reducing the search space for the forensics
investigator, tools for maintaining the integrity of the forensic process, and
tools for managing the forensics work flow. The project is a joint effort
between the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology
Center-Northeast and the Air Force Research Laboratory's Information
Directorate. The requirements of this effort are driven by computer crime
experts from the New York State Police Computer Crime Division and the
Connecticut State Crime Laboratory.

o Flying Plate Disrupters. Explosive devices are one of the primary tools
of terrorists and constitute a major threat to the general public. Large
explosive devices, such as ammonium nitrate fuel mixtures in large
containers such as 55-gallon drums, pose a particular challenge to those
attempting to disrupt their explosive capacity. The National Institute of
Justice, through the U.S. Department of Justice and the Defense Joint
Program Steering Group, is sponsoring the Indian Head Division, Naval
Surface Warfare Center in Maryland, which is developing an approach to
this problem using explosively formed slugs, or "flying plates." Derived
from military technology that was developed to destroy heavily armored
vehicles and naval vessels, this technology consists of a plastic cylinder
capped with a 3- to 5-inch copper plate and packed with a small explosive
charge. When detonated, the explosion turns the plate into a molten mass
of metal and accurately propels it with the force of a bullet into the
explosive device. The velocity of this ŌslugĶ disperses the explosive
material before the material has time to explode. Current research involves
tailoring the technology to fit the individual target.

o InfoTech Program. The goal of this project is to develop and
demonstrate information technologies that allow information sharing
among law enforcement agencies. A longstanding problem resolved by
InfoTech is the easy retrieval of information from different computer
systems. InfoTech offers a user-friendly interface that can be tailored to
the needs of a particular user, but will retrieve data regardless of the design
of the information sources. Thus, information sharing between multiple
law enforcement agencies is achieved without incurring the expense of
replacing existing information systems with a new common system. The
key concept in InfoTech demonstrations is that each agency decides what
is to be shared, and with whom. The InfoTech Program is introducing new
technologies and methods for ease of use, security/privacy, and
information exchangeŅall while minimizing cost and allowing each agency
to set its own policies regarding sharing and security. A prototype system
is currently undergoing evaluation in FloridaÕs Monroe County and
Brevard County sheriffÕs offices. The program utilizes the existing Florida
Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Criminal Justice Network
(CJ-Net) as the backbone wired network for communications between
more than 500 Florida criminal justice agencies. As part of InfoTech,
FDLE and the Joint Program Steering Group are working together to
provide Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
drivers license data and photos over CJ-Net; initial operational capability
is expected this year.

-------------------------------

Dangerous Drivers in 3D

"You don't have to pull a gun out from under the seat. A ton-and-a-half of
steel at 60 miles an hour in the hands of an angry driver is a weapon,"
states Maj. Stephen Leary of the Massachusetts State Police (MSP). "The
media calls it 'road rage,'" he says, "but I call it 'retaliation.'"

"I do not believe that 99.9 percent of the time people get in their cars and
decide they want to hurt someone," Leary says. "People retaliate. They
look in their rear-view mirror and see a car so close behind them that they
can't even see the grill. Their attention is distracted by this person, who
they think is going to be in their backseat at any moment. The car finally
goes by, and just as the rear bumper passes the front of their car, the driver
cuts in front of them. At that point they get angry. They decide, 'I'll show
you,' and start chasing the car. Now, we have road rage, precipitated by
dangerous and aggressive driving. Your anger gets out of hand, and your
vehicle becomes your weapon."

But beginning in 1997, this aggressive and dangerous driving became the
target of MSP with the implementation of its 3D (Drunk, Drugged, and
Dangerous) Program, Leary says. "We had plenty of complaints about
dangerous driving, but our marked units never saw these drivers because
they always spotted us first!"

So MSP changed their tactics somewhat. They still had uniformed troopers
out on the highways. But instead of being in their highly visible marked
cruisers, they simply patrolled in unmarked vehicles equipped with video
cameras. Driving everything from older model Camaros and Mustangs to
taxicabs and small school buses, the troopers worked as spotting
platforms, videotaping moving violations and providing narration to the
tape. Once the evidence was gathered, the trooper radioed a nearby marked
unit, which stopped and ticketed the driver.

The goal of the program is to reduce crashes or reduce their severity,
Leary says. Although MSP does not have complete data on accident
reductions as yet, it has made some surprising discoveries. According to
statistics collected in August and September 1998, three troopers stopped
and cited 480 people. Those 480 drivers racked up 635 charges for driving
violations, which supports MSP's belief that the most aggressive drivers
commit more than one violation at a time. Of those 480, nine were cited
for endangering, a criminal charge that can put those convicted in jail for 1
year. Of the 480 cited, 374 were also ticketed for speeding, 285 had prior
accidents on record, 92 previously had their license suspended for
dangerous driving, and 345 had been stopped previously for a similar
offense. "These numbers show us that weÕre hitting our targeted audience .
. . that people who drive like this, constantly drive like this," Leary says.

In addition, the 3D Program addresses prosecution, education, and
prevention. Prior to the programÕs implementation, for example,
Massachusetts only suspended the license of those who had multiple
violations or had been in serious accidents. By putting to use a previously
underutilized law that allows the State to suspend the license of a driver
with three or more violations, MSP has taken a more proactive stance. At
the initial contact, the troopers check the driverÕs history. Too many
violations requires the driver to appear before the Registrar of Motor
Vehicles, who has the authority to suspend the license.

"They go before the registrar before they ever go to court about the ticket,
and the registrar doesn't need a conviction to take a license," Leary says.
To date, the registrar has suspended the licenses of 100 percent of the
drivers sent by MSP officers. Prosecution through the courts is swift and,
in most cases, assured. According to Leary, "The majority of drivers plead
guilty when they realize they've been videotaped, which means most cases
never make it to court."

Education comes in the form of troopers meeting with community groups
to tell them about the 3D Program and to offer advice for preventing road
rage. The most important part of the presentation is MSP's plea to let
dangerous drivers go by. Never try to teach them a lesson. "If you look at
the national figures, there are more people dying in cars than by guns or
knives," Leary says. "Your chances of being killed in a car are 2.5 times
greater than they are by a gunshot or knife wound. You need to let these
people go by, even if you have to pull off the road completely." Leary
notes that although the 3D Program partners MSP with Mothers Against
Drunk Drivers, fewer than 1 in 10 of drivers stopped for dangerous driving
are also ticketed for driving under the influence.

Another educational aspect of the 3D Program, Leary says, is an effort to
expand drivers training courses. He notes that rarely is a driver education
car seen on the highway. Young drivers are typically trained on back roads
and quiet streets where there is little traffic. New drivers also are not
trained to drive in bad weather, at night, or at highway speeds. "We
recently pulled over a teenager who was driving her mother's car at 128
miles per hour. She had two friends with her, and had her license 28 days.
You just know this was a horrible accident looking for a place to happen,"
Leary says.

MSP is asking State lawmakers to expand the current driver education
requirements. That could mean more hours on the road, the addition of
freeway driving courses, or a skid school that teaches bad weather driving
and emergency tactics. Leary also hopes it will include in-class training
about the new technologies available in todayÕs vehicles. "A lot of people
get in a car and think theyÕre invulnerable. 'I've got side impact protection,
160 mph tires, ABS brakes, airbags, crash-resistant bumpers. Nothing can
hurt me out here.' That's obviously not true," he says.

MSP's 3D Program has garnered the unstinting support of the public,
many of whom have written letters expressing their encouragement,
enthusiasm, and gratitude. "In Massachusetts, driving is a privilege, not a
right," Leary says. "Our drivers have as much right to be safe on the
highways as they do in their homes. Our goal is to provide that safety to
them."

According to Leary, the program can be duplicated for a relatively low
cost. The 3D ProgramÕs unmarked vehicles had been seized or impounded
from drug dealers or were cast-offs from the State's fleet of undercover
cars. MSP installed new engines and then enlisted the help of students at a
local technical high school to give the cars a much-needed facelift. "These
cars looked really rough--they had dents and bumps and rust on them. But
when these kids got through with them, they looked like they'd rolled right
off an assembly line," Leary says. "We paid for all the parts and the paint,
but these kids put the elbow grease and their hearts into it."

For smaller departments, or those in rural areas, Leary says, the cost can
be reduced even more by sharing the vehicles and moving them from town
to town. At the same time, officers can meet with community groups to
publicize the program. "We didn't want anyone to think this was a
clandestine program," Leary notes. "We showed the cars on television, let
reporters film the cars anytime they wanted, and had them on the front
page of the newspaper. We wanted people to know we were doing this for
their protection, and that this is not a game. This is life and death out
there."

For more information about the Massachusetts State Police 3D Program,
contact Maj. Stephen Leary, 508-829-5336.

-------------------------------

One of the most shocking incidents of road rage/retaliation in
Massachusetts took place on February 20, 1994. A local clergyman and his
wife were driving home from church on a Sunday evening when they saw
the driver of a pick-up truck begin tailgating an elderly woman. The
pick-up truck driver flashed his lights and honked his horn because the
woman did not move out of his way. Angered by the driver's behavior, the
clergyman apparently decided to teach him a lesson by mimicking his
behavior. The clergyman tailgated the pick-up truck, flashed his lights,
honked his horn, and motioned for the driver to pull over, which he did.
When the pick-up driver and his passenger exited their vehicle, the
clergyman pulled a cross-bow from his trunk and shot the driver through
the heart. The clergyman is now serving a life sentence with no chance of
parole at a Massachusetts maximum security correctional facility.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA), in 1996 14,000 people died by gunshot and 2,500 were stabbed
to death, while 42,000 people died in road accidents. NHTSA also
estimates that one-third of crashes and two-thirds of the resulting fatalities
can be attributed to aggressive and dangerous driving. Other NHTSA
statistics show that speeding, a hallmark of dangerous driving, is a factor
in 31 percent of all fatal highway crashes.



-------------------------------

Online News Summary for Law Enforcement, Corrections, and Forensics

A new online news service, the NLECTC Law Enforcement and
Corrections Technology News Summary, is up and running.

This free, weekly news summary includes abstracts of articles focusing on
law enforcement, corrections, and forensics technologies that have
recently appeared in major national newspapers, magazines, and
periodicals, as well as on national and international wire services and
World Wide Web sites.

To automatically receive your news summary via your e-mail address,
send an e-mail message to listproc@nlectc.org containing only the line
SUBSCRIBE JUSTNETNEWS FirstName LastName. You will then
receive an introductory message welcoming you to the mailing list, and
your weekly news summary will commence with the next issue.

Your e-mail address will be used solely for the distribution of the news
summary. You will not receive a large amount of e-mail, nor will your
e-mail address be made available to outside parties.

The NLECTC Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology News
Summary is also posted on the National Law Enforcement and Corrections
Technology Center Web site, JUSTNET, at www.nlectc.org.

For more information about the NLECTC Law Enforcement and
Corrections Technology News Summary, contact Donna Engler, systems
support specialist, at 800-248-2742 or dengler@nlectc.org. 

-------------------------------

Tiger Vision: Linking Invention With Industry

"The concept came from my law enforcement experience serving warrants
and working patrol," states Mark Jones, a former San Antonio, Texas,
police officer and inventor of Tiger Vision [registered trademark], a night
and day vision device for use in patrol cars. "There were many occasions
when I needed to see into dark areas from the patrol car, without losing my
peripheral vision."

Jones says that Tiger Vision [registered trademark] is a small, lightweight,
handheld device that can be plugged into a cigarette lighter and held out
the window of a police car. It uses a CCD (charged coupled device) image
sensor, instead of light-intensifier tubes or thermal technologies. It
includes a powerful infrared light source that illuminates up to 100 yards
and is about 10 feet wide. The image shows up on a 4-inch screen. In
addition, the device will allow observation under changing light
conditions, from full light through low light to very low light and can be
attached to a video recorder for evidence collection. 

Through the assistance of the National Institute of JusticeÕs Office of Law
Enforcement Technology Commercialization (OLETC), the inventor was
connected with a manufacturer of night vision equipment. According to
Jerry Bortman, a project manager at OLETC, the ultimate goal is to bring
an affordable device to market that costs under $900. If the partnership
proves successful, he says, the result will be an affordable, commercially
available night and day vision device for use in patrol cars.

Jones conceived the idea for Tiger Vision [registered trademark] in 1989.
He and two engineers built several generations of prototypes in the early
1990s and demonstrated them at several Texas police agencies. With
recommendations from the agencies, Jones knocked on the door of the
National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center-Rocky
Mountain in Denver, Colorado. The center referred Jones to the Border
Research and Technology Center in San Diego, California, which then
arranged a demonstration with the U.S. Border PatrolÕs office in Laredo,
Texas.

"It was raining and very overcast that night, about 11 p.m.," Jones recalls.
"A train was coming toward us, about 75 yards away, but it was down in a
valley and we were up on a cliff. The Border Patrol's infrared units
mounted on their Broncos couldn't see the train at that angle, so we aimed
the Tiger Vision [registered trademark] at the train. We saw about 30
illegal aliens hanging between the boxcars and under trucks that were
being transported on the boxcars, and in spaces that were pitch black. We
got it all on video. The agents stopped the train and arrested the illegals,"
he says.

Jones then began working with OLETC's commercialization specialists,
who shared their expertise to facilitate the licensing agreement with ITT
Night Vision [trademark].

According to Bortman, Jones has signed a license agreement with ITT
Night Vision [trademark]  to produce Jones' invention. ITT will build
Tiger Vision [registered trademark] prototypes and distribute them to
police agencies for field evaluation. The results of the evaluations will
enable ITT to decide whether it will put Tiger Vision [registered
trademark] into full-scale production.

The Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization is a
program of the National Institute of Justice and is charged with locating
and evaluating technologies for commercialization and offering programs
that connect the criminal justice community with manufacturers and
technology developers. For more information, call 888-306-5382.

-------------------------------

FPED II: Demonstrating Technologies

The one thing that sets this demonstration apart from all other shows or
exhibitions is the requirement for vendors to demonstrate their products.

On May 3-6, 1999, at Virginia's Quantico Marine Base, state-of-the-art,
commercially available counterterrorism technology, as well as physical
security technology, will be displayed and demonstrated not only for the
benefit of the military community, but for the first time, the members of
the law enforcement community as well.

Cosponsored by the U.S. Department of JusticeÕs National Institute of
Justice and the Department of Defense (DoD), this second Force
Protection Equipment Demonstration (FPED II) will showcase barriers,
sensors, and detectors of various types; explosives containment and
disruption; access control systems; advanced restraint systems; protective
gear; and nonlethal weapons. Last yearÕs FPED included 184 vendors with
400 products and more than 2,000 visitors. FPED II is expected to be even
larger and include more foreign vendors and a greater array of equipment
and products.

FPED was initiated by DoD to showcase state-of-the-art, commercially
available equipment for Ōforce protection,Ķ essentially protecting military
installations and personnel from terrorist attack.

For additional information on FPED II, including application forms,
access: www.csc.com/fped on the World Wide Web. Applications and
confirmation are required for attendance. Although not open to the general
public, the media is invited. An information site on FPED II can also be
found on JUSTNET at: http://www.nlectc.org.

-------------------------------

From the Director

Law enforcement, courts, and corrections officials and officers working in
the field know how crucial technology is to their day-to-day operations. In
some circumstances, having the right tool can even mean the difference
between life and death. 

The technological revolution that has swept society as a whole in recent
years has also affected the criminal justice system. Some technologies that
not long ago seemed advanced--vests that can stop bullets and electronic
monitoring of probationers--today seem commonplace. But the revolution
continues apace, with ever more spectacular advances now being made, or
in the testing stages, or on the drawing board.

As the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, the National
Institute of Justice (NIJ) has, since its founding 30 years ago, been in the
forefront in sponsoring the development, testing, and demonstration of
technology to improve the justice system. The development of DNA
testing standards, soft body armor, and improved fingerprint evidence are
some of the many areas in which NIJ has played a leading role. 

More recently, with strong support from the Administration and the
Congress, NIJ has accelerated the pace of its efforts. Less-than-lethal
technologies to minimize the use of force, computerized mapping to
pinpoint and analyze crime patterns, concealed weapons detection to
prevent violence, methods of stopping fleeing vehicles to apprehend
suspects, and improvements in DNA laboratories to aid in evidence
testing--all these capabilities, and others, are now being explored by NIJ.
Their application can mean even greater transformations in law
enforcement operations. 

TechBeat plays an important role as an essential link communicating the
latest information about these developing technologies from the National
Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center. By keeping law
enforcement, courts, and corrections personnel current about the tools they
can use, the newsletter makes a difference in controlling crime and
ensuring justice.

Jeremy Travis
Director
National Institute of Justice 

-------------------------------

The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center is
supported by Cooperative Agreement #96-MU-MU-K011 awarded by the
U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. Analyses of test
results do not represent product approval or endorsement by the National
Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice; the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce; or Aspen
Systems Corporation. Points of view or opinions contained within this
document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the
official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

The National Institute of Justice is a component of the Office of Justice
Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Bureau of
Justice Statistics, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,
and Office for Victims of Crime.

-------------------------------

TechBeat is the flagship publication of the National Law Enforcement and
Corrections Technology Center system. Our goal is to keep you up to date
on technologies that are currently being developed by the NLECTC
system, as well as other research and development efforts within the
Federal Government and private industry. 

Your questions, comments, and story ideas are always welcome. Contact:
Rick Neimiller, managing editor, through NLECTC-National, 800-248-
2742, or e-mail to asknlectc@nlectc.org. Writer and contributing editor,
Lois Pilant. Reproduction of any part of this publication is encouraged by
NLECTC unless otherwise indicated.

-------------------------------

New Publications/Videos

The following publications/videos are available from the National Law
Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center-National:

TechBeat, Fall 1998. This issue of TechBeat features the success of the
Utica, New York, Arson Strike Force, the use of computer technology to
streamline handling of domestic violence cases, and DNA computer
analysis.

TechBeat, Summer 1998. This issue of TechBeat examines
communications interoperability among law enforcement and other public
safety agencies, smart card technology being used in corrections facilities,
and vehicle-stopping technology.

Selection and Application Guide to Police Body Armor. While body armor
is a household word in the law enforcement community, questions about
its selection and use are frequently asked. This guide responds to
commonly expressed concerns and provides information to help determine
the level of protection required by officers.

Pursuit Management Task Force Report. In August 1996, the National
Institute of JusticeÕs Office of Science and Technology created the Pursuit
Management Task Force (PMTF) to conduct a multidisciplinary effort to
define police practices and the role of technology in high-speed police
pursuits. This report assesses current technologies and techniques related
to pursuits, and provides recommendations on technology development
and commercialization, an overview of legal issues related to pursuits and
related technologies, and information obtained from surveys completed by
agencies, line officers, and the public related to pursuits and technology.

Michigan State Police Tests 1999 Patrol Vehicles. Every year, the
Michigan State Police tests new patrol vehicles as part of their
procurement policy. This bulletin summarizes test results of the 1999
patrol vehicles.

"Why Can't We Talk?" When Lives Are at Stake. This videotape examines
the issues and problems surrounding interoperability and public safety
radio communications. Learn why planning, designing, and funding public
safety wireless communications systems are critical activities for ensuring
the public welfare.

Survey of Commercially Available Explosives Detection Technologies
and Equipment. This document provides a comprehensive overview of
currently available explosives detection methods and technologies. It is
intended to inform law enforcement agencies about relevant aspects of
explosives detection and provide them with a basis for making
procurement decisions.

Federal Property and Equipment Manual. In a time of tight budgets, State
and local law enforcement agencies are sometimes hard pressed to outfit
their personnel with the equipment they need to do their jobs safely and
effectively. This manual describes Federal sources of personal property for
law enforcement. Through these programs, agencies can obtain
high-quality, high-value, excess property at little or no cost.

Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization (OLETC)
1998 Mock Prison Riot Video. This videotape features technologies used
to quell a mock prison riot staged by the National Institute of Justice's
Office of Law Enforcement Technology Commercialization. Emerging
technologies were incorporated into training scenarios to demonstrate the
latest crimefighting technologies.

The following publications/videos will be available soon:

Equipment Performance Report: 1999 Model Year Patrol Vehicle Testing.
This report provides complete data on the 1999 Michigan State Police
patrol vehicle testing.

To obtain any of the above publications or videotapes or to receive
additional copies of the TechBeat newsletter, write NLECTC, P.O. Box
1160, Rockville, MD 20849-1160; telephone 800-248-2742. Publications
can also be downloaded from JUSTNET at http://www.nlectc.org.

-------------------------------

NLECTC Is Online

o Information on new technologies, equipment, and other products and
services available to law enforcement, corrections, and the criminal justice
communities, including access to a database of over 4,000 available
products and technologies.

o Breaking News from printed media, the Internet, individual facilities of
the NLECTC system, and the Nation's Capital.

o Publications from NIJ and NLECTC that you can view or download to
your system.

o Interactive Topic Boards that allow you to post questions and exchange
information with hundreds of professionals in their specialty areas.

o Frequently Asked Questions that offer detailed information based on
thousands of calls to our information specialists.

o Calendar of Events that lists the latest upcoming meetings, seminars, and
training.

o Links to other important law enforcement and corrections Web sites.

For help in establishing an Internet connection, linking to JUSTNET,
(www.nlectc.org) or finding needed technology and product information,
call the NLECTC Information Hotline at 800-248-2742.

To receive future issues of the TechBeat newsletter at no charge, call 800-
248-2742 or e-mail asknlectc@nlectc.org.

-------------------------------

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E-mail. Send an e-mail to askncjrs@ncjrs.org and request a registration
form. It will be sent to you in the mail.

Write. Send a written request to NCJRS, Box 6000, Rockville, MD 20849-
6000.

Call. You may call an NCJRS information specialist and request a
registration form. The number is 800-851-3420.

As a registered user, you will receive the bimonthly NCJRS Catalog, the
quarterly NIJ Journal, and selected reports based on your criminal justice
interests. For more information about NIJ and NCJRS, visit their Web
sites: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij and http://www.ncjrs.org.